“People from all over the world fall in love with Mexico City as soon as they see the dimension of this beautiful capital,” says actress Eiza González, star of Extrapolations and Godzilla vs. Kong, of her mile-high hometown. With top-flight restaurants, a thriving cocktail scene and some 150 museums, Mexico City — or el Df, for Federal District, as it’s called locally (though in 2016 it was officially renamed Ciudad de Mexico, acronym Cdmx) — is one of the hottest global cities of 2023. “What people don’t expect is how cosmopolitan and diverse it is and how many trendy and cool spots it has,” says Schmigadoon! star Jaime Camil. “Mexico City has to be one of the most energizing and fascinating cities in the world.” Or as Eva Longoria (who has a home there) describes the city in her 2023 CNN series Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico, “It’s crazy. It’s crowded. It’s noisy.
- 12/15/2023
- by Degen Pener and Kathryn Romeyn
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The first Floodlight Summit will take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 in Cartagena, Colombia. The event, curated and organized by Philippa Kowarsky and Alesia Weston, is a one-of-a-kind pilot for a long-term alliance that seeks to connect investigative journalists and their reporting with the film and television industry.
The event has been established by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp) and the Gabo Foundation as part of both institutions’ public interest focus. It will attempt “to nurture a symbiotic relationship between investigative journalism and fiction filmmaking that will result in storytelling that entertains, educates, and inspires,” according to a press statement. “Investigative journalists can help adapt their extensive reporting about organized crime and corruption into new formats to reach more audiences while filmmakers can pull from a wealth of content and expertise across subjects to inform their projects.”
Writer-director Rodrigo García, Gabo Foundation board member and son of author Gabriel García Marquez,...
The event has been established by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp) and the Gabo Foundation as part of both institutions’ public interest focus. It will attempt “to nurture a symbiotic relationship between investigative journalism and fiction filmmaking that will result in storytelling that entertains, educates, and inspires,” according to a press statement. “Investigative journalists can help adapt their extensive reporting about organized crime and corruption into new formats to reach more audiences while filmmakers can pull from a wealth of content and expertise across subjects to inform their projects.”
Writer-director Rodrigo García, Gabo Foundation board member and son of author Gabriel García Marquez,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Festival completes its 2023 programme.
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has unveiled the juries for its 27th edition, with jurors including Danish star Trine Dyrholm, and John Altman, who has worked on the music for Titanic, Life Of Brian and No Time To Die.
Jury head Dyrholm and English composer Altman are on the official selection competition jury, alongside filmmakers Xie Fei from China, Hilmar Oddson from Iceland, and Inna Sahakyan from Armenia.
The first feature competition jury consists of Mexican producer Nicolas Celis of Pimienta Films, who heads that jury, alongside Diana Ilijine, former Filmfest Munchen director; Chinese filmmaker Ran Huang...
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has unveiled the juries for its 27th edition, with jurors including Danish star Trine Dyrholm, and John Altman, who has worked on the music for Titanic, Life Of Brian and No Time To Die.
Jury head Dyrholm and English composer Altman are on the official selection competition jury, alongside filmmakers Xie Fei from China, Hilmar Oddson from Iceland, and Inna Sahakyan from Armenia.
The first feature competition jury consists of Mexican producer Nicolas Celis of Pimienta Films, who heads that jury, alongside Diana Ilijine, former Filmfest Munchen director; Chinese filmmaker Ran Huang...
- 10/27/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Trine Dryholm Photo: Courtesy of Poff Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) has announced the juries for this year's edition as well as the rest of its line-up. Danish star Trine Dyrholm (Margrete - Queen Of The North) will head the official jury alongside composer John Altman (Life Of Brian) and directors, Xie Fei (The Women From The Lake of Scented Souls), Hilmar Oddson (Driving Mum) and Inna Sahakyan (Aurora's Sunrise).
In total, 185 feature films from 73 countries will be screened. Youth and Children sub-festival Just Film will show 51 feature films, 37 shorts and six animated films. PÖFF Shorts sub-festival will present 240 short films. Among them will be 51 world premieres and 24 international premieres.
There are five competition sections in total, with the First Feature jury headed by Nicolás Celis, the founder of the Mexico City based Pimienta Films, while the Critics' Picks competition will be headed by Dina...
In total, 185 feature films from 73 countries will be screened. Youth and Children sub-festival Just Film will show 51 feature films, 37 shorts and six animated films. PÖFF Shorts sub-festival will present 240 short films. Among them will be 51 world premieres and 24 international premieres.
There are five competition sections in total, with the First Feature jury headed by Nicolás Celis, the founder of the Mexico City based Pimienta Films, while the Critics' Picks competition will be headed by Dina...
- 10/27/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
After a world premiere at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and its North American premiere over the weekend at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Noah Pritzker’s (Quitters) second film goes for a mix of Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, Paul Mazursky, Noah Baumbach and other white male filmmakers, past and present, who enjoy basking in the midlife marital crisis in which many guys find themselves trapped. While not on the level of those acclaimed filmmakers, in this case, Pritzker manages to cast his net wider into an early-, mid-, and late-life crisis over three generations of the men in the Pearce clan.
The result is an engaging indie exercise that’s for sale to any distributor who finds promise in a premise that might be a tough sell for mainstream buyers despite a game cast that lifts it up a notch or two. Art houses would seem to be its theatrical future,...
The result is an engaging indie exercise that’s for sale to any distributor who finds promise in a premise that might be a tough sell for mainstream buyers despite a game cast that lifts it up a notch or two. Art houses would seem to be its theatrical future,...
- 10/9/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature ‘Ex-Husbands’ stars Griffin Dunne and James Norton
Luxbox has picked up international sales rights to Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature Ex-Husbands and has sold the film to Avalon in Spain and September Films in Benelux.
UTA is handling North American rights for Pritzker’s second feature about three generations of men in the same family simultaneously experiencing marital disappointment.
Griffin Dunne stars as a man floundering after his father (Richard Benjamin) leaves his mother after 65 years of marriage and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette) leaves him after thirty-five. With the wedding...
Luxbox has picked up international sales rights to Noah Pritzker’s San Sebastian competition feature Ex-Husbands and has sold the film to Avalon in Spain and September Films in Benelux.
UTA is handling North American rights for Pritzker’s second feature about three generations of men in the same family simultaneously experiencing marital disappointment.
Griffin Dunne stars as a man floundering after his father (Richard Benjamin) leaves his mother after 65 years of marriage and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette) leaves him after thirty-five. With the wedding...
- 10/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
“Roma” producer Nicolas Celis’ of Pimienta Films is coming on board as lead producer of “Freeland,” the first English-language pic by “Emily in Paris” director Katina Medina Mora, Variety learned at Madrid forum Iberseries & Platino Industria.
To be co-written with Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation “Caso 63” and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio,” the project was put together by producer Nestor Hernández, a former Sony and HBO development exec for Latin America, who attended the San Sebastian Film Festival in September to present the project.
MadAvenue PR director Eva Herrero serves as an executive producer on the film.
“We have long been following Katina Medina Mora’s remarkable career and her impressive accomplishments over such a short time span,” remarked Celis who has been attending Iberseries to take part in a panel and to meet with contacts.
“I am also more than thrilled to...
To be co-written with Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation “Caso 63” and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio,” the project was put together by producer Nestor Hernández, a former Sony and HBO development exec for Latin America, who attended the San Sebastian Film Festival in September to present the project.
