Ana de Armas is wasting no time making her mark on Hollywood, and you'd be smart to keep an eye on her. The 29-year-old is about to be everywhere with her role as Joi, Ryan Gosling's love interest in the new Blade Runner 2049 movie, and she's also set to star alongside Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen in Three Seconds, which will hit theaters in 2018. Get to know a few key facts about Ana before your girl-crush really intensifies. Cuba has her heart. Ana was born and raised in Cuba before she moved to Spain at age 18 in pursuit of her acting career. She's as tough as a bull (kind of). The actress was born on April 30, 1988, making her a Taurus. When she's not acting, she's dancing. Ana loves to share videos of her and her friends shaking what their mamas gave them on Instagram. She's got a serious case of puppy love.
- 10/9/2017
- by Celia Fernandez
- Popsugar.com
As another year comes to an end, Academy voters will be looking back on the best performances the silver screen had to offer. Backstage chose a handful of supporting male actors who are especially deserving of nominations. Now it’s time to round up the remaining contenders: the actors who surprised us, who delighted us, who made us cry. Some gave the latest in a long line of impressive performances; others seemed to come out of nowhere. Don’t be surprised to hear some of the following names among the Oscar nominations announced Jan. 24. Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water” (Lionsgate/CBS Films)Bridges has always been an actor of depth, but the kind of ferocious intensity he brings to his aging Sheriff Marcus Hamilton in “Hell or High Water” still astounds. Without much more than the crook of his smile and the steeliness of his eye, the “Crazy Heart...
- 12/27/2016
- backstage.com
There’s something about boxing movies that gets butts in seats regardless of so many being practically the same story. The formula almost always concerns some type of personal and professional redemption and Ben Younger‘s Bleed for This is no exception. Being a true telling of Vinny Pazienza’s (Miles Teller) arduous journey back into the ring after a near-fatal car crash severed his neck, however, means it possesses some substance beyond the old “washed up” bid for revenge against the press or a former coach/manager who’s now inexplicably repping the opponent. Some of that is present too, but it takes a backseat to watching a tenacious young man beat the odds to prove mankind’s resilience rather than facilitate the usual melodramatic quest of honoring a fridged family member.
Our introduction to Paz is by watching him get beat for the third time in a row...
Our introduction to Paz is by watching him get beat for the third time in a row...
- 9/18/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Thanks to his role in Martin Scorsese’s immortal 1980 classic Raging Bull, Robert De Niro will forever be linked to the sport of boxing in the minds of moviegoers. For the last couple decades, the Oscar-winning actor has been heavily riffing on his past roles for comedic effect in releases like Analyze This, Meet the Parents and Grudge Match, all of which saw De Niro poke fun at his own tough-guy persona and the various archetypes he’s known for. Now he’s back in the world of boxing again – though with a decidedly more dramatic goal in mind – as a key supporting character in writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz’s Hands of Stone.
The film stars Edgar Ramírez (Joy) as Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who rose to prominence in the early 1970s, but rather than focus solely on his rise and fall (and rise again), Hands of Stone also takes...
The film stars Edgar Ramírez (Joy) as Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who rose to prominence in the early 1970s, but rather than focus solely on his rise and fall (and rise again), Hands of Stone also takes...
- 8/27/2016
- by Robert Yaniz Jr.
- We Got This Covered
One of the biggest disservices a biopic can do to its audience is to rubber-stamp public perceptions of historical events. These films often revolve around that person’s defining moment, the first line in their obituary. In trying to squeeze a half-dozen life stories into its running time, “Hands of Stone,” the new film about legendary Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, magnifies that disappointing mistake.
Durán, played here by Édgar Ramírez, rose to prominence in the late 1960s, after his fighting ability caught the attention of patrons within the country and trainers from without. From Durán’s childhood days through the heights of his professional career, “Hands of Stone” drags in a bevy of supporting players meant to buttress the boxer’s complicated arc, but instead pull focus at each successive turn.
Both friend and foil to Durán, down-and-out trainer Ray Arcel (Robert DeNiro) is painted as a sage dispenser of pugilistic truths.
Durán, played here by Édgar Ramírez, rose to prominence in the late 1960s, after his fighting ability caught the attention of patrons within the country and trainers from without. From Durán’s childhood days through the heights of his professional career, “Hands of Stone” drags in a bevy of supporting players meant to buttress the boxer’s complicated arc, but instead pull focus at each successive turn.
Both friend and foil to Durán, down-and-out trainer Ray Arcel (Robert DeNiro) is painted as a sage dispenser of pugilistic truths.
- 8/25/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Usher has always sported enviable abs, but when he signed on to play Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, the star adopted a new diet and hit the gym - hard. "When you're playing a role like this, you can't act a boxer. The only way you know what it is to be a boxer is to be one," the entertainer - who stars opposite Edgar Ramirez in the biopic about champion fighter Roberto Durán - tells People exclusively. "I began to see a transformation happen with my body." Starting at 172 lbs. (he got down to 146 lbs. at his lowest), Usher,...
- 8/25/2016
- by Melody Chiu, @chiumelo
- PEOPLE.com
Usher has always sported enviable abs, but when he signed on to play Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, the star adopted a new diet and hit the gym - hard. "When you're playing a role like this, you can't act a boxer. The only way you know what it is to be a boxer is to be one," the entertainer - who stars opposite Edgar Ramirez in the biopic about champion fighter Roberto Durán - tells People exclusively. "I began to see a transformation happen with my body." Starting at 172 lbs. (he got down to 146 lbs. at his lowest), Usher,...
