News

On Monday 14 July 2025, BBC Four broadcasts Nicholas Shakespeare Remembers… Mario Vargas Llosa!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Nicholas Shakespeare Remembers… Mario Vargas Llosa” on BBC Four promises to be an insightful look into the life and work of a literary giant. Mario Vargas Llosa is celebrated as one of the finest writers of his generation, known for his significant contributions to South American literature during the mid-20th century.

In this episode, Nicholas Shakespeare will explore Vargas Llosa’s remarkable journey as a writer. The program will highlight key novels like “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter” and “The Time of the Hero,” which draw heavily from the author’s own experiences in Peru. These works not only showcase his storytelling talent but also provide a deep understanding of the cultural and social landscape of his beloved country.

The episode will also touch on a pivotal moment in Vargas Llosa’s life.

On Monday 14 July 2025, BBC Four broadcasts Omnibus!

The Story of the Novelist Who Would Be President Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Omnibus,” titled “The Story of the Novelist Who Would Be President,” promises to be an engaging look at the life of Mario Vargas Llosa. This documentary, which first aired in 1990, captures the journey of the renowned Peruvian novelist as he embarks on a bold political campaign to become president of Peru.

Viewers can expect to see a blend of personal and political moments as the film follows Vargas Llosa over a challenging year. The documentary is filmed in various locations, including London, Peru, and Italy, providing a rich visual backdrop to his story. It offers a unique perspective on how the themes and characters from his novels intersect with the realities he faces in his political ambitions.

The episode not only highlights Vargas Llosa’s literary genius but...

Mario Vargas Llosa, one of Latin American literature’s modern greats, died April 13 in Lima, Peru. He was 89.

He died surrounded by his family and “at peace,” his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa announced in a social post.

“He enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” they added.

That body of work is huge. Winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2010, Vargas Llosa was also with once close friend Gabriel García Márquez, the towering star of the Latin American Boom, which brought to global attention the works of young Latin American writers – Peru’s Vargas Llosa, Colombia García Márquez, Mexico’s Carlos Fuentes, Argentina’s Julio Cortázar and Cuba’s Guillermo Cabrera Infante – which were among the first Latin American novelists to be published in Europe.

Combining a large influence of European modernism, William Faulkner, experiment and word play,...

Peruvian Nobel literature laureate and Latin American literary giant Mario Vargas Llosa has died in Lima at the age of 89.

The writer’s son Álvaro Vargos Llosa announced Sunday that his father had “passed away peacefully in Lima” in a social media post, signed by himself and his siblings Gonzalo and Morgana.

“His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” read the post.

Born on March 28, 1936, in the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa, Vargas Llosa spent his early childhood in Cochabamba, Bolivia, with his mother and grandparents, after his parents divorced while he was a young child.

Returning to Peru at age 10, he was sent to a military academy...

Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for many decades, has died, his son said Sunday. He was 89.

“It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family,” read a letter signed by his children Álvaro, Gonzalo and Morgana, and posted by Álvaro on X.

The letter says that his remains will be cremated and that there won’t be any public ceremony.

“His departure will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world, but we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him,” they added.

He was author of such celebrated novels as The Time of the Hero (La Ciudad y los Perros...

From the day that Christopher Columbus set sail from Huelva to beach up in the Caribbean, the Spanish city has always had strong ties to Latin America.

With Spain still laboring under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, when a group of young film buffs at Huelva’s Film Club aimed to galvanize the city’s culture, “It was logical that we looked to the richness and plenitude of culture that came from abroad,” recalls José Luis Ruíz Díaz, Huelva’s first director. “It was also logical that we had a large interest in Latin America, adds Vicente Quiroga, its longtime head of press. Relaxing, censorship in Spain also allowed access to a suddenly broader sweep of foreign titles.

Huelva’s first 50 editions have proved a faithful reflection of the evolution of cinema in Latin America, Portugal and Spain. Some milestones:

1975: Ruíz Díaz launches Huelva’s first Ibero-American Film Week with Argentina’s “La Raulito.

Exclusive: Banijay is ramping up efforts to find new properties for its array of scripted labels, appointing experienced industry exec Hannah Griffiths as its first ever Head of Adaptations.

Griffiths is already up and running at Banijay. She has had a long career in publishing and TV and prior to taking her new role was at All3Media, where she was Head of Literary Acquisitions.

Her brief at production and distribution giant Banijay is to support the company’s scripted labels, working with rights holders to source IP across books, podcasts, and other media.

Based in the firm’s London office and reporting to Banijay UK CEO and Executive Chairman, Patrick Holland, Griffiths will work with the company’s roster of UK labels, which includes Kudos, Mam Tor, Tiger Aspect and recent acquisition The Forge. Her IP advice will also be available to producers across Banijay’s international footprint.

“With our...