MadAvenue PR director Eva Herrero serves as an executive producer on the film.
“We have long been following Katina Medina Mora’s remarkable career and her impressive accomplishments over such a short time span,” remarked Celis who has been attending Iberseries to take part in a panel and to meet with contacts.
“I am also more than thrilled to...
- 10/6/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Noah Pritzker’s bittersweet father and sons tale Ex-Husbands (aka Men Of Divorce) world premieres in Competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival on Sunday as one of the few U.S. productions to be accompanied by its cast this year thanks to its SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.
Griffin Dunne co-stars as a New York dentist who is reeling from his wife’s demand for a divorce after 35 years of marriage, opposite James Norton and Miles Heizer as his sons.
In search of some respite, he unwittingly travels to the Mexican resort of Tulum the same weekend as his oldest son’s bachelor party, where it emerges that he is not the only one suffering a life crisis.
The mainly Spanish press gave the warm-hearted picture – exploring family bonds and questions about love, life and death – an enthusiastic reception at a packed 8.30 am screening on Sunday morning ahead of a gala screening this evening.
Griffin Dunne co-stars as a New York dentist who is reeling from his wife’s demand for a divorce after 35 years of marriage, opposite James Norton and Miles Heizer as his sons.
In search of some respite, he unwittingly travels to the Mexican resort of Tulum the same weekend as his oldest son’s bachelor party, where it emerges that he is not the only one suffering a life crisis.
The mainly Spanish press gave the warm-hearted picture – exploring family bonds and questions about love, life and death – an enthusiastic reception at a packed 8.30 am screening on Sunday morning ahead of a gala screening this evening.
- 9/24/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Annecy — In major news for Mexican animation as it comes under the spotlight at Annecy, director Sofia Carrillo is teaming with “Roma” producer Nicolas Celis and ‘Dance of the 41’ writer Monika Revilla to make “Insectario,” which bids fair to become one of the first stop motion features from Mexico.
Targeting family audiences, and written by Revilla, “Insectario” is set up at Celis’ Pimienta Films.
Carrillo, who worked on the Mexican second unit on “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” based out of Guadalajara’s El Taller del Chucho, told Variety that “Insectario” will build on the same aesthetic universe of “Cerulia” using the same puppets and sometimes the same sets.
“To a certain extent, ‘Insectario’ is a prolongation of the world of ‘Cerulia,’ but with an independent story which stands by itself,” she said.
In “Cerulia,” Carrillo’s crowning triumph which made her one of the most sought-after directors in Mexico,...
Targeting family audiences, and written by Revilla, “Insectario” is set up at Celis’ Pimienta Films.
Carrillo, who worked on the Mexican second unit on “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” based out of Guadalajara’s El Taller del Chucho, told Variety that “Insectario” will build on the same aesthetic universe of “Cerulia” using the same puppets and sometimes the same sets.
“To a certain extent, ‘Insectario’ is a prolongation of the world of ‘Cerulia,’ but with an independent story which stands by itself,” she said.
In “Cerulia,” Carrillo’s crowning triumph which made her one of the most sought-after directors in Mexico,...
- 6/12/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Amat Escalante’s title debuted in the Cannes Premiere section.
Mexican auteur Amat Escalante’s Lost In The Night is to be released in the UK and Ireland by Sovereign, following its debut in the Cannes Premiere section.
Sovereign is aiming for a late 2023, early 2024 theatrical release, with The Match Factory handling international sales.
The social thriller tells the story of a Mexican activist who disappears without a trace following her protests against the local mining industry. Five years later, her son attempts to find the culprit.
It was written by Escalante in collaboration with his brother Martín Escalante and Paulina Mendoza.
Mexican auteur Amat Escalante’s Lost In The Night is to be released in the UK and Ireland by Sovereign, following its debut in the Cannes Premiere section.
Sovereign is aiming for a late 2023, early 2024 theatrical release, with The Match Factory handling international sales.
The social thriller tells the story of a Mexican activist who disappears without a trace following her protests against the local mining industry. Five years later, her son attempts to find the culprit.
It was written by Escalante in collaboration with his brother Martín Escalante and Paulina Mendoza.
- 5/21/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Sorcery: "On the remote island of Chiloé in the late 19th century, an Indigenous girl named Rosa lives and works with her father on a farm. When the foreman brutally turns on Rosa’s father, she sets out for justice, seeking help from the king of a powerful organization of sorcerers."
Directed by: Christopher Murray Screenwriters: Christopher Murray, Pablo Paredes Produced by: Juan De Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue, Nicolás Celis Co-Producers: Viola Fügen, Michael Weber Executive Producer: Sergio Karmy Director of Photography: María Secco Cast: Valentina Véliz, Daniel Antivilo, Sebastian Hulk, Daniel Muñoz, Rosa Raín
World Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival January 22, 2023
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The Unsettling: "Abena and Kwame, a Ghanaian couple, are struggling to recover from a devastating tragedy. They travel to Los Angeles for a vacation that they hope will help them find their way back to one another. Instead, during an awkward dinner with estranged friends,...
Directed by: Christopher Murray Screenwriters: Christopher Murray, Pablo Paredes Produced by: Juan De Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue, Nicolás Celis Co-Producers: Viola Fügen, Michael Weber Executive Producer: Sergio Karmy Director of Photography: María Secco Cast: Valentina Véliz, Daniel Antivilo, Sebastian Hulk, Daniel Muñoz, Rosa Raín
World Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival January 22, 2023
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The Unsettling: "Abena and Kwame, a Ghanaian couple, are struggling to recover from a devastating tragedy. They travel to Los Angeles for a vacation that they hope will help them find their way back to one another. Instead, during an awkward dinner with estranged friends,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Filmmaker Amat Escalante, who won best director at Cannes for 2013 film “Heli,” has signed with CAA.
“Heli,” where the protagonist tries to protect his family from a drug cartel and corrupt police, competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and won several more awards, including at Camerimage, Palm Springs, Stockholm and Munich and represented Mexico at the 86th Academy Awards in the then Best Foreign Language Film category.
Escalante’s follow-up feature “The Untamed,” where the lives of a couple in a troubled marriage are turned upside down by the discovery of a mysterious creature, competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival in 2016, and won the Silver Lion for his direction. Like with “Heli,” Escalante won best director at Mexico’s Ariel Awards for “The Untamed.”
The filmmaker is currently in post-production on his next feature, “Lost in the Night,” about a man in search...
“Heli,” where the protagonist tries to protect his family from a drug cartel and corrupt police, competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and won several more awards, including at Camerimage, Palm Springs, Stockholm and Munich and represented Mexico at the 86th Academy Awards in the then Best Foreign Language Film category.
Escalante’s follow-up feature “The Untamed,” where the lives of a couple in a troubled marriage are turned upside down by the discovery of a mysterious creature, competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival in 2016, and won the Silver Lion for his direction. Like with “Heli,” Escalante won best director at Mexico’s Ariel Awards for “The Untamed.”
The filmmaker is currently in post-production on his next feature, “Lost in the Night,” about a man in search...
- 1/10/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Buenos Aires — Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” Manuela Martelli’s “The Meltdown” and Demián Rugna’s Shudder co-pro “When Evil Lurks” were three highlights at 2022’s Ventana Sur. Wrapping Dec. 2, it offered a dazzling myriad of projects, bold initiatives in genre and from Spain and confirmation that the sector has still to emerge from the pandemic when it comes to independent distributors’ appetite for new titles.