- 8/25/2016
- by Melody Chiu, @chiumelo
- PEOPLE.com
Hands Of Stone, a biopic about the Panamanian prizefighter Roberto Durán, can’t decide whether it wants to be a portrait of the athlete as an independent hero of his times (like Ali), a character study about machismo (like Raging Bull), or just an underdog sports movie. It ends up being a little bit of everything—which is to say, not much of anything at all. Durán (Edgar Ramírez, good as always) is portrayed through a handful of big fights that happened over the course of a decade and change, including his two famous bouts with Sugar Ray Leonard (a well-cast Usher Raymond), but though writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz’s choice to portray boxing as a mostly mental sport—the art of psyching out an opponent without tripping yourself up—gives it some novelty, the movie is left grasping for a through-line.
The illegitimate son of an American serviceman, Durán grew...
The illegitimate son of an American serviceman, Durán grew...
- 8/25/2016
- by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
- avclub.com
From RedBand.Ca, take a look @ restricted 'red band' footage from the boxing drama, "Hands Of Stone", based on the story of Panamanian fighter Roberto Durán, written/directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, starring Édgar Ramírez, Robert De Niro ("Raging Bull"), Usher, Ruben Blades, Ellen Barkin, Ana de Armas, Oscar Jaenada and John Turturro, opening August 26, 2016:
"...Roberto Durán made his professional boxing debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old, defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the Wbc welterweight title, then shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying 'no más' (no more)..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hands Of Stone"...
"...Roberto Durán made his professional boxing debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old, defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the Wbc welterweight title, then shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying 'no más' (no more)..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Hands Of Stone"...
- 8/24/2016
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
This tone-deaf biopic of the Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán can’t work out whether its subject is a hero or a zero. And Robert De Niro doesn’t help
Hands of Stone starts out in a defensive crouch. Over slow-motion images of two men beating the snot out of each other, Robert De Niro intones a lazy argument that boxing is, in fact, an art. That’s a conversation for another day, but one thing is for certain: this tone-deaf biopic of the Panamanian prizefighter Roberto Durán, made in conjunction with the Panamanian Film Commission, is about as subtle and welcome as a blow to the head.
Continue reading...
Hands of Stone starts out in a defensive crouch. Over slow-motion images of two men beating the snot out of each other, Robert De Niro intones a lazy argument that boxing is, in fact, an art. That’s a conversation for another day, but one thing is for certain: this tone-deaf biopic of the Panamanian prizefighter Roberto Durán, made in conjunction with the Panamanian Film Commission, is about as subtle and welcome as a blow to the head.
Continue reading...
- 8/22/2016
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
The Weinstein Company has today cast light on the latest trailer for Jonathan Jakubowicz’s sports biopic Hands of Stone, and it opens just as you would expect – sweeping crowds shots followed by a montage of two fighters preparing to step into the ring.
The press conferences, the intense workouts, the experienced coach (Robert De Niro, in this case) – it’s all there. But perhaps in an effort to spike interest in Hands of Stone, the snippet veers directly into R-rated territory, first introducing Roberto Durán (Édgar Ramirez) and Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas) going at it like rabbits before shifting focus to the bedroom antics of Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher) and Juanita (Jurnee Smollett-Bell).
It’s a little abrupt, to say the least, and we’re worried today’s decidedly Nsfw trailer is a last-ditch attempt from The Weinstein Company to fire Hands of Stone into the spotlight. Hopefully we’re way off base,...
The press conferences, the intense workouts, the experienced coach (Robert De Niro, in this case) – it’s all there. But perhaps in an effort to spike interest in Hands of Stone, the snippet veers directly into R-rated territory, first introducing Roberto Durán (Édgar Ramirez) and Felicidad Iglesias (Ana de Armas) going at it like rabbits before shifting focus to the bedroom antics of Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher) and Juanita (Jurnee Smollett-Bell).
It’s a little abrupt, to say the least, and we’re worried today’s decidedly Nsfw trailer is a last-ditch attempt from The Weinstein Company to fire Hands of Stone into the spotlight. Hopefully we’re way off base,...
- 8/19/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Usher plays boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays Leonard’s wife Juanita Leonard, in the upcoming film “Hands of Stone,” starring Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez, in a story that centerc primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by… Continue Reading →...
- 8/19/2016
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
Robert De Niro is back in the ring as legendary boxing coach Ray Arcel, who famously helped train Roberto Durán to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard for the 1980 Wbc welterweight title. Durán and Arcel's fascinating relationship is the subject of Jonathan Jakubowicz's new film Hands of Stone. And if the Venezuelan writer-director didn't know that casting De Niro in a boxing flick could draw some comparisons to a certain other boxing movie from his past, the Oscar winner made sure to remind him. "The first time I met with De Niro he told me, 'You do a serious boxing movie...
- 8/12/2016
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- PEOPLE.com
Robert De Niro is back in the ring as legendary boxing coach Ray Arcel, who famously helped train Roberto Durán to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard for the 1980 Wbc welterweight title. Durán and Arcel's fascinating relationship is the subject of Jonathan Jakubowicz's new film Hands of Stone. And if the Venezuelan writer-director didn't know that casting De Niro in a boxing flick could draw some comparisons to a certain other boxing movie from his past, the Oscar winner made sure to remind him. "The first time I met with De Niro he told me, 'You do a serious boxing movie...
- 8/12/2016
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- PEOPLE.com
Usher plays boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays Leonard’s wife Juanita Leonard, in the upcoming film “Hands of Stone,” starring Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez, in a story that centerc primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by… Continue Reading →...
