A predictably spectacular sunset spreads streaks of pink and orange across a northern Spanish late September sky, heralding the end of another packed edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, where at the closing gala, “The Rye Horn” the second feature from Spanish director Jaione Camborda has just been handed the Golden Shell, the festival’s top award.
It is perhaps a surprising win, but does now mark the fourth consecutive year that the festival’s most prestigious prize has gone to a female director. But in another way it has to be a first: the international jury, comprising French director Claire Denis, alongside Chinese actor and producer Fan Bingbing, Colombian producer-director Cristina Gallego, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Spanish actor Vicky Luengo, Canadian producer and distributor Robert Lantos and German director Christian Petzold, has chosen to award not just a Spanish film, but one from a female director who was...
It is perhaps a surprising win, but does now mark the fourth consecutive year that the festival’s most prestigious prize has gone to a female director. But in another way it has to be a first: the international jury, comprising French director Claire Denis, alongside Chinese actor and producer Fan Bingbing, Colombian producer-director Cristina Gallego, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Spanish actor Vicky Luengo, Canadian producer and distributor Robert Lantos and German director Christian Petzold, has chosen to award not just a Spanish film, but one from a female director who was...
- 9/30/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Some of Colombia’s most prominent producers have banded together to form Pi, a new association of independent producers led by Cristina Gallego, behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and “Birds of Passage,” who is an official jury member at this year’s 71st San Sebastian Film Festival.
“Colombia has become a production destination for major companies due to its tax benefits, which has led to growth, experience, and job opportunities within the sector,” Gallego told Variety.
“However, members of Pi view with particular concern the need for attention, updates, and the evolution of national and departmental policies that support the continued production of Colombian cinema, its voices, its artists, and its filmmakers,” said Gallego who will preside over the association along with director-producer Franco Lolli (“Gente de Bien”) as vice president while Diana María Bustamante and Manuel Ruiz Montealegre (“Amparo”) serve as legal representatives.
It has been some 20 years...
“Colombia has become a production destination for major companies due to its tax benefits, which has led to growth, experience, and job opportunities within the sector,” Gallego told Variety.
“However, members of Pi view with particular concern the need for attention, updates, and the evolution of national and departmental policies that support the continued production of Colombian cinema, its voices, its artists, and its filmmakers,” said Gallego who will preside over the association along with director-producer Franco Lolli (“Gente de Bien”) as vice president while Diana María Bustamante and Manuel Ruiz Montealegre (“Amparo”) serve as legal representatives.
It has been some 20 years...
- 9/22/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Javier Bardem, winner of a San Sebastian 2023 Donostia Award for career achievement, is putting back his on-stage acceptance of the distinction until the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival.
The postponement is due to the “limits imposed under the strike called by the U.S. Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA),” the San Sebastian Festival announced Friday.
It deprives this year’s Festival of its biggest on-stage major star moment this year.
The fest will, however, enjoy its customary bullish presence of world-class auteurs, led this year by Claire Denis, main competition jury chair, and Victor Erice, will accept his Donostia Award on Sept. 29. San Sebastian announced Friday that Hayao Miyazaki will also accept a Donostia Award online.
Gabriel Byrne, François Cluzet, Emmanuelle Devos, Griffin Dunne, Aidan Gillen, Mads Mikkelsen, James Norton and Dominic West have confirmed their attendance, Byrne and Gillen for one of the festival’s biggest tickets, James Marsh’s official selection closing film “Dance First.
The postponement is due to the “limits imposed under the strike called by the U.S. Actors Union (SAG-AFTRA),” the San Sebastian Festival announced Friday.
It deprives this year’s Festival of its biggest on-stage major star moment this year.
The fest will, however, enjoy its customary bullish presence of world-class auteurs, led this year by Claire Denis, main competition jury chair, and Victor Erice, will accept his Donostia Award on Sept. 29. San Sebastian announced Friday that Hayao Miyazaki will also accept a Donostia Award online.
Gabriel Byrne, François Cluzet, Emmanuelle Devos, Griffin Dunne, Aidan Gillen, Mads Mikkelsen, James Norton and Dominic West have confirmed their attendance, Byrne and Gillen for one of the festival’s biggest tickets, James Marsh’s official selection closing film “Dance First.
- 9/8/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The festival is set to open with Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy And The Heron’ on September 22.
French filmmaker Claire Denis will chair the official selection jury for the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The director of Beau Travail and Stars At Noon will be joined by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, moviemaker and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; Spanish actress Vicky Luengo; and German director Christian Petzold.
They will decide the winners of the Golden Shell for best film and Silver Shell for best director, leading performance and supporting performance, and will...
French filmmaker Claire Denis will chair the official selection jury for the 71st San Sebastian International Film Festival.
The director of Beau Travail and Stars At Noon will be joined by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, moviemaker and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; Spanish actress Vicky Luengo; and German director Christian Petzold.
They will decide the winners of the Golden Shell for best film and Silver Shell for best director, leading performance and supporting performance, and will...
- 9/8/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Hayao Miyazaki will receive a Donostia Award Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival French filmmaker Claire Denis will chair San Sebastian Film Festival's official during this year.
The 35 Shots Of Rum director will be joined by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (The Lady In The Portrait), Colombian filmmaker and producer Cristina Gallego (Birds Of Passage), French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Hungarian producer Robert Lantos (Eastern Promises), Spanish star Vicky Luengo (Cork) and German director Christian Petzold, whose Afire is screening in the festival's Pearls section.
The festival has also announced that Hayao Miyazaki, whose The Boy And The Heron is this year's opening film, will receive a Donostia Award for lifetie achievement in a virtual ceremony.
Among the other filmmakers in attendance will be Maite Alberdi, Ja Bayona, Robin Campillo, Isabel Coixet, Víctor Erice, Michel Franco, Matteo Garrone, Craig Gillespie, Jonathan Glazer, Kitty Green, Todd Haynes, Tran Anh Hung, Ladj Ly,...
The 35 Shots Of Rum director will be joined by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (The Lady In The Portrait), Colombian filmmaker and producer Cristina Gallego (Birds Of Passage), French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, Hungarian producer Robert Lantos (Eastern Promises), Spanish star Vicky Luengo (Cork) and German director Christian Petzold, whose Afire is screening in the festival's Pearls section.
The festival has also announced that Hayao Miyazaki, whose The Boy And The Heron is this year's opening film, will receive a Donostia Award for lifetie achievement in a virtual ceremony.
Among the other filmmakers in attendance will be Maite Alberdi, Ja Bayona, Robin Campillo, Isabel Coixet, Víctor Erice, Michel Franco, Matteo Garrone, Craig Gillespie, Jonathan Glazer, Kitty Green, Todd Haynes, Tran Anh Hung, Ladj Ly,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
French filmmaker Claire Denis has been announced as the jury president for the Official Section of the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival, running from September 22-30.
Denis will be joined by the German director Christian Petzold; Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, director, and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; and Spanish actress Vicky Luengo.
The jury awards the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell awards for Best Director, Best Leading Performance, and Best Supporting Performance, as well as jury prizes for Cinematography and Screenplay. The Official Awards will be announced and presented at the festival’s Closing Gala on September 30.
The festival also announced today that it will hand Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki an honorary Donostia Award for career achievement. Miyazaki will receive the award virtually during the opening ceremony on September 22.
Filmmakers also set to attend San Seb include Maite Alberdi,...
Denis will be joined by the German director Christian Petzold; Chinese actress Fan Bingbing; Colombian producer, director, and writer Cristina Gallego; French photographer Brigitte Lacombe; Hungarian producer Robert Lantos; and Spanish actress Vicky Luengo.