Following a brace of takeaways with more to follow:
Ventana Sur Growth
From an art film base, few markets have so cannily addressed potential international film market growth, whether genre/fantasy fare; animation, drama series, video games or established IP exploitation. Each now has its own distinct Vs forum, often supported by some of the world’s most powerful players: France’s Cine+Club for arthouse Primer Corte/Corte Final and its Annecy Festival for Animation!, for instance. Various sections grew this year, genre...
Following a brace of takeaways with more to follow:
Ventana Sur Growth
From an art film base, few markets have so cannily addressed potential international film market growth, whether genre/fantasy fare; animation, drama series, video games or established IP exploitation. Each now has its own distinct Vs forum, often supported by some of the world’s most powerful players: France’s Cine+Club for arthouse Primer Corte/Corte Final and its Annecy Festival for Animation!, for instance. Various sections grew this year, genre...
- 12/3/2022
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
28 projects selected from over 150 submissions.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
- 10/11/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
#QueMéxicoSeVea designed to showcase work of local industry.
Netflix has announced the latest film from Fernando Frias and the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto as it launches an initiative to raise the profile of local filmmakers in the run-up to Mexico’s national cinema day on Monday (August 15).
Under #QueMéxicoSeVea, which translates as Let Mexico Be Seen, Netflix will present the latest from Frias – I Don’t Expect Anyone To Believe Me (No Voy A Pedirle A Nadie Que Me Crea) – whose I’m No Longer Here was acquired by the streamer and represented Mexico in the international feature...
Netflix has announced the latest film from Fernando Frias and the feature directorial debut of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto as it launches an initiative to raise the profile of local filmmakers in the run-up to Mexico’s national cinema day on Monday (August 15).
Under #QueMéxicoSeVea, which translates as Let Mexico Be Seen, Netflix will present the latest from Frias – I Don’t Expect Anyone To Believe Me (No Voy A Pedirle A Nadie Que Me Crea) – whose I’m No Longer Here was acquired by the streamer and represented Mexico in the international feature...
- 8/13/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Netflix has reaffirmed its 300 million commitment to Mexican cinema and series, announcing a slew of new movie projects to celebrate the country’s National Day of Cinema on Aug. 15 and as part of its #QueMéxicoSeVea initiative.
The year-old initiative, which can be roughly translated to “Let Mexico Be Seen” has the mission “to make visible the work of Mexican creators, screenwriters, writers, directors, actors and people who make national cinema possible,” as well as its wealth of original stories.
Leading the pack is the widely anticipated directorial debut of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto who is helming an adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s seminal novel, “Pedro Paramo.” Produced by Redrum, the film’s crew includes Oscar-nominated production designer Eugenio Caballero and costume designer Anna Terrazas, whose notable credits include “Roma,” “Spectre” and “Bardo.”
“Our commitment to Mexican culture also includes adapting great Mexican works to the cinema, and ‘Pedro Páramo’ will...
The year-old initiative, which can be roughly translated to “Let Mexico Be Seen” has the mission “to make visible the work of Mexican creators, screenwriters, writers, directors, actors and people who make national cinema possible,” as well as its wealth of original stories.
Leading the pack is the widely anticipated directorial debut of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto who is helming an adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s seminal novel, “Pedro Paramo.” Produced by Redrum, the film’s crew includes Oscar-nominated production designer Eugenio Caballero and costume designer Anna Terrazas, whose notable credits include “Roma,” “Spectre” and “Bardo.”
“Our commitment to Mexican culture also includes adapting great Mexican works to the cinema, and ‘Pedro Páramo’ will...
- 8/11/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Griffin Dunne (This Is Us), Rosanna Arquette (Pulp Fiction), Richard Benjamin (Michael Crichton’s Westworld), Miles Heizer (13 Reasons Why) and James Norton (Little Women) will lead the cast of an as-yet-untitled comedy from writer-director Noah Pritzker (Quitters).
Others joining the ensemble include Eisa Davis (Mare of Easttown), Marcia Jean Kurtz (If Beale Street Could Talk), John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), Lou Taylor Pucci (You), Echo Kellum (Grand Crew), Ian Owens (Shrill), Pedro Fontaine (Spider), Simon Van Buyten (Chaussée d’Amour), Nate Mann (Licorice Pizza), Zora Casebere (On the Rocks) and Rachel Zeiger-Haag (Monsterland).
The film from Play Book Productions and Pimienta Films—marking Pritzker’s follow-up to the 2015 dramedy, Quitters—will center on Dunne’s character, Peter Pearce. Overwhelmed by his pending divorce from Maria (Arquette) and the declining health of his father (Benjamin), Peter plans a getaway to Tulum, insistent he knows nothing of his sons’ (Heizer and...
Others joining the ensemble include Eisa Davis (Mare of Easttown), Marcia Jean Kurtz (If Beale Street Could Talk), John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), Lou Taylor Pucci (You), Echo Kellum (Grand Crew), Ian Owens (Shrill), Pedro Fontaine (Spider), Simon Van Buyten (Chaussée d’Amour), Nate Mann (Licorice Pizza), Zora Casebere (On the Rocks) and Rachel Zeiger-Haag (Monsterland).
The film from Play Book Productions and Pimienta Films—marking Pritzker’s follow-up to the 2015 dramedy, Quitters—will center on Dunne’s character, Peter Pearce. Overwhelmed by his pending divorce from Maria (Arquette) and the declining health of his father (Benjamin), Peter plans a getaway to Tulum, insistent he knows nothing of his sons’ (Heizer and...
- 7/26/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
A host of global independent producers attending the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival have voiced their concerns on the issue of IP retention when it comes to working with the streamers in their local territories and are urging more agreeable terms in partnerships.
“You cannot run a company out of a producing fee, you have to run it based on exploiting the IP,” said Czech producer Filip Bobiñski, co-founder of Dramedy Productions and a board member of the European Association of Independent Producers.
In a panel hosted by Deadline and Ace Producers at Kviff’s Industry Days program, Bobiñski was joined by Birdman producer John Lesher from the U.S., Roma producer Nicolás Celis from Mexico and Polish producer Joanna Szymańska to discuss the opportunities and challenges of producing with the streamers in the post-pandemic ecosystem.
While the last few years have gradually seen streamers ramp up investments in international projects,...
“You cannot run a company out of a producing fee, you have to run it based on exploiting the IP,” said Czech producer Filip Bobiñski, co-founder of Dramedy Productions and a board member of the European Association of Independent Producers.
In a panel hosted by Deadline and Ace Producers at Kviff’s Industry Days program, Bobiñski was joined by Birdman producer John Lesher from the U.S., Roma producer Nicolás Celis from Mexico and Polish producer Joanna Szymańska to discuss the opportunities and challenges of producing with the streamers in the post-pandemic ecosystem.
While the last few years have gradually seen streamers ramp up investments in international projects,...
- 7/4/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
As the year winds down, November brings a packed slate of new releases––including festival favorites we can already recommend and others that hold a great deal of promise. From some of the greatest auteurs working today to breakthrough voices, there’s much to check out. See our picks below.
16. The Humans (Stephen Karam; Nov. 14 in theaters and on Showtime)
One of the notable premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Stephen Karam’s debut feature The Humans, adapted from his Tony Award-winning play. Coming from A24, the film follows Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, and June Squibb in a story of a family who gathers in Manhattan for a Thanksgiving meal as their fears are laid bare. As C.J. Prince said in his TIFF review, “Everything is wrong in The Humans, Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony-winning play. Set entirely...