- 8/5/2016
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
The life of Roberto Durán gets a stirring and thrilling big-screen adaptation with “Hands of Stone,” a new awards season-friendly film from writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz. As the trailer below indicates, this is a movie that pulls no punches. Starring up-and-coming actor Édgar Ramírez as the famous Panamanian boxer, “Hands of Stone” traces Durán’s journey from the slums of his hometown, to his professional boxing debut in 1968 at age 16, to his world-renowned Wbc welterweight fight in 1980 with Sugar Ray Leonard (played by musician Usher Raymond IV). Two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro plays Ray Arcel, the trainer who led 18 boxers, including Durán, to world championships. To be released Aug. 26, “Hands of Stone” comes to theaters before another 2016 awards season movie about professional boxing: “Bleed for This,” starring Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart. Will the two films take each other on in the Oscar ring? Watch the trailer below. Want to compete for an Oscar?...
- 7/21/2016
- backstage.com
In 1980, Robert De Niro delivered an Oscar-winning performance as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, the Martin Scorsese masterpiece that set a high water mark for both biographical narratives and boxing films. For many years, the compound image of De Niro and a boxing ring was indisputably evocative of cinematic excellence. And then, in 2013, he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in Grudge Match, and that compound image suddenly had an unpleasant amount of bodily fluids splattered across it.
Now, he’s trying to clean up some of that mess. In Hands Of Stone, the 72-year-old veteran actor plays Ray Arcel, the master trainer who stood in the corner of 18 world champions. One of those was Roberto Durán, the Panamanian fighter who came in fifth in The Ring’s countdown of the sport’s greatest talents of the past eight decades. Written and directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz ...
Now, he’s trying to clean up some of that mess. In Hands Of Stone, the 72-year-old veteran actor plays Ray Arcel, the master trainer who stood in the corner of 18 world champions. One of those was Roberto Durán, the Panamanian fighter who came in fifth in The Ring’s countdown of the sport’s greatest talents of the past eight decades. Written and directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz ...
- 7/21/2016
- by Dennis DiClaudio
- avclub.com
"This is inexplicable!" The Weinstein Company has unveiled the full-length, official trailer for Hands of Stone, one of the two major boxing movies this year (the other being Miles Teller's Bleed For This). The film tells the true story of professional boxer Roberto Durán, played by Edgar Ramirez, who hails from Panama. Durán fought predominantly during the 80s and is still considered one of the greatest boxers of all-time, earning the nickname "Hands of Stone" during his career. The cast includes Robert De Niro as trainer Ray Arcel, plus Usher Raymond IV as Sugar Ray Leonard, Ana de Armas, Ellen Barkin, and John Turturro. The first teaser didn't show much, but this one gives us a good look at what to expect in this story about a legendary boxer. It seems as much about Durán as it does about Sugar Ray Leonard, too. Here's the second official trailer for...
- 7/21/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Robert De Niro in a boxing movie. Harvey Weinstein at the Cannes Film Festival. Some things are meant to be together. And they were all together on Monday night in Cannes, when the Weinstein Company unveiled “Hands of Stone,” a movie about Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán starring Edgar Ramirez as Durán and De Niro as his longtime trainer Ray Arcel. Perhaps predictably, the results were not as fabulous as the ingredients suggested they might have been. Two things, though, helped give a little kick to the black-tie event at the Grand Theatre Lumiere: Cannes turned it into a career tribute of.
- 5/17/2016
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Roberto Durán went 103-16-0 as a boxer, with a total of 70 knockouts. Durán, who started his boxing career at the age of 16, was nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” (“Hands of Stone”). Throughout his incredible career, the Hands of Stone faced off against Sugar Ray Leonard a total of three times, but their most famous fight occurred in […]
The post ‘Hands of Stone’ Teaser Trailer: Edgar Ramirez and Usher Transform for the Boxing Drama appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Hands of Stone’ Teaser Trailer: Edgar Ramirez and Usher Transform for the Boxing Drama appeared first on /Film.
- 4/19/2016
- by Jack Giroux
- Slash Film
"In 66 seconds, Roberto Durán changed my life." Yet another boxing movie, there's at least a couple every year. The Weinstein Company has debuted the first teaser trailer for Hands of Stone, a film about the true story of legendary professional boxer Roberto Durán, played by Edgar Ramirez. Hailing from Panama, Durán fought during the 80s and is considered one of the greatest boxers of all-time, earning the nickname "Hands of Stone" during his career. The cast of the film includes Robert De Niro as trainer Ray Arcel, plus Usher Raymond IV, Ana de Armas, Ellen Barkin, and John Turturro. This teaser trailer doesn't show too much, but it looks solid. I'm particularly excited to see Edgar Ramirez in action, he's very talented. Here's the first teaser trailer (+ poster) for Jonathan Jakubowicz's Hands of Stone, from YouTube: Follows the life of Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramirez), the Panamanian fighter who made...
- 4/19/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"I train like an athlete very day, believe it or not... My commitment to this character demands that I not only physically get ready, but also become him... The hair, the personality, the manner he conducts himself in — all that. He's an incredible man." ~ Usher, in a Mens Health magazine 3 years ago, while he was prepping to play boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in "Hands of Stone," starring opposite Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez (replacing Gael García Bernal) in a story that will center primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by Ramirez). De Niro plays Duran's Hall of Fame trainer, Ray Arcel. Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays...
