New projects from directors including Agnieszka Holland, Carla Simon, Joachim Trier, Amanda Kernell and Tarik Saleh are among 26 features to receive backing from Eurimages’ in its latest round of co-production funding.
The 26 features – including five documentaries and one animation – have shared a total of €7m funding. Fourteen are to be directed by women.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic Franz received €500,000 ahead of an expected shoot in Czech Republic and Germany next month with newcomer Idan Weiss to play Kafka. Holland’s most recent film Green Border won the special jury prize in competition at Venice in 2023.
Spain’s Carla Simon,...
The 26 features – including five documentaries and one animation – have shared a total of €7m funding. Fourteen are to be directed by women.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic Franz received €500,000 ahead of an expected shoot in Czech Republic and Germany next month with newcomer Idan Weiss to play Kafka. Holland’s most recent film Green Border won the special jury prize in competition at Venice in 2023.
Spain’s Carla Simon,...
- 3/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Una lista de 10 películas del 27 Festival de Málaga que no te puedes perder.
Con la 27ª edición del Festival de Málaga finalizada, desde mundoCine te traemos las diez recomendaciones que no te puedes perder a lo largo de los próximos meses. Películas que han cautivado a los asistentes de esta edición, y que se estrenarán en cines en breve. Echémosles un vistazo:
10. Radical (Christopher Zalla)
¿Por qué deberías verla? La película galardonada con la Biznaga de Oro a Mejor Película Iberoamericana nos narra la historia real de un grupo de chavales de instituto que son inspirados por su nuevo maestro (interpretado de forma magistral por el gran Eugenio Derbez) y que tratan de sacar todo su potencial para huir de un pueblo en la frontera con Estados Unidos lleno de abandono, corrupción y violencia.
Una cinta plagada de sentidas y emotivas actuaciones por parte de su elenco más joven, que...
Con la 27ª edición del Festival de Málaga finalizada, desde mundoCine te traemos las diez recomendaciones que no te puedes perder a lo largo de los próximos meses. Películas que han cautivado a los asistentes de esta edición, y que se estrenarán en cines en breve. Echémosles un vistazo:
10. Radical (Christopher Zalla)
¿Por qué deberías verla? La película galardonada con la Biznaga de Oro a Mejor Película Iberoamericana nos narra la historia real de un grupo de chavales de instituto que son inspirados por su nuevo maestro (interpretado de forma magistral por el gran Eugenio Derbez) y que tratan de sacar todo su potencial para huir de un pueblo en la frontera con Estados Unidos lleno de abandono, corrupción y violencia.
Una cinta plagada de sentidas y emotivas actuaciones por parte de su elenco más joven, que...
- 3/13/2024
- by Mario Hernández
- mundoCine
Malaga, Spain — Traditionally, until a few years back, a Spanish film industry debate led to a “Wall of Laments” which ended up as a call for increased governmental support.
That was then. €70 million ($76.8 million) in 2023, €100 million ($109 million) last year, Spain’s Icaa film institute budget could add another €30 million ($32.7 million) with a little luck this year, said Rocío Juanas de Toledo, its secretary general at a panel, Spanish Cinema Models Examined, one of the key industry debates at this week’s Malaga Festival.
Panelists represented Spain’s three biggest content investors – Movistar Plus+, Atresmedia and Rtve – and two top producers: Morena Films and Elástica Films.
It took speakers less than two minutes to zero in on Spain’s biggest immediate challenge: Its still underperforming box office, down 24% on pre-pandemic levels.
“Our major concern is how to recuperate the cinema theater audiences we had before the pandemic,” said Jaime Ortiz, Atresmedia Cine director general.
That was then. €70 million ($76.8 million) in 2023, €100 million ($109 million) last year, Spain’s Icaa film institute budget could add another €30 million ($32.7 million) with a little luck this year, said Rocío Juanas de Toledo, its secretary general at a panel, Spanish Cinema Models Examined, one of the key industry debates at this week’s Malaga Festival.
Panelists represented Spain’s three biggest content investors – Movistar Plus+, Atresmedia and Rtve – and two top producers: Morena Films and Elástica Films.
It took speakers less than two minutes to zero in on Spain’s biggest immediate challenge: Its still underperforming box office, down 24% on pre-pandemic levels.
“Our major concern is how to recuperate the cinema theater audiences we had before the pandemic,” said Jaime Ortiz, Atresmedia Cine director general.
- 3/6/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
M-Appeal has closed distribution deals in key territories for “Sex,” which had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
- 2/20/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Over the last seven years or so, the ever more capitalized Catalan industry, much based in capital Barcelona, has driven into domestic co-production with other parts of Spain. One result: an exciting new generation of young directors and producers, often women, which have scored a Berlin Golden Bear (Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs”) and best lead performance.
The Catalan film-tv industry is now, however, in the throes of a gathering industry makeover which is showing its first fruits. One driver, as so often in Europe, is public sector funding.
In 2019, total allocated Catalan government audiovisual funding stood at €12.6 million ($13.7 million). It rose to €40.8 million ($44.5 million) in 2022 and will rise again to an estimated €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024, if the Catalan Parliament approves the budget, says Edgar Garcia, director of the governmental culture industry unit Icec.
In response to ramped-up funding, Catalonia industry has grown vibrantly. 130 execs and talent, representing 80 companies, attend 2024’s Berlin Film Market.
The Catalan film-tv industry is now, however, in the throes of a gathering industry makeover which is showing its first fruits. One driver, as so often in Europe, is public sector funding.
In 2019, total allocated Catalan government audiovisual funding stood at €12.6 million ($13.7 million). It rose to €40.8 million ($44.5 million) in 2022 and will rise again to an estimated €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024, if the Catalan Parliament approves the budget, says Edgar Garcia, director of the governmental culture industry unit Icec.
In response to ramped-up funding, Catalonia industry has grown vibrantly. 130 execs and talent, representing 80 companies, attend 2024’s Berlin Film Market.
- 2/15/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Fandango Sales has taken global distribution rights outside Italy to Carlo Sironi’s coming-of-age drama “My Summer With Irène,” which will premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation section.
Sironi, whose first feature “Sole” made a splash on the international fest circuit, is back with this relationship drama starring rising French indie star Noée Abita (“Slalom”) and Maria Camilla Barandenburg (“Slam Italia”) playing two 17-year-olds named Clara and Irène who both have health issues. Shortly after meeting, they run away together to an island where they experience an unforgettable summer.
“Sole,” a love story intertwined with a baby trafficking plot and commentary on Italy’s surrogacy law, went to Venice and Toronto in 2019, catching the eye of master Vittorio Taviani, who chose Sironi as his on-stage partner for Berlin’s 2020 On Transmission director-on-director talks.
Sironi was among Variety’s 10 European Directors to Watch in 2020.
“Summer With Irène...
Sironi, whose first feature “Sole” made a splash on the international fest circuit, is back with this relationship drama starring rising French indie star Noée Abita (“Slalom”) and Maria Camilla Barandenburg (“Slam Italia”) playing two 17-year-olds named Clara and Irène who both have health issues. Shortly after meeting, they run away together to an island where they experience an unforgettable summer.
“Sole,” a love story intertwined with a baby trafficking plot and commentary on Italy’s surrogacy law, went to Venice and Toronto in 2019, catching the eye of master Vittorio Taviani, who chose Sironi as his on-stage partner for Berlin’s 2020 On Transmission director-on-director talks.
Sironi was among Variety’s 10 European Directors to Watch in 2020.
“Summer With Irène...
- 2/15/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Over the last seven years, Catalonia has built a thriving film industry which has been the envy of other regions across Europe, boasting a thriving co-production scene, a burgeoning animation industry, a 2022 Berlin Golden Bear with Clara Simon’s “Alcarrás,” and a bevy of prizes at 2023’s Berlinale, thanks to “20,000 Species of Bees.”
Catalonia even brought down the flag with Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a 2017 Berlin Best First Feature Film winner, on what could be hailed as a first film movement in Spain in decades: Fiction films grounded in a large sense upon a specific place, but talking about big social or gender issues.