16. The Humans (Stephen Karam; Nov. 14 in theaters and on Showtime)
One of the notable premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival was writer-director Stephen Karam’s debut feature The Humans, adapted from his Tony Award-winning play. Coming from A24, the film follows Richard Jenkins, Jayne Houdyshell, Amy Schumer, Beanie Feldstein, Steven Yeun, and June Squibb in a story of a family who gathers in Manhattan for a Thanksgiving meal as their fears are laid bare. As C.J. Prince said in his TIFF review, “Everything is wrong in The Humans, Stephen Karam’s adaptation of his Tony-winning play. Set entirely...
- 11/2/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The trailer for Prayers for the Stolen has just been released. The film is Mexico’s official submission for International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. You can check out the film’s new trailer above and the poster for the film below.
In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time. Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel.
About The Film Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 minutes MPAA Rating: R (for some...
In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time. Liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s eponymous 2014 novel.
About The Film Genre: Drama Running Time: 110 minutes MPAA Rating: R (for some...
- 10/22/2021
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
After winning the Best International Feature Film Oscar a few years ago with Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Mexico has another notable contender this year. Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival this summer and recently played at NYFF and BFI London, was picked up by Netflix and will now arrive next month. Ahead of the release, the new trailer has arrived.
Backed by Roma producer Nicolás Celis along with Jim Stark, the film is set in a mountain town in Mexico where three young girls take over the houses of those who have fled. Led by Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Mayra Batalla, Norma Pablo, Eileen Yáñez, and Memo Villegas, see the trailer below.
Prayers for the Stolen comes to theaters in November and hits Netflix on November 17.
The post U.S. Trailer for Mexico's Oscar Entry Prayers for the Stolen first appeared on The Film Stage.
Backed by Roma producer Nicolás Celis along with Jim Stark, the film is set in a mountain town in Mexico where three young girls take over the houses of those who have fled. Led by Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Mayra Batalla, Norma Pablo, Eileen Yáñez, and Memo Villegas, see the trailer below.
Prayers for the Stolen comes to theaters in November and hits Netflix on November 17.
The post U.S. Trailer for Mexico's Oscar Entry Prayers for the Stolen first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 10/22/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Mexico has become the latest country to make its submission to this year’s International Oscar race, selecting Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers For The Stolen.
The pic debuted at Cannes this year, receiving a special mention in the Un Certain Regard program. The film was also a multi-award-winner at the San Sebastian and Athens film festivals. Netflix picked up rights and will release in select theaters and online in November.
Vaguely based on Jennifer Clement’s 2014 novel, the film is set In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, where the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts.
The pic debuted at Cannes this year, receiving a special mention in the Un Certain Regard program. The film was also a multi-award-winner at the San Sebastian and Athens film festivals. Netflix picked up rights and will release in select theaters and online in November.
Vaguely based on Jennifer Clement’s 2014 novel, the film is set In a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, where the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts.
- 10/20/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg) will close this October’s rescheduled in-person festival with the first two episodes of Netflix’s animated event series “Maya and the Three” from daytime Emmy-winning director Jorge Gutierrez.
“Having ‘Maya’ premier at my beloved Ficg, in the capital of Mexican animation, is a dream come true!” Gutierrez told Variety after the announcement was made.
Ficg released details outlining the full program for this year’s 36th edition, which also includes a special screening of Dennis Villeneuve’s “Dune” at the festival’s opening ceremony. Other major takeaways include the awarding of this year’s El Mayahuel de Plata to Mexican Cinema, the highest award given out by the festival, to the illustrious Mexican actor Elsa Aguirre, a figurehead of the country’s golden age of cinema.
Other announced honors include the Golden Mayahuel for contribution Ibero-American cinema to Spanish director Julio Medem, who will...
“Having ‘Maya’ premier at my beloved Ficg, in the capital of Mexican animation, is a dream come true!” Gutierrez told Variety after the announcement was made.
Ficg released details outlining the full program for this year’s 36th edition, which also includes a special screening of Dennis Villeneuve’s “Dune” at the festival’s opening ceremony. Other major takeaways include the awarding of this year’s El Mayahuel de Plata to Mexican Cinema, the highest award given out by the festival, to the illustrious Mexican actor Elsa Aguirre, a figurehead of the country’s golden age of cinema.
Other announced honors include the Golden Mayahuel for contribution Ibero-American cinema to Spanish director Julio Medem, who will...
- 9/14/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Indie distributor and SVOD service Mubi is continuing its remarkable buying spree at Cannes 2021. The growing player has now taken rights from The Match Factory to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes Competition drama Memoria for Germany, Italy, Latin America and India.
Palme d’Or winner Weerasethakul is debuting his latest drama on the Croisette today. Tilda Swinton stars in the movie as Jessica a woman who travels from Scotland to Bogotá to visit her sister. Ever since being startled by a loud ‘bang’ at daybreak, she is unable to sleep. However, during her journey she befriends Agnes (Jeanne Balibar), an archaeologist studying human remains discovered within a tunnel under construction, and a fish scaler, Hernan (Elkin Diaz). As the day comes to a close, she is awakened to a sense of clarity.
Weerasethakul’s ninth feature is his first shoot outside his native Thailand.
Palme d’Or winner Weerasethakul is debuting his latest drama on the Croisette today. Tilda Swinton stars in the movie as Jessica a woman who travels from Scotland to Bogotá to visit her sister. Ever since being startled by a loud ‘bang’ at daybreak, she is unable to sleep. However, during her journey she befriends Agnes (Jeanne Balibar), an archaeologist studying human remains discovered within a tunnel under construction, and a fish scaler, Hernan (Elkin Diaz). As the day comes to a close, she is awakened to a sense of clarity.
Weerasethakul’s ninth feature is his first shoot outside his native Thailand.
- 7/15/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
El estado del imperio
Produced by Nicolás Celis, Fernanda de la Peza.
Directed by Amat Escalante
Written by Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante, Paulina Mendoza
Starring: To be announced.
Release Date/Prediction: Seeing that casting commenced late in 2020, we can imagine a late premiere in the year and his second time competing in the Venice Film Festival.
…...
Produced by Nicolás Celis, Fernanda de la Peza.
Directed by Amat Escalante
Written by Amat Escalante, Martín Escalante, Paulina Mendoza
Starring: To be announced.
Release Date/Prediction: Seeing that casting commenced late in 2020, we can imagine a late premiere in the year and his second time competing in the Venice Film Festival.
…...
- 1/13/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Chile’s Oscar-winning Fabula Films (“A Fantastic Woman”), the company co-founded by producer Juan de Dios Larraín and director-producer Pablo Larraín, is producing “The Sorcerers,” which will be presented this week during the Rome-set film and TV market Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (Mia). Variety spoke to director Christopher Murray about the film, which is co-produced by Mexico’s Pimienta Films and Germany’s The Match Factory Productions, with The Match Factory handling world sales.
“The Sorcerers” is set on the remote island of Chiloé in the late 19th century, as the newly founded Chilean state has begun wielding its might to subjugate local communities. It centers on Rosa Raín, an 11-year-old indigenous girl who lives and works with her father on a farm of German settlers. When a mysterious plague sweeps through the farm’s cattle, the German foreman brutally kills Rosa’s father in retaliation. With nowhere to turn, the...