Toledo, Spain — Carmen Machi, one of the foremost performers of her generation in Spain, is attached to play legendary Barcelona agent Carmen Balcells, prime architect of the Latin American Boom and a key figure in the break out of Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa to worldwide renown.

Chile’s Invercine, producer of “News of a Kidnapping” which swept April’s Platino Awards, is teaming with Spain’s Abacus, Pausoka and Grupo Lavinia to develop and produce “Boom Agency” (“La Agencia del Boom”) which turns on Balcells extraordinary life, achievement and personality. The deal was confirmed to Variety at Conecta Fiction.

The series also turns on Balcells’ worst nightmare, the rupture of the deep friendship between her star writers, Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García-Marquez, whose rift broke the back of the Boom.

Spain’s Oscar Pedraza, co-director of HBO España’s “Patria,” is attached to direct. Colombians Verónica Triana...

Toledo, Spain — “Wellborn Family,” “Favàritx,” “Border Station” and “Death in the Andes” won some of the biggest prizes on offer at the seventh edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, the Spanish TV co-pro and networking forum which hit its final straights Wednesday evening with its now traditional prize awards ceremony.

The announcements were preceded by an exclusive premiere of “Time Zone,” a new entertainment format created by Spain’s Zeppelin and Endemol Shine Nederland, a Banijay company, which is set to bow on HBO Max on July 14.

Written by Zebina Guerra and Jorge Yúdice, “Wellborn Family,” a comedy presented by Spain’s Fundación Sgae, walked off with the biggest award of the night, a development contract at Spanish pubcaster Rtve.

A corrosive and classically structured social satire,“Wellborn Family” turns on the aristo Óscar Casañ-Calabuig who will do what he must to save his family from ruin, even if it means...

Fabula’s “Superman’s Bodyguards,” “Sisi” head writer Andreas Gutzeit’s thriller “Disgrace” and “Hildur,” from Finland’s Matti Laine, who scored with “The Paradise,” all feature at this year’s still vastly expanded Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, the Europe-Latin America TV and networking forum, now in its seventh edition.

They will be presented to an audience of producers and distributors at the industry centerpiece at Conecta Fiction.

Set up at Juan de Dios and Pablo Larraín’s Fábula, producer of Oscar winning A fantastic Woman” and “Spencer,” “Superman’s Bodyguards” tells the true story of Christopher Reeve’s perilous mission to Chile to attempt to save the lives of 78 Chilean actors under death threat from an extreme right faction in a Chile still ruled by Augusto Pinochet.

A fast-paced thriller, “Disgrace” is from Story House Pictures’ Andreas Gutzeit, head writer on the banner Beta/Rtl Canneseries 2021 smash hit “Sisi,” sold to over 120 countries,...

ViX+, the fledgling Spanish-language SVOD from TelevisaUnivision, is dipping into literary classics once more with the modern retelling of Alexandre Dumas’ popular revenge tale, “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

The news follows the Jan. 20 bow of ViX+’s Anna Karenina adaptation, “Volver a Caer” with Kate del Castillo. Last year, ViX+ unveiled an adaptation of Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa’s “Travesuras de la Niña Mala” (“Bad Girl”).

In an exclusive first look, ViX+ unveils footage of the six-part series, simply titled “Montecristo,” with William Levy (“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”) playing the enigmatic lead.

Produced by Spain’s Secouya Studios, “Montecristo” follows Alejandro Montecristo, a mysterious figure whose past and considerable fortune are unknown. Montecristo is the founder and CEO of a successful new tech company that has sparked the interest and envy of many, including Fernando Alvarez Mondego, a businessman with close ties to the Spanish aristocracy...

Academy and Emmy award-winning producer Mark Johnson whose credits include acclaimed series “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” and Oscar-winning pic “Rain Man,” is venturing into his first-ever Spanish-language series, partnering with TelevisaUnivison’s premium streamer ViX+ and LA-based Exile Content on the Church scandal dramatic series, “Amen” (a working title).

Now in development, the upcoming ViX+ Original limited series will be produced under the banner of Televisa Alternative Originals (Tao), TelevisaUnivision’s premium content division, which has made such notable titles as “Un extraño enemigo,” “El candidato” and “Diablo guardian.”

“Amen” tells the story of Father Marcial Maciel, the Mexican priest who was denounced in 1998 for corruption, graft, and the sexual abuse of minors by various members of his congregation and students of the Catholic religious order he founded, Legionaries of Christ.

Tapping sources that include investigative reports, hundreds of interviews and the book “Vows of Silence: The Abuse...

Cannes — In a partnership of the two biggest media companies in Latin America and the Latino U.S., TelevisaUnivision and Globo have created a distribution and co-production strategic alliance, focusing on fiction content.

The partnership kicks off with three fiction productions.

The first two productions are both productions from ViX+, the SVOD service of TelevisaUnivision: Recently launched “La Mujer del Diablo” (“The Devil’s Wife”), and upcoming series “Travesuras de la Niña Mala” “(Bad Girl”), based on Mario Vargas Llosa’s book; Globo is bringing to the table Globoplay Original telenovela “Todas as Flores” (“All the Flowers”), which screened at Mipcom on Tuesday.

