News

Movistar Plus+, the Spanish pay-tv and SVoD service, is expanding its film production slate and has boarded Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s The Black Ball (La Bola Negra), set to shoot in the second half of 2025.

The Black Ball, inspired by an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca, will be a “queer vindication about three meen in three different moments of Spanish history: 1932, 1937 and 2017,” said Calvo and Ambrossi, best known as filmmaking duo Los Javis.

Los Javis’ outfit Suma Content is producing with Movistar Plus+.

Lorca was murdered at the start of the Spanish Civil War by rightwing military...

During a Movistar+ presentation at the historic Telefónica Building on Madrid’s Gran Via this afternoon, renowned writer-director-producer duo Los Javis – Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo – shared early details about their next project, “La bola negra,” a multi-timelined feature about what it is and has meant to be a gay man in Spain throughout the last century.

A day after their series “La Mesías” won the Rose d’Or Award for best mini or limited series at Content Americas, Ambrossi and Calvo – known locally as Los Javis – revealed that they’re in the final stages of putting the project together and will begin shooting later this year. Abrossi and Calvo are writing, directing, and co-producing the feature through their label Suma Content, which is teaming with Movistar+, its production and distribution partner, on “La Mesías.”

“La bola negra” is a “queer revisitation of a part of the history of our country,...

Un thriller realista, inspirado en hechos reales. © Max

Max acaba de anunciar el inicio de rodaje de Ravalear, una serie creada por Pol Rodríguez y dirigida por él mismo junto a Isaki Lacuesta, los aclamados codirectores de Segundo premio.

Ravalear ha sido descrita como un thriller realista, inspirado en hechos reales, que acontece en la ciudad de Barcelona y más concretamente en el barrio del Raval. La serie cuenta cómo, después de casi cien años de historia y tres generaciones, Can Moscas, un restaurante de toda la vida, estimado y respetado por todos en el barrio y frecuentado por artistas, empresarios y políticos, se encuentra bajo la inminente compra por parte de un fondo de inversión. Los quieren fuera del edificio como parte de sus planes para comprar propiedades y remodelar el barrio. Al principio, la noticia hunde a la familia en la desesperación; piensan que todo está perdido. Pero,...

Master of horror Guillermo del Toro shapes his villains in ways viewers don’t expect. When most filmmakers design their antagonists with horrendous faces and indescribable appearances, he makes his evil characters pleasing to the eyes enough to make anyone easily fall in love with them.

Guillermo del Toro / Credits: CBS News

This is the dangerous kind of miscreant we should avoid—unfortunately, they always appear so well-dressed and well-mannered that we can’t help ourselves. In this notion alone is where the director draws his inspiration when it comes to molding his villains.

Guillermo del Toro on why his villains are so freaking attractive

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has a fascination for human complexity, and it shows in his film characters. One of his most acclaimed projects, Pan’s Labyrinth, earned him worldwide praise, and it was considered one of the best movies of 2006.

Sergi López in Pan’s Labyrinth...

An immense yet slinking police procedural that slips with disturbing ease into its audiences’ subconscious, Fabrice Du Welz’s Maldoror owes a debt to many contemporary serial killer creepers to come before it but comes together as a formidable, restrained, uniquely resonant work that finds the director at the height of his powers in telling a story at once hauntingly personal and broad in scope.

In early ‘90s Belgium, impulsive young police officer Paul Chartier (Anthony Bajon) is preparing to marry his sweetheart, Gina (Alba Gaïa Bellugi) but is soon distracted when he’s tapped by his superior, Hinkel (Laurent Lucas) to participate in Maldoror – a secret operation to monitor a dangerous sex offender named Marcel Dedieu (Sergi López) and investigate the abduction of two pre-teen girls. But, as Chartier gets closer to uncovering the truth, he grows increasingly erratic and frustrated with the calcified bureaucracy of his department, jeopardizing...

In a world… in which movies are just as much products as they are art, studios need to sell the latest releases to the broadest possible audiences. That means that they not only need to craft trailers promoting the films, but they need to misrepresent what films are really about.

On a certain level, that tendency toward misrepresentation makes sense. Trailers only have a couple of minutes to get people interested in the film, and complex works of art don’t lend themselves to such simplicities.

That said, it’s hard to see a masterpiece reduced to just a few sizzle moments, trying their best to ensure that the audience won’t be surprised or challenged by what they’re about to see. Here are some of the worst offenders in cinema history, movies that ended up to be so much more than what these teasers promised.

10. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Although...