“The Sorcerers” is set on the remote island of Chiloé in the late 19th century, as the newly founded Chilean state has begun wielding its might to subjugate local communities. It centers on Rosa Raín, an 11-year-old indigenous girl who lives and works with her father on a farm of German settlers. When a mysterious plague sweeps through the farm’s cattle, the German foreman brutally kills Rosa’s father in retaliation. With nowhere to turn, the...
- 10/12/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (Nfmla) and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have teamed once again for the annual Nfmla Film Festival InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Festival — but this time it’s virtual. The fest is set for September 25-26 which aligns with Hispanic Heritage Month which kicks off September 15 and continues through October 15.
With Seed&Spark as the platform, this year’s program includes two shorts programs and a presentation of Varda Bar-Kar’s documentary Fandango at the Wall which is executive produced by Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana. The docu was recently acquired by HBO.
The fest will also feature emerging filmmakers from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Chile, and the Dominican Republic including the world premieres of Alberto Belli’s After Life Vacation, Kate Romero’s Chronology, and Alyssa Toledo’s Lift Off.
“This year’s slate contains a lot of powerful common...
With Seed&Spark as the platform, this year’s program includes two shorts programs and a presentation of Varda Bar-Kar’s documentary Fandango at the Wall which is executive produced by Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana. The docu was recently acquired by HBO.
The fest will also feature emerging filmmakers from the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Chile, and the Dominican Republic including the world premieres of Alberto Belli’s After Life Vacation, Kate Romero’s Chronology, and Alyssa Toledo’s Lift Off.
“This year’s slate contains a lot of powerful common...
- 9/14/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Argentina and Mexico-based Jaque Content, originator of suspense drama series “La Chica Que Limpia” (“The Cleaning Lady”), now the subject of a Fox U.S. pilot remake, has unveiled plans to produce a horror movie, “Fátima,” as well as “The Hate Farm” (“La Granja del Odio”), an allegorical cyber war thriller.
“The Hate Farm” is one of 12 drama series projects selected for this week’s CoPro pitching sessions, the main industry showcase at Spain’s Conecta Fiction, Europe’s biggest Latin America TV co-production forum.
Produced by Jaque Content and Mexico City-based Kuter Casa Productora, “Fátima” joins a rapidly building lineup of projects that Jaque Content has been developing out of Mexico, such as 10-part series “Zafiros en la Piel,” an adaptation of the eponymous Argentine novel, co-produced with “Instructions Not Included” producer Mónica Lozano.
Jaque Content has also boarded Tatiana Huezo’s feature “Noche de Fuego,” from “Roma” producer...
“The Hate Farm” is one of 12 drama series projects selected for this week’s CoPro pitching sessions, the main industry showcase at Spain’s Conecta Fiction, Europe’s biggest Latin America TV co-production forum.
Produced by Jaque Content and Mexico City-based Kuter Casa Productora, “Fátima” joins a rapidly building lineup of projects that Jaque Content has been developing out of Mexico, such as 10-part series “Zafiros en la Piel,” an adaptation of the eponymous Argentine novel, co-produced with “Instructions Not Included” producer Mónica Lozano.
Jaque Content has also boarded Tatiana Huezo’s feature “Noche de Fuego,” from “Roma” producer...
- 8/31/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Films from Belgium, Hungary and Romania were also among the winners at the Bulgarian gathering. After being postponed indefinitely only days before it was supposed to kick off in March, Bulgaria’s biggest film event, the Sofia International Film Festival, came back at the end of June with a summer edition (see the news). The event ended yesterday with an outdoor gala, where Sister (Bulgaria/Qatar), the second feature by Bulgarian director Svetla Tsotsorkova, received the festival’s top prize, the Sofia City of Film Grand Prix. The jury, led by British director Peter Webber and consisting of American producer Jim Stark, Bulgarian actress Irmena Chichkova and Mexican producer Nicolás Celis, handed the Special Jury Award to Nathalie Biancheri’s Nocturnal (UK). The summer edition of the festival presented a total of 111 films from 48 countries. Fifty-five titles were screened in one indoor venue and several open-air venues over the course of ten.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 819 artists and executives to join the organization in 2020.
In doing so, the Academy continues its work on diversifying its ranks. If all 819 invitees accept their invitations, 45% of the new members will be women and 36% are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. International make-up is 49% from 68 countries.
“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences. We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy president David Rubin said in a statement.
In 2016, as part of its A2020 initiative, the Academy promised to at least double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by this year. “Through dedicated and intentional work by the Board of Governors and members on the branch executive committees, the Academy has surpassed both these goals,...
In doing so, the Academy continues its work on diversifying its ranks. If all 819 invitees accept their invitations, 45% of the new members will be women and 36% are from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities. International make-up is 49% from 68 countries.
“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences. We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy president David Rubin said in a statement.
In 2016, as part of its A2020 initiative, the Academy promised to at least double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by this year. “Through dedicated and intentional work by the Board of Governors and members on the branch executive committees, the Academy has surpassed both these goals,...
- 6/30/2020
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Like most countries around the world, in Mexico the entertainment industry has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. With production halted, movie theaters closed, and no federal plan in sight for business to reignite, thousands of talented technicians and craftspeople are out of work. According to the country’s National Chamber of the Film Industry (Canacine), around 30,000 Mexican families depend on the film and television fields as their main source of income.
To alleviate some of the economic burden, the Mexican film community has launched Sifonóforo, Fondo de Emergencia Audiovisual, a new emergency fund for audiovisual workers that will provide affected below-the-line crew members with financial assistance. Born out of the solidarity within the industry and independent from any governmental aid, the initiative currently has accumulated 10 million pesos, which will be distributed based on need.
Donations came from notable individuals such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Salma Hayek,...
To alleviate some of the economic burden, the Mexican film community has launched Sifonóforo, Fondo de Emergencia Audiovisual, a new emergency fund for audiovisual workers that will provide affected below-the-line crew members with financial assistance. Born out of the solidarity within the industry and independent from any governmental aid, the initiative currently has accumulated 10 million pesos, which will be distributed based on need.
Donations came from notable individuals such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Salma Hayek,...
- 6/11/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
As the global film industry faced dire circumstances in recent months, Mexican filmmakers contended with a more specific threat. In early April, the country’s president attempted to eliminate critical funding that has supported generations of acclaimed Mexican filmmakers. The pushback culminated in a dramatic confrontation, with filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro G. Iñarritu, and Alfonso Cuarón taking a stand to salvage these resources. Their successful efforts — for now, at least — cast light on a community reliant on national support.
Mexico’s film industry has seen astounding growth over the last two decades, in quantity and quality. The defining catalyst remains the creation of two government funds, Forprocine and Fidecine, in the late ‘90s. For several decades prior to these funds, Mexican cinema stagnated, producing less than 10 films per year. Last year, 200 completed features set a new record.
The success of these financing mechanisms is undeniable. Not only...
Mexico’s film industry has seen astounding growth over the last two decades, in quantity and quality. The defining catalyst remains the creation of two government funds, Forprocine and Fidecine, in the late ‘90s. For several decades prior to these funds, Mexican cinema stagnated, producing less than 10 films per year. Last year, 200 completed features set a new record.
The success of these financing mechanisms is undeniable. Not only...