Now Catalonia is attempting to achieve the same impact with its TV industry. Its early results led by “This Is Not Sweden,” will play out at Content Americas and most especially Sweden Göteborg Festival’s TV strand, TV Drama Vision.
Bowing November in Spain on...
Catalonia even brought down the flag with Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a 2017 Berlin Best First Feature Film winner, on what could be hailed as a first film movement in Spain in decades: Fiction films grounded in a large sense upon a specific place, but talking about big social or gender issues.
Now Catalonia is attempting to achieve the same impact with its TV industry. Its early results led by “This Is Not Sweden,” will play out at Content Americas and most especially Sweden Göteborg Festival’s TV strand, TV Drama Vision.
Bowing November in Spain on...
- 1/24/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Screen shines a light on 30 European titles that look set to grab the attention of festival directors in 2023, including new features by Tom Tykwer, Paz Vega, Paolo Sorrentino, Cecilia Verheyden and Baltasar Kormakur.
For our separate list of French festival hopefuls for 2024, click here.
Ariel (Sp-Por)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Patiño won the Encounters special jury prize at Berlin last year for Samsara and picked up the emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013 with Coast Of Death. His latest is a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, shot in Galicia and The Azores islands. Ariel stars Goya winner Irene Escolar...
For our separate list of French festival hopefuls for 2024, click here.
Ariel (Sp-Por)
Dir. Lois Patiño
Patiño won the Encounters special jury prize at Berlin last year for Samsara and picked up the emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013 with Coast Of Death. His latest is a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, shot in Galicia and The Azores islands. Ariel stars Goya winner Irene Escolar...
- 1/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival, which runs Feb. 15-25, has revealed the lineup of its Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Producers of 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching to potential financing and co-production partners at the 21st Berlinale Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 17-21. Seventeen projects are directed by women. There were 318 submissions, a slight increase from last year.
Eighteen of the projects are already partly financed with budgets ranging between Euros 600,000 and Euros 5 million ($5.47 million). Among the directors whose new works are likely to spark interest are Ukrainian filmmakers Kateryna Gornostai, who won a Crystal Bear for “Stop-Zemlia” in 2021, and Antonio Lukich, the director of “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” which played in Venice in 2022, Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro, Serbian director and actor Mirjana Karanović, and the Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.
The Berlinale Directors section features three brand-new projects by directors who have had films at the Berlinale in the past: “Alma” from Sally Potter,...
Producers of 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching to potential financing and co-production partners at the 21st Berlinale Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 17-21. Seventeen projects are directed by women. There were 318 submissions, a slight increase from last year.
Eighteen of the projects are already partly financed with budgets ranging between Euros 600,000 and Euros 5 million ($5.47 million). Among the directors whose new works are likely to spark interest are Ukrainian filmmakers Kateryna Gornostai, who won a Crystal Bear for “Stop-Zemlia” in 2021, and Antonio Lukich, the director of “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” which played in Venice in 2022, Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro, Serbian director and actor Mirjana Karanović, and the Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.
The Berlinale Directors section features three brand-new projects by directors who have had films at the Berlinale in the past: “Alma” from Sally Potter,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the 34 projects, hailing from 27 countries and selected from 318 submissions, that will be showcased at its Berlinale Co-Production Market, running from February 17 to 21. (scroll down for full list)
The 18 projects in the official selection include upcoming works from Ukrainian directors Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemila) and Antonio Lukich as well as Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro (Monica), Turkey’s Burak Çevik (Hesitation Wound), Serb director and actor Mirjana Karanović (A Good Wife) and Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (Stonewalling).
The Official Selection projects are already partly financed and have budgets between 600,000 and five million euros.
The Berlinale Directors section showcasing new projects from festival habitués in the early funding stages includes Sally Potter’s upcoming production Alma about a family on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist.
Two projects by Andreas Fontana and Fradique have also been selected as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express initiative,...
The 18 projects in the official selection include upcoming works from Ukrainian directors Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemila) and Antonio Lukich as well as Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro (Monica), Turkey’s Burak Çevik (Hesitation Wound), Serb director and actor Mirjana Karanović (A Good Wife) and Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (Stonewalling).
The Official Selection projects are already partly financed and have budgets between 600,000 and five million euros.
The Berlinale Directors section showcasing new projects from festival habitués in the early funding stages includes Sally Potter’s upcoming production Alma about a family on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist.
Two projects by Andreas Fontana and Fradique have also been selected as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express initiative,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
There was much to be thankful for in 2023. Besides new works by several legendary directors, there were personal opportunities that allowed me to spread a larger net and take stock of the cinema landscape from a more privileged vantage point. I got to attend the Cannes and Toronto film festivals for the first time and also became a voter for some key year-end awards. The experience of thus watching films, before most of my cinephile brethren, allowed me to contemplate how much campaigns and narratives can alter a film’s reception and trajectory.
What has come into sharper relief, and what is evident from the list below too, is that Cannes has the lock on much of the best product of the year––at least anything not...
There was much to be thankful for in 2023. Besides new works by several legendary directors, there were personal opportunities that allowed me to spread a larger net and take stock of the cinema landscape from a more privileged vantage point. I got to attend the Cannes and Toronto film festivals for the first time and also became a voter for some key year-end awards. The experience of thus watching films, before most of my cinephile brethren, allowed me to contemplate how much campaigns and narratives can alter a film’s reception and trajectory.
What has come into sharper relief, and what is evident from the list below too, is that Cannes has the lock on much of the best product of the year––at least anything not...
- 12/27/2023
- by Ankit Jhunjhunwala
- The Film Stage
Valladolid International Film Week’s Independent Film Market saw Spanish distributors showcase acquired films to local streamers, TV networks and exhibitors.
Merci, Valladolid International Film Week’s Independent Film Market, enjoyed a 20% rise in the number of professionals attending this year.
Merci, which ran from October 25-27, provides an opportunity for Spanish independent distributors to meet with platforms, TV networks and distributors, and to show them selection of their recent acquisitions.
Among the 24 titles being screened by distributors at Merci Valladolid this year were Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot Au Feu, Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, Aki Kaurismäki...
Merci, Valladolid International Film Week’s Independent Film Market, enjoyed a 20% rise in the number of professionals attending this year.
Merci, which ran from October 25-27, provides an opportunity for Spanish independent distributors to meet with platforms, TV networks and distributors, and to show them selection of their recent acquisitions.
Among the 24 titles being screened by distributors at Merci Valladolid this year were Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot Au Feu, Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, Aki Kaurismäki...
- 10/30/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Barcelona-born director Carla Simón, whose sophomore film “Alcarràs” clinched the 72nd Berlinale Golden Bear last year, received the 2023 National Cinematography Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by Spain’s Ministry of Culture.
On hand to present the award in a ceremony held at the San Sebastian Film Festival was Miguel Iceta, Spain’s Minister of Culture and Sports, who first addressed Simón in Catalan before switching to Spanish: “With only two feature films, you have left your mark on the recent history of cinema in our country: a short but undisputed trajectory in terms of its strength and personality, recognized both nationally and internationally. A career that is nothing but the promise of a much longer and fruitful one.”
“This award, if you’ll allow me the audacity, is also for all the women who accompany you, for all your professional colleagues and peers, for all those women who,...
On hand to present the award in a ceremony held at the San Sebastian Film Festival was Miguel Iceta, Spain’s Minister of Culture and Sports, who first addressed Simón in Catalan before switching to Spanish: “With only two feature films, you have left your mark on the recent history of cinema in our country: a short but undisputed trajectory in terms of its strength and personality, recognized both nationally and internationally. A career that is nothing but the promise of a much longer and fruitful one.”
“This award, if you’ll allow me the audacity, is also for all the women who accompany you, for all your professional colleagues and peers, for all those women who,...
- 9/25/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
“Yo no moriré de amor,” the feature debut of theatre actress Marta Matute, among the five titles selected by the Madrid Film School’s Ecam incubator program, has been boarded by Elastica Films,
whose credits include Berlinale Golden Bear prize winner “Alcarràs” and “Creatura,” Elena Martin’s best European film winner at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
The family drama is lead produced by José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda’s Solita Films, which saw their first international co-production, “El despertar de las hormigas,” by Costa Rican Antonella Sudasassi, world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum and become the first Central American film to be nominated for a Spanish Goya.