Gangs of Galicia (Clanes) is a Spanish crime drama series directed by Roger Gual from a screenplay by Jorge Guerricaechevarría. The Netflix series is based on true events and it follows the story of Ana, a successful lawyer as he moves to the small town of Cambados in Galicia where she gets involved with Daniel, the son of a dangerous drug trafficker and the leader of the Padín clan. Gangs of Galicia stars Clara Lago and Tamar Novas in the lead roles with Chechu Salgado, Xosé A. Touriñán, Melania Cruz, Francesc Garrido, Miguel de Lira, and Diego Anido starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the crime thriller and family drama aspect of Gangs of Galicia here are similar shows you could watch next.

Iron Reign (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Iron Reign is a Spanish crime thriller miniseries directed by Lluis Quiliz from a screenplay by Quilez, Arturo Ruiz Serrano,...

Following up Wendell & Wild, animation wizard Henry Selick is planning to return to the world of Neil Gaiman with an adaptation of The Ocean at the End of the Lane. “Instead of a child going to this other world with a monstrous mother, it’s a monstrous mother who comes into our world to wreak havoc on a kid’s life,” Selick told Variety, contrasting the film with his previous Gaiman adaptation Coraline. Gaiman’s 2013 novel follows “an unnamed man who returns to his hometown for a funeral and remembers events that began forty years earlier.” Selick is currently shopping the project around, so hopefully we’ll have distribution news soon.

While Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem was recently adapted by Alexander Woo, David Benioff, and D.B. Weiss for the Netflix series, a feature adaptation is now in the works from Zhang Yimou. As reported at the Shanghai International Film Festival,...

Under the auspices of Comunidad de Madrid and the prestigious Ecam film school, the four day Ecam Forum co-production market got off to a flying start with its inaugural session, closing June 13 with an awards ceremony at Madrid’s historical Matadero cultural space.

One of eight features in work in progress, the creative documentary “Gods of Stone” (“Deuses de Pedra”) by the Spanish Iván Castiñeiras Gallego scooped the new Comunidad de Madrid award and its €15,000 cash prize earmarked towards its post-production.

A trained cinematographer/filmmaker, graduate from Estc in Lisbon, the Louis Lumiere School in Paris and Escac in Barcelona, Castiñeiras Gallego earned festival attention for his short docs “A raia” (2013) and “Where the Jungle Is” (2016).

Shot on 16mm, the Spain-Portugal-France co-production “Gods of Stone” is a non-linear compendium of stories portraying the way of life of a rural community located between Galicia and Portugal, on the oldest border in Europe.

New films by Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Jonas Trueba and Oliver Laxe join a brace of smart thrillers in a rich Cannes lineup from Spain.

“8,” (Julio Medem)

Medem returns towhat he does best: a love story transcending time and space and a poetic critique of recent history, according to sales agent Latido Films. “Fariña’s” Javier Rey and “La Mesías” Ana Rujus star as the lovers. Morena Films produces.

Sales: Latido

“As Neves,” (Sonia Méndez)

After a magic mushroom-fueled party, teens in a snowbound Galician village discover one of them is missing. The film was well-received at the Malaga festival.

Sales: Begin Again Films

“Barren Land,” (Albert Pintó)

From a director on “Money Heist” and “Berlin,” this suspense thriller captures how the drug trade devastates friendships and lives in Andalusía’s Cádiz. Film sports a great cast: Luis Zahera (“The Beasts”), Karra Elejalde (“While at War...

The Match Factory is set to handle international sales on a new film by “Fire Will Come” director Oliver Laxe, headlined by Sergi López, star of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Having begun production, shooting in Spain and then Morocco, the untitled Oliver Laxe project is a Movistar Plus+ original film produced with Pedro and Agustín Almodovar’s El Deseo, Laxe’s Galicia-based label Filmes da Ermida, Oriol Maymó’s Uri Films in Barcelona, and Paris’s 4 A 4 Productions.

The latest from Laxe follows Cannes wins for all his first three features. 2010’s “You Are All Captains,” Laxe’s debut feature, walked off with a Directors’ Fortnight Fipresci Award; 2016’s “Mimosas” scooped the Critics’ Week top Grand Prize, “Fire Will Come” a 2019 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

Co-written with “Matadero” director Santiago Fillol, also a co-scribe on “Fire Will Come,” Laxe’s next turns on a man...

Netflix's Iron Reign is a thrilling Spanish crime series with a talented cast that brings the story of crime lord Joaquin Manchado to life. Set at the Port of Barcelona, the show is filled with drama, violence, and betrayal, making it a must-watch for fans of crime shows. With exceptional performances from actors like Eduard Fernández, Chino Darín, and Jaime Lorente, Iron Reign has earned a spot on Netflix's Top 10 TV shows list.