- 5/30/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
The Panama Film Festival (Iff Panama), with support from the Inter-American Development Bank, is unspooling a five-day online festival, running May 22-26, which includes film screenings and round tables.
Held on May 22, 23 and 24, three online round-tables – two moderated by festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and one by Tiff’s senior director, film, Diana Sanchez – questioned leading international talent, based in Latin America and Europe, about what film festivals and film production and distribution will look like after Covid-19.
The panelists were Jayro Bustamante (“Ixcanul”), Nicolás Celis (“Roma”), Cristina Gallegos (“Embrace of the Serpent”) Elena Manrique (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), production designer Enrique Caballero (“Roma”), and actors Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), Luis Tosar (“Cell 211”), Ricardo Darín (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Geraldine Chaplin (“Talk to Her”), Daniela Vega (“A Fantastic Woman”) and Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).
Several innovative new projects adapted to the lockdown period were discussed. For example, Spanish actor Luis Tosar...
Held on May 22, 23 and 24, three online round-tables – two moderated by festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and one by Tiff’s senior director, film, Diana Sanchez – questioned leading international talent, based in Latin America and Europe, about what film festivals and film production and distribution will look like after Covid-19.
The panelists were Jayro Bustamante (“Ixcanul”), Nicolás Celis (“Roma”), Cristina Gallegos (“Embrace of the Serpent”) Elena Manrique (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), production designer Enrique Caballero (“Roma”), and actors Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), Luis Tosar (“Cell 211”), Ricardo Darín (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Geraldine Chaplin (“Talk to Her”), Daniela Vega (“A Fantastic Woman”) and Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).
Several innovative new projects adapted to the lockdown period were discussed. For example, Spanish actor Luis Tosar...
- 5/26/2020
- by Martin Dale and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Alfonso Cuarón’s labor of love will go down as having changed the delivery norm for top-quality feature motion pictures: unlike most foreign films before, millions had a chance to see the highly-advertised show on Netflix, even if the real life-changing way to see it was the limited 70mm theatrical run. Cuarón’s ode to his upbringing in Mexico City is a rich slice of nostalgia and ethnography, made warmly human by the performance of Yalitza Aparicio. Viewers ‘waiting for something to happen’ will miss the point entirely. Italian neorealism was never as intense or as fascinating. Criterion’s extras are really arresting, especially the featurette explaining the near-miraculous post production process.
Roma
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1014
1928 / B&w / 2:39 widescreen / 135 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Nancy García García, Jorge Antonio Guerrero.
Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón
Film Editors: Adam Gough,...
Roma
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1014
1928 / B&w / 2:39 widescreen / 135 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Nancy García García, Jorge Antonio Guerrero.
Cinematography: Alfonso Cuarón
Film Editors: Adam Gough,...
- 2/11/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Roma producer Nicolas Celis and his Mexico City-based production company Pimienta Films have signed an exclusive first-look deal with Exile and Endeavor Content as they ramp up in Spanish-language scripted TV fare.
The first project from the new deal is the drama Perfect Monsters, created by Celis, Marion d’Ornano and Enrique M. Rizo. An epic Western set in a desolate Mexican desert during the 1960s, the TV drama is based on the novel by Miguel Angel Molfino about a young man who, after his parents are murdered, flees straight into the lives of a desperate arms dealer, a gang of robbers ...
The first project from the new deal is the drama Perfect Monsters, created by Celis, Marion d’Ornano and Enrique M. Rizo. An epic Western set in a desolate Mexican desert during the 1960s, the TV drama is based on the novel by Miguel Angel Molfino about a young man who, after his parents are murdered, flees straight into the lives of a desperate arms dealer, a gang of robbers ...
- 12/5/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Industry professionals get first look at new work.
Works in progress from Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Greece and Russia have won awards for the best pitches at the second edition of European Work in Progress during Film Festival Cologne.
The five winners were chosen on Tuesday (15) by an international jury consisting of Locarno Film Festival’s new artistic director Lili Hinstin, Zdf Enterprises’ director of acquisitions for feature films Margrit Stärk, Albanian producer Sabina Kodra, whose Erafilm was behind Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds), and Yohann Comte, co-founder of French sales company Charades.
The awards were presented at...
Works in progress from Brazil, Poland, Mexico, Greece and Russia have won awards for the best pitches at the second edition of European Work in Progress during Film Festival Cologne.
The five winners were chosen on Tuesday (15) by an international jury consisting of Locarno Film Festival’s new artistic director Lili Hinstin, Zdf Enterprises’ director of acquisitions for feature films Margrit Stärk, Albanian producer Sabina Kodra, whose Erafilm was behind Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds), and Yohann Comte, co-founder of French sales company Charades.
The awards were presented at...
- 10/16/2019
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
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
Leading arthouse sales agent The Match Factory, which has four films in the Cannes Film Festival official selection, has added “Noche de Fuego” by Mexican-El Salvadoran director Tatiana Huezo to its slate. The film is produced by Nicolas Celis, producer of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” and Jim Stark, who has produced several films by Jim Jarmusch.
“Noche de Fuego,” which is based on Jennifer Clement’s novel “Prayers for the Stolen,” is Huezo’s third film following “The Tiniest Place” (2011) — winner of the Ariel Award for best Mexican documentary, best international feature at Visions Du Reel and the Fipresci Award at Mar del Plata — and “Tempestad” (2016), which premiered at Berlinale Forum, and won the documentary award at Camerimage plus four Ariel Awards, including for direction and documentary. “Tempestad” was also nominated at the Goya Awards for best Ibero-American Film.
“Noche de Fuego” tells the story of three girls living in...
“Noche de Fuego,” which is based on Jennifer Clement’s novel “Prayers for the Stolen,” is Huezo’s third film following “The Tiniest Place” (2011) — winner of the Ariel Award for best Mexican documentary, best international feature at Visions Du Reel and the Fipresci Award at Mar del Plata — and “Tempestad” (2016), which premiered at Berlinale Forum, and won the documentary award at Camerimage plus four Ariel Awards, including for direction and documentary. “Tempestad” was also nominated at the Goya Awards for best Ibero-American Film.
“Noche de Fuego” tells the story of three girls living in...
- 5/13/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
It may have been a quieter MipTV this year, with attendee numbers down 5% from 2018 and key players BBC Studios, Fox Networks Group and Endemol Shine all absent from the market, but there has still been a buzz of activity over the past week. Variety looks back at some of the key television deals and announcements that were causing a stir on the Croisette.
Scripted
*In one of the biggest deals of MipTV, Telefonica’s pay TV unit Movistar+ closed a multi-year distribution-production alliance with Germany’s Beta Film. Beta already distributed Movistar+ series on a title-by-title basis but the new deal transforms the arrangement into a partnership which will play through all stages of the value chain from early development. It provides Beta Film exclusive international distribution rights, excluding Spain and sometimes Latin America, to approximately six Movistar+ series a year. The two companies will also look to finance, develop...
Scripted
*In one of the biggest deals of MipTV, Telefonica’s pay TV unit Movistar+ closed a multi-year distribution-production alliance with Germany’s Beta Film. Beta already distributed Movistar+ series on a title-by-title basis but the new deal transforms the arrangement into a partnership which will play through all stages of the value chain from early development. It provides Beta Film exclusive international distribution rights, excluding Spain and sometimes Latin America, to approximately six Movistar+ series a year. The two companies will also look to finance, develop...