Executive producer Cecilia Rivas of Solita Films told Variety she is hoping to close a European co-production deal for “Yo no moriré de amor” in San Sebastian.
“Elastica Films makes an ideal partner as we share the same vision,” she noted, adding...
whose credits include Berlinale Golden Bear prize winner “Alcarràs” and “Creatura,” Elena Martin’s best European film winner at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
The family drama is lead produced by José Esteban Alenda and César Esteban Alenda’s Solita Films, which saw their first international co-production, “El despertar de las hormigas,” by Costa Rican Antonella Sudasassi, world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum and become the first Central American film to be nominated for a Spanish Goya.
Executive producer Cecilia Rivas of Solita Films told Variety she is hoping to close a European co-production deal for “Yo no moriré de amor” in San Sebastian.
“Elastica Films makes an ideal partner as we share the same vision,” she noted, adding...
- 9/25/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Golden Bear winner Carla Simon has reteamed with her Alcarràs (read review) producer Elástica Films’ Maria Zamora for what is coined as neo-realist flamenco musical to be set in Barcelona. Variety reports that Romería (the third part of Simón’s trilogy that follows her last pair of features ) is still set to shoot in Summer 2024 for what will be an A-list film festival showcase in 2025.
Plucked from the interview with Variety, Simon describes the new film as a “neorealist flamenco musical in the neighbourhood of La Mina, Barcelona” and the roots of the project are tied to family “since I discovered that my biological mother was passionate about flamenco, a great curiosity began to grow in me for this genre, because of its history and its exceptional capacity to connect directly with emotion,” she explained to Variety.…...
Plucked from the interview with Variety, Simon describes the new film as a “neorealist flamenco musical in the neighbourhood of La Mina, Barcelona” and the roots of the project are tied to family “since I discovered that my biological mother was passionate about flamenco, a great curiosity began to grow in me for this genre, because of its history and its exceptional capacity to connect directly with emotion,” she explained to Variety.…...
- 9/22/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
In what marks a departure in her filmmaking, Carla Simon, director of Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” is preparing a flamenco musical for her fourth feature.
Like “Alcarràs,” the project is set to be produced by María Zamora at her Valencia-based production-distribution house Elastica Films.
“Romería,” the third part of Simón’s trilogy begun by 2017’s “Summer 1993,” is still set to shoot in Summer 2024, Zamora told Variety.
“But we can’t wait to start shaping this fascinating proposal that excites me as a producer,”she added.
Simón describes the new film as a “neorealist flamenco musical in the neighbourhood of La Mina, Barcelona.”
“Since I discovered that my biological mother was passionate about flamenco, a great curiosity began to grow in me for this genre, because of its history and its exceptional capacity to connect directly with emotion,” she explained to Variety.
“This time music and dance will become the...
Like “Alcarràs,” the project is set to be produced by María Zamora at her Valencia-based production-distribution house Elastica Films.
“Romería,” the third part of Simón’s trilogy begun by 2017’s “Summer 1993,” is still set to shoot in Summer 2024, Zamora told Variety.
“But we can’t wait to start shaping this fascinating proposal that excites me as a producer,”she added.
Simón describes the new film as a “neorealist flamenco musical in the neighbourhood of La Mina, Barcelona.”
“Since I discovered that my biological mother was passionate about flamenco, a great curiosity began to grow in me for this genre, because of its history and its exceptional capacity to connect directly with emotion,” she explained to Variety.
“This time music and dance will become the...
- 9/22/2023
- by Pablo Sandoval and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Driving into Spanish-language movies and series, Amazon Studios is hoping to repeat the success of “Argentina, 1985” with big Spanish period production “Hildegart,” starring Najwa Nimri and Alba Planas (“Skam España”), which wrapped production Aug. 19 in Madrid.
“Hildegart” has shot in the Spanish capital filming seven weeks and some days at historical heritage sites such as Spain’s Congress, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square, and its Atheneum.
Directed by Paula Ortiz, “Hildegart” is a fact-based tale of the extraordinary and tragic life of Spain’s Hildegart Rodríguez, born in 1914, a child prodigy raised by her mother to be a model for future women, who gave conferences on feminism and sexuality from the age of 11, writing on prostitution, contraception and eugenics – her monograph “Profilaxis anticoncepcional” sold 8,000 copies in one week just in Madrid – and accompanied H.G. Wells when he made a visit to Spain.
Sensing that she was losing control of her daughter – who,...
“Hildegart” has shot in the Spanish capital filming seven weeks and some days at historical heritage sites such as Spain’s Congress, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square, and its Atheneum.
Directed by Paula Ortiz, “Hildegart” is a fact-based tale of the extraordinary and tragic life of Spain’s Hildegart Rodríguez, born in 1914, a child prodigy raised by her mother to be a model for future women, who gave conferences on feminism and sexuality from the age of 11, writing on prostitution, contraception and eugenics – her monograph “Profilaxis anticoncepcional” sold 8,000 copies in one week just in Madrid – and accompanied H.G. Wells when he made a visit to Spain.
Sensing that she was losing control of her daughter – who,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar winner Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), “The Secret Life of Words” director Isabel Coixet and “Veneno” writer-director-producers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature among talent behind Spanish titles at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival, the highest profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world.
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s main competition with “Un Amor,” a probing village-set tale of emotional dependence starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian.
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will present as a special screening animated feature “They Shot the Piano Player,” a joyful and finally devastating portrait of the life and fate of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. narrated by Jeff Goldblum.
Ambrossi and Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – will world premiere “La Mesías,” the most awaited Spanish series of the year, a big-scale, period-hopping Movistar Plus+ original, chronicling the devastating effect of a childhood education,...
Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s main competition with “Un Amor,” a probing village-set tale of emotional dependence starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian.
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will present as a special screening animated feature “They Shot the Piano Player,” a joyful and finally devastating portrait of the life and fate of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. narrated by Jeff Goldblum.
Ambrossi and Calvo – popularly known as Los Javis – will world premiere “La Mesías,” the most awaited Spanish series of the year, a big-scale, period-hopping Movistar Plus+ original, chronicling the devastating effect of a childhood education,...
- 7/14/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Fired By Finas
The Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas), the government-backed agency that oversees the country’s film industry, has dismissed its CEO Nasir Ibrahim after less than two years in the job. It follows the return of Kamil Othman who was appointed chairman in February.
Finas notification
The latest move was announced on the organization’s Facebook page, along with the appointment of Rozita Waty Ridzuan as Finas interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.
The notice was vague on the reasons for Ibrahim’s early termination, explaining that it was part of a wider recalibration of creative industry policies. “This initiative will hopefully further help Malaysian filmmakers and industry players to produce quality films that have high value in both local and international markets,” the statement said.
Swimming Further
Zdf Studios has sold “The Swarm” (8 x 45 mins), by multiple Primetime Emmy award-winner Frank Doelger (“Game of Thrones...
The Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas), the government-backed agency that oversees the country’s film industry, has dismissed its CEO Nasir Ibrahim after less than two years in the job. It follows the return of Kamil Othman who was appointed chairman in February.
Finas notification
The latest move was announced on the organization’s Facebook page, along with the appointment of Rozita Waty Ridzuan as Finas interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.
The notice was vague on the reasons for Ibrahim’s early termination, explaining that it was part of a wider recalibration of creative industry policies. “This initiative will hopefully further help Malaysian filmmakers and industry players to produce quality films that have high value in both local and international markets,” the statement said.
Swimming Further
Zdf Studios has sold “The Swarm” (8 x 45 mins), by multiple Primetime Emmy award-winner Frank Doelger (“Game of Thrones...
- 6/1/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
“Creatura,” the feature debut of Elena Martín, exploring female sexual desire and repression, has won this year’s 20th Europa Cinemas Cannes Label for best European Film at the 2022 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Announced Thursday by Europa Cinemas, ahead of the closing ceremony this afternoon, the prize is one of two at Directors’ Fortnight, and awarded by one of the sidebar’s partners, given the section is non-competitive.
A second partner plaudit, the Sacd Prize, handed out by France’s Writers’ Guild, will be announced simultaneously to the Europa Cinemas Label.