- 4/19/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The Weinstein Company dropped the first teaser trailer for boxing biopic “Hands of Stone,” about one of the world’s most legendary fighters, Roberto Durán Samaniego. Edgar Ramirez (“Joy,” “Point Break”) stars as the Panamanian boxer, considered to be one of the greatest fighters to ever live, while Oscar-winning “Raging Bull” star Robert De Niro steps back into the ring as Duran’s coach. Durán enjoyed an unusually long career, starting his life in the ring at 16 years old in 1968, and retiring in 2002 at age 50. Also Read: Why Hollywood Is Punch-Drunk on Boxing Movies From 'Southpaw' to 'Hands of Stone' Usher.
- 4/19/2016
- by Meriah Doty
- The Wrap
What pleasures await in Panama! As part of the invited press corps, I attended the first ever Premios Platino del Cine Iberoamericano where I met numerous journalists from all over the world, though most particularly from Latin America.
As part of the expanded International Film Festival of Panama, running April 3 to 9, 2014, the Platinum Awards Ceremony was held in the huge Convention Center Theater just across from the Sheraton where we were given four days.
Watch this compendium of Iberoamerican cinema on You Tube: http://youtu.be/VXxgtudHzz0 (or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxgtudHzz0)
The old city of Panama is undergoing extensive modernization and gentrification. When finished, it may look a beautiful as Cartagena…both are Colonial styles, but there is unbearable traffic in the Panama streets which was not the case in Cartagena. The city not only reveals layers and layers of history, from the indigenous days to the Spanish days of conquest and colonialism where it was the starting point of the quest to conquer the Incas, to the days when all the gold and silver of Latin America passed through the isthmus here on its way to Spain, to the first 80 years of independence from Spain as a part of Colombia, from its independence from Colombia with the aid of the U.S., to the days when the French attempted to build the Panama Canal followed by the early 20th Century when U.S. succeeded, to those days of Noriega which U.S. terminated by invading Panama in Operation Just Cause under Commander in Chief George W. Bush in 1989, to today when you can see the capital of the world pouring into the economy, building massive sky scrapers and restoring the old town to its colonial and later French splendor.
What struck me most after the horrible traffic, were the fabulous artisanal goods, of embroidery, straw weaving, bone carvings, gourds, panama hats! This picture of a Guna woman is an example of one of many selling their wares in rich markets. I could spend a lot of money here if and when I return!
The Panamanian economy has been among the fastest growing and best managed in Latin America. Latin Business Chronicle had previously predicted that Panama would be the fastest growing economy in Latin America in the five-year period of 2010–14, matching Brazil's 10% rate. This was obvious from our tour. The expansion project of the Panama Canal, combined with the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the United States, is expected to boost and extend economic expansion for some time.
The Panama Canal during an empty moment, as shot by me from the terrace. We saw ships going through as well. In 2014, 100 years after its establishment, a new canal will allow larger container ships to transport goods between the two largest oceans in the world. This literally positions Panama as the trade crossroads of the world and it is experiencing an investment surge which astounds the first time visitor (like me!)
After our tour of Panama City and the night we were feted after taking another tour of the Panama Canal, we had dinner and a Festival party on the terrace overlooking it.
Panama’s film history is null, but it is quickly being rectified by Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with his one-woman band, Arianne Marie Benedetti who has taken maternity leave for the moment.
They are responsible for instigating the new film law, for the four year old film festival, coproduction meetings, and hiring Toronto Latina programmer Diana Sanchez to program their festival and now the first Iberoamerican Platinum Awards, and much more.
The workshops at this event are outstanding. I wish I were able to hear all they have to say!
Jonathan Jakubobiwz , the producer of the $17 million Hands of Stone (Isa: Lotus) which tells the story of the Panamanian boxer Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Durán, spoke about how this production used 15,000 extras, was shot in over 140 locations. All was filmed and produced in Panama where the producers took advantage of a 15% cash rebate and a $2.8 million advance from the Panamanian government, the latter expressly offered to make sure they lensed the story about their national hero Roberto Durán in his native land.
“They gave us full support, dozens of free locations and a level of hospitality that made everyone feel at home,” said Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express). With 15,000 extras and a stellar international cast led by Robert De Niro, Édgar Ramírez, Ellen Barkin, John Turturro and Usher Raymond, Hands of Stone recreated four cities and four decades in Panama. “The footage is a million times better than even I expected,” Jakubowicz said.
Another workshop was given by one of Argentina’s top producers, Verónica Cura. Thirty-five filmmakers, mostly from Panama took part. Vero spoke about film production from an artistic and organizational perspective, starting from the moment the idea takes hold, to project development ,to shooting and all the way to theatrical exhibition. Vero started working in 1992 as a director and head of production. In 2001 she began producing her own films. From 2007 to 2009 she was President of the Association of Independent Producers and Vice President of the Chamber of Film Producers from 2009 to 2011. She has been involved in films such as The Headless Woman by Lucrecia Martel (Cannes Competition), The Other by Ariel Rotter (Berlinale, 2 Silver Bears and the Jury Grand Prize), Las Acacias by Pablo Giogelli (Camera d’or, Cannes 2011), Live-in Maid by Jorge Gaggero (Sundance Special Jury Prize), There Be Dragons by Roland Joffe, Torrente 3 by Santiago Segura, The Dead and Being Happy by Javier Rebolla, One Love by Paula Hernandez and The Game Maker by John Paul Buscarini, among others.