- 4/11/2019
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
“Roma” producer Nicolas Celis’ series debut “Perfect Monsters,” Nabil Ayouch’s “Blackout” and Cinenord’s “Ice Valley” were announced as the three winners of this year’s In Development Drama Producers’ Pitch section, run collaboratively by MipTV and Canneseries.
In Development is dedicated to the development and promotion of new international TV productions from established and new talents alike. A potentially major launchpad for the still-young projects, the pitching sessions saw 12 projects selected by members of the In Development advisory board. This year, 376 projects were submitted for consideration from 41 countries.
Participating projects pitched to often packed audiences of industry professionals. Three were selected for prizes handed out by In Development’s official partners: Federation Entertainment (“The Bureau”), which offers to co-develop, co-produce and distribute one of the selected projects, and French think tank “La Fabrique des Formats” and its investment fund, which offers financing for up to two series from...
In Development is dedicated to the development and promotion of new international TV productions from established and new talents alike. A potentially major launchpad for the still-young projects, the pitching sessions saw 12 projects selected by members of the In Development advisory board. This year, 376 projects were submitted for consideration from 41 countries.
Participating projects pitched to often packed audiences of industry professionals. Three were selected for prizes handed out by In Development’s official partners: Federation Entertainment (“The Bureau”), which offers to co-develop, co-produce and distribute one of the selected projects, and French think tank “La Fabrique des Formats” and its investment fund, which offers financing for up to two series from...
- 4/10/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
“Roma” producer Nicolás Celis’ Pimienta Films is preparing its drama series debut, to be pitched by fellow Mexican producer Telegrama Audiovisual’s Enrique Rizo to potential investors at In Development on Wednesday. The series weighs in as one of the event’s most buzzed-up titles.
Produced by Pimienta Films, Telegrama Audiovisual and Tita Productions, “Perfect Monsters” producers are Celis, Rizo, and Marion d’Ornano.
Originated by Dornano, who optioned the rights to Argentine novel of the same name from writer and former police officer Miguel Ángel Molfino, the action is transferred from the Argentine plains to Chihuahua, Mexico in 1968. The screenplay has been further developed by Colombian screenwriter Andrés Castro.
Unusual for Mexico’s nascent high-end scripted industry, this is a period piece which is not set in a primordial political context.
In the series, 16 year-old Miroslavo runs away after his parents are murdered. He is eventually picked up by arms dealer Hansen.
Produced by Pimienta Films, Telegrama Audiovisual and Tita Productions, “Perfect Monsters” producers are Celis, Rizo, and Marion d’Ornano.
Originated by Dornano, who optioned the rights to Argentine novel of the same name from writer and former police officer Miguel Ángel Molfino, the action is transferred from the Argentine plains to Chihuahua, Mexico in 1968. The screenplay has been further developed by Colombian screenwriter Andrés Castro.
Unusual for Mexico’s nascent high-end scripted industry, this is a period piece which is not set in a primordial political context.
In the series, 16 year-old Miroslavo runs away after his parents are murdered. He is eventually picked up by arms dealer Hansen.
- 4/9/2019
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Rachel Feldman’s “Kinks,” Monica Bellucci-starrer “Radical Eye,” Nabil Ayouch’s “Black-Out” and “Perfect Monsters,” from “Roma” producer Nicolas Celis, all figure among the 16 drama series projects to be pitched at this year’s second – and expanded – In Development, a joint venture of MipTV and Canneseries.
Also making the cut at In Development, known as well as the Cannes Drama Creative Forum, is “Twenty-Four Land,” an ambitious WWII project from Portugal, and “A Good Year,” from relatively new Flemish outfit Mockingbird Pictures. Chosen from 376 submissions, up on last year’s inaugural edition, the 16-title In Development projects will be pitched at an event which play out this year over an extended schedule of three-and-a-half days as MipTV itself places ever more emphasis on project development, not just distribution.
The spread of country of origin of projects has also grown from a still predominantly European base, but taking in titles from Mexico,...
Also making the cut at In Development, known as well as the Cannes Drama Creative Forum, is “Twenty-Four Land,” an ambitious WWII project from Portugal, and “A Good Year,” from relatively new Flemish outfit Mockingbird Pictures. Chosen from 376 submissions, up on last year’s inaugural edition, the 16-title In Development projects will be pitched at an event which play out this year over an extended schedule of three-and-a-half days as MipTV itself places ever more emphasis on project development, not just distribution.
The spread of country of origin of projects has also grown from a still predominantly European base, but taking in titles from Mexico,...
- 3/1/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In the end, Oscar watchers and industry members all seemed relieved that all the categories were handed out on air, reversing the Academy’s original plan to present some categories during commercials.
Recipients of the Academy Awards for cinematography, editing, make-up and hairstyling, and live-action shorts all got their time in the spotlight on Sunday night’s Oscar broadcast.
Alfonso Cuaron won for cinematography for “Roma”; John Ottman won editing for “Bohemian Rhapsody”; “Skin,” directed by Guy Nattiv, won for live action short and Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney took the make-up and hairstyling trophy for “Vice,” only to be played off the stage when their speech went on too long.
Those four awards categories were left in Oscar limbo when on Feb. 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the decision to curtail four Oscar presentations from the live telecast. The goal — keep the broadcast...
Recipients of the Academy Awards for cinematography, editing, make-up and hairstyling, and live-action shorts all got their time in the spotlight on Sunday night’s Oscar broadcast.
Alfonso Cuaron won for cinematography for “Roma”; John Ottman won editing for “Bohemian Rhapsody”; “Skin,” directed by Guy Nattiv, won for live action short and Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney took the make-up and hairstyling trophy for “Vice,” only to be played off the stage when their speech went on too long.
Those four awards categories were left in Oscar limbo when on Feb. 11, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the decision to curtail four Oscar presentations from the live telecast. The goal — keep the broadcast...
- 2/25/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
In the first of our series of best picture Oscar hustings, here’s the case for Alfonso Cuarón’s novelistic jewel about race, class and culture in Mexico City
The best picture winner can only be Alfonso Cuarón’s glorious and very personal movie Roma, co-produced with Nicolás Celis and Gabriela Rodriguez. This jewel is inspired by his own upbringing in early 1970s Mexico City, and his family’s complex relationship with their beloved live-in maid. The film’s engagement with race, culture and class together with its staggeringly choreographed setpieces and sublimely inspired incidental detail all come together with Yalitza Aparicio’s wonderful lead performance to weave a spell.
Part of it is Cuarón’s miraculously unforced narrative flow. So many movies look like they have come out of screenplay-seminar thinking: three acts, show-don’t-tell, character arc, obstacles surmounted, life-lessons learned. By contrast, Roma just spills out unhurriedly on to the screen,...
The best picture winner can only be Alfonso Cuarón’s glorious and very personal movie Roma, co-produced with Nicolás Celis and Gabriela Rodriguez. This jewel is inspired by his own upbringing in early 1970s Mexico City, and his family’s complex relationship with their beloved live-in maid. The film’s engagement with race, culture and class together with its staggeringly choreographed setpieces and sublimely inspired incidental detail all come together with Yalitza Aparicio’s wonderful lead performance to weave a spell.
Part of it is Cuarón’s miraculously unforced narrative flow. So many movies look like they have come out of screenplay-seminar thinking: three acts, show-don’t-tell, character arc, obstacles surmounted, life-lessons learned. By contrast, Roma just spills out unhurriedly on to the screen,...