The first season of “La Mujer del Diablo” is available exclusively on ViX+ in the U.S., and throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America, whereas “Travesuras de la Niña Mala” will premiere on ViX+ later this year.

Both series will be shown in Brazil on Globoplay. “Todas as Flores,...

Exclusive: Stars of Money Heist and other cast have boarded Vix+’s Spanish-language series Travesuras de la Niña Mala, which is based on the novel by Nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa and has revealed first look image. Trailer is below.

Fernando Soto, who plays Ángel in Antena/3 Netflix smash Money Heist, and Fernando Cayo, who plays Coronel Tamayo, join previously announced Juan Pablo Di Pace and Macarena Achaga. Others to join include Martijn Kuiper (Los Hombres de Paco), Rowi Prieto (Aj Zombies), Vanessa Saba (Ella y Él), Victor Civeira (La Bella y las Bestias), Nestor Rodulfo (Che: Part: One), Steph Bumelcrownd (Lo Que la Gente Cuenta) and Javier Dulzaldes (Al Fondo hay Sitio).

Money Heist director Alejandro Bazzano is helming the show and has been joined by director Pavel Vázquez, as first look image is revealed.

Filmed in London and Paris, TelevisaUnivision’s flagship series for Vix+ tells...

French novelist Annie Ernaux, whose novel Happening was the inspiration for Audrey Diwan’s 2021 Venice Golden Lion winner of the same name, has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The 82-year-old writer is known for her body of semi-autobiographical works charting the lives of women and social change in France from the 1960s onwards.

Highlights of her literary career span her 1974 debut work Cleaned Out (Les Armoires Vides), A Man’s Place (1984), A Woman’s Story (1987) and her 2008 memoir The Years.

A number of her novels have been successfully adapted to the big screen, topped by Diwan’s Happening, which was adapted from Ernaux’s 2019 novella. Diwan, a novelist herself, consulted with Ernaux as she wrote the screenplay adaptation.

The powerful drama is based on Ernaux’s experiences when she fell pregnant as a student in the early 1960s when abortions were illegal in France.

Other features based on Ernaux...

TelevisaUnivision is adding to the roster of original titles offered on the ViX+ premium streaming service that bowed last month with the goal of serving up more than 70 new programs in its first year of operations.

Production is underway on three scripted drama series, “Colapso,” “Isla Brava,” and “Senda Prohibida,” as well as the documentary “Absoluta” offering behind-the-scenes look at the transformation of Spain’s national soccer team known affectionately as La Furia Roja (the Red Fury).

“From thrilling mysteries to heartwarming personal stories, these new original productions represent a sample of the breadth of incredible Spanish-language storytelling you can only find on ViX+,” said Rodrigo Mazon, executive VP and general manager of ViX+.

Launched July 21 in the U.S. and Latin America, ViX+ has struck programming deals with a bevy of prominent content creators including Salma Hayek Pinault, Eugenio Derbez, Selena Gomez, Maria Dueñas, Mario Vargas Llosa, Santiago Limón,...

Exclusive: Juan Pablo Di Pace has joined the cast of Travesuras de la Niña Mala for the TelevisaUnivision streaming service ViX+. He will star opposite previously announced Macarena Achaga in the role of Ricardo Somocurcio.

Production is currently underway in Paris and London. An exclusive photo of Di Pace and Achaga from set can be found above.

“It is a privilege to portray Ricardo Somocurcio, perhaps Mario Vargas Llosa’s most idealistic hero when it comes to love. A translator whose undying love for ‘the bad girl’ will transcend time and space,” Di Pace tells Deadline in an exclusive statement. “It is very exciting to portray him from the age of 25 to 55 – from the 1960s to the 1980s – in Paris, London, Mexico, Madrid and Tokyo and to speak Spanish, English, and French. From one country to the next, she will drive him crazy but he’ll always follow.

TelevisaUnivision is putting the polish on ViX+ for the premium streamer’s debut next month — and will try to persuade Spanish-speaking audiences to pay for another service in their monthly mix.

The Hispanic programming powerhouse, formed through the merger of Univision and Televisa, is launching ViX+ on July 21 in the U.S and across Latin America. Its will cost 6.99 per month in the U.S. and MX119 per month in Mexico.

TelevisaUnivision touts its entry into the premium streaming wars as the biggest dedicated Spanish-language service in the market: ViX+ is slated to feature more than 10,000 hours of ad-free entertainment programming in its first year and up to 7,000 hours of live sports, including live soccer matches and coverage in the U.S. and Mexico of world’s top leagues and tournaments.

ViX+ will include more than 70 original series and movies in the first year. Originals available at launch include premium series “María Félix,...