The jury awards the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Silver Shell awards for Best Director, Best Leading Performance, and Best Supporting Performance, as well as jury prizes for Cinematography and Screenplay. The Official Awards will be announced and presented at the festival’s Closing Gala on September 30.
The festival also announced today that it will hand Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki an honorary Donostia Award for career achievement. Miyazaki will receive the award virtually during the opening ceremony on September 22.
Filmmakers also set to attend San Seb include Maite Alberdi,...
- 9/8/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-tv powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023,
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego.
Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”
All in all, Seriesmakers, which is just...
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego.
Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”
All in all, Seriesmakers, which is just...
- 3/13/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In a new legal setback for Colombian director Ciro Guerra, best known for his Oscar-nominated film “Embrace of the Serpent,” a Bogota court has denied the injunction that he filed against the journalists behind an explosive 2020 report detailing anonymous accounts of alleged sexual harassment and abuse.
In its statement, the court noted: “The journalists did not violate the rights of the petitioner, but instead presented a report of public and political interest, which reflects a specially protected discourse that is necessary to confront discrimination against women and gender-based violence.”
“These women brought to society the echoes of the voices of other women, insecure in the face of an institution that is still precarious to face harassment and abuse; and that, on many occasions, ends up generating additional damage to the victims,” it added.
“This ruling by the Constitutional Court vindicates the democratic value of feminist journalism as a form of...
In its statement, the court noted: “The journalists did not violate the rights of the petitioner, but instead presented a report of public and political interest, which reflects a specially protected discourse that is necessary to confront discrimination against women and gender-based violence.”
“These women brought to society the echoes of the voices of other women, insecure in the face of an institution that is still precarious to face harassment and abuse; and that, on many occasions, ends up generating additional damage to the victims,” it added.
“This ruling by the Constitutional Court vindicates the democratic value of feminist journalism as a form of...
- 2/2/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Establishing herself as one of the world’s few Arctic Circle feature film producers, having set up shop in Norway’s Tromsø, former Mer Films production exec Elisa Fernanda Pirir is launching her own production company, Staer, which is backing productions by Morocco’s Nabil Ayouch and Colombia’s Juan Carlos Arango, among others, as she also develops her first titles by Sami talent.
Born in Guatemala, Pirir is joined at Staer by KriStine Ann Skaret, behind the award-winning film “Villagers and Vagabonds” (2020), the co-production “Aswang” (2019) and the premiere-ready “Not That Kind of Guy” (2022).
Born in Guatemala but moving to northern Norway in 2007, Pirir joined Mer Film, the company behind Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “Disco” Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents” and Ole Giæver’s “Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow,” which plays in Nordic Competition at this year’s Goteborg Film Festival. Mer also co-produced Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Flee.
Born in Guatemala, Pirir is joined at Staer by KriStine Ann Skaret, behind the award-winning film “Villagers and Vagabonds” (2020), the co-production “Aswang” (2019) and the premiere-ready “Not That Kind of Guy” (2022).
Born in Guatemala but moving to northern Norway in 2007, Pirir joined Mer Film, the company behind Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “Disco” Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents” and Ole Giæver’s “Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow,” which plays in Nordic Competition at this year’s Goteborg Film Festival. Mer also co-produced Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Flee.
- 1/18/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Cinecolor, Interior 13 to distribute theatrically in Colombia, Mexico.
Netflix has picked up the Americas excluding Colombia and Mexico on Laura Mora’s San Sebastian Golden Shell winner and Colombian Oscar submission The Kings Of The World.
The drama about friendship among a group of street boys from Medellin, Colombia, will also launch on the platform after its theatrical releases in Colombia and Mexico through Cinecolor and Interior 13, respectively.
Mora, who broke out with her 2017 revenge drama Killing Jesus, co-wrote the screenplay with María Camila Arias. The Kings Of The World follows five boys as they set out on a journey...
Netflix has picked up the Americas excluding Colombia and Mexico on Laura Mora’s San Sebastian Golden Shell winner and Colombian Oscar submission The Kings Of The World.
The drama about friendship among a group of street boys from Medellin, Colombia, will also launch on the platform after its theatrical releases in Colombia and Mexico through Cinecolor and Interior 13, respectively.
Mora, who broke out with her 2017 revenge drama Killing Jesus, co-wrote the screenplay with María Camila Arias. The Kings Of The World follows five boys as they set out on a journey...
- 10/24/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Colombian director Laura Mora’s drama The Kings Of The World has clinched the Golden Eye for best feature film at the Zurich Film Festival.
The award follows hot on the heels of the film’s triumph at the San Sebastian Film Festival exactly a week ago, where it world premiered and then won the Golden Shell for best film.
The drama follows five street kids from Medellin who set off on a dangerous trip into the Colombian hinterland, after one of them is granted the right to a piece of land taken from his family by paramilitaries, during the country’s 52-year conflict which displaced more than five million people.
The Kings Of The World was produced by producer and director Cristina Gallego, whose credits include Birds Of Passage and the Oscar-nominated The Embrace Of The Serpent.
The film also previously screened to professionals as part of the TIFF...
The award follows hot on the heels of the film’s triumph at the San Sebastian Film Festival exactly a week ago, where it world premiered and then won the Golden Shell for best film.
The drama follows five street kids from Medellin who set off on a dangerous trip into the Colombian hinterland, after one of them is granted the right to a piece of land taken from his family by paramilitaries, during the country’s 52-year conflict which displaced more than five million people.
The Kings Of The World was produced by producer and director Cristina Gallego, whose credits include Birds Of Passage and the Oscar-nominated The Embrace Of The Serpent.
The film also previously screened to professionals as part of the TIFF...
- 10/1/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Colombian director Laura Mora’s coming-of-age drama “Kings of the World” has taken the Golden Shell for Best Film at the San Sebastian Film Festival, marking the third consecutive year that a female filmmaker has taken the top prize at the Spanish fest.
The film, Mora’s second feature, is a raw, unusual coming-of-age drama, supplanting the sentimentality that tends to dominate that genre with delirious, even surreal energy in its story of five Medellin street kids who venture from the city into the jungle, in pursuit of ancestral land. Premiering in the latter days of the fest, it proved popular with critics, but nonetheless represents an underdog victor in a competition that included such established names as Sebastian Lelio, Hong Sangsoo and Christophe Honoré.
Instead, youth dominated the slate of winners, with freshman American filmmaker Marian Mathias taking the runner-up Special Jury Prize for her debut feature “Runner,” while...
The film, Mora’s second feature, is a raw, unusual coming-of-age drama, supplanting the sentimentality that tends to dominate that genre with delirious, even surreal energy in its story of five Medellin street kids who venture from the city into the jungle, in pursuit of ancestral land. Premiering in the latter days of the fest, it proved popular with critics, but nonetheless represents an underdog victor in a competition that included such established names as Sebastian Lelio, Hong Sangsoo and Christophe Honoré.
Instead, youth dominated the slate of winners, with freshman American filmmaker Marian Mathias taking the runner-up Special Jury Prize for her debut feature “Runner,” while...
- 9/24/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish production and distribution company Bteam Pictures has picked up all rights for Spain to San Sebastián competition title “Los Reyes del Mundo” (“Kings of the World”).
Film Factory Entertainment brokered the deal with Bteam partners Ania Jones, Alex Lafuente and Lara Pérez Camiña.
Film Factory’s Vicente Canales confirmed to Variety that the company is handling worldwide sales for the film, excluding France, Benelux, Colombia and Mexico.