- 2/13/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Berlin — “Holy Beasts” begins memorably with a shot of an inky sea, as black as death. Surveying it is Vera, played by Geraldine Chaplin, an actress who travels to the Dominican Republic to shoot the unfinished film of real-life Dominican director Jean-Louis Jorge, who died in 2000.
Vera is most probably dying. This will certainly be her last film, she tells its producer.”Holy Beasts” is a step up in scale for its directors, Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas. Shot at the island’s Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios and extraordinarily plush Casa de Campo Resort, “Holy Beasts” records the bathetic happenstance of movie shoots, the tight budgets and schedules, the accidents, the conflict of creative will. Above all, however, the film turns on Vera who asks what matters and mattered in her life: Her answers, respectively, her grandson and Jean-Louis. Shooting his film may rescue not only Jean-Louis from oblivion but be,...
Vera is most probably dying. This will certainly be her last film, she tells its producer.”Holy Beasts” is a step up in scale for its directors, Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas. Shot at the island’s Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios and extraordinarily plush Casa de Campo Resort, “Holy Beasts” records the bathetic happenstance of movie shoots, the tight budgets and schedules, the accidents, the conflict of creative will. Above all, however, the film turns on Vera who asks what matters and mattered in her life: Her answers, respectively, her grandson and Jean-Louis. Shooting his film may rescue not only Jean-Louis from oblivion but be,...
- 2/10/2019
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Big Spanish-language arthouse sales company Latido Films has just acquired world sales rights to Berlinale Panorama entry “Holy Beasts,” a step up in scale for its directors, “Sand Dollars” Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas, which turns around the extraordinary, if ill-known, Dominican cineast Jean-Louis Jorge.
The deal excludes producers’ home territories.
Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Udo Kier, Luis Ospina and, “Holy Beasts” is produced by the Dominican Republic’s Gabriel Tineo at Batú Films (“Miriam Miente”), Lantica Media and Aurora Dominicana, Argentina’s Rei Cine, and Mexico’s Pimienta Films, represented by Nicolás Celis and Sandino Sarabia Vinay, a producer and associate producer on “Roma.”
“Holy Beasts” turns on an actress (Chaplin), based on the figure of Edwige Belmore, who travels to the Dominican Republic to direct and star in an unfinished film she originally took part in, begun by Jean-Louis Jorge.
George’s short oeuvre, with just two...
The deal excludes producers’ home territories.
Starring Geraldine Chaplin, Udo Kier, Luis Ospina and, “Holy Beasts” is produced by the Dominican Republic’s Gabriel Tineo at Batú Films (“Miriam Miente”), Lantica Media and Aurora Dominicana, Argentina’s Rei Cine, and Mexico’s Pimienta Films, represented by Nicolás Celis and Sandino Sarabia Vinay, a producer and associate producer on “Roma.”
“Holy Beasts” turns on an actress (Chaplin), based on the figure of Edwige Belmore, who travels to the Dominican Republic to direct and star in an unfinished film she originally took part in, begun by Jean-Louis Jorge.
George’s short oeuvre, with just two...
- 1/30/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
91st Academy Award ceremony to take place on February 24.
The Favourite’s producers from Element Films were wide-eyed and jet-lagged, while Minding The Gap documentary director Bing Liu has been bed-ridden with the flu. Yet all that was put to one side when they learned of their Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning (22).
Willem Dafoe said he was “over the moon” for his recognition as Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate, and Roma star Yalitza Aparicio thanked the Academy for helping ”those of us who feel invisible be seen.”
The nominees for the 91st Academy Award share their reactions below.
The Favourite’s producers from Element Films were wide-eyed and jet-lagged, while Minding The Gap documentary director Bing Liu has been bed-ridden with the flu. Yet all that was put to one side when they learned of their Oscar nominations on Tuesday morning (22).
Willem Dafoe said he was “over the moon” for his recognition as Vincent van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate, and Roma star Yalitza Aparicio thanked the Academy for helping ”those of us who feel invisible be seen.”
The nominees for the 91st Academy Award share their reactions below.
- 1/22/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Favourite leads the way with 13 nominations.
The 2018 British Independent Film Awards are taking place now in London.
Scroll down to see all the winners revealed so far.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ period comedy The Favourite leads the field with 13 nominations. Bart Layton’s American Animals has 11 nominations, while Michael Pearce’s Beast has 10.
At the previously announced craft awards, The Favourite won five prizes.
Judi Dench and Felicity Jones will both receive honorary prizes during tonight’s ceremony, which will be hosted by actor Russell Tovey.
Refresh this page to reveal the latest winners.
Winners list:
Winners in bold
Best Actor...
The 2018 British Independent Film Awards are taking place now in London.
Scroll down to see all the winners revealed so far.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ period comedy The Favourite leads the field with 13 nominations. Bart Layton’s American Animals has 11 nominations, while Michael Pearce’s Beast has 10.
At the previously announced craft awards, The Favourite won five prizes.
Judi Dench and Felicity Jones will both receive honorary prizes during tonight’s ceremony, which will be hosted by actor Russell Tovey.
Refresh this page to reveal the latest winners.
Winners list:
Winners in bold
Best Actor...
- 12/2/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
The awards shows will continue until morale improves. That’s good news for Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” which got off to a great start by winning both Best Actress for Olivia Colman and a Special Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and now leads all movies with 13 nominations at the British Independent Film Awards. Following it are “American Animals” (11), “Beast” (10), and “You Were Never Really Here” (8); all are nominated for the top prize, as is “Disobedience.”
Also well represented is Rachel Weisz, whose roles in “Disobedience” and “The Favourite” have her up for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively; her co-stars in both films — Olivia Colman and Emma Stone in “The Favourite,” Rachel McAdams in “Disobedience” — are all nominated as well.
This year’s Bifa ceremony takes place on Sunday, December 2 in London. Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best British Independent Film
American Animals Bart Layton,...
Also well represented is Rachel Weisz, whose roles in “Disobedience” and “The Favourite” have her up for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively; her co-stars in both films — Olivia Colman and Emma Stone in “The Favourite,” Rachel McAdams in “Disobedience” — are all nominated as well.
This year’s Bifa ceremony takes place on Sunday, December 2 in London. Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best British Independent Film
American Animals Bart Layton,...
- 10/31/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Morelia, Mexico — In 2010, Switzerland’s Locarno Festival, Europe’s biggest mid-summer movie event, held its inaugural Locarno Academy with the intent to develop emerging industry talents from multiple industry disciplines such as sales, distribution, exhibition and production. In 2014, Morelia became the first festival to partner with the Academy for what has since become a yearly event backed by the Mexican Film Institute (Imcine).
“One thing we discuss here is that in Latin America we all do many things,” said Locarno Academy moderator and Interior Xiii founder-director Sandra Gomez.
“We are producers, but also distributors, we try to make deals with exhibition companies and so we end up in many parts of the business because that’s how it has to be done here. We don’t have many sales agents in Latin America, for example,” she added.
Joining Gomez on the Academy team was Marion Klotz, who has long collaborated...
“One thing we discuss here is that in Latin America we all do many things,” said Locarno Academy moderator and Interior Xiii founder-director Sandra Gomez.
“We are producers, but also distributors, we try to make deals with exhibition companies and so we end up in many parts of the business because that’s how it has to be done here. We don’t have many sales agents in Latin America, for example,” she added.
Joining Gomez on the Academy team was Marion Klotz, who has long collaborated...
- 10/27/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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