Netflix's crime series Iron Reign features a talented cast of actors, all of whom come together to tell the story of a crime lord, Joaquin Manchado. The Spanish thriller TV series, which stars Eduard Fernández, Chino Darín, and Jaime Lorente, among others, premiered on Netflix on March 15, 2024, and features eight episodes stuffed full of drama, violence, and betrayal. Set at the Port of Barcelona, it's the cast of Spanish talent that makes Iron Regein such an exciting watch,...

WTFilms will be at the Rendez-Vous with a genre-focused slate.

Paris-based sales outfit WTFilms has taken on Fabrice du Welz’s Belgian crime thriller Maldoror and unveiled a first look at the film inspired by a true story.

The film stars Anthony Bajon as an impulsive police recruit tasked with a secret mission to track a dangerous sex offender. But when the operation fails, he goes rogue to hunt down the culprits. Now in post, the film is produced by Belgium’s Frakas Productions, with The Jokers Films’ production arm.

Maldoror also stars Alexis Manenti, Béatrice Dalle, Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas...

Some of the scariest villains in movies come from non-horror genres, proving that terror can be found in unexpected places. Characters don't have to be the main villain to be terrifying; even small, bone-chilling roles can steal the scene and haunt audiences. The scariest characters are not always the ones covered in blood; psychological thrillers and dystopian nightmares can create a deeper sense of uncanny fear.

​​​​​​Horror movies have their fair share of terrifying villains, but some of the scariest, and most notorious, characters originate from their non-horror counterparts. To make a character terrifying they don't necessarily have to be the main villain, or antagonist. They can be, and often are, but they can also be a small bone-chilling role that ends up stealing the scene. Conversely, there is more than more horror villain who ends up being more silly than scary in the end.

There are more ways than one to be scary.

by Cláudio Alves

Sergi Lopez and Alfredo Castro work miracles in "A Ravaging Wind"

I swore to myself that, if ever I got to attend TIFF, I wouldn't capitulate to the tyranny of awards buzz. Smaller pictures and international sensations deserve as much attention as those movies bound for Academy consideration. Now that I'm here, that intention remains true, though new frustrations compound with old ones, especially concerning actors. In such a wide array of world cinema offerings, it's dispiriting that the only thespians that can headline articles and cause social media stirs are either Hollywood institutions or Sandra Hüller.

That's not a dig at those lucky few, merely an appreciation that there's greatness beyond the mainstream spotlight. In other words, everyone at TIFF should be talking about what Chilean star Alfredo Castro and Catalan star Sergi López achieve in A Ravaging Wind…...

Paula Hernández’s “A Ravaging Wind” (“El viento que arrasa”) has debuted a poster and trailer ahead of its premieres at Toronto and San Sebastian.

Based on the novel by Selva Almada – and written by Hernández and Leonel D’Agostino – “A Ravishing Wind” will play Toronto’s Centrepiece program, before opening San Sebastian’s Horizontes Latinos, a showcase of many of the best Latin American movies of the last year. It sees Alfredo Castro as Reverend Pearson, an evangelical pastor who travels Argentina by car in the 1990s with his daughter Leni. When it breaks down, they end up at the auto repair shop run by Gringo (Sergi López) and his son (Joaquín Acebo).

Hernán Musaluppi, Santiago López Rodríguez, Diego Robino, Lilia Scenna, Natacha Cervi and Sandino Saravia Vinay produce for Cimarron, Rizoma and Cinevinay, while Film Factory Entertainment handles sales.

“When I was offered to adapt Selva Almada’s book,...

Argentine director Paula Hernández’s “The Ravaging Wind,” toplined by Latin American star Alfredo Castro, will be the opening night film of Horizontes Latinos sidebar at the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, which runs Sept. 22-30.

Carolina Markowicz’s “Toll,” whose producers include Brazilian giant Globo Filmes, will close the section, one of the biggest examples of San Sebastian’s long-term commitment to Latin American cinema.

In total, Horizontes will present this year 12 stories, set in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil.

Traditionally, the sidebar showcases feature films not yet released in Spain, either totally or partially produced in Latin America directed by Latino filmmakers or which are set against the backdrop or subject of Latino communities in the rest of the world.

The contenders list of the 2023 edition takes in two films who walked off with prizes at San Sebastian’s Latin American Work In Progress initiative...