“Creature” hit Cannes will multiple tailwinds. Like last year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” it’s made by an emerging woman director associated by the so-called Catalan New Wave of helmers and producers making films twinning a strong sense of place and universal issues.
The second feature from 2021 Málaga best director Martín (“Júlia ist”) and a “Veneno” writer and “Perfect Life” director,...
Announced Thursday by Europa Cinemas, ahead of the closing ceremony this afternoon, the prize is one of two at Directors’ Fortnight, and awarded by one of the sidebar’s partners, given the section is non-competitive.
A second partner plaudit, the Sacd Prize, handed out by France’s Writers’ Guild, will be announced simultaneously to the Europa Cinemas Label.
“Creature” hit Cannes will multiple tailwinds. Like last year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” it’s made by an emerging woman director associated by the so-called Catalan New Wave of helmers and producers making films twinning a strong sense of place and universal issues.
The second feature from 2021 Málaga best director Martín (“Júlia ist”) and a “Veneno” writer and “Perfect Life” director,...
- 5/25/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission, will preside over the jury of the Malta Film Commission’s inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival celebrating movies from the Mediterranean Basin.
The fest, which will take place in Valletta, Malta’s capital, and other locations on the island between June 25-30, will showcase films from each of the MED9 nations, an alliance of nine Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states. It comprises: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
Besides Wotton the other jury members are “Triangle Of Sadness” actor Zlatko Burić; Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali; French actor and director Vahina Giocante; Greek producer Amanda Livanou; Italian journalist Boris Sollazzo; Maltese critic Mario Azzopardi; Portuguese journalist and programmer José Vieira Mendes; Slovenian journalist Tina Poglajen; and Spanish programmer Carlos Reviriego.
Alice Diop’s prize-winning Venice 2022 title “Saint Omer” (pictured); Carla Simon’s Berlin Golden Bear...
The fest, which will take place in Valletta, Malta’s capital, and other locations on the island between June 25-30, will showcase films from each of the MED9 nations, an alliance of nine Mediterranean and Southern European Union member states. It comprises: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
Besides Wotton the other jury members are “Triangle Of Sadness” actor Zlatko Burić; Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali; French actor and director Vahina Giocante; Greek producer Amanda Livanou; Italian journalist Boris Sollazzo; Maltese critic Mario Azzopardi; Portuguese journalist and programmer José Vieira Mendes; Slovenian journalist Tina Poglajen; and Spanish programmer Carlos Reviriego.
Alice Diop’s prize-winning Venice 2022 title “Saint Omer” (pictured); Carla Simon’s Berlin Golden Bear...
- 5/21/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival will take place June 25-30 in Malta
Adrian Wotton, CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, will head the international jury of Malta Film Commission’s inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival, taking place on the island from June 25 to 30.
Further jury members are Triangle Of Sadness actor Zlatko Burić, Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali, French actor and director Vahina Giocante, Greek producer Amanda Livanou, Italian journalist Boris Sollazzo, Maltese critic Mario Azzopardi, Portuguese journalist and programmer José Vieira Mendes, Slovenian journalist Tina Poglajen and Spanish programmer Carlos Reviriego.
The nine films in the competition include Alice Diop...
Adrian Wotton, CEO of Film London and British Film Commission, will head the international jury of Malta Film Commission’s inaugural Mediterrane Film Festival, taking place on the island from June 25 to 30.
Further jury members are Triangle Of Sadness actor Zlatko Burić, Cypriot filmmaker Tonia Mishiali, French actor and director Vahina Giocante, Greek producer Amanda Livanou, Italian journalist Boris Sollazzo, Maltese critic Mario Azzopardi, Portuguese journalist and programmer José Vieira Mendes, Slovenian journalist Tina Poglajen and Spanish programmer Carlos Reviriego.
The nine films in the competition include Alice Diop...
- 5/21/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Spain’s status as Cannes’ Marché du Film’s Country of Honor is a “milestone,” says María Peña, CEO of Icex Spain Trade & Investment.
But it’s also a mark of recognition, she says, after Spain’s big wins just this year at the Berlinale and France’s Cesars.
Peña also points to April’s MipTV, where Rafael Cobos’ “The Left Handed Son,” from Movistar Plus+, won Canneseries’ Short Format Competition, and “The Caravan,” produced by Barcelona’s Caravan Films, the first MipDoc International Buyers Screenings honors.
Last year, Spain scooped up a Berlin Golden Bear (“Alcarràs”) and an Oscar (Alberto Mielgo’s “The Windshield Wiper”).
Spain is on a roll. That cuts multiple ways, however, explaining both the Country of Honor designation, and the country’s presence at large at Cannes this year. Seven takeaways about Spain:
Talent, Large Talent
Victor Erice, Pedro Almodóvar, Alberto Mielgo, Rodrigo Blaas — Cannes...
But it’s also a mark of recognition, she says, after Spain’s big wins just this year at the Berlinale and France’s Cesars.
Peña also points to April’s MipTV, where Rafael Cobos’ “The Left Handed Son,” from Movistar Plus+, won Canneseries’ Short Format Competition, and “The Caravan,” produced by Barcelona’s Caravan Films, the first MipDoc International Buyers Screenings honors.
Last year, Spain scooped up a Berlin Golden Bear (“Alcarràs”) and an Oscar (Alberto Mielgo’s “The Windshield Wiper”).
Spain is on a roll. That cuts multiple ways, however, explaining both the Country of Honor designation, and the country’s presence at large at Cannes this year. Seven takeaways about Spain:
Talent, Large Talent
Victor Erice, Pedro Almodóvar, Alberto Mielgo, Rodrigo Blaas — Cannes...
- 5/19/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Bolstered by robust public-sector funds, a savvy new generation of filmmakers — many of them women — and world-class film schools, Catalonia has become one of Europe’s most vibrant regional audiovisual forces.
The proof can be found at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. More than 50 Catalan companies — some 100 executives and creatives — are expected to attend. Five films, four by new directors, have made the official cut at Cannes; six projects play in Marché du Film showcases.
The three biggest Catalan movies at the festival, Elena Martin’s “Creature,” Pham Thiên An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” both in Directors’ Fortnight, and Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” playing out of competition, also underscore strong trends coursing through current Catalan cinema, including international co-production and an exploding animation scene.
“Co-producing is at the core of the European cinema industry and has always had more pros than cons,” says Vilaüt Films’ Ariadna Dot,...
The proof can be found at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. More than 50 Catalan companies — some 100 executives and creatives — are expected to attend. Five films, four by new directors, have made the official cut at Cannes; six projects play in Marché du Film showcases.
The three biggest Catalan movies at the festival, Elena Martin’s “Creature,” Pham Thiên An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” both in Directors’ Fortnight, and Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” playing out of competition, also underscore strong trends coursing through current Catalan cinema, including international co-production and an exploding animation scene.
“Co-producing is at the core of the European cinema industry and has always had more pros than cons,” says Vilaüt Films’ Ariadna Dot,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Five Catalan movies made Cannes Festival’s cut, six were selected for Marché du Film sections. Details and other top Catalan movies on the Croisette:
“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)
One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox
“Blondi,” (Dolores Fonzi)
From La Unión de los Ríos, behind “Argentina, 1985”), the awaited directorial debut of Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes winner “Paulina,” a double mother-son coming of age dramedy. Sales: Film Factory
“A Bright Sun,” (Monica Cambra, Ariadna Fortuny)
Facing the end of the world, Mila, 11, tries to keep her family together by celebrating a party.
“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)
One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox
“Blondi,” (Dolores Fonzi)
From La Unión de los Ríos, behind “Argentina, 1985”), the awaited directorial debut of Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes winner “Paulina,” a double mother-son coming of age dramedy. Sales: Film Factory
“A Bright Sun,” (Monica Cambra, Ariadna Fortuny)
Facing the end of the world, Mila, 11, tries to keep her family together by celebrating a party.
- 5/17/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In April 2018, Netflix announced that Spanish heist thriller “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”) had become the U.S. streaming service’s most-watched non-English series ever.
With a Spanish series crowned as the first foreign-language blockbuster at the company that has transformed entertainment worldwide, Spain’s expansion — long nurtured by hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel” and “Locked Up” — well and truly lifted off.