Panel – Producing in Central America
The panel that reads like a Who’s Who of Central America discussed producing in Latin America. These active figures in current Central American production, shared their experiences on film production in the region. Moderated by Pituka Ortega (Iff -Panamá), the speakers included
Pablo Schverdfinger (Argentina )
After his film studies in Argentina, in Avellaneda Film School and then at the Universidad del Cine, Pablo began working with the filming of Highlander II and from there he developed his career as director of photography . In 2010 he founded Dragon Films and began directing commercials and documentaries for the local market in Panama. The 2012 he started Mangrove Films, a more ambitious bid to expand its services to the local Panamanian market with prestigious directors representation opening the doors to international markets by adding the alliance with Argentina Concrete Films.
Ileana Novas (Argentina)
Ileana Nova studied Social Communication at the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina . She worked many years in production at Flehner Films and Sorin Cine, for many local productions and especially in the international department providing production services abroad. Post Production Coordinator : The Other ( Ariel Rotter - Silver Bear at Berlin Intl Film Festival 2007 ) , Hide ( Canadian Production of KCBascombe - 2007), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, co-produced by France, Italy, Spain and nominated in the Cannes Film Festival 2008 ). Then , while working on The Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli won three awards at Cannes Film Festival 2011) , the idea arose to establish herself in Panama . Her previous work experience in Panama in 1999 encouraged her to decide to move there in 2010 where she set up Mangrove Films.
Rafael González (Guatemala )
Rafael worked on The Wagon (TV) and The Comal House in Guatemala as a producer and screenwriter. He has been looking back on the history of his country for the last 15 years, and he created Back to Home in which he addresses the issue of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico. He was a sound technician and producer on the documentary La Camioneta selected for the Festival of Guadalajara 2013. Currently he is directing and producing the documentary Flight of Azacuán , a coproduction with Doctv Latin America.
Neto Villalobos (Costa Rica )
Neto graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University of Costa Rica and later graduated in film direction at the Centre d 'Estudis Cinema de Catalunya in Barcelona. His first feature film All About the Feathers was selected for the International Film Festival in Toronto and then in the International Film Festival of San Sebastian. All About the Feathers was also at other international festivals such as Rotterdam, Miami , Buenos Aires, Toulouse, Vancouver, Stockholm, Havana, Prague, Geneva, Kerala, Cleveland and won Best American Film and Best Director at the Icarus Film Festival of Guatemala. Neto is working on his second feature film called Majijo
Luis Rafael Gonzalez (Santo Domingo )
With extensive experience in various branches of the film industry, founding member of the International Film Festival of Santo Domingo, Deputy Director of Programming and Broadcasting (2004-2006) and CEO (2007-2011) of the Dominican Cinematheque, Representative of the Dominican Republic in the Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (Fiaf) , the International Federation of Film Clubs ( Ficc ) and the First Latin American Congress of Culture dedicated to Cinema and Audiovisual, Luis Rafael has also participated in developing the law on the Promotion of Film Activity in the Dominican Republic. He won the top prize for a script at Les Films de L' Astre, 2011 with his Gods without Twilight. He is also part of the Dominican Film Selection Committee to select the Dominican film for Oscars and other international awards. He serves as Vice President of Acquisitions and Distribution for Palmera International, a distributor which operates in the territories of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean.
María Lourdes Cortés (Costa Rica )
Costa Rican and Central American historian, professor at the University of Costa Rica, a researcher at the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema and director at Cinergia, Maria Lourdes was also director of the first School of Cinema and Television founded in Costa Rica (Universidad Veritas) and the Costa Rican Film Production Center. She has won the Joaquín García Monge Prize in cultural diffusion and twice the Essay Prize Achilles J. Echeverría for the books Love and Treachery, Film and Literature in Latin America (1999), and The Broken Screen. One Hundred Years of Cinema in Central America (2005). For this last book, she received the honorary award Ezequiel Martínez Estrada by the Casa de las Americas (Cuba ) for the best essay published in that year (2005). She is currently preparing research on Gabriel García Márquez and film and on the textual work of Silvio Rodriguez. She has been jury in film festivals in France, Holland, Cuba and Mexico where she has also given talks and workshops. The Government of the Republic of France awarded her with the rank of Knight of the Order with the Merit of Honor (2005).
Another workshop featured Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most important festivals in the world and one of the largest in North America, discussed how Tiff’s position has been achieved and the importance for the Latin American industry of participating in this event. Cameron is also part of the School Advisory Council at the University of Western Arts and Humanities and the School of Cinema Institute of Haiti. He lectures on programming and preservation at the University of Toronto and is also a member of the Board of Tourism Toronto and the former co-chair of the Working Group Arts and Culture Civic Action Toronto. Former board member of the Ontario Film Development Corporation and member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of the Royal Ontarios Museum for Contemporary Culture, in 2007 he was part of the delegation accompanying the General Governor of Canada, Michaelle Jean on her state visit to Brazil.
As part of the expanded International Film Festival of Panama, running April 3 to 9, 2014, the Platinum Awards Ceremony was held in the huge Convention Center Theater just across from the Sheraton where we were given four days.
Watch this compendium of Iberoamerican cinema on You Tube: http://youtu.be/VXxgtudHzz0 (or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxgtudHzz0)
The old city of Panama is undergoing extensive modernization and gentrification. When finished, it may look a beautiful as Cartagena…both are Colonial styles, but there is unbearable traffic in the Panama streets which was not the case in Cartagena. The city not only reveals layers and layers of history, from the indigenous days to the Spanish days of conquest and colonialism where it was the starting point of the quest to conquer the Incas, to the days when all the gold and silver of Latin America passed through the isthmus here on its way to Spain, to the first 80 years of independence from Spain as a part of Colombia, from its independence from Colombia with the aid of the U.S., to the days when the French attempted to build the Panama Canal followed by the early 20th Century when U.S. succeeded, to those days of Noriega which U.S. terminated by invading Panama in Operation Just Cause under Commander in Chief George W. Bush in 1989, to today when you can see the capital of the world pouring into the economy, building massive sky scrapers and restoring the old town to its colonial and later French splendor.