Twelve stories set in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil make up Horizontes Latinos, a selection of the year’s feature films, not yet released in Spain, from among all those totally or partially produced in Latin America, directed by moviemakers of Latino origin, or which are set against the backdrop or subject of Latino communities in the rest of the world. In the selection of titles competing for the Horizontes Award at San Sebastian’s 71st edition are two films to have carried off awards at the last Wip Latam –El castillo / The Castle and Estranho caminho / A Strange Path– and at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum –Alemania–.

Having shown one of her previous movies in Horizontes Latinos, Los sonámbulos / The Sleepwalkers (2019), Paula Hernández returns to the section she will open with El viento que arrasa / A Ravaging Wind, a cinematic adaptation of Selva Almada’s homonymous novel. Alfredo Castro,...

"Well, she lives in a fairy tale," declares Hayley Williams in the opening lyric of "Brick by Boring Brick," a 2009 single by Paramore, initially released as part of their third album "Brand New Eyes." Williams continues belting out, "Somewhere too far for us to find, forgotten the taste and smell of a world that she's left behind."

As the song continues on for another four minutes, the fairy tale allusions continue; one of them is a title drop: "Well, make sure to build your home brick by-by boring brick, Or the wolf's gonna blow it down."

However, the opening verse establishes the song's key theme right off the bat: retreating into your imagination is like refusing to grow up. The Pov character realizes she must bury her childhood fantasies to escape her dream world. The song's music video reflects this, alternating in focus between Williams herself and a young girl...

French sales company to showcase comedy and drama slate at Rendez-Vous.

Paris-based Indie Sales has boarded Jean-Pierre Améris’ Take A Chance On Me and Pierre Jolivet’s Green Tide, expanding the company’s star-powered French slate.

Indie Sales’ French language line-up also includes Noémie Lvovsky’s The Great Magic, Mathias Gokalp’s The Assembly Line, Emad Aleebrahim Dehkordi’s A Tale of Shemroon and Marc Fitoussi’s Two Tickets to Greece.

Take A Chance On Me stars popular French singer turned actress Louane Emera, whose credits include The Belier Family, who plays a young woman juggling between odd jobs to support her agoraphobic father.

"I'm not into shenanigans, I try to take care of people as well as I can." Grasshopper Film has revealed the official US trailer for Pacifiction, a new film by extravagant director Albert Serra. On the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, the High Commissioner of the Republic & French government official De Roller (played by Benoît Magimel) is a calculating man with flawless manners. His somewhat broad perception of his role brings him to navigate the high end 'establishment' as well as shady venues where he mingles with locals. Especially since a rumor has been going around: the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing. Starring Montse Triola, Benoît Magimel, Sergi López, Lluís Serrat, and Pahoa Mahagafanau. This premiered in Cannes to rave reviews and was regarded by many critics as one of the best of the fest, though it definitely won't be for everyone.

Watch the trailer for Pacifiction, the latest from Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra. It premiered at Cannes last year before screening at TIFF, NYFF, BFI London Film Festival and AFI Fest. The film stars Benoît Magimel, Marc Susini, Alexandre Melo, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Matahi Pambrun, Sergi López and Montse Triola. Pacifiction‘s official synopsis reads: “On the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official De Roller (Magimel) is a calculating man with flawless manners. His somewhat broad perception of his role brings him to navigate the high end ‘establishment’ as well as shady venues where […]

The post Trailer Watch: Albert Serra’s Pacifiction first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Watch the trailer for Pacifiction, the latest from Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra. It premiered at Cannes last year before screening at TIFF, NYFF, BFI London Film Festival and AFI Fest. The film stars Benoît Magimel, Marc Susini, Alexandre Melo, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Matahi Pambrun, Sergi López and Montse Triola. Pacifiction‘s official synopsis reads: “On the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official De Roller (Magimel) is a calculating man with flawless manners. His somewhat broad perception of his role brings him to navigate the high end ‘establishment’ as well as shady venues where […]

The post Trailer Watch: Albert Serra’s Pacifiction first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Albert Serra plunges into the ghostly depths of paradise with “Pacifiction.”

Deemed the best film of the year by Cahiers du Cinema, “Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel (“The Piano Teacher”) as a French government official who investigates the sighting of a submarine that indicates the return of nuclear testing on Tahiti.

In “Pacifiction,” on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official De Roller (Magimel) is a calculating man with flawless manners. His somewhat broad perception of his role brings him to navigate the high-end “establishment” as well as shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Especially since a persistent rumor has been going around: the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.

Marc Susini, Alexandre Melo, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Matahi Pambrun, Sergi López, and Montse Triola also star in the film from writer-director Serra.