Building on that success, in March 2021, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez unveiled the Avs Hub Plan, which would invest €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) into Spain’s audiovisual sector.
For a country in which the word españolada was used to write off supposed second-rate homegrown fare, the re-positioning of Spain’s film and TV industries as core drivers in its digital post-pandemic “reindustrialization” is little short of a revolution. Spain, Cannes Marché du Film’s 2023 country of honor, now accounts for seven of the 20 entries in...
With a Spanish series crowned as the first foreign-language blockbuster at the company that has transformed entertainment worldwide, Spain’s expansion — long nurtured by hits such as “The Red Band Society,” “Grand Hotel” and “Locked Up” — well and truly lifted off.
Building on that success, in March 2021, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez unveiled the Avs Hub Plan, which would invest €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) into Spain’s audiovisual sector.
For a country in which the word españolada was used to write off supposed second-rate homegrown fare, the re-positioning of Spain’s film and TV industries as core drivers in its digital post-pandemic “reindustrialization” is little short of a revolution. Spain, Cannes Marché du Film’s 2023 country of honor, now accounts for seven of the 20 entries in...
- 5/10/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon’s Prime Video has announced a 2023 Spanish production slate which takes in movies and series from directors, writers and above all producers who have set Spain’s box office and global streamer rankings on fire over the last decade.
Talent attached to the three new movies and three series unveiled Tuesday in Madrid at a Prime Video Presents Spain event include “Hildegart,” from the producers of 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” “Un hipster en la España vacía,” produced by Lazona Films, which made ”Spanish Affair,” the highest grossing Spanish film ever in Spain; and “Apocalipsis Z: El principio del fin,” backed by Nostromo Pictures, behind “Through My Window,” the sixth-most watched non-English movie ever on Netflix.
Another title, docuseries “El Circo de los Muchachos” is co-written by Pepe Coira, co-scribe of “Hierro” and “Rapa,” two of the most popular series to date on Telefonica’s Movistar+.
The news slate...
Talent attached to the three new movies and three series unveiled Tuesday in Madrid at a Prime Video Presents Spain event include “Hildegart,” from the producers of 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” “Un hipster en la España vacía,” produced by Lazona Films, which made ”Spanish Affair,” the highest grossing Spanish film ever in Spain; and “Apocalipsis Z: El principio del fin,” backed by Nostromo Pictures, behind “Through My Window,” the sixth-most watched non-English movie ever on Netflix.
Another title, docuseries “El Circo de los Muchachos” is co-written by Pepe Coira, co-scribe of “Hierro” and “Rapa,” two of the most popular series to date on Telefonica’s Movistar+.
The news slate...
- 4/25/2023
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Award-winning Catalan peach farm drama Alcarràs joins an impressive crop of movies about living off the land, from Minari and The Grapes of Wrath to Babe
We’re officially into spring now, a time when even lifelong city-dwellers like me start entertaining bucolic thoughts. Pleasing as it is to see daffodils blooming in a London park, the seasonal rewards of new life and renewed warmth are always best illustrated in a farming environment.
Which isn’t to over-romanticise the farming world: Spanish director Carla Simón’s lovely Alcarràs (2022; now streaming on Mubi and coming to DVD on Monday) certainly doesn’t. Earthy and angry, this portrait of a Catalan peach-farming family being forced off the land they’ve held for generations captures the occasional, elemental rewards of agricultural life, but also its punishing grind – and thus fits into a rich tradition of films where the dramatic stakes, tensions and catharses...
We’re officially into spring now, a time when even lifelong city-dwellers like me start entertaining bucolic thoughts. Pleasing as it is to see daffodils blooming in a London park, the seasonal rewards of new life and renewed warmth are always best illustrated in a farming environment.
Which isn’t to over-romanticise the farming world: Spanish director Carla Simón’s lovely Alcarràs (2022; now streaming on Mubi and coming to DVD on Monday) certainly doesn’t. Earthy and angry, this portrait of a Catalan peach-farming family being forced off the land they’ve held for generations captures the occasional, elemental rewards of agricultural life, but also its punishing grind – and thus fits into a rich tradition of films where the dramatic stakes, tensions and catharses...
- 3/25/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Middle-class incomers to a remote village in Spain’s ‘wild west’ expose fear, resentment and nationalism in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s disturbing true-crime drama
Here is a fierce, bitter tale with a flinty sharpness: partly a social-realist drama of class and xenophobia, and partly a rural noir horror, a Euro-arthouse twist on Straw Dogs or Deliverance. It’s inspired by the true story from 2010 of a middle-class hippy idealist Dutch couple who attempted to settle in the Spanish village of Santoalla in Galicia’s remote “wild west” and fell out badly with their neighbours over their gentrification plans: a row that escalated into a nightmare. It has in fact already been the subject of a documentary, Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer’s Santoalla, and has now been fictionalised by film-maker Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs play Antoine and Olga, an educated French couple who have moved into the area...
Here is a fierce, bitter tale with a flinty sharpness: partly a social-realist drama of class and xenophobia, and partly a rural noir horror, a Euro-arthouse twist on Straw Dogs or Deliverance. It’s inspired by the true story from 2010 of a middle-class hippy idealist Dutch couple who attempted to settle in the Spanish village of Santoalla in Galicia’s remote “wild west” and fell out badly with their neighbours over their gentrification plans: a row that escalated into a nightmare. It has in fact already been the subject of a documentary, Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer’s Santoalla, and has now been fictionalised by film-maker Rodrigo Sorogoyen.
Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs play Antoine and Olga, an educated French couple who have moved into the area...
- 3/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Recently, there has been a consistent tide of well crafted and highly regarded films coming out of Spain. “Alcarràs,” “The Beasts,” “Lullaby,” “La Maternal,” “Prison 77,” to name just the five that the Spanish Academy Goyas singled out in early February.
This level of quality, over a short period, is getting noticed internationally. Last week the Glasgow Film Festival, Scotland’s largest, shone a light on eight films in its Viva el Cine Español program. A cultural moment is a strange beast, hard to fathom, but there are strong signals that Spanish Film is having one.
In addition to the aforementioned five, Glasgow added Andrea Bagney’s debut “Ramona,” “Wild Flowers,” from Jaime Rosales, another debut with Elena López Riera’s “The Water,” and a Penelope Cruz starrer, in Juan Diego Botto’s “On The Fringe.”
Glasgow’s Festival co-director Allison Gardner told Variety: “We seem to be seeing films...
This level of quality, over a short period, is getting noticed internationally. Last week the Glasgow Film Festival, Scotland’s largest, shone a light on eight films in its Viva el Cine Español program. A cultural moment is a strange beast, hard to fathom, but there are strong signals that Spanish Film is having one.
In addition to the aforementioned five, Glasgow added Andrea Bagney’s debut “Ramona,” “Wild Flowers,” from Jaime Rosales, another debut with Elena López Riera’s “The Water,” and a Penelope Cruz starrer, in Juan Diego Botto’s “On The Fringe.”
Glasgow’s Festival co-director Allison Gardner told Variety: “We seem to be seeing films...
- 3/16/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Running March 13-17, the Málaga Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content weigh in this year as one of the biggest dedicated Spanish movie platforms in history, boasting also a strong line in Latin American arthouse projects and productions. 10 Takes as the event kicks off, blessed by early Spring sunshine, in the Andalusian city:
Xxxl
In 2022, super-sized by the Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spain’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) Avs Spain Hub, a vibrant Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival industry area, fair exploded, delivering a sterling confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a platform age, aided by robust state sector backing. This year, Mafiz looks even larger. At 1,560 delegates and counting as of March 6, Mafiz is tracking to pass 2022’s final attendance figure of around 1,600, Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Festival director told Variety. Participants come from 62 countries, up from 53 last year. “The event’s consolidation is clear,” Vigar added.
Xxxl
In 2022, super-sized by the Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spain’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) Avs Spain Hub, a vibrant Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival industry area, fair exploded, delivering a sterling confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a platform age, aided by robust state sector backing. This year, Mafiz looks even larger. At 1,560 delegates and counting as of March 6, Mafiz is tracking to pass 2022’s final attendance figure of around 1,600, Juan Antonio Vigar, Málaga Festival director told Variety. Participants come from 62 countries, up from 53 last year. “The event’s consolidation is clear,” Vigar added.