What struck me most after the horrible traffic, were the fabulous artisanal goods, of embroidery, straw weaving, bone carvings, gourds, panama hats! This picture of a Guna woman is an example of one of many selling their wares in rich markets. I could spend a lot of money here if and when I return!
The Panamanian economy has been among the fastest growing and best managed in Latin America. Latin Business Chronicle had previously predicted that Panama would be the fastest growing economy in Latin America in the five-year period of 2010–14, matching Brazil's 10% rate. This was obvious from our tour. The expansion project of the Panama Canal, combined with the conclusion of a free trade agreement with the United States, is expected to boost and extend economic expansion for some time.
The Panama Canal during an empty moment, as shot by me from the terrace. We saw ships going through as well. In 2014, 100 years after its establishment, a new canal will allow larger container ships to transport goods between the two largest oceans in the world. This literally positions Panama as the trade crossroads of the world and it is experiencing an investment surge which astounds the first time visitor (like me!)
After our tour of Panama City and the night we were feted after taking another tour of the Panama Canal, we had dinner and a Festival party on the terrace overlooking it.
Panama’s film history is null, but it is quickly being rectified by Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with his one-woman band, Arianne Marie Benedetti who has taken maternity leave for the moment.
They are responsible for instigating the new film law, for the four year old film festival, coproduction meetings, and hiring Toronto Latina programmer Diana Sanchez to program their festival and now the first Iberoamerican Platinum Awards, and much more.
The workshops at this event are outstanding. I wish I were able to hear all they have to say!
Jonathan Jakubobiwz , the producer of the $17 million Hands of Stone (Isa: Lotus) which tells the story of the Panamanian boxer Roberto “Mano de Piedra” Durán, spoke about how this production used 15,000 extras, was shot in over 140 locations. All was filmed and produced in Panama where the producers took advantage of a 15% cash rebate and a $2.8 million advance from the Panamanian government, the latter expressly offered to make sure they lensed the story about their national hero Roberto Durán in his native land.
“They gave us full support, dozens of free locations and a level of hospitality that made everyone feel at home,” said Jonathan Jakubowicz (Secuestro Express). With 15,000 extras and a stellar international cast led by Robert De Niro, Édgar Ramírez, Ellen Barkin, John Turturro and Usher Raymond, Hands of Stone recreated four cities and four decades in Panama. “The footage is a million times better than even I expected,” Jakubowicz said.
Another workshop was given by one of Argentina’s top producers, Verónica Cura. Thirty-five filmmakers, mostly from Panama took part. Vero spoke about film production from an artistic and organizational perspective, starting from the moment the idea takes hold, to project development ,to shooting and all the way to theatrical exhibition. Vero started working in 1992 as a director and head of production. In 2001 she began producing her own films. From 2007 to 2009 she was President of the Association of Independent Producers and Vice President of the Chamber of Film Producers from 2009 to 2011. She has been involved in films such as The Headless Woman by Lucrecia Martel (Cannes Competition), The Other by Ariel Rotter (Berlinale, 2 Silver Bears and the Jury Grand Prize), Las Acacias by Pablo Giogelli (Camera d’or, Cannes 2011), Live-in Maid by Jorge Gaggero (Sundance Special Jury Prize), There Be Dragons by Roland Joffe, Torrente 3 by Santiago Segura, The Dead and Being Happy by Javier Rebolla, One Love by Paula Hernandez and The Game Maker by John Paul Buscarini, among others.
Panel – Producing in Central America
The panel that reads like a Who’s Who of Central America discussed producing in Latin America. These active figures in current Central American production, shared their experiences on film production in the region. Moderated by Pituka Ortega (Iff -Panamá), the speakers included
Pablo Schverdfinger (Argentina )
After his film studies in Argentina, in Avellaneda Film School and then at the Universidad del Cine, Pablo began working with the filming of Highlander II and from there he developed his career as director of photography . In 2010 he founded Dragon Films and began directing commercials and documentaries for the local market in Panama. The 2012 he started Mangrove Films, a more ambitious bid to expand its services to the local Panamanian market with prestigious directors representation opening the doors to international markets by adding the alliance with Argentina Concrete Films.
Ileana Novas (Argentina)
Ileana Nova studied Social Communication at the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina . She worked many years in production at Flehner Films and Sorin Cine, for many local productions and especially in the international department providing production services abroad. Post Production Coordinator : The Other ( Ariel Rotter - Silver Bear at Berlin Intl Film Festival 2007 ) , Hide ( Canadian Production of KCBascombe - 2007), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, co-produced by France, Italy, Spain and nominated in the Cannes Film Festival 2008 ). Then , while working on The Acacias (Pablo Giorgelli won three awards at Cannes Film Festival 2011) , the idea arose to establish herself in Panama . Her previous work experience in Panama in 1999 encouraged her to decide to move there in 2010 where she set up Mangrove Films.
Rafael González (Guatemala )
Rafael worked on The Wagon (TV) and The Comal House in Guatemala as a producer and screenwriter. He has been looking back on the history of his country for the last 15 years, and he created Back to Home in which he addresses the issue of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico. He was a sound technician and producer on the documentary La Camioneta selected for the Festival of Guadalajara 2013. Currently he is directing and producing the documentary Flight of Azacuán , a coproduction with Doctv Latin America.