Woody Allen is shutting down claims from the weekend that he is retiring after his 50th film, “Wasp 22.” The news came out of an interview with the Oscar winner in Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that he’d be stepping down from filmmaking after his final project, set to shoot in Paris.

Allen’s press representative issued a statement to IndieWire, saying, “Woody Allen never said he was retiring, nor did he say he was writing another novel. He said he was thinking about not making films, as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie, which will be the 50th.”

The interview claimed that Allen revealed his upcoming film, France-based thriller “Wasp 22,...

Elástica Films in Spain has revealed a teaser for Pacifiction, the latest film from extravagant director Albert Serra. This premiered in Cannes to rave reviews and was regarded by many critics as one of the best films of the festival, though it definitely won't be for everyone. On the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, a writer returns to her country after having triumphed in France with a novel. However, she is disoriented and in a creative crisis. Faced with the impossibility of writing new works, she decides to accept a simultaneous translation job together with an ambassador. A strange attraction begins between them, full of contrasts. Little by little she realizes the cynicism of international politics, with a latent threat of new nuclear tests. Her love affair with the ambassador will be affected by that conflict, and interest and romance will mix in a confusing and absorbing way. Starring Montse Triola,...

After staging a vastly scaled-down version in 2020, organizers of the Cannes Film Festival brought buzz back to the Croisette last year as the industry dipped its toes into the annual French gathering. As the 75th edition kicked off May 17, many in the business are all-in on the in-person experience and there are plenty of completed films for sale.

Mubi took an early lead in acquisitions, scooping up Léa Mysius’s sophomore film “The Five Devils” and Park Chan-wook’s mystery “Decision to Leave” in recent weeks. Other films arriving with distribution include Brett Morgen’s David Bowie doc “Moonage Daydream,” from Neon. A24 has five films premiering at Cannes, including Alex Garland’s “Men” and Claire Denis’ “The Stars at Noon.”

Still up for grabs are films like “Hunt,” the directorial debut of “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae, and Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister.”

Below find a constantly updated...

Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction” has lured major distributors around the world following its critically acclaimed world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Berlin-based Films Boutique is representing the film in international markets.

“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.

On top of the previous sales to Grasshopper Films in the U.S. and Les Films du Losange in France, the movie has been acquired for Canada (Films We like), U.K. and Ireland (New Wave Films), Italy (Movies Inspired), Spain, Poland (New Horizons), Czech & Slovak (Film Europe), Israel (Lev Cinemas), Brazil (Fenix Filmes), Portugal (Nitrato Films) and Baltics (Scanorama), Austria (Filmgarten), Switzerland (Sister distribution), Mexico, Colombia (Interior 13), Iceland (Bio Paradis) and Ex Yugo (MCFMegacom...

Cannes competition title “Pacifiction,” from “Liberté” director Albert Serra, has been acquired for the U.S. by specialty distributors Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films.

Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”

The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.

Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.

“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...

The good news is that Pacifiction, the latest feature from Catalan auteur Albert Serra, who’s only in his 40s but directs like a grand old man of the 1960s avant-garde, is quite watchable, even sort of plot-driven — for a Serra film.

It’s got a fun central performance from Benoît Magimel and a spectacular Tahitian location. There’s even a surfing scene, the closest Serra may have ever gotten to an action sequence. On the other hand, it is still a 162-minute slog. And that aforementioned plot is a very attenuated, listless creature, telling a murky — in every sense — tale of political intrigue and municipal power struggles that refuses to be resolved or reveal any mysteries by the end. It’s like a Polynesian version of Chinatown but made by a cast and crew stoned on rum and ketamine. Forget it, Jake, it’s Papeete.

Highbrow viewers who like...

Marc Recha, director of “Pau and His Brother,” which played in Cannes competition, is initiating post-production on “Wild Road,” a thriller produced by Barcelona-based director label Parallamps.

Heaed by Montse Germán, a star in Cesc Gay’s “Fiction” and Sergi López” (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), “Wild Road” follows 50-year Ona, who is about to fulfill her dream of piloting a light aircraft. Then a chance encounter with some Serb ex-combatants will change her life and that of her loved ones, forcing her to face up to her own past.

A Locarno Fipresci prize winner for “The Cherry Tree,” in “Wild Road” Recha aims for a “cinema d’auteur for a wider audience. It’s a disturbing thriller but full of humanity,” producer Ana Stanič told Variety announcing “strong interest for the film in Spain, Central and Eastern Europe and further abroad.”

A sales agent deal is close to being closed.

The move...