“Bteam is well known for distributing quality films in Spain and has already released several of our Spanish pictures,” said Canales. “We believe they are the best match for ‘Kings of the World,’ which is one of the most important Colombian films of the year.”
Barcelona-based Film Factory is focused on the international sale of Spanish productions and collaborations with Europe and Latin America.
CineColombia is confirmed to distribute the film in Colombia.
Jones saw the film in San Sebastián where the Bteam co-production,...
Film Factory Entertainment brokered the deal with Bteam partners Ania Jones, Alex Lafuente and Lara Pérez Camiña.
Film Factory’s Vicente Canales confirmed to Variety that the company is handling worldwide sales for the film, excluding France, Benelux, Colombia and Mexico.
“Bteam is well known for distributing quality films in Spain and has already released several of our Spanish pictures,” said Canales. “We believe they are the best match for ‘Kings of the World,’ which is one of the most important Colombian films of the year.”
Barcelona-based Film Factory is focused on the international sale of Spanish productions and collaborations with Europe and Latin America.
CineColombia is confirmed to distribute the film in Colombia.
Jones saw the film in San Sebastián where the Bteam co-production,...
- 9/23/2022
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
“Kings of the World” (“Los Reyes del Mundo”), by Colombia’s Laura Mora has shared its trailer exclusively with Variety in advance of its world premiere in Spain’s San Sebastian festival and its Oct. 6 theatrical release in Colombia.
Said Mora: “We are very happy to finally be able to release the film! It has been a very long and demanding process…. And to premiere in the official competition of a festival like San Sebastián, surrounded by directors that we deeply admire, is an honor.”
Film Factory Entertainment handles international sales.
Played by non-pros, “Kings of the World” follows five teens ranging from ages 12 to 19 who roam aimlessly through the streets of Medellin, Colombia. When Rá, the oldest in the gang, receives a letter from the government about the restitution of land that was seized from his grandmother by the paramilitary, he and his friends decide to make the trip...
Said Mora: “We are very happy to finally be able to release the film! It has been a very long and demanding process…. And to premiere in the official competition of a festival like San Sebastián, surrounded by directors that we deeply admire, is an honor.”
Film Factory Entertainment handles international sales.
Played by non-pros, “Kings of the World” follows five teens ranging from ages 12 to 19 who roam aimlessly through the streets of Medellin, Colombia. When Rá, the oldest in the gang, receives a letter from the government about the restitution of land that was seized from his grandmother by the paramilitary, he and his friends decide to make the trip...
- 8/5/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDesigned by Hartland Villa, the official poster for the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival features a still from Peter Weir and Andrew Niccol’s The Truman Show. The festival has also unveiled the lineup for its official selection, which features a hefty list of competitors for the Palme d'Or. Check out the full lineup here.Accompanying the official selection are the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week lineups, which are not to be overlooked. Pietro Marcello's French-language debut Scarlet will be opening the Directors' Fortnight, while Yann Gonzalez and July Jung will be premiering new films at Critics' Week. Kelly Reichardt will be receiving an honorary Golden Leopard from this year's Locarno International Film Festival in celebration of her distinguished career, throughout which she's "[redesigned] the profile of genres, from western to thriller,...
- 4/20/2022
- MUBI
Los Reyes del Mundo
Among the bright spots in contemporary Colombian cinema, Laura Mora moved into her third feature film this past autumn. With a rather fruitful filmography to date comprised of television and docu films, Los Reyes del Mundo (Kings of the World) sees Mora work with a significant alumni folks who mounted Birds of Passage. Inspired by Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mobile Men, co-written by María Camila Arias, produced by Cristina Gallego (Birds of Passage) and Mirlanda Torres with some Euro co-production coin from Luxembourg and France, this sees the filmmaker return to a street youth portrait and once again working with non-professional actors – a tale about five young men from Medellín.…...
Among the bright spots in contemporary Colombian cinema, Laura Mora moved into her third feature film this past autumn. With a rather fruitful filmography to date comprised of television and docu films, Los Reyes del Mundo (Kings of the World) sees Mora work with a significant alumni folks who mounted Birds of Passage. Inspired by Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mobile Men, co-written by María Camila Arias, produced by Cristina Gallego (Birds of Passage) and Mirlanda Torres with some Euro co-production coin from Luxembourg and France, this sees the filmmaker return to a street youth portrait and once again working with non-professional actors – a tale about five young men from Medellín.…...
- 1/7/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The 10th Panama Int’l Film Festival wrapped Sunday, Dec. 5 with Michel Franco’s Acapulco-set drama “Sundown” closing the event.
Winners of the rough-cut sidebar Primera Mirada were announced at closing night, which took place at festival venue, La Manzana de Santa Ana. Costa Rican entries took home the top prizes this year, indicative of the tiny Central American nation’s outsized filmmaking talent.
The Primera Mirada jury, led by Diana Sánchez, Marcelo Quesada and Paula Gastaud, bestowed the top prize to Costa Rican supernatural drama “Domingo and the Mist” by Ariel Escalante who took home the $10,000 cash prize; Mauricio Morales of El Salvador won the second cash prize of $5,000 for his docu “Milo, Breaking Frontiers.”
“I’m enormously thankful to Iff Panama for having not only supported ‘Domingo and the Mist,’ both in Primera Mirada as well as in the Panama Film Match a year and a half ago,...
Winners of the rough-cut sidebar Primera Mirada were announced at closing night, which took place at festival venue, La Manzana de Santa Ana. Costa Rican entries took home the top prizes this year, indicative of the tiny Central American nation’s outsized filmmaking talent.
The Primera Mirada jury, led by Diana Sánchez, Marcelo Quesada and Paula Gastaud, bestowed the top prize to Costa Rican supernatural drama “Domingo and the Mist” by Ariel Escalante who took home the $10,000 cash prize; Mauricio Morales of El Salvador won the second cash prize of $5,000 for his docu “Milo, Breaking Frontiers.”
“I’m enormously thankful to Iff Panama for having not only supported ‘Domingo and the Mist,’ both in Primera Mirada as well as in the Panama Film Match a year and a half ago,...
- 12/6/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Iff Panama’s co-production forum, the Panama Film Match, launched in 2020 in a virtual format. It’s now holding its first in-person format between Dec. 2-4 as part of the 10th Panama Intl. Film Festival (Iff Panama).
Creating a co-production forum has been a long-standing goal for Iff Panama, the highest-profile film event in Central America. The Pfm is a sister event to Iff Panama’s pix-in-post sidebar, Primera Mirada, which are already showing synergies.
One of the projects that received a special mention in last year’s edition of the Pfm, Ariel Escalante’s Costa Rican supernatural drama “Domingo and the Fog” is returning this year as one of the five films competing in Primera Mirada.
The forum is supported by the Idb Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group.
“Panama Film Match seeks to be a meeting place for artistic, economic and creative cooperation between...
Creating a co-production forum has been a long-standing goal for Iff Panama, the highest-profile film event in Central America. The Pfm is a sister event to Iff Panama’s pix-in-post sidebar, Primera Mirada, which are already showing synergies.
One of the projects that received a special mention in last year’s edition of the Pfm, Ariel Escalante’s Costa Rican supernatural drama “Domingo and the Fog” is returning this year as one of the five films competing in Primera Mirada.
The forum is supported by the Idb Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group.
“Panama Film Match seeks to be a meeting place for artistic, economic and creative cooperation between...