- 3/13/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The festival is an important stopping point for directors including Carla Simon and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.
Malaga film festival director Juan Antonio Vigar is ready for the curtain to rise on his 10th edition in charge of the Andalucian event.
The world premiere of Someone To Look After Me (Alguien Que Cuide De Mí ), novelist Elvira Lindo’s debut as a film director, will open the festival tonight, screening out of competition. It will close on March 19 with the world premiere of Paz Jiménez’s Como Dios Manda, also playing out of competition.
Vigar has programmed a competition line-up...
Malaga film festival director Juan Antonio Vigar is ready for the curtain to rise on his 10th edition in charge of the Andalucian event.
The world premiere of Someone To Look After Me (Alguien Que Cuide De Mí ), novelist Elvira Lindo’s debut as a film director, will open the festival tonight, screening out of competition. It will close on March 19 with the world premiere of Paz Jiménez’s Como Dios Manda, also playing out of competition.
Vigar has programmed a competition line-up...
- 3/10/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Cannes’ Marché du Film has named Spain its Country of Honor for the upcoming 2023 edition which will take place May 16-24 during the 76th edition of the Festival de Cannes.
The Marché du Film will work with Icex Spain Trade & Investment and Icaa – Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts to showcase Spanish talent and content, ranging from cinema to documentary, animation and extended reality.
Spain follows India which became Cannes’ first official Country of Honor in 2022. The industry event launched the initiative last year to spotlight and celebrate different nations at each market edition.
Spain’s cinema sector has been having a banner 2023. Last month, Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s debut feature “20,000 Species of Bees” won three awards at the Berlinale, while Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction” won two Cesar awards, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” won the Cesar award for best foreign film. Recent successes last year also include Carla Simón...
The Marché du Film will work with Icex Spain Trade & Investment and Icaa – Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts to showcase Spanish talent and content, ranging from cinema to documentary, animation and extended reality.
Spain follows India which became Cannes’ first official Country of Honor in 2022. The industry event launched the initiative last year to spotlight and celebrate different nations at each market edition.
Spain’s cinema sector has been having a banner 2023. Last month, Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s debut feature “20,000 Species of Bees” won three awards at the Berlinale, while Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction” won two Cesar awards, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” won the Cesar award for best foreign film. Recent successes last year also include Carla Simón...
- 3/7/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes film market, the Marché du Film, will this year pay tribute to the Spanish movie industry, naming Spain its official country of honor for 2023.
Spain is the Marché’s second country of honor, following India last year. The tribute is meant to spotlight a nation’s film industry across the spectrum, from features and documentaries to animation and extended reality. Spain’s ministries of trade and investment and its Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts (Icaa) will work together with the Marché to highlight Spanish content and talent in Cannes this year. The umbrella promotional group Cinema from Spain will again be on-site to boost the presence of Spanish industry professionals.
“We are proud to have Spain as our country of honor for this special market edition,” said Marché executive director Guillaume Esmiol. “For my first year as the head of the Marché, I am particularly grateful and thrilled...
Spain is the Marché’s second country of honor, following India last year. The tribute is meant to spotlight a nation’s film industry across the spectrum, from features and documentaries to animation and extended reality. Spain’s ministries of trade and investment and its Institute of Cinematography & Audiovisual Arts (Icaa) will work together with the Marché to highlight Spanish content and talent in Cannes this year. The umbrella promotional group Cinema from Spain will again be on-site to boost the presence of Spanish industry professionals.
“We are proud to have Spain as our country of honor for this special market edition,” said Marché executive director Guillaume Esmiol. “For my first year as the head of the Marché, I am particularly grateful and thrilled...
- 3/7/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival drew to a close, the first of the three major international film festivals began giving out its awards. This year’s Berlin jury was headed by Kristen Stewart, and the selections promised to reflect the actress’ famously good taste in movies. But a strong lineup featuring a variety of innovative films from the world’s top directors ensured that their job was never going to be easy. From a timely documentary about the war in Ukraine to a variety of dramas about men trapped in small spaces (see: “Inside” and “Manhole”), the eclectic collection of films had something for everyone.
At last year’s festival, Carla Simon’s Spanish Drama “Alcarras” won the coveted Golden Bear. Several of the biggest names in global cinema also walked away with big prizes, as Claire Denis won the Silver Bear for Best Director for “Both Sides of the Blade...
At last year’s festival, Carla Simon’s Spanish Drama “Alcarras” won the coveted Golden Bear. Several of the biggest names in global cinema also walked away with big prizes, as Claire Denis won the Silver Bear for Best Director for “Both Sides of the Blade...
- 2/25/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Carla Simón's Alcarràs is now showing exclusively on Mubi starting February 24, 2023, in many countries—including the United Kingdom, United States, India, Turkey, Ireland, and Brazil—in the series The New Auteurs.Alcarràs (2022).Although it unfolds in the languorous heat of high summer, life is not all peaches and cream for the farming family at the center of Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s lyrical second feature. The Solé family have been harvesting peaches in the titular village for decades, and, as the film so acutely portrays, working the land is no mean feat. Soft-fruit farming is a risky business: the fleshy crop spoils quickly and must be harvested fast. This sense of working on borrowed time is compounded by the situation the Solé clan suddenly find themselves in. With the old landowner dead, the new landlord plans to replace the ancient fruit trees with far more profitable solar panels. Served with an eviction notice,...
- 2/24/2023
- MUBI
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Alcarràs (Carla Simón)
Big agriculture and a renewable energy company (of all people) threaten the livelihood of a Catalonian peach farming family in Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s latest sunny pastoral and her first since the 2017 debut Summer 1993. Alcarràs is set in the present day, though you’d hardly notice, and like many of its characters it looks towards the past. That idea––that time has a way of sometimes flattening out––feels central to Simón’s film and distinguishes it from similar works of social realism: Alcarràs appears simple, even slight at first, but is deceptively far-reaching; enough at least to have impressed a Berlinale jury led by M. Night Shyamalan (and including no less than Ryusuke Hamaguchi), who collectively awarded Simón the Golden Bear.
Alcarràs (Carla Simón)
Big agriculture and a renewable energy company (of all people) threaten the livelihood of a Catalonian peach farming family in Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s latest sunny pastoral and her first since the 2017 debut Summer 1993. Alcarràs is set in the present day, though you’d hardly notice, and like many of its characters it looks towards the past. That idea––that time has a way of sometimes flattening out––feels central to Simón’s film and distinguishes it from similar works of social realism: Alcarràs appears simple, even slight at first, but is deceptively far-reaching; enough at least to have impressed a Berlinale jury led by M. Night Shyamalan (and including no less than Ryusuke Hamaguchi), who collectively awarded Simón the Golden Bear.
- 2/23/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In time, stories like “20,000 Species of Bees” will come to feel as commonplace within the coming-of-age genre as tales of first love or heartbreak: a young girl, unhappy in her skin and at odds with her family, finally recognizes her gender over the course of one pivotal summer, and persuades others to recognize it too. For now, Spanish writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s mellow, softly piercing debut feature joins the likes of Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy” and Emanuele Crialese’s “L’Immensità” in a select but growing canon of trans or nonbinary childhood studies. Unassuming and meanderingly character-oriented, the film doesn’t assert itself as an issue drama — in large part because, as Solaguren presents her eight-year-old protagonist’s gradual steps toward self-realization, her film doesn’t see much of an issue to begin with.
“How come you know who you are and I don’t?” Simply phrased but far more complex to answer,...
“How come you know who you are and I don’t?” Simply phrased but far more complex to answer,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Kino Produzioni, the indie shingle that co-produced 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” is ramping up production with new films by emerging Italian filmmakers Carlo Sironi, Laura Luchetti and Irene Dionisio, as well as also Dutch director Michiel Van Erp and Argentine filmmakers María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat.
“We reached a turning point last year that started out well with the ‘Alcarràs’ victory,” said Kino chief Giovanni Pompili, speaking at the EFM. He noted that in 2022, the Rome-based outfit shot four films, “which for us was pretty challenging, but worked out well.”