"You know the recipe of all perfumes?" Madman Films in Australia has released their own official trailer for Perfumes, a French comedy from filmmaker Grégory Magne. This already opened in France back in 2020 and played in the US last year, but we're just catching up with it now and have never posted this trailer so far. Anne Walberg is a celebrity in the perfume world. She creates fragrances and sells her incredible talent to companies of all kinds. She lives as a diva, selfish, well-tempered. Guillaume is her new driver and the only one who is not afraid to stand up to her. Can they save her by working together? Emmanuelle Devos stars with Grégory Montel, Zélie Rhixon, Sergi López, Gustave Kervern, Pauline Moulène, and Lisa Perrio. This looks amusing with all the usual quirks that come with the perfume business - and all the strange smells. Almost like a light-hearted,...

Films Boutique has acquired four films set to world premiere at Cannes, including Albert Serra (“The Death of Louis Xiv”)’s “Pacifiction” which will compete in the 75th edition’s Official Selection.

The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.

“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.

Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...

And so we might not find out anytime soon what the deal with David Lynch was, but we now know that the final tally for the Palme d’Or selections comes to a total of 21. Felix Van Groeningen teamed with partner Charlotte Vandermeersch for The Eight Mountains and promises to give us plenty of eye candy scenery. Léonor Serraille makes the incredible leap from winning the Camera d’Or with her first film and is now competing with Un petit frère. Albert Serra‘s Bora Bora (unsure if that is the actual title) stars Benoît Magimel and Sergi López and is the other title to be added.…...

Seeing a Woody Allen movie in 2022 is, it seems fair to say, a curious experience. Those who believe you can’t separate the art from the artist will find copious proof in his latest movie, “Rifkin’s Festival.” But, of course, they’re unlikely to watch it. Those who still celebrate the artist might watch it, but they won’t find much in the way of art.

For his 49th feature film, Allen returns to a well that is not so much dry as desiccated. The movie opens with Wallace Shawn as our Allen doppelgänger, Mort Rifkin. Mort, an anxious former professor, is also a dedicated cinephile and self-defined intellectual who spends the next hour-and-a-half complaining vociferously to his analyst.

He’s reminiscing about a troubled trip to Spain’s San Sebastián Film Festival, which he recently took with his publicist wife, Sue (Gina Gershon). “Film festivals are no longer what they were,...

“I’d frankly prefer not die for anything. And that includes sickness, old days or choking on a bagel.”

Woody Allen’s Rifkin’S Festival starring Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon, and Cristoph Waltz opens in St. Louis Friday January 28th at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Theater. Check their website for times Here.

Mort Rifkin, a retired film studies professor, accompanies his publicist wife Sue to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. He goes not for the films, but because he’s worried that Sue’s fascination with her young buzzed-about film director client, Philippe, might be more than professional. In addition, Mort hopes the change of scenery will provide a respite from his struggle to write a first novel that lives up to his impossibly exacting standards. With Mort’s relentlessly dismissive opinions of Philippe, and Sue’s sharp focus on her career as well as Philippe, their already frayed relationship becomes more strained.

Easing his way back into U.S. theaters after a two-year hiatus and an explosively accusatory four-part documentary, Allen v. Farrow, that aired on HBO in 2021, Woody Allen returns with Rifkin’s Festival, an airy, lazy, though rather likable overseas rom-com served with a dose of melancholia and several large portions of cinematic nostalgia.

Shot in picturesque San Sebastián and based around the city’s annual international film festival, Rifkin rehashes bits of earlier Allen efforts, including the artist character from Vicky Cristina Barcelona — does he think all Spanish men are strapping, sexed-up figurative painters? — while revisiting some of his favorite movies in a new light.

The result seems to be primarily aimed at the director’s own age group — a demographic that hasn’t exactly been leading the box office charge these days and that could render this release from MPI Media Group (who briefly put out A Rainy...

” I’d frankly prefer not die for anything. And that includes sickness, old days or choking on a bagel.”

Woody Allen’s latest work, Rifkin’S Festival (which was shot in 2019 and premiered at last year’s Sebastian Film Festival), is now arriving in the U.S. in theaters and on digital platforms on January 28, 2022 from MPI Media Group.

Here’s the trailer:

Rifkin’S Festival stars Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, Gina Gershon, Sergi López, Wallace Shawn, and Christoph Waltz,

Mort Rifkin, a retired film studies professor, accompanies his publicist wife Sue to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. He goes not for the films, but because he’s worried that Sue’s fascination with her young buzzed-about film director client, Philippe, might be more than professional. In addition, Mort hopes the change of scenery will provide a respite from his struggle to write a first novel that lives...