- 12/3/2021
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Celebrated up-and-coming Colombian filmmaker Laura Mora has wrapped shooting on her third feature “Kings of the World,” backed by Cristina Gallego, producer-director of 2018 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit “Birds of Passage,” and Mirlanda Torres.
“Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the label behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Torres’ La Selva Producciones. It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias, a co-writer on “Birds of Passage,” “Kings of the World” is among the titles that sales agent Film Factory Entertainment is presenting at the Toronto Festival’s market.
The feature follows Rape, Culebro, Sere, Winny and Nano, five Medellín young men of and from the streets.
“Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the label behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Torres’ La Selva Producciones. It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias, a co-writer on “Birds of Passage,” “Kings of the World” is among the titles that sales agent Film Factory Entertainment is presenting at the Toronto Festival’s market.
The feature follows Rape, Culebro, Sere, Winny and Nano, five Medellín young men of and from the streets.
- 9/9/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Cristina Gallego, producer-director of 2018 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit “Birds of Passage,” is set to produce “Kings of the World,” the second feature by Colombia’s Laura Mora. Mora’s “Killing Jesus” marked one of the most notable of recent Latin American debuts.
Shooting this month in Medellin and Bajo Cauca, Colombia, “Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the shingle behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Mirlanda Torres’ La Selva Producciones.
It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
“Kings of the World” is being brought onto the Cannes market by Film Factory Entertainment, a sales agent on “The Weeping Woman,” “Wild Tales” and “The Clan.”
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias,...
Shooting this month in Medellin and Bajo Cauca, Colombia, “Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the shingle behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Mirlanda Torres’ La Selva Producciones.
It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
“Kings of the World” is being brought onto the Cannes market by Film Factory Entertainment, a sales agent on “The Weeping Woman,” “Wild Tales” and “The Clan.”
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias,...
- 7/6/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Natalia Reyes has signed on to star in Tomorrow Before After, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that is scheduled to start shooting this month in Colombia.
The film, from writer/director Alfonso Quijada (El Suspiro del Silencio), centers on a woman with no name (played by Reyes) who struggles to survive on her own in a post-apocalyptic world, searching for others, with only a stray dog by her side.
In her quest, she collides with a world that is collapsed and utterly destroyed, and it seems, for a long time, that she is the only survivor in the world—until she discovers one day that she is pregnant. Not understanding how this could be possible, she then begins to question her own existence.
Chad Barager and Ian Ihnatowycz are producing Tomorrow Before After through Barager’s Apollo Pictures and Ihnatowycz’s First Generation Capital.
The film, from writer/director Alfonso Quijada (El Suspiro del Silencio), centers on a woman with no name (played by Reyes) who struggles to survive on her own in a post-apocalyptic world, searching for others, with only a stray dog by her side.
In her quest, she collides with a world that is collapsed and utterly destroyed, and it seems, for a long time, that she is the only survivor in the world—until she discovers one day that she is pregnant. Not understanding how this could be possible, she then begins to question her own existence.
Chad Barager and Ian Ihnatowycz are producing Tomorrow Before After through Barager’s Apollo Pictures and Ihnatowycz’s First Generation Capital.
- 6/17/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Nearly a year after accusations of sexual harassment and abuse were leveled against Ciro Guerra, the Colombian director behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent,” a Bogota court overseeing a defamation case filed by the filmmaker has ruled in his favor, and asked for more evidence from the outlet that ran the claims.
The court has ordered the editors of Volcanicas, a Latin American feminist journal, to rectify their June 24 article because it did “not comply with the requirements of veracity and impartiality,” as it lacked detail and evidence.
Volcanicas in June published allegations from eight anonymous women who described incidents of harassment and abuse spanning the period between 2013 and 2019 in Colombia, Mexico, New York and Berlin. The publication doesn’t name the women but says it conducted direct interviews with each accuser and heard recordings as well as viewed text message exchanges — which it posted — that detail the alleged harassment...
The court has ordered the editors of Volcanicas, a Latin American feminist journal, to rectify their June 24 article because it did “not comply with the requirements of veracity and impartiality,” as it lacked detail and evidence.
Volcanicas in June published allegations from eight anonymous women who described incidents of harassment and abuse spanning the period between 2013 and 2019 in Colombia, Mexico, New York and Berlin. The publication doesn’t name the women but says it conducted direct interviews with each accuser and heard recordings as well as viewed text message exchanges — which it posted — that detail the alleged harassment...
- 5/5/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Filmmaker Lissette Feliciano has inked with Verve following the success of her feature debut at SXSW, Women Is Losers, which she wrote, directed, and produced.
Set during the 1960s in San Francisco, Women Is Losers follows bright and talented Catholic school girl Celina Guerrera (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Lorenza Izzo) survives a difficult home life by following the rules. That is until an indiscretion creates a series of devastating consequences. As Celina faces the compounded obstacles of being young and alone, she sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest in a future that sets new precedents for the time. The pic is inspired by real women and the Janis Joplin song of the same title. Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect 2 & 3) and Liza Weil (How to Get Away With Murder) also star.
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts,...
Set during the 1960s in San Francisco, Women Is Losers follows bright and talented Catholic school girl Celina Guerrera (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Lorenza Izzo) survives a difficult home life by following the rules. That is until an indiscretion creates a series of devastating consequences. As Celina faces the compounded obstacles of being young and alone, she sets out to rise above the oppression of poverty and invest in a future that sets new precedents for the time. The pic is inspired by real women and the Janis Joplin song of the same title. Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect 2 & 3) and Liza Weil (How to Get Away With Murder) also star.
A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts,...
- 4/12/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Director of the Netflix hit teen dramedy To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Susan Johnson, has signed with Verve.
The filmmaker joins an eclectic and diverse roster of female directors at Verve including Kim Peirce, Hanelle Culpepper, directing duo Bert & Bertie, Cristina Gallego, Leigh Janiak, Tanya Wexler and Gigi Saul Guerrero.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before premiered on Netflix in the summer of 2018 becoming reportedly one of the most re-watched films that year. The feature followed a teenage girl whose secret love letters are exposed and wreaked havoc on her love life. Critics loved it at 96% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Johnson executive produced the pic’s sequel last year, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
Next up, Johnson is attached to direct Rabbit Cake for Amazon starring McKenna Grace, a heart-wrenching dramedy based on the NY Times best-selling book by Annie Hartnett.
The filmmaker joins an eclectic and diverse roster of female directors at Verve including Kim Peirce, Hanelle Culpepper, directing duo Bert & Bertie, Cristina Gallego, Leigh Janiak, Tanya Wexler and Gigi Saul Guerrero.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before premiered on Netflix in the summer of 2018 becoming reportedly one of the most re-watched films that year. The feature followed a teenage girl whose secret love letters are exposed and wreaked havoc on her love life. Critics loved it at 96% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Johnson executive produced the pic’s sequel last year, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
Next up, Johnson is attached to direct Rabbit Cake for Amazon starring McKenna Grace, a heart-wrenching dramedy based on the NY Times best-selling book by Annie Hartnett.
- 1/19/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Verve has signed Colombian filmmaker Cristina Gallego, and will rep her in all areas as she moves to widen her reach and continue her passion for telling untold stories from a female perspective.
Gallego co-directed Birds of Passage, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, was selected as the Colombian entry and made the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The film is not a traditional Colombian drug-running story; it follows the journey of a Wayuu Indian family as they forego their traditions and fall into the drug trade. Gallego was at the forefront of the creative process and wanted to subvert the genre that has typically been very macho by focusing on stories from the female members of the family and community. She directed the film with Ciro Guerra, her ex-husband; she produced the acclaimed 2015 film Embrace of the Serpent,...