Neto Villalobos (Costa Rica )
Neto graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University of Costa Rica and later graduated in film direction at the Centre d 'Estudis Cinema de Catalunya in Barcelona. His first feature film All About the Feathers was selected for the International Film Festival in Toronto and then in the International Film Festival of San Sebastian. All About the Feathers was also at other international festivals such as Rotterdam, Miami , Buenos Aires, Toulouse, Vancouver, Stockholm, Havana, Prague, Geneva, Kerala, Cleveland and won Best American Film and Best Director at the Icarus Film Festival of Guatemala. Neto is working on his second feature film called Majijo
Luis Rafael Gonzalez (Santo Domingo )
With extensive experience in various branches of the film industry, founding member of the International Film Festival of Santo Domingo, Deputy Director of Programming and Broadcasting (2004-2006) and CEO (2007-2011) of the Dominican Cinematheque, Representative of the Dominican Republic in the Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives (Fiaf) , the International Federation of Film Clubs ( Ficc ) and the First Latin American Congress of Culture dedicated to Cinema and Audiovisual, Luis Rafael has also participated in developing the law on the Promotion of Film Activity in the Dominican Republic. He won the top prize for a script at Les Films de L' Astre, 2011 with his Gods without Twilight. He is also part of the Dominican Film Selection Committee to select the Dominican film for Oscars and other international awards. He serves as Vice President of Acquisitions and Distribution for Palmera International, a distributor which operates in the territories of the United States, Central America and the Caribbean.
María Lourdes Cortés (Costa Rica )
Costa Rican and Central American historian, professor at the University of Costa Rica, a researcher at the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema and director at Cinergia, Maria Lourdes was also director of the first School of Cinema and Television founded in Costa Rica (Universidad Veritas) and the Costa Rican Film Production Center. She has won the Joaquín García Monge Prize in cultural diffusion and twice the Essay Prize Achilles J. Echeverría for the books Love and Treachery, Film and Literature in Latin America (1999), and The Broken Screen. One Hundred Years of Cinema in Central America (2005). For this last book, she received the honorary award Ezequiel Martínez Estrada by the Casa de las Americas (Cuba ) for the best essay published in that year (2005). She is currently preparing research on Gabriel García Márquez and film and on the textual work of Silvio Rodriguez. She has been jury in film festivals in France, Holland, Cuba and Mexico where she has also given talks and workshops. The Government of the Republic of France awarded her with the rank of Knight of the Order with the Merit of Honor (2005).
Another workshop featured Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most important festivals in the world and one of the largest in North America, discussed how Tiff’s position has been achieved and the importance for the Latin American industry of participating in this event. Cameron is also part of the School Advisory Council at the University of Western Arts and Humanities and the School of Cinema Institute of Haiti. He lectures on programming and preservation at the University of Toronto and is also a member of the Board of Tourism Toronto and the former co-chair of the Working Group Arts and Culture Civic Action Toronto. Former board member of the Ontario Film Development Corporation and member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of the Royal Ontarios Museum for Contemporary Culture, in 2007 he was part of the delegation accompanying the General Governor of Canada, Michaelle Jean on her state visit to Brazil.
- 4/26/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
"I train like an athlete very day, believe it or not," says the singer. (We believe it.) "My commitment to this character demands that I not only physically get ready, but also become him," he says. "The hair, the personality, the manner he conducts himself in — all that. He's an incredible man." Usher, in a new Mens Health profile, showing off his newly-minted bod, and sharing his workout routine, after dropping 7 pounds to play boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, starring opposite Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez (replacing Gael García Bernal) in a story that will center primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played...
- 10/9/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Well, one thing you can't say he lacks is confidence... it's been officially announced Usher (who's been training for the part) will play boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, starring opposite Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez (replacing Gael García Bernal) in a story that will center primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by Ramirez). De Niro will play Duran's Hall of Fame trainer, Ray Arcel. The biopic, written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz, is a sports drama that includes the "Brawl in Montreal," the first fight between Durán and Leonard, and the "no mas" fight, which took place in...
- 5/6/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Over two years ago, Al Pacino and Gael Garcia Bernal were attached to a boxing drama called Hands of Stone, a film about five-time world boxing champ Roberto Durán. Bernal was playing Duran while Pacino was slated to be his trainer Ray Arcel. However, last spring, we missed a report about the cast switching up and Robert De Niro taking Pacino's role instead. Now Deadline reports De Niro is still attached (we're not sure if names like Usher, Ryan Kwanten and Michelle Rodriguez are still involved), but Duran will now be played by Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty) when the film shoots in Panama this fall. Panama-born Roberto Durán made his professional boxing debut in 1968 as a 16-year-old and retired in 2002 at age 50. In 1980, he defeated Sugar Ray Leonard to capture the Wbc welterweight title, but shocked the boxing world by returning to his corner in the November rematch, saying "no mas,...
- 4/9/2013
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
De Niro joins cast for film about Us anti-corruption operation and signs up for role in boxing drama Hands of Stone
Robert De Niro is reuniting with director David O Russell, playing a character "connected to the underworld" in Russell's as yet untitled thriller about the FBI's Abscam operation, according to Empire magazine.