Meanwhile, the Kino team has grown. Producer Lara Costa-Calzado, who has been working for a decade between the U.S. and Europe on films such as Eliza Hittman’s Silver Bear winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not Taken” and Halina Rejin’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” has joined Kino as head of production.
“We reached a turning point last year that started out well with the ‘Alcarràs’ victory,” said Kino chief Giovanni Pompili, speaking at the EFM. He noted that in 2022, the Rome-based outfit shot four films, “which for us was pretty challenging, but worked out well.”
Meanwhile, the Kino team has grown. Producer Lara Costa-Calzado, who has been working for a decade between the U.S. and Europe on films such as Eliza Hittman’s Silver Bear winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not Taken” and Halina Rejin’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” has joined Kino as head of production.
- 2/18/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Over the past 20 years or so, a surfeit of arthouse titles and an older demographic turning away from theaters have worn away at the sales of non-English language films.
Currently, cinema across the world, and especially arthouse, is stuck between a rock — global streamers often paying less, striking fewer worldwide deals and buying fewer finished movies — and a hard place: a pandemic-drained theatrical business for all but a few tentpoles.
“A few years ago, even if a film wasn’t perfect and had limited festival play, it sold at least a little,” says Film Factory founder Vicente Canales. “Now, either a film works, and sells pretty much the world, or it doesn’t work at all.”
Yet Spain’s top sales agents remain broadly optimistic about the future.
For one thing, some films do still do business, led by new titles from star auteurs that have A-festival play, such as...
Currently, cinema across the world, and especially arthouse, is stuck between a rock — global streamers often paying less, striking fewer worldwide deals and buying fewer finished movies — and a hard place: a pandemic-drained theatrical business for all but a few tentpoles.
“A few years ago, even if a film wasn’t perfect and had limited festival play, it sold at least a little,” says Film Factory founder Vicente Canales. “Now, either a film works, and sells pretty much the world, or it doesn’t work at all.”
Yet Spain’s top sales agents remain broadly optimistic about the future.
For one thing, some films do still do business, led by new titles from star auteurs that have A-festival play, such as...
- 2/17/2023
- by John Hopewell and Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Spain has found a place on the global film industry’s radar as an attractive market for co-producing projects, boosted by its bigger-than-ever-public-sector funding.
The trend comes in a moment of maturity for its audiovisual industry, with competitive tax incentives and the emergence of fresh talent, often female, whether directors or producers. Unlike U.S. indie producers, hard hit by streamers pulling back, European counterparts still have public sector financing.
But to make movies of any artistic ambition, which might justify that funding and break out to foreign sales and a theatrical release, producers are looking overseas more and to other parts of Spain for production partners.
Co-production is booming. Only last year, Spain co-produced 70 films, beating its average production for the period 2018-2022 of 256 titles, according to Spanish film agency Icaa.
Icaa’s selective aid for movie production reached €20 million (21.48 million). Of that, a minimum 5 went to support minority co-productions.
The trend comes in a moment of maturity for its audiovisual industry, with competitive tax incentives and the emergence of fresh talent, often female, whether directors or producers. Unlike U.S. indie producers, hard hit by streamers pulling back, European counterparts still have public sector financing.
But to make movies of any artistic ambition, which might justify that funding and break out to foreign sales and a theatrical release, producers are looking overseas more and to other parts of Spain for production partners.
Co-production is booming. Only last year, Spain co-produced 70 films, beating its average production for the period 2018-2022 of 256 titles, according to Spanish film agency Icaa.
Icaa’s selective aid for movie production reached €20 million (21.48 million). Of that, a minimum 5 went to support minority co-productions.
- 2/17/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
“20,000 Species Of Bees”
(Estíbaliz Urresola)
A Berlin competition contender and, like “Alcarràs,” redolently grounded – unspooling in a Basque Country village – and yet a big-issue drama. Catalonia’s Inicia Films (“La Maternal”) and Basque Country’s Gariza Films (“Nora) produce.
Sales: Luxbox
“Anqa”
(Helin Celik)
Selected for Forum, a doc feature produced by Barcelona’s Kepler Mission Film and Vienna-based Kurd Celik. The harrowing story of three Jordanian women survivors of male violence.
“The Beasts”
(Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
A stylish feminist Western, set in modern deep Galicia, which, breaking out in France and Spain, rates with “Alcarràs” as the standout Spanish film of 2022.
Sales: Latido Films
“The Chauffeur’S Son”
(Isaki Lacuesta)
From “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, chosen for Co-Pro Series and bidding to become the series debut as writer-director of Lacuesta (“Between Two Waters”), a searing portrait of the perverse collusion of politics and media, exemplified by the real life...
(Estíbaliz Urresola)
A Berlin competition contender and, like “Alcarràs,” redolently grounded – unspooling in a Basque Country village – and yet a big-issue drama. Catalonia’s Inicia Films (“La Maternal”) and Basque Country’s Gariza Films (“Nora) produce.
Sales: Luxbox
“Anqa”
(Helin Celik)
Selected for Forum, a doc feature produced by Barcelona’s Kepler Mission Film and Vienna-based Kurd Celik. The harrowing story of three Jordanian women survivors of male violence.
“The Beasts”
(Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
A stylish feminist Western, set in modern deep Galicia, which, breaking out in France and Spain, rates with “Alcarràs” as the standout Spanish film of 2022.
Sales: Latido Films
“The Chauffeur’S Son”
(Isaki Lacuesta)
From “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, chosen for Co-Pro Series and bidding to become the series debut as writer-director of Lacuesta (“Between Two Waters”), a searing portrait of the perverse collusion of politics and media, exemplified by the real life...
- 2/16/2023
- by John Hopewell and Douglas Wilson
- Variety Film + TV
It’s an iconic scene when dashing anti-hero Ser Jaime Lannister charges his white steed up the grand Baroque steps leading to the Sept of Baelor in Episode 6, Season 6 of HBO’s wildly popular “Game of Thrones.” But the locale is actually in front of the Cathedral of Girona, Catalonia. In fact, a number of Girona’s streets and locations stood in for Braavos and King’s Landing in “Got.”
In another scene, the Arab Baths of Girona, ensconced in a late Romanesqu-style building built in 1194, stand in for the Braavos Baths where a persecuted Arya takes refuge.
“Having ‘Got’ film some Season 6 scenes in Girona in 2015 was a defining moment and marked the beginning of an era,” says Catalan Film Commissioner Carlota Guerrero. “It was the same year when Spain launched its tax incentives and when international productions began to explore Spain alongside new production service companies and discover a rich diversity of locations.
In another scene, the Arab Baths of Girona, ensconced in a late Romanesqu-style building built in 1194, stand in for the Braavos Baths where a persecuted Arya takes refuge.
“Having ‘Got’ film some Season 6 scenes in Girona in 2015 was a defining moment and marked the beginning of an era,” says Catalan Film Commissioner Carlota Guerrero. “It was the same year when Spain launched its tax incentives and when international productions began to explore Spain alongside new production service companies and discover a rich diversity of locations.
- 2/16/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Over 2003-11, Catalonia’s regional film hub was the envy of Europe. Now, it’s enjoying the full flush of a second renaissance and growing its international impact in film and now TV. In 2022, three Catalan directors had titles in the main competition in Berlin and Cannes, more than Italy (two), Germany (one) or the U.K. (none). Helmer Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs” won Berlin’s top prize, the Golden Bear.
In 2023, five Catalan features have made Berlin’s fest cut, led by Estibaliz Urresola’s competition contender “20,000 Species of Bees,” Alvaro Gago’s “Matria” in Panorama and Carla Subirana’s “Sica,” a Generation 14plus player.
The most spectacular advance, however, comes in Catalonia’s Berlinale TV lineup. “The Chauffeur’s Son,” backed by “Elite” producer Zeta Studios and created by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campos, competes in Co-Pro Series. “This Is Not Sweden,” backed by Spain’s Rtve and Swedish pubcaster Svt,...
In 2023, five Catalan features have made Berlin’s fest cut, led by Estibaliz Urresola’s competition contender “20,000 Species of Bees,” Alvaro Gago’s “Matria” in Panorama and Carla Subirana’s “Sica,” a Generation 14plus player.