TelevisaUnivision said its Vix+ streaming service will launch July 21, at a monthly price of 6.99 in the U.S. and MX119 in Mexico.

The premium tier is joining the free, ad-supported Vix, which went live in March. The streaming moves followed the formation of TelevisaUnivision as a company earlier this year after the close of the 4.8 billion merger of Univision and the media holdings of Mexico’s Grupo Televisa.

Along with the U.S. and Mexico, Vix and Vix+ are rolling out across most of Spanish-speaking Latin America. TelevisaUnivision has said it believes Spanish-speaking streaming audiences are underserved. Vix+ will release more than 70 original series and movies in its first year. Between them, Vix and Vix+ will have 50,000 hours of programming, including 7,000 hours of live sports.

Original titles heading to Vix+ include María Felix, La Doña, La Mujer del Diablo and Mi Vecino El Cartel. The last of those is executive produced by Selena Gomez.

Disney+ debuted the trailer and key art for the original movie “Zombies 3,” the third film in the “Zombies” franchise that will premiere July 15 on the streamer. A special “Lost Song” version of the movie will air on Disney Channel on Aug. 12.

“Zombies 3” stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly as zombie Zed and cheerleader Addison, respectively, who are beginning their senior year at Seabrook High in a town that’s home to both monsters and humans. Zed is making college plans while Addison is preparing for a cheer-off when extraterrestrial beings unexpectedly arrive in their town.

“Zombies 3” also stars Chandler Kinney as Willa, Ariel Martin as Wynter, Pearce Joza as Wyatt, Carla Jeffery as Bree, Trevor Tordjman as Bucky, Kylee Russell as Eliza, Terry Hu as A-spen, Matt Cornett as A-lan, Kyra Tantao as A-li, James Godfrey as Bonzo and Kingston Foster as Zoey. RuPaul Charles joins the...

The upcoming ViX Plus romantic drama series “Travesuras de la Niña Mala” (“Bad Girl”), an adaptation of the 2006 novel by Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, has found its heroine.

Macarena Achaga, who most recently starred in HBO Max’s “Father of the Bride,” will play Arlette, a non-conformist who urges her lover to break away from his routine and be more adventurous. Their lives will intersect over forty years across Lima, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, London and other cities.

“‘The ‘Bad Girl’ invites us to challenge our life in auto pilot, transform ourselves and take charge of who we want to be, and seek happiness while feeling immortal because what is life without those moments when we forget that everything has an end?” the synopsis goes.

“’Travesuras de la Niña Mala’ proves that my purpose of seeking equity and the projection of our female voices attracts characters ready for anything,...

Sofia Vergara will lend a hand as Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision moves deeper into the world of streaming.

The popular actor, recognized for her turns in ABC’s “Modern Family” and NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” will create an animated series for the company’s new ViX streaming services, which has an ad-supported tier as well as a premium subscription level. Vergara will create and lend her voice to “Koati, The Series,” an original animated program based on the recent movie centered on a family of exotic animals who live in the rainforests of Latin America. The show is aimed at families with children between the ages of 2 and 7.

Her series is one of a number of offerings from prominent Spanish-speaking celebrities who are working with ViX, according to Pierluigi Gazzolo, he company’s president and chief transformation officer. Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Selena Gomez are...

In its continued bid to ramp up its programming content, ViX Plus, the upcoming premium SVOD service from TelevisaUnivision, has formed a strategic alliance with Spain’s The Mediapro Studio, which will produce exclusive original content for the new Spanish-language streamer slated to launch in the second half of this year.

First out the gate are scripted series “Las Pelotaris” and the sports-themed docuseries, “La Sangre y la Gloria” (“The Blood and The Glory”).

Welcoming The Mediapro Studio as a crucial partner in its efforts to build “a service that will offer the best content in Spanish for our audience in the United States and Latin America,” Rodrigo Mazón, executive vice president and general manager of ViX Plus, said: “We are very excited to present the first original productions resulting from this strategic alliance and to be able to develop more stories together with the highest of production values.”

Commented Marta Ezpeleta,...

Jorge Ramos, the star anchor and Emmy-winning journalist of U.S. Hispanic giant Univision for decades, will host a new celebrity interview program on ViX, the fledgling AVOD streaming service launched by TelevisaUnivision, the media juggernaut formed by the merger of Mexico’s Televisa and Univision early this year.

“Algo Personal con Jorge Ramos” (“Something Personal with Jorge Ramos”) is set to bow Sunday April 24 at 10 p.m. Et and will be available in the U.S. and most of Spanish-speaking Latin America.

“This is a new welcome challenge for me,” said Ramos, adding: “After spending almost all of my career talking to presidents and politicians, this is a great opportunity to talk, unhurried, with writers and artists about their innermost motivations. It’s truly something personal, for them and for me.”

“I love the chance to reach, through ViX, a brand-new audience in the U.S. and Latin America.