Gallego co-directed Birds of Passage, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, was selected as the Colombian entry and made the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The film is not a traditional Colombian drug-running story; it follows the journey of a Wayuu Indian family as they forego their traditions and fall into the drug trade. Gallego was at the forefront of the creative process and wanted to subvert the genre that has typically been very macho by focusing on stories from the female members of the family and community. She directed the film with Ciro Guerra, her ex-husband; she produced the acclaimed 2015 film Embrace of the Serpent,...
- 12/16/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Italy’s Iervolino Entertainment is boasting a slew of international sales on Ciro Guerra-directed drama “Waiting for the Barbarians,” toplining Johnny Depp and starring Robert Pattinson, Mark Rylance, Gana Bayarsaikhan and Greta Scacchi.
The adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s prize-winning novel, which launched from Venice last year, has been sold by Iervolino’s Ambi Distribution unit to Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Cis (Paradise), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), Taiwan (Cai Chang International), Australia (Defiant), Latin America (Dreamgold), Turkey (Filmarti), and Scandinavia and Iceland, among other territories.
Ambi is now looking to close more deals during the Toronto Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday.
The film, which is an allegory of the war between oppressor and oppressed and sees Depp play the reactionary Colonel Joll, was originally slated by Samuel Goldwyn Films for a theatrical release in the U.S. However, due to Covid-19, it instead went out...
The adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s prize-winning novel, which launched from Venice last year, has been sold by Iervolino’s Ambi Distribution unit to Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Cis (Paradise), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), Taiwan (Cai Chang International), Australia (Defiant), Latin America (Dreamgold), Turkey (Filmarti), and Scandinavia and Iceland, among other territories.
Ambi is now looking to close more deals during the Toronto Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday.
The film, which is an allegory of the war between oppressor and oppressed and sees Depp play the reactionary Colonel Joll, was originally slated by Samuel Goldwyn Films for a theatrical release in the U.S. However, due to Covid-19, it instead went out...
- 9/10/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Germany, Australia, France among territories sold
Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson has secured a raft of key international sales through Ambi Distribution.
Iervolino Entertainment announced the sales as the TIFF virtual market gets underway.
Rights to the drama have gone in Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Australia (Defiant), Italy (Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A.), Scandinavia & Iceland (Non Stop), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), and Taiwan (Cai Chang International).
Deals also closed in Latin America (Dreamgold), Cis (Paradise), Turkey (Filmarti), Mongolia (Black Stallion), Indonesia (Artist View), Benelux (One2See), and...
Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson has secured a raft of key international sales through Ambi Distribution.
Iervolino Entertainment announced the sales as the TIFF virtual market gets underway.
Rights to the drama have gone in Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Australia (Defiant), Italy (Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A.), Scandinavia & Iceland (Non Stop), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), and Taiwan (Cai Chang International).
Deals also closed in Latin America (Dreamgold), Cis (Paradise), Turkey (Filmarti), Mongolia (Black Stallion), Indonesia (Artist View), Benelux (One2See), and...
- 9/10/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Germany, Australia, France among territories sold
Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson has secured a raft of key international sales through Ambi Distribution.
Iervolino Entertainment announced the sales as the TIFF virtual market gets underway.
Rights to the drama have gone in Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Australia (Defiant), Italy (Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A.), Scandinavia & Iceland (Non Stop), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), and Taiwan (Cai Chang International).
Deals also closed in Latin America (Dreamgold), Cis (Paradise), Turkey (Filmarti), Mongolia (Black Stallion), Indonesia (Artist View), Benelux (One2See), and...
Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson has secured a raft of key international sales through Ambi Distribution.
Iervolino Entertainment announced the sales as the TIFF virtual market gets underway.
Rights to the drama have gone in Germany (Constantin Film), France (Snd), Australia (Defiant), Italy (Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A.), Scandinavia & Iceland (Non Stop), Middle East (Falcon Films), Cee (Vertical), and Taiwan (Cai Chang International).
Deals also closed in Latin America (Dreamgold), Cis (Paradise), Turkey (Filmarti), Mongolia (Black Stallion), Indonesia (Artist View), Benelux (One2See), and...
- 9/10/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
2019 Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions Algeria – Until The End Of Time – Yasmine Chouikh Argentina– The Angel (El Angel) – Luis Ortega Austria – The Waldheim Waltz – Ruth Beckermann Belarus – Crystal Swan – Darya Zhuk Belgium – Girl – Lukas Dhont Bolivia – Muralla – Rodrigo Patiño Bosnia – Never Leave Me – Aida Begic Brazil – The Great Mystical Circus – Carlos Diegues Bulgaria – Omnipresent – Ilian Djevelekov Cambodia – Graves Without A Name – Rithy Pan Canada – Watch Dog – Sophie Dupuis Chile – And Suddenly The Dawn – Silvio Caiozzi Colombia– Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra Croatia – The Eighth Commissioner – Ivan Salaj Czech Republic – Winter Flies – Olmo Omerzu Denmark – The Guilty – Gustav Möller Dominican Republic – Cocote – Nelson Carlo de los Santos Ecuador – A Son Of Man – Jamaicanoproblem and Pablo Agüero Egypt – Yomeddine – Abu Bakr Shawky Estonia – Take It Or Leave It – Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo Finland – Euthanizer – Teemu Nikin France – Memoir Of War – Emmanuel Finkiel Georgia – Namme – Zaza Khalvashi Germany – Never Look Away – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck...
- 8/21/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Ciro Guerra has denied allegations of sexual misconduct leveled by eight women against one of Colombia’s most prominent filmmakers.
Accusations of harassment and abuse were raised in a June 24 report by Volcanicas, a Latin American feminist journal. The publication does not name the women but says it conducted direct interviews with each accuser and viewed text message exchanges and recordings that detail the alleged harassment and one instance of alleged assault.
None of the women intend to press charges, the Volcanicas article said. Their goal is to call attention to “the normalization of sexual violence in Colombia’s audiovisual industry, which hinders the professional growth of women and affects them physically and emotionally,” wrote Volcanicas editors Catalina Ruiz-Navarro and Matilde de los Milagros Londoño. The article included a transcription of their call with Guerra where they asked him to respond to the charges, which he denied.
The incidents...
Accusations of harassment and abuse were raised in a June 24 report by Volcanicas, a Latin American feminist journal. The publication does not name the women but says it conducted direct interviews with each accuser and viewed text message exchanges and recordings that detail the alleged harassment and one instance of alleged assault.
None of the women intend to press charges, the Volcanicas article said. Their goal is to call attention to “the normalization of sexual violence in Colombia’s audiovisual industry, which hinders the professional growth of women and affects them physically and emotionally,” wrote Volcanicas editors Catalina Ruiz-Navarro and Matilde de los Milagros Londoño. The article included a transcription of their call with Guerra where they asked him to respond to the charges, which he denied.
The incidents...
- 6/26/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker has been working on Hernan Cortez mini-series for Amazon Prime, Amblin Television.
Colombian auteur Ciro Guerra, whose first English-language film Waiting For The Barbarians has been in the Cannes virtual market, has denied sexual misconduct allegations.
Online feminist magzine Volcánicas published this week claims by a number of unnamed women alleging misconduct over a number of recent years.
Guerro said in a video posted online that the allegations were “completely false” and said he had no alternative but to pursue legal channels to clear his name.
The filmmaker captured the attention with 2009 Cannes selection The Wind Journeys and followed...