The most spectacular advance, however, comes in Catalonia’s Berlinale TV lineup. “The Chauffeur’s Son,” backed by “Elite” producer Zeta Studios and created by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campos, competes in Co-Pro Series. “This Is Not Sweden,” backed by Spain’s Rtve and Swedish pubcaster Svt,...
- 2/16/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The 2023 Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, kicks off Thursday morning, and all eyes will be on Kristen Stewart.
The Twilight star, who, with films like Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, has become a darling of European and independent cinema, is president of the Berlinale jury this year, and will be leading the team of five women and two men judging the films in the 2023 competition.
Stewart is the only bold-faced Hollywood name on this year’s jury, which includes the last two Golden Bear winners — Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, whose wild satire Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn took Berlin’s top prize in 2021, and Carla Simón, who won Berlin last year with her Catalan family drama Alcarràs. Also on the jury are veteran Hong Kong director Johnnie To (Election, Vengeance), Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach (Western) and U.
The Twilight star, who, with films like Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, has become a darling of European and independent cinema, is president of the Berlinale jury this year, and will be leading the team of five women and two men judging the films in the 2023 competition.
Stewart is the only bold-faced Hollywood name on this year’s jury, which includes the last two Golden Bear winners — Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude, whose wild satire Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn took Berlin’s top prize in 2021, and Carla Simón, who won Berlin last year with her Catalan family drama Alcarràs. Also on the jury are veteran Hong Kong director Johnnie To (Election, Vengeance), Iranian-French actress Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), German filmmaker Valeska Grisebach (Western) and U.
- 2/16/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Paris-based Haut et Court has closed French distribution rights with sales agent Film Factory Entertainment on Victor Erice’s ”Close Your Eyes” (“Cerrar los ojos”), the legendary Spanish director’s return to feature film direction 30 years after Cannes Jury Prize winner “Dream of Light” and a half century on from his milestone debut, “The Spirit of the Beehive.”
“Beehive” is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made. “Light” was chosen by the world’s cinematheques as the best film of the 1990s. “Close Your Eyes” reunites Erice with Ana Torrent, a wide-eyed mite in “Beehive.”
One of the most awaited Spanish films of 2023, it will be released in Spain by Avalon Films, the producer-distributor of “Alcarràs.”
“Close Your Eyes” turns on a famed actor who disappears while making a film. Many years later, a TV program airs the final scenes he shot, the beginning...
“Beehive” is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made. “Light” was chosen by the world’s cinematheques as the best film of the 1990s. “Close Your Eyes” reunites Erice with Ana Torrent, a wide-eyed mite in “Beehive.”
One of the most awaited Spanish films of 2023, it will be released in Spain by Avalon Films, the producer-distributor of “Alcarràs.”
“Close Your Eyes” turns on a famed actor who disappears while making a film. Many years later, a TV program airs the final scenes he shot, the beginning...
- 2/16/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Microdose Entertainment produced supernatural horror which will open theatrically in US in spring.
Jackrabbit Media is gearing up to commence sales talks at EFM this week on supernatural horror Baby Blue directed by Adam Mason, the filmmaker behind Songbird and Hangman.
Microdose Entertainment produced the film which shot on location in Los Angeles and tells of a group of teens who stumble across the story of the dead serial killer Baby Blue.
When they turn him into the subject of a podcast they soon learn that his murder spree never ended and they are being targeted from beyond the grave.
Jackrabbit Media is gearing up to commence sales talks at EFM this week on supernatural horror Baby Blue directed by Adam Mason, the filmmaker behind Songbird and Hangman.
Microdose Entertainment produced the film which shot on location in Los Angeles and tells of a group of teens who stumble across the story of the dead serial killer Baby Blue.
When they turn him into the subject of a podcast they soon learn that his murder spree never ended and they are being targeted from beyond the grave.
- 2/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Zaida Carmona’s feature debut comedy “Girlfriends and Girlfriends” makes its international premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam this week, competing in the Bright Futures section. Variety has been given exclusive access to a clip from the film.
Produced by JaJaJa Industrias and Fdez & Vera, with international sales rights handled by Begin Again Films, it follows buzz from its world premiere at Spain’s D’A Festival, in addition to forming part of the Made in Spain panorama at last September’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
The movie presents “a five-way lesbian sitcom. A moral tale that takes place in the bathrooms, beds and streets of Barcelona. Lots of pop, love and auto-fiction,” according to a statement from Begin Again Films.
Being auto-fictional in nature, writer Director Zaida Carmona plays the lead also named Zaida, and sets the unfolding story in her home city of Barcelona.
In this clip,...
Produced by JaJaJa Industrias and Fdez & Vera, with international sales rights handled by Begin Again Films, it follows buzz from its world premiere at Spain’s D’A Festival, in addition to forming part of the Made in Spain panorama at last September’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
The movie presents “a five-way lesbian sitcom. A moral tale that takes place in the bathrooms, beds and streets of Barcelona. Lots of pop, love and auto-fiction,” according to a statement from Begin Again Films.
Being auto-fictional in nature, writer Director Zaida Carmona plays the lead also named Zaida, and sets the unfolding story in her home city of Barcelona.
In this clip,...
- 1/30/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
In the run-up to February’s Berlin Film Festival, Madrid-based Latido Films has pounced on “Sica,” the fiction feature debut of Carla Subirana, one of a hard-to-miss vibrant new generation of Barcelona-based women directors and producers now galvanizing the Catalan film scene.
In a frequent alignment between the two companies, Spanish distribution will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top indie distributors.
Also written by Subirana, the film is produced by another new Catalan generation leading-light: Director-producer Alba Sotorra whose latest outing behind the cameras, “The Return: Life After Isis,” which world premiered at Sxsx, was nominated for a 2022 Intl. Emmy Award and was described by Variety as a “compassionate, essential glimpse into the aftermath of radicalization.”
A triple winner at 2022’s Malaga Festival work in progress,
“Sica” encapsulates many of the currents now coursing through cutting-edge fiction in Spain: a redolent sense...
In a frequent alignment between the two companies, Spanish distribution will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top indie distributors.
Also written by Subirana, the film is produced by another new Catalan generation leading-light: Director-producer Alba Sotorra whose latest outing behind the cameras, “The Return: Life After Isis,” which world premiered at Sxsx, was nominated for a 2022 Intl. Emmy Award and was described by Variety as a “compassionate, essential glimpse into the aftermath of radicalization.”
A triple winner at 2022’s Malaga Festival work in progress,
“Sica” encapsulates many of the currents now coursing through cutting-edge fiction in Spain: a redolent sense...
- 1/27/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Disney’s blockbuster “Avatar: The Way of Water” ruled the U.K. and Ireland box office for the sixth consecutive weekend with £2.7 million (3.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.
James Cameron’s return to Pandora now has a running total of £67.6 million.
In its second weekend, Universal’s “M3gan” collected £1.35 million for a total of £4.6 million. Close behind was Paramount’s “Babylon,” which debuted in third place with £1.32 million.
A trio of Sony titles occupied fourth to sixth positions. In its fourth weekend, in fourth place, “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” took in £766,245 for a total of £9.6 million; “Matilda the Musical” collected £661,450 in its ninth weekend for a total of £25.7 million; and in its third weekend, “A Man Called Otto” £577,305 for a total of £3.6 million.
Mubi’s Cannes winner “Holy Spider” debuted in 14th position with £60,731, including previews. Other Mubi titles on release continue to display legs.
James Cameron’s return to Pandora now has a running total of £67.6 million.
In its second weekend, Universal’s “M3gan” collected £1.35 million for a total of £4.6 million. Close behind was Paramount’s “Babylon,” which debuted in third place with £1.32 million.
A trio of Sony titles occupied fourth to sixth positions. In its fourth weekend, in fourth place, “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” took in £766,245 for a total of £9.6 million; “Matilda the Musical” collected £661,450 in its ninth weekend for a total of £25.7 million; and in its third weekend, “A Man Called Otto” £577,305 for a total of £3.6 million.
Mubi’s Cannes winner “Holy Spider” debuted in 14th position with £60,731, including previews. Other Mubi titles on release continue to display legs.
- 1/24/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
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