Russell's film Silver Linings Playbook earned De Niro an Oscar nomination for his performance as Bradley Cooper's gambling nut father; arguably his best in quite some time. It seems everyone on Slp is keen to work with the director again: Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar for her role in the film, is on board, as is Cooper. They'll be joined by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and comedian Louis Ck.
In the thriller, Bale stars as con man Melvin Weinberg, who – along with his partner Maxine Gardner (Adams) – was enlisted by FBI agent Jimmy Boyle...
Robert De Niro is reuniting with director David O Russell, playing a character "connected to the underworld" in Russell's as yet untitled thriller about the FBI's Abscam operation, according to Empire magazine.
Russell's film Silver Linings Playbook earned De Niro an Oscar nomination for his performance as Bradley Cooper's gambling nut father; arguably his best in quite some time. It seems everyone on Slp is keen to work with the director again: Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar for her role in the film, is on board, as is Cooper. They'll be joined by Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and comedian Louis Ck.
In the thriller, Bale stars as con man Melvin Weinberg, who – along with his partner Maxine Gardner (Adams) – was enlisted by FBI agent Jimmy Boyle...
- 4/9/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Venezuelan writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz (Prófugos, Secuestro Express) has landed Robert De Niro and Édgar Ramírez for the boxing drama Hands of Stone. Ramírez is set to portray Roberto Durán, with De Niro playing trainer Ray Arcel. The Panamanian Durán was a hugely successful boxer who suddenly quit in the middle of a much-hyped match with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980. "The infamous 'No Mas' fight is the biggest enigma in the history of boxing," Jakubowicz says. "This movie will answer the enigma, with the best talent any director can possibly dream." De Niro recently shot Grudge Match, where he'll be seen going toe-to-toe with Sylvester Stallone, who as you may recall, has also made some boxing films.
- 4/9/2013
- by Zach Dionne
- Vulture
Ben Affleck on the brilliance of Bond; Shane Meadows on a trip to forget; and Gael García Bernal on his secret identity
Affleck's back
Despite having been out celebrating his film Argo's SAG awards win the night before, Ben Affleck is lively and clear-headed when I call. "I'm enjoying all this but I've learned how to pace myself," he says. The last time Affleck was involved in awards hullabaloo was with his debut film, Good Will Hunting, in 1997, and there must have been times (Gigli?) when the odds on him ever featuring at the likes of the SAGs and Oscars stretched to 200-1.
"Back then, the term 'awards season' didn't even exist," he remarks. "It's become a cottage industry now, and you can get tossed around in the churn of it all, but I wouldn't want to be the last guy to leave the party these days. I'm...
Affleck's back
Despite having been out celebrating his film Argo's SAG awards win the night before, Ben Affleck is lively and clear-headed when I call. "I'm enjoying all this but I've learned how to pace myself," he says. The last time Affleck was involved in awards hullabaloo was with his debut film, Good Will Hunting, in 1997, and there must have been times (Gigli?) when the odds on him ever featuring at the likes of the SAGs and Oscars stretched to 200-1.
"Back then, the term 'awards season' didn't even exist," he remarks. "It's become a cottage industry now, and you can get tossed around in the churn of it all, but I wouldn't want to be the last guy to leave the party these days. I'm...
- 2/3/2013
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Well, one thing you can't say he lacks is confidence... it hasn't been officially announced as of our last post on it, but I'd say that this is as good as a confirmation as we can get. In a profile with the UK's Independent, Usher (who's been in London, training for the part) talked in depth about his upcoming role as boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in Hands of Stone, starring opposite Robert De Niro and Gael García Bernal, in a story that will center primarily on Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán (played by Bernal). The highlights of that profile/conversation: On what the appeal of the part was for...
- 6/11/2012
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
In an unconventional casting choice, BBC reports that R&B singer/sometimes actor Usher Raymond (better known as Usher) has signed to play legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard in the Roberto Durán biopic Hands of Stone. Durán, a Panama native whose nickname acts as the title of the movie, was ranked as the 5th Greatest Fighter of the Last 80 Years by publication The Ring and held four different world titles in four different weight divisions, before officially retiring in 2001 after a car crash.
Leonard’s inclusion in Hands of Stone pertains to a specific bout in 1980 between the two, known as Durán-Leonard II, where after eight rounds, Durán went to his corner and gave up, uttering the now famous words “no mas” (no more). The reason why he quit have always remained a mystery; Durán complained of stomach cramps but others have said that he was simply tired of being embarrassed by Leonard,...
Leonard’s inclusion in Hands of Stone pertains to a specific bout in 1980 between the two, known as Durán-Leonard II, where after eight rounds, Durán went to his corner and gave up, uttering the now famous words “no mas” (no more). The reason why he quit have always remained a mystery; Durán complained of stomach cramps but others have said that he was simply tired of being embarrassed by Leonard,...
- 3/24/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Usher has confirmed that he's set to play Sugar Ray Leonard in the upcoming movie "Hands of Stone."
The movie doesn't focus on Leonard, though. Instead it centers on the life of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán.
"I'm in preparation for a very incredible role," Usher tells the BBC. "If you guys see me running around London that's what it is. If you see me in the corners boxing. I'm doing that while working on this album."
The singer says Robert DeNiro and Gael García Bernal will also star in the film which is slated to start production later this year.
The movie doesn't focus on Leonard, though. Instead it centers on the life of Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán.
"I'm in preparation for a very incredible role," Usher tells the BBC. "If you guys see me running around London that's what it is. If you see me in the corners boxing. I'm doing that while working on this album."
The singer says Robert DeNiro and Gael García Bernal will also star in the film which is slated to start production later this year.
- 3/22/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
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