"The answers are not always what you wnat to hear." MPI Media Group has debuted an official US trailer for the film Rifkin's Festival, arriving in US theaters in January after originally premiering last year. This film takes place at the illustrious San Sebastian Film Festival in the North of Spain, and it also premiered at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival last year. Woody Allen's latest just seems to be another bland tale of jealousy and infidelity, without much more than that to add. A married American couple go to the festival and get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city and the fantasy of movies. The plot is about a woman who has an affair with a French filmmaker, while her husband falls in love with a beautiful Spaniard. Starring Wallace Shawn with Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, Gina Gershon, Sergi López,...

Once accustomed to receiving splashy festival premieres and major theatrical roll-outs, Woody Allen’s films are now relegated to getting dumped stateside following international premieres and theatrical runs from the countries still willing to prominently showcase the Bronx-born director. After A Rainy Day in New York was released in late 2020 following a shoot in 2017, Allen’s latest work, Rifkin’s Festival (which was shot in 2019 and premiered at last year’s Sebastian Film Festival), is now arriving in the U.S. in theaters and on digital platforms on January 28, 2022 from MPI Media Group.

Starring Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, Gina Gershon, Sergi López, Wallace Shawn, and Christoph Waltz, the movie follows a retired film studies professor who accompanies his publicist wife Sue to the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. He goes not for the films, but because he’s worried that Sue’s fascination with her young buzzed-about film director client,...

Filmax has announced the first key sale for its award-winning Spanish drama “Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea” to Adler Entertainment in Italy, hot off the heels of an Audience Award at the Rome Film Festival.

News of the deal comes as Filmax presents “Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea” at this week’s American Film Market.

Marcel Barrena, a filmmaker with a knack for retelling true stories on the big screen in both documentary and biographical films such as “Little World” and “100 Meters,” directed the film that features Eduard Fernández (“Smoke and Mirrors”), Dani Rovira (“100 Meters”), Anna Castillo (“Holy Camp!”), Sergi López (“Rifkin’s Festival”), Àlex Monner (“The Next Skin”) and Melika Foroutan (“Pari”).

Based on true events in the fall of 2015, “Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea” turns on a pair of Barcelona lifeguards, Oscar and Gerard, who traveled to the Greek island of Lesbos after...

One of several animated biopics about to segue from the festival circuit to the big screen, “Josep” is a slim but engaging tribute to the legacy of Spanish artist Josep Bartolí (1910-95), a Catalonian republican whose Goya-esque drawings of his time in French concentration camps inspired the film’s Gallic helmer and art director Aurel (birth name Aurélien Froment), himself an acclaimed press illustrator and cartoonist. The film serves as a sharp reminder of the ignominious fate of some of the 500,000 Spanish refugees fleeing Franco’s anti-fascist forces in early 1939, and it also highlights the power of drawing to bear witness.

Like the forthcoming Danish animated documentary “Flee,” “Josep” was a selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival forced to cancel because of the coronavirus. It went on to win France’s César for best animated film and the European Film Award for best animated feature, as well as a slew of other festival prizes.

“Why don’t you come around for dinner?,” Barcelona lifeguard Gerard Casals (Dani Rovira) asks his boss, Oscar Camps (Eduard Fernández), at the beginning of “Mediterráneo: The Law of the Sea.”

“I’ve got other plans,” says Camps. Cut to his sitting on his sofa, eating a warmed-up microwave dinner watching TV on his laptop.

Then Camps catches a news report featuring the horrific images of 3-year-old Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi, his lifeless body lying on a Turkish beach, washed by waves, after the dingy he was in capsized.

Two days later, Oscar and Gerard are sitting on a beach in Lesbos, Greece, looking across at the hulking headlands of Turkey, just seven miles away across a strait that separates Asia from the European Union. “People are dying in the sea; we’re lifeguards,” he says. So begins Camps and Casals’ life mission, which becomes the now celebrated Ngo Open Arms,...

Salvador Calvo’s “Adú” leads the way at Spain’s annual Goya Awards nominations with 14 nods, including for best film and best director.

“Las niñas” and “Akelarre” followed with nine nominations each, while “Rosa’s Wedding” has eight.

In the running for the best film Goya are “Adú,” a Netflix acquisition; “Ane” by David Perez Sanudo; “La boda de Rosa” by Iciar Bollain; “Las niñas” by Pilar Palomero; and “Sentimental” by Cesc Gay.

Competing for the best direction Goya will be Salvador Calvo for “Adú”; Juanma Bajo Ulloa for “Baby”; Iciar Bollain for “La boda de Rosa”; and Isabel Coixet for “Nieva en Benidorm.”