Colombian auteur Ciro Guerra, whose first English-language film Waiting For The Barbarians has been in the Cannes virtual market, has denied sexual misconduct allegations.
Online feminist magzine Volcánicas published this week claims by a number of unnamed women alleging misconduct over a number of recent years.
Guerro said in a video posted online that the allegations were “completely false” and said he had no alternative but to pursue legal channels to clear his name.
The filmmaker captured the attention with 2009 Cannes selection The Wind Journeys and followed...
- 6/26/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Embrace of the Serpent director Ciro Guerra is vehemently denying the sexual harassment and assault allegations made against him earlier this week.
Seven women are claiming the Oscar nominated filmmaker harassed them and an eighth is asserting that Guerra raped her, according to an article published on June 24 in the online magazine Volcanicas. None of the accusers wanted their identities revealed in the detailed article. All members of the film industry in various capacities, the accusers also said that they will not pursue legal remedies against Guerra for fear of a public “backlash.”
Colombian helmer Guerra says he will in fact head to the courts – though it is unclear exactly who he intends to sue.
“I want to state that the publication today of grave accusations in the online magazine Volcanicas …against me are completely false,” the filmmaker said in a video he posted online Thursday. I committed none of...
Seven women are claiming the Oscar nominated filmmaker harassed them and an eighth is asserting that Guerra raped her, according to an article published on June 24 in the online magazine Volcanicas. None of the accusers wanted their identities revealed in the detailed article. All members of the film industry in various capacities, the accusers also said that they will not pursue legal remedies against Guerra for fear of a public “backlash.”
Colombian helmer Guerra says he will in fact head to the courts – though it is unclear exactly who he intends to sue.
“I want to state that the publication today of grave accusations in the online magazine Volcanicas …against me are completely false,” the filmmaker said in a video he posted online Thursday. I committed none of...
- 6/26/2020
- by Dominic Patten and Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Samuel Goldwyn Films has released the first trailer to Ciro Guerra’s feature film Waiting For The Barbarians. The film stars Academy Award Winner Mark Rylance, Academy Award Nominee Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, and Greta Scacchi. Waiting For The Barbarians was will be released on cable On-Demand & Digital platforms August 7.
The Magistrate (Mark Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which leads the Magistrate to question his loyalty to the empire.
Waiting For The Barbarians was directed by Ciro Guerra (his first English Language film) and written by Nobel Prize winning author J.M. Coetzee, who adapted the screenplay from his own novel. Two-time...
The Magistrate (Mark Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which leads the Magistrate to question his loyalty to the empire.
Waiting For The Barbarians was directed by Ciro Guerra (his first English Language film) and written by Nobel Prize winning author J.M. Coetzee, who adapted the screenplay from his own novel. Two-time...
- 6/24/2020
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Drama premiered in Venice Film Festival 2019.
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, and Robert Pattinson and will release on digital platforms in August.
The J.M. Coetzee adaptation had been intended to launch theatrically, however the decision was taken to release on VoD and digital first given uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic as to when theatres might reopen.
Gana Bayarsaikhan and Greta Scacchi also star in the period drama about a magistrate (Rylance) in the frontier of an unnamed empire whose retirement plans are scuppered when...
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to Ciro Guerra’s Waiting For The Barbarians starring Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp, and Robert Pattinson and will release on digital platforms in August.
The J.M. Coetzee adaptation had been intended to launch theatrically, however the decision was taken to release on VoD and digital first given uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic as to when theatres might reopen.
Gana Bayarsaikhan and Greta Scacchi also star in the period drama about a magistrate (Rylance) in the frontier of an unnamed empire whose retirement plans are scuppered when...
- 5/20/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights to the Ciro Guerra-directed feature, Waiting for the Barbarians, which stars Oscar winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Oscar nominee Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise), newly minted Batman Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse), Gana Bayarsaikhan (Ex Machina), and Greta Scacchi (The Girl in the Fog). Originally slated for a theatrical release, the pic will now be available on digital platforms this August.
The drama is based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee, who also adapted the screenplay. It follows a Magistrate (Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire who looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which...
The drama is based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee, who also adapted the screenplay. It follows a Magistrate (Rylance) of an isolated frontier settlement on the border of an unnamed empire who looks forward to an easy retirement until the arrival of Colonel Joll (Depp), whose task it is to report on the activities of the ‘barbarians’ and on the security situation on the border. Joll conducts a series of ruthless interrogations, which...
- 5/20/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
”Antonio was not only our dear friend and honourary grandfather, but he was a teacher and master to us all.”
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have highlighted the threat to indigenous Amazonian communities as it emerged that Antonio Bolívar, who played a shaman in the drama, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar died on Friday (May 1) in Leticia, a southern Colombian town on the border with Brazil and Peru near the Amazon River, according to a report in The City Paper Bogota. He is survived by his wife Celina and son Pedro.
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have highlighted the threat to indigenous Amazonian communities as it emerged that Antonio Bolívar, who played a shaman in the drama, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar died on Friday (May 1) in Leticia, a southern Colombian town on the border with Brazil and Peru near the Amazon River, according to a report in The City Paper Bogota. He is survived by his wife Celina and son Pedro.
- 5/6/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
“Today the legacy of indigenous groups is more urgent than ever.”
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have called for protection of indigenous people as it emerged that Antonio Bolívar, who played a shaman in the film, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar died on Friday (May 1) in Leticia, a southern Colombian town on the border with Brazil and Peru near the Amazon River, according to a report in The City Paper Bogota. He is survived by his wife Celina and son Pedro.
The virus has reached the...
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have called for protection of indigenous people as it emerged that Antonio Bolívar, who played a shaman in the film, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar died on Friday (May 1) in Leticia, a southern Colombian town on the border with Brazil and Peru near the Amazon River, according to a report in The City Paper Bogota. He is survived by his wife Celina and son Pedro.
The virus has reached the...
- 5/5/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
“Today the legacy of indigenous groups is more urgent than ever.”
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have called for protection of indigenous people as it emerged one of the film’s stars, Antonio Bolívar, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar, the indigenous tribesman who played the shaman in Ciro Guerra’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection, died on Friday (May 1) according to The City Paper Bogota after he was admitted to hospital in Leticia, Colombia, last week.
Said to be one of the last members of the Huitoto...
The filmmakers behind Colombian Oscar nominee Embrace Of The Serpent have called for protection of indigenous people as it emerged one of the film’s stars, Antonio Bolívar, has died after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms. He was 72.
Bolívar, the indigenous tribesman who played the shaman in Ciro Guerra’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection, died on Friday (May 1) according to The City Paper Bogota after he was admitted to hospital in Leticia, Colombia, last week.
Said to be one of the last members of the Huitoto...
- 5/5/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
One of the hippest, most international Scandinavian companies, the Copenhagen-based Snowglobe, is the 5-year-old banner behind “Wildland,” the female-powered crime film set to world premiere at the Berlinale.
Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) as a mafia ringleader and introducing Sandra Guldberg Kampp, “Wildland” was written by Ingeborg Topsoe (“The Charmer”) and directed by Jeanette Nordahl. It explores the themes of family, loyalty and the cycle of violence, addiction and corruption. “It’s a female take on a mafia story, a genre that has traditionally been male-driven,” says Katrin Pors, Snowglobe’s co-founder.
The company was founded in 2015 by three plugged-in Scandinavian film executives with complementary backgrounds: Eva Jakobsen, a former producer at Nimbus Film and Zentropa, who produced hit “Antboy”; Mikkel Jersin, a former producer at Nimbus who worked with Joachim Trier, Runar Runarsson and Lisa Langseth; and Pors, who spent years in Latin America, and co-produced films by the...
Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) as a mafia ringleader and introducing Sandra Guldberg Kampp, “Wildland” was written by Ingeborg Topsoe (“The Charmer”) and directed by Jeanette Nordahl. It explores the themes of family, loyalty and the cycle of violence, addiction and corruption. “It’s a female take on a mafia story, a genre that has traditionally been male-driven,” says Katrin Pors, Snowglobe’s co-founder.
The company was founded in 2015 by three plugged-in Scandinavian film executives with complementary backgrounds: Eva Jakobsen, a former producer at Nimbus Film and Zentropa, who produced hit “Antboy”; Mikkel Jersin, a former producer at Nimbus who worked with Joachim Trier, Runar Runarsson and Lisa Langseth; and Pors, who spent years in Latin America, and co-produced films by the...
- 2/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Adding to the growing chatter of end-of-the-year lists on Twitter among critics and moviegoers, Barack Obama has shared his picks for the best films and TV of 2019. His eclectic list features plenty of talked-about favorites, such as “Booksmart,” “The Irishman,” “Little Women,” and “Parasite.” He also names “Fleabag,” “Unbelievable,” and “Watchmen” as his favorite television series. See Obama’s full Twitter list of film and TV favorites below.
Obama clearly knows his movies. On the film side, he includes some lesser-known, perhaps more cinephile-inclined favorites, from Kent Jones’ somber drama “Diane,” starring Mary Kay Place, to Christian Petzold’s revisionist World War II film “Transit,” Jia Zhangke’s cosmic “Ash Is Purest White,” and Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s crime epic “Birds of Passage.” Obama also is a fan of “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” a mid-year release from A24 that has quietly appeared on critics’ 10 best lists as well.
Obama clearly knows his movies. On the film side, he includes some lesser-known, perhaps more cinephile-inclined favorites, from Kent Jones’ somber drama “Diane,” starring Mary Kay Place, to Christian Petzold’s revisionist World War II film “Transit,” Jia Zhangke’s cosmic “Ash Is Purest White,” and Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s crime epic “Birds of Passage.” Obama also is a fan of “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” a mid-year release from A24 that has quietly appeared on critics’ 10 best lists as well.
- 12/29/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Chicago Indie Critics announced their nominees Saturday for the group’s fourth annual film awards, with Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women leading with eight nominations, including Best Studio Film and Best Director.
Following next with seven nominations each were The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite.
Winners will be announced on January 4, at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in Chicago. Stand-up comedian and former film critic Katie Baker is set to host the ceremony, which will stream live on YouTube.
Following next with seven nominations each were The Irishman, Marriage Story, 1917, and Parasite.
Winners will be announced on January 4, at the Cards Against Humanity Theater in Chicago. Stand-up comedian and former film critic Katie Baker is set to host the ceremony, which will stream live on YouTube.
- 12/29/2019
- by Anita Bennett
- Deadline Film + TV
Nicolas Celis’ TV series “Perfect Monsters” has found its home. The “Roma” producer and his Mexico City-based production company Pimienta Films have inked an exclusive first-look deal with Exile and Endeavour Content, which announced a scripted television partnership in the spring.
“Perfect Monsters,” an epic western created by Celis, Marion d’Ornano and Enrique M. Rizo, is the first project announced under the new deal. The series was among the buzzed-up titles presented at In Development during Miptv.
Based on the eponymous novel by former police officer Miguel Ángel Molfino, the original story set in the Argentine plains has been adapted to take place in 1960s Mexico where 18-year-old Miroslavo flees after his parents are murdered and runs straight into the clutches of an arms dealer, as well as a gang of robbers and a troika of corrupt detectives.
“We are finally developing episodic content and I am very thrilled to...
“Perfect Monsters,” an epic western created by Celis, Marion d’Ornano and Enrique M. Rizo, is the first project announced under the new deal. The series was among the buzzed-up titles presented at In Development during Miptv.
Based on the eponymous novel by former police officer Miguel Ángel Molfino, the original story set in the Argentine plains has been adapted to take place in 1960s Mexico where 18-year-old Miroslavo flees after his parents are murdered and runs straight into the clutches of an arms dealer, as well as a gang of robbers and a troika of corrupt detectives.
“We are finally developing episodic content and I am very thrilled to...
- 12/4/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Looking back, 2019 was a year in which Netflix followed up the history-making performance of “Roma” at the Oscars with the release of Martin Scorsese’s mega-budget “The Irishman,” when Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” broke box office records while DC’s divisive “Joker” spin-off ignited a firestorm of debate, and where rival streaming services Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus further challenged our fundamental concept of what constitutes a motion picture.
Such definitions may be in flux, but the offerings themselves — from studio blockbusters to intimate independents to straight-to-streaming novelties — give film critics and moviegoers alike reason to be optimistic. While Scorsese and Marvel honcho Kevin Feige quite publicly disagreed about what defines a cinematic experience, audiences have more avenues than ever to experience cinema.
Variety reviewed nearly 1,000 new releases this year, from which chief critics Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman picked their favorites among the films that opened in U.
Such definitions may be in flux, but the offerings themselves — from studio blockbusters to intimate independents to straight-to-streaming novelties — give film critics and moviegoers alike reason to be optimistic. While Scorsese and Marvel honcho Kevin Feige quite publicly disagreed about what defines a cinematic experience, audiences have more avenues than ever to experience cinema.
Variety reviewed nearly 1,000 new releases this year, from which chief critics Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman picked their favorites among the films that opened in U.
- 12/4/2019
- by Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
América
Their bittersweet music box of a film is enamored with its title character, a 93-year-old Mexican woman caught in an unwilling limbo. Her son has been sent to prison for failing to take care of her, elder neglect, leaving her unprepared adult grandsons to look after her, perhaps in the same way she looked after them when they were children. – Jose S. (full review)
Where to Stream: iTunes
Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra)
It probably says more about Ciro Guerra’s last film than this inimitable new offering (which he co-directed with his long-serving producer Christina Gallego) to suggest that fans of...
América
Their bittersweet music box of a film is enamored with its title character, a 93-year-old Mexican woman caught in an unwilling limbo. Her son has been sent to prison for failing to take care of her, elder neglect, leaving her unprepared adult grandsons to look after her, perhaps in the same way she looked after them when they were children. – Jose S. (full review)
Where to Stream: iTunes
Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra)
It probably says more about Ciro Guerra’s last film than this inimitable new offering (which he co-directed with his long-serving producer Christina Gallego) to suggest that fans of...
- 11/15/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
World sales rights to gay drama “Suk Suk” were picked up by Films Boutique, on the eve of the film’s world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.
Directed by Ray Yeung, “Suk Suk” is the story of two elderly men who have spent all their lives hiding their sexuality, but in late life are able to consider a different future. Yeung’s screenplay is inspired by a non-fiction book written by Hk University Professor Travis Kong.
The film adaptation stars Tai Bo (“The Cabbie”) and Ben Yuen (“Tracey”). Patra Ga Man Au, Kong To, Chun Yip Lo, Yiu Sing Lam co-star.
“Sometimes you start watching a film without expectations and suddently something magic happens. ‘Suk Suk’ is one of these very rare films that is a very moving love story, supported by two oustanding actors’ performances,” said Films Boutique CEO Jean-Christophe Simon. “The film also has a strong...
Directed by Ray Yeung, “Suk Suk” is the story of two elderly men who have spent all their lives hiding their sexuality, but in late life are able to consider a different future. Yeung’s screenplay is inspired by a non-fiction book written by Hk University Professor Travis Kong.