Actor/Producer Neal McDonough discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Masters of the Universe (1987) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Boon (2022)

The Warrant (2020)

The Warrant: Breaker’s Law (2022)

The Cowboys (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Shootist (1976) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The French Connection (1971) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Dennis Lehane’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

The Sting (1973)

Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Minority Report (2002)

Red Stone (2021)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Greater (2016)

Unforgiven (1992)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

The Mule (2018) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2018 year-end review

Gran Torino (2008)

War And Peace (1966) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Duel (1971) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Nobody (2021)

Caddyshack (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Caddyshack II (1988)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Back To School (1986)

Stripes (1981)

Bullitt (1968) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary

True Grit (1969) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer...

“Tom Swift,” a spinoff of the mystery series “Nancy Drew,” will premiere its first episode May 31 on The CW, the network announced Friday.

The series, which was first announced in 2020, stars Tian Richards as the title character, who was first created in the 1910 book “Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle.” Originally portrayed as a teen inventor, the series reimagines Swift as a Black, gay billionaire who is thrust into conflict with a mysterious global cabal following the sudden disappearance of his father. Richards first appeared as the character in Season 2 of “Nancy Drew.”

Ashleigh Murray co-stars in the series as Swift’s best friend Zenzi. Marquise Vilsón, April Parker Jones and Albert Mwangi also star, while LeVar Burton voices Swift’s AI companion Barclay. The series is created by Melinda Hsu Taylor, Noga Landau and Cameron Johnson, who executive produce with Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.

The first episode of...

Exclusive: TelevisaUnivision is adapting literary Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa’s novel Captain Pantoja and the Special Service as an exclusive Spanish-language series for its premium streaming service Vix+.

The series will feature a modern take on this story about a captain who leads a secret mission for the army to recruit women who use their feminine wiles to motivate the soldiers.

“As we build a brand that will be a beacon for Latin cultures, we are congregating the Spanish-language creative community under one roof to elevate Hispanic storytelling and celebrate our unique and diverse stories,” Rodrigo Mazón, EVP and general manager of Vix+, said in a statement to Deadline. “We are proud to work with notable writers such as Mario Vargas Llosa to continue together developing the most prolific Spanish-language streaming service.”

This is Vix+’s second adaptation of a book by the internationally acclaimed Peruvian author. Vargas...

Vix and Vix Plus — a two-tier, macro-scale Spanish-language streaming service with more than 50,000 hours of content across genres for users in the United States, Mexico and Latin America — will launch March 31 as the first lovechild of TelevisaUnivision since the two media giants united.

Vix may not signal the beginning of a trend, given that Pluto TV, Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Tubi and FuboTV have offered Spanish-language content since they entered the fray, and services that stream solely Spanish-language content, like Pantaya, have existed for several years. But it certainly serves as fuel for the growing demand for Spanish-language programming geared toward U.S. Hispanics and Latinos across the Americas.

This demand is further evidenced by Telemundo’s introduction of Tplus, a bilingual content hub on Peacock, earlier this year. The probability of Vix’s success will lie less in need than how it can distinguish itself in the increasingly bloated international streaming wars.

ViX is the new umbrella brand for the global streaming businesses of TelevisaUnivision, the newly formed Spanish-language media powerhouse.

The company on Wednesday announced ViX as the name encompassing both its free, ad-supported streaming services — which launched last year in the U.S. as PrendeTV — as well as a forthcoming subscription offering, to be called (what else?) ViX Plus. Univision and Televisa completed their merger last month.

The two-tier ViX platform in its first year will host more than 50,000 hours of free and paid content, including live news and soccer matches — making it the biggest one-stop-shop for Spanish-language audiences in the world. The ad-supported video service, ViX, will officially launch on March 31, 2022 (after a short beta-testing period) followed by the ViX Plus subscription service, set to launch in the second half of 2022. Pricing details will be announced later.

“Nobody has gone out and super-served this market” of Spanish-speaking consumers, which number 600 million worldwide,...

Televisa and Univision have closed their landmark transaction, a long-awaited merger deal that will now create a Spanish-language media and content powerhouse that will reach 100 million Spanish speakers across the U.S. and Mexico. The new company, named “TelevisaUnivision,” will bring together intellectual property from Televisa’s four broadcast channels, 27 pay-tv channels, Videocine movie studio, Blim TV SVOD platform, and Univision and UniMás’ broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 59 TV stations, 57 radio stations and the PrendeTV AVOD platform.

In short, TelevisaUnivision now owns the largest library of Spanish-language programming in the industry with roughly 300,000 hours of content. The unified company will also be launching a global streaming service sometime in 2022, which will include both free and premium subscription tiers, and creative partnerships with Eugenio Derbez, Selena Gomez, Maria Dueñas, Mario Vargas Llosa and Santiago Limón. Both Televisa and Univision had previously announced those plans, as well as the merger agreement,...

Spain’s Mediacrest, one of its fastest-rising independent TV production-distribution houses, has attached Spanish novelist Elvira Lindo to adapt Spanish novel “Nada,” one of the greatest modern classics written after Spain’s Civil War.

Lindo is joining Daniel Domenjó, Mediacrest managing director, and Alberto Macías, the company’s head of fiction, to present the drama series makeover at a Conecta Fiction panel this Wednesday, entitled Nada, the Challenge of Adapting a Literary Icon.

The title of the round table pretty well sums up the adaptation’s largest challenge. “Nada” won Spain’s Nadal Prize, one of its biggest literary awards, in 1944 when Laforet was just 23. The novel turns on Andrea, a Laforet alter-ego, who arrives at her grandmother’s house in 1939 in Barcelona to study at the university, soon after the end of the Spanish Civil War which the city lost to dictator Francisco Franco.

Though her family supported the Civil War’s victors,...

Mark Tarlov, who produced the John Waters-directed films “Pecker,” “Serial Mom” and “Cecil B. Demented,” died on July 31 at his home in Manhattan due to cancer, his family announced. He was 69.

Starting his career in entertainment in 1979, Tarlov worked in business affairs at Warner Bros. before executive producing his first feature, “Christine,” based on the Stephen King novel. In 1986, Tarlov produced Sidney Lumet’s “Power,” which starred Richard Gere, Gene Hackman and Julie Christie. In 1995, he produced “Copycat,” starring Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver.

In 1990, he worked with the British novelist William Boyd to transform Mario Vargas Llosa’s 1977 book “Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter” into “Tune in Tomorrow,” directed by Jon Amiel and starring Keanu Reeves, Peter Falk, Barbara Hershey, Patricia Clarkson and John Larroquette. The film won the audience and critics awards at the Deauville Film Festival, and was closing-night selection at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mark Tarlov, who produced such films as Copycat and Serial Mom, passed away on July 31st after a battle with cancer. His family made the announcement. Tarlov was 69.

Tarlov landed his first entertainment job in Business Affairs at Warner Bros. in 1979. Four years later, he EP’d his first feature, Christine, based on the Stephen King novel and directed by John Carpenter. Next, he produced Sidney Lumet’s Power starring Richard Gere, Gene Hackman and Julie Christie.

In the ’90s Tarlov worked with the British novelist William Boyd to transform the Mario Vargas Llosa novel, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter into the offbeat film, Tune in Tomorrow, directed by Jon Amiel and starring Keanu Reeves, Peter Falk, Barbara Hershey, Patricia Clarkson and John Larroquette. His collaboration with William Boyd grew into a lifelong friendship and yielded another film based on Boyd’s novel, A Good Man in Africa starring Colin Friels,...

Mark Tarlov, a producer on the John Waters-directed films Pecker, Serial Mom and Cecil B. Demented, died July 31 at his home in Manhattan after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 69.

Tarlov also worked with British novelist William Boyd to transform the 1977 Mario Vargas Llosa book Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter into the offbeat Tune in Tomorrow (1990), directed by Jon Amiel and starring Keanu Reeves, Peter Falk, Barbara Hershey, Patricia Clarkson and John Larroquette.

Tune in Tomorrow was the closing-night selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the audience and critics awards at the Deauville Film Festival.

The ...

Mark Tarlov, a producer on the John Waters-directed films Pecker, Serial Mom and Cecil B. Demented, died July 31 at his home in Manhattan after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 69.

Tarlov also worked with British novelist William Boyd to transform the 1977 Mario Vargas Llosa book Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter into the offbeat Tune in Tomorrow (1990), directed by Jon Amiel and starring Keanu Reeves, Peter Falk, Barbara Hershey, Patricia Clarkson and John Larroquette.

Tune in Tomorrow was the closing-night selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the audience and critics awards at the Deauville Film Festival.

The ...

Univision says it’s driving full bore into the subscription-streaming sector: The Spanish-language media and broadcast giant plans to launch a paid over-the-top service in 2022 in the U.S. and Latin America alongside an expanded free, ad-supported package.

The company’s subscription VOD service, announced Monday, will be anchored by the content library and intellectual property of Televisa, the Mexican broadcast and TV production stalwart that is merging with Univision in a $4.8 billion deal, along with a slate of 30 originals set to debut in the first year. Univision said it will provide details of the SVOD service, including the name, pricing and launch date, after the Television deal closes (expected to happen later this year).

Univision has global ambitions with SVOD — looking to tap into the nearly 600 million Spanish speakers around the world, according to Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and chief transformation officer. The company is “uniquely positioned to satisfy the...

Univision is launching a subscription-based (read: pay) global streaming service, though it does not yet have a name or a price point. The Spanish-language leader is also expanding its free, ad-supported (AVOD) one, PrendeTV.

The two-tier offering is expected to debut in the U.S. and in Latin America in 2022, the company said on Monday. To pull this off, Netflix VP of content Rodrigo Mazon has joined Univision as executive vice president and general manager of the SVOD service.

The new premium subscription tier (SVOD) will feature more than 6,000 hours of Spanish-language content and more than 30 original productions exclusively on the service within its first year, according to Univision. It will bring together Vix, Univision Now and PrendeTV, and launch with new projects from creators Maria Dueñas, Santiago Limon and Mario Vargas Llosa, among others.

“Today’s announcement is a quantum leap in Univision’s transformation as we aggressively scale...

Univision plans to launch a two-tier streaming service next year in the U.S. and Latin America, calling the premium offering a milestone for the Hispanic market.

The new service will have more Spanish-language originals than any other streaming service, the company pledged. It is positioned to take access of the new ownership structure at Univision. In April, the company said it would acquire the production assets of Televisa, a longtime stakeholder, in a $4.8 billion merger. Mexico-based Televisa has long been a prolific producer of Spanish-language fare.

The new streaming service will encompass PrendeTV, the free, ad-supported service that Univision launched earlier this year, as well as Vix and Univision Now. Branding, pricing and launch dates will be announced after the Univision-Televisa merger is approved, according to the official announcement of the plan.

The ad-supported tier of the new service will be anchored by Prende, which will offer select originals and acquired movies,...

Barcelona-based mini-studio Filmax is bringing onto the market “The Roar of the Butterflies,” an ambitious period drama made with Pablo Bossi’s Gloriamundi and Disney Plus in Latin America.

Focusing on the extreme courage of two women who stood up to one of the bloodiest dictators in Latin American history, the drama series is being brought into the open market at this week’s L.A. Virtual Screenings.

Increasing the show’s appeal is an impressive and now expanded cast of Spanish and Caribbean talent including Susana Abaitua, Sandy Hernández (“On the Block”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m so Excited”) and Alberto Garcia (“Che”).

It was first announced in late 2019 as a Buena Vista Original Productions title produced with Bossi’s Pampa Films (“Chinese Takeaway”). It follows on their highly successful collaboration on “Monzón,” which raised the bar on production standards in Latin America.

“The Roar of the Butterflies” now also marks...

Nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa one said that in Latin America, poverty, injustice and other social problems are too prominent to be ignored. So, the question: Can cinema change the world? has a special importance. “It obsesses me,” Chilean director Pablo Larrain told Variety a few weeks back.

“I have been around many U.S. documentary filmmakers who say that they want to change the world,” replied director Maite Alberdi in that same conversation. Alberdi’s latest feature documentary “The Mole Agent” is short-listed for both the International Feature and Documentary Oscars this year, and only her latest work to make a major cultural impact at home and abroad.

“I don’t know if we are going to change the world with documentaries, but I think that we can plant questions in people’s minds, and in the media,” she added. “There are films, documentaries, that you can plan...

Madrid — Swooping on one of the buzzed-up high-profile Spanish-language titles at Ventana Sur, Film Factory Entertainment has acquired world sales rights to “El Olvido Que Seremos” (“Forgotten We’ll Be”), starring Javier Cámara (“Talk to Her”) and directed by Academy Award winning writer-director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”).

Produced by Dago García Producciones for Caracol TV, “El Olvido que Seremos” marks the latest ambitious feature film from the Caracol Television, the Colombian broadcast group behind big international auteur titles such as Ciro Guerra’s Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit “Birds of Passage,” as well as Alejandro Landes’ “Monos,” a Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award winner.

A premier port of call for producers of some of the most successful Latin American titles in international, whether “Wild Tales” or Pablo Trapero’s “The Clan,” Film Factory will introduce “Forgotten We’ll Be” to buyers at next week’s European Film Market,...

Buenos Aires — Caracol Televisión is introducing to select sales agents at Ventana Sur “El Olvido que Seremos,” the latest feature film from Academy Award-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), which is written by David Trueba (“Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed”) and stars Javier Cámara (“Truman”) and adapts one of the most loved of recent Spanish-language books.

Now in post-production and ready for delivery and potential festival berths in 2020, said a Caracol source, “El Olvido que Seremos” is being introduced to select sales agents at Ventana Sur.

Produced by Dago García Producciones for Caracol TV, which fully funded the feature, “El Olvido que Seremos” shot this year in Medellín, Bogotá, Milán and Madrid. It marks the latest ambitious feature film from the Caracol Television, the Colombian broadcast group whose films in a bold line of big international auteur titles take in Ciro Guerra’s Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and...

Madrid — Diego Lerman’s “Literature Teacher,” Asier Altuna’s “Karmele,” Benjamín Avila’s “The Cardinal” and Mariana Rondón’s “Zafari” will pitch at the 8th San Sebastian Europe-Latin American Co-production Forum, now firmly established as, along with Ventana Sur, the key art film meet exploring that axis.

Featuring new projects from other name auteurs from the region- Pablo Giorgelli, Neto Villalobos, for example – as well as top producers working Europe Latin American production – Tu Vas Voir, Campo Cine, Patagonik, Malbicho Cine, Tarea Fina – the Forum, running Sept.22-25, will attract most of San Sebastian’s now 2,000-plus industry delegates, while offering a glimpse of the market trends now forging the regions’ filmmaking.

Here, for starters, are three:

1.Step Up In Scale Or Mainstream Ambitions

One is a step up in scale, or move towards the mainstream. After winning the Cannes Festival’s Camera d’Or for best first feature with “Las Acacias,...

Barcelona – Laab – the Audiovisual Adaptations Laboratory of Barcelona – celebrated its first edition on July 9 in the Spanish city, with the aim of establishing a catalog of film rights to literary works from Barcelona, a publishing center in the Spanish-speaking world and platform, for example, for the ‘60s-70s Latin American Boom, led by authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa.

The initiative was backed by the Barcelona Cultural Institute (Icub) and organized by the Barcelona Film Commission. Producer Sebastián Mery at Life and Pictures co-ordinated the event.

The one-day presentation included a networking session with one-to-one meetings and the presentation of six cinema development awards.

The Laab idea inherits the mantle of Barcelona’s Mida Ibero-American Audiovisual Rights market, a showcase for novels seeking big screen adaptations. Launched in 2006, the short-lived but highly-regarded event, which saw its last edition in 2009, was instrumental in the sale of big-screen...

Buenos Aires — Mario Vargas Llosa, the great Peruvian novelist, once wrote that reality in Latin America is too compelling to ever be ignored in its fiction. Yet, as WWII raged, Jorge Luis Borges, perhaps the greatest of Argentine writers, pointedly published “Ficciones,” fantasy tales, often philosophical speculation given narrative form.

If this year’s Pci Film Directors Assn, showcase at Ventana Sur is anything to go by, some young Argentine filmmakers are having it both ways, creating films which straddle the fiction-reality divide, or enroll fabrication and myth to large effect. Their films, sneak peaked in brief extracts or teaser trailers at the Pci’s annual Work in Progress showcase during Ventana Sur, and underscored the diversity of Argentine filmmaking, a cause championed by Pci and its around 100 directors, and an indication of the depth of talent of Argentine filmmaking.

“7h 35” is a case in point. The feature debut of Javier Van de Couter,...

In 1994, Warner Bros. released Oliver Stone’s film “Natural Born Killers,” about two lovers (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) who embark on a murder spree and are subsequently glorified by the media. Though critically acclaimed, the film immediately garnered much controversy for its violent content, later inspiring copycat murders, and later inciting a denouncement by Presidential candidate Bob Dole.

Read More: ‘Snowden’ Review: Oliver Stone and Joseph Gordon-Levitt Deliver the CliffsNotes of ‘Citizenfour’

Writer and critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s “The Oliver Stone Experience” takes readers through the arc of Stone’s varied, dynamic career with an in-depth, book-length discussion between the author and director. In the excerpt below, Stone discusses the reaction to “Natural Born Killers,” working with Tarantino’s script, his experience on the festival circuit, and more. Also included is a 1996 fundraising letter from Bob Dole who blames the film for corrupting society.

Read More: The Films of Oliver Stone,...

I haven’t traveled all I have to Buenos Aires and back to tell you about how this festival, alongside Mar del Plata and Valdivia (this last one in Chile), form the triad of the most important festivals of Latin America, because if you know about it, you know about it. People that have travelled to Argentina for the past 17 years in April have felt the presence of cinema in the streets—and Buenos Aires is a big city. The importance of a festival that brings over 300 titles, some of them for the first time crossing an ocean, is fundamental for the Latino viewer, as well for those who want to make the effort and come to see the movies that play here. On a closer look, what plays here may seem to be eclectic at times, it is purely due to what seems to be the motto of the festival: discovery.

"Words with Gods" will be presented at the Los Cabos International Film Festival’s Galas Program, Friday, November 14th.

Alonso Aguilar-Castillo, Director of Los Cabos International Film Fest, says, “The Festival is an encounter dedicated to a shared vision between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. During our Third Edition through a thoughtful and inspiring program, Los Cabos will be the perfect scenario to present the film "Words with Gods". Consisting of 9 short films created by some of the most celebrated directors of the moment, each tells a story where faith plays a central role. A dramatic spectrum of cultures with each director creating a dialogue with what is closest to them through their shorts.

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga directed the story "Gods Blood", as well as being the creator of the concept on which the film is based; he is one of the producers along with Alex García and Lucas Akoskin. His take on atheism, “God’s Blood" sent a shiver of recognition down our spines when we previewed it at the Careyes Film Festival earlier this year.

Other filmmakers, Warwick Thornton questions the Aboriginal spirituality, Hector Babenco the Umbanda, Mira Nair Hinduism, Hideo Nakata Shinto Buddhism, Amos Gitai Judaism, Álex de la