In the running for best European film are Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi”; Florian Zeller’s “The Father”; Viggo Mortensen’s “Falling”; and Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy.”

Mortensen was the big draw at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival where “Falling” played, and where he received the Donostia Award.

Petite Fleur (15 Ways to Kill Your Neighbour)

Produced by Didar Domehri

Directed by Santiago Mitre

Written by Mariano Llinás, Santiago Mitre

Starring: Daniel Hendler, Vimala Pons, Sergi López, Melvil Poupaud, Françoise Lebrun, Éric Caravaca

Cinematographer: Javier Julia

Release Date/Prediction: A return to Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section might be in the cards.

…...

The Catalan director is in post-production with his latest film, based on true events and starring Eduard Fernández, Dani Rovira, Sergi López and Anna Castillo. Mediterráneo, directed by Marcel Barrena, was shot over just two months, in September and October this year. The film features Eduard Fernández, Dani Rovira, Anna Castillo, Sergi López and Àlex Monner. The story takes us back to a voyage undertaken in 2015 by Óscar Camps and Gerard Canals, lifeguards on the Badalona coast, after seeing an image that sickened the world: the lifeless body of a young boy, washed up on a Mediterranean beach. Since that photograph was taken, hundreds of unsung heroes have saved the lives of more than 100,000 fellow humans, under the auspices of the Ngo Open Arms. Mediterráneo was inspired by these brave volunteers, and their struggle to stem the tragedy unfolding at...

Barcelona-based Filmax has acquired international sales rights to “Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea,” inspired by the stirring true-life origins story of the Mediterranean-based Ngo Open Arms, an open sea migrant search and rescue mission which has saved thousands of lives.

Now just initiating post-production, having shot for over eight weeks around Greece and Barcelona, “Mediterraneo” weighs in as a new banner title for Filmax at this week’s American Film Market, where it will present a first promo.

Directed by Marcel Barrena (“100 Meters”), “Mediterraneo” turns on the life-changing journey in 2015 of two Spanish lifeguards, Oscar Camps and Gerard Canals, who travel to the Greek island of Lesbos after having seen a heart-wrenching photograph in the international press of three-year-old Syrian Alan Kurdi, washed up dead on the shores of the Mediterranean. There, they discover a shocking reality: thousands of people risking their lives every day to get from...

"If you don't do it today, you never will." The Match Factory has released a promo sales trailer for an indie Spanish comedy-drama titled Rosa's Wedding in English, originally known as La boda de Rosa. This already opened in Spain after premiering at the Málaga Film Festival, but doesn't have any US release set just yet. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Icíar Bollaín, and starring Candela Peña as Rosa, the film is about a woman from Valencia named Rosa who is about to turn 45. When Rosa decides to take charge of her own life, she will realize that her plans collide with the interests of her entire family. Getting married, even with herself, is going to be the hardest thing she's ever done. Especially when her family gets involved. The film also stars Sergi López, Nathalie Poza, Ramón Barea, Paula Usero, and Xavo Giménez. Looks like a good balance between the...

Mort Rifkin, the ostensible novelist at the center of “Rifkin’s Festival,” has longterm writer’s block, and it’s hard to imagine that Woody Allen has ever empathized less with a character. Where Mort believes it’s futile to write if the finished work is not going to be on the level of Dostoevsky, the 84-year-old Allen continues churning out screenplays on an annual basis, unencumbered even by the increasingly distant memory of his own greatest work. His 49th feature, “Rifkin’s Festival” is the latest in a lengthy string of undistinguished bagatelles that might all be described as effortless, and not in an especially complimentary fashion.

Following Wallace Shawn and a typically jumbled grab-bag of fine actors as they mosey around the San Sebastián Film Festival — for which the film acts as an extended promo, duly opening this year’s edition — “Rifkin’s Festival” is a scenic summer-wind romcom that...

Woody Allen’s long-delayed “A Rainy Day in New York” will hit select U.S. theaters next month, Mpi Media Group and Signature Entertainment announced Thursday.

The film, starring Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez and Elle Fanning, will open on October 9 in at least three Landmark theaters in Chicago, Boston and Atlanta before expanding the following week to additional theaters and markets.

Signature released “A Rainy Day in New York” digitally on June 5 in the U.K. and has set a July 27 home video and DVD release. But the distributor had also previously acquired the film’s North American rights in hopes of doing a domestic release this fall.

“A Rainy Day in New York” was filmed in 2017, but Amazon dropped plans for the 2018 release of the film after Allen’s daughter Dylan Farrow resurfaced accusations that he molested her in the early 1990s when she was 7. Allen, who was never...