The film adaptation stars Tai Bo (“The Cabbie”) and Ben Yuen (“Tracey”). Patra Ga Man Au, Kong To, Chun Yip Lo, Yiu Sing Lam co-star.
“Sometimes you start watching a film without expectations and suddently something magic happens. ‘Suk Suk’ is one of these very rare films that is a very moving love story, supported by two oustanding actors’ performances,” said Films Boutique CEO Jean-Christophe Simon. “The film also has a strong...
- 10/3/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Mozart in the Jungle star Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, who starred in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, have joined Amazon Studios and Amblin Television’s four-hour miniseries based on the epic saga of Hernan Cortes.
The Wme-represented pair will executive produce the series, currently known as the Untitled Cortés and Moctezuma Project, which stars Oscar winner Javier Bardem in the title role.
The project has also named Ciro Guerra (Waiting for the Barbarians) and Cristina Gallego as directors for all four episodes of what is being described as the largest Spanish-language production of all time.
Production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Oscar winner for his work on Pan’s Labyrinth, also joins alongside costume designer Anna Terrazas (Spectre) and casting director Luis Rosales (Chicuarotes). The Mexican production will be overseen by Stacy Perskie (Narcos:...
The Wme-represented pair will executive produce the series, currently known as the Untitled Cortés and Moctezuma Project, which stars Oscar winner Javier Bardem in the title role.
The project has also named Ciro Guerra (Waiting for the Barbarians) and Cristina Gallego as directors for all four episodes of what is being described as the largest Spanish-language production of all time.
Production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Oscar winner for his work on Pan’s Labyrinth, also joins alongside costume designer Anna Terrazas (Spectre) and casting director Luis Rosales (Chicuarotes). The Mexican production will be overseen by Stacy Perskie (Narcos:...
- 10/3/2019
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Amazon’s upcoming series about Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II has made some high-profile additions to its creative team.
Actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have come onboard the series as executive producers, while Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego are now attached to direct all four episodes of the series. Production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Oscar winner for his work on “Pan’s Labyrinth,” has also joined the production along with costume designer Anna Terrazas and casting director Luis Rosales. Caballero, Terrazas, and Rosales all previously worked together on the Oscar-winning film “Roma.” The Mexican production will be overseen by Stacy Perskie and local production company Redrum.
The untitled limited series was announced last year, with Javier Bardem attached to star as Cortés. Steven Zaillian is writing the series based on the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Zaillian and Bardem will executive produce along with Bernal,...
Actors Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have come onboard the series as executive producers, while Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego are now attached to direct all four episodes of the series. Production designer Eugenio Caballero, an Oscar winner for his work on “Pan’s Labyrinth,” has also joined the production along with costume designer Anna Terrazas and casting director Luis Rosales. Caballero, Terrazas, and Rosales all previously worked together on the Oscar-winning film “Roma.” The Mexican production will be overseen by Stacy Perskie and local production company Redrum.
The untitled limited series was announced last year, with Javier Bardem attached to star as Cortés. Steven Zaillian is writing the series based on the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Zaillian and Bardem will executive produce along with Bernal,...
- 10/3/2019
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Until the glittery array of recent Toronto International Film Festival launches hit theaters this fall, the arthouse business is ramp-up to the coming onslaught.
Though modest, the top performer was “Monos,” which Neon picked up at Sundance. The Colombian Oscar submission landed initial top theaters and mostly good reviews. But like most subtitled films, it faces some audience resistance. Coming soon; popular Tiff hits from Bong Joon Ho (Neon’s “Parasite”) and Pedro Almodovar (Spc’s “Pain and Glory”).
Two wider titles continue to show interest: both “The Peanut Butter Falcon” (Roadside Attractions) and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” (Amazon) grossed over $1 million, benefiting from less competition for now, as theaters don’t have a lot to play.
Opening
Monos (Neon) – Metacritic: 75; Festivals include: Sundance, Berlin, New Directors/New Films 2019
$43,285 in 5 theaters; PTA: $8,657
At a time when subtitled films struggle to find audiences, Neon deserves points for taking on the acclaimed...
Though modest, the top performer was “Monos,” which Neon picked up at Sundance. The Colombian Oscar submission landed initial top theaters and mostly good reviews. But like most subtitled films, it faces some audience resistance. Coming soon; popular Tiff hits from Bong Joon Ho (Neon’s “Parasite”) and Pedro Almodovar (Spc’s “Pain and Glory”).
Two wider titles continue to show interest: both “The Peanut Butter Falcon” (Roadside Attractions) and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” (Amazon) grossed over $1 million, benefiting from less competition for now, as theaters don’t have a lot to play.
Opening
Monos (Neon) – Metacritic: 75; Festivals include: Sundance, Berlin, New Directors/New Films 2019
$43,285 in 5 theaters; PTA: $8,657
At a time when subtitled films struggle to find audiences, Neon deserves points for taking on the acclaimed...
- 9/15/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
When “Embrace of the Serpent,” a psychedelic exploration of Colombian tribes in the Amazon, was released in 2015 to great acclaim and was shortlisted for the foreign-language Oscar, it instantly launched director Ciro Guerra onto the international film stage. The Colombian filmmaker, along with his ex-wife and producer Cristina Gallego, then had enough industry support to make their long-gestating passion project, “Birds of Passage.” The film, which became Colombia’s Oscar submission in 2018, uncovers the roots of Colombia’s drug war in the rise of illegal trading within the remote Wayyu tribes.
Working with a new set of collaborators, Guerra’s newest project is a mystery thriller for Netflix, which follows a disturbing string of femicides in the Amazon. “Green Frontier,” which also bears the Spanish-language title “Frontera Verde,” was shot on location in Colombia and filmed entirely in Spanish. The newly released first trailer promises stunning cinematography, gorgeous landscapes and...
Working with a new set of collaborators, Guerra’s newest project is a mystery thriller for Netflix, which follows a disturbing string of femicides in the Amazon. “Green Frontier,” which also bears the Spanish-language title “Frontera Verde,” was shot on location in Colombia and filmed entirely in Spanish. The newly released first trailer promises stunning cinematography, gorgeous landscapes and...
- 8/1/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The Mexican Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences hosted the 61st edition of their Ariel Awards on Monday evening, where Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” and Alejandra Márquez Abella’s “The Good Girls” stood out among the winners.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cuarón’s “Roma” scooping best picture is that it’s only the second of his films to win an Ariel award, and the first to be nominated for best picture. In 1992 “Sólo con Tu Pareja” was nominated for best first work and screenplay, and won best original story. In 2001 he chose not to submit his Oscar-nominated classic “Y tu mamá también” in protest at the Academy’s voting practices.
By the end of the Monday evening however, “Roma” netted 10 prizes, including best director, supporting actress, photography, screenplay, editing, sound, art design, visual effects and special effects to go along with the best picture prize.
A festival darling over the past year,...
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cuarón’s “Roma” scooping best picture is that it’s only the second of his films to win an Ariel award, and the first to be nominated for best picture. In 1992 “Sólo con Tu Pareja” was nominated for best first work and screenplay, and won best original story. In 2001 he chose not to submit his Oscar-nominated classic “Y tu mamá también” in protest at the Academy’s voting practices.
By the end of the Monday evening however, “Roma” netted 10 prizes, including best director, supporting actress, photography, screenplay, editing, sound, art design, visual effects and special effects to go along with the best picture prize.
A festival darling over the past year,...
- 6/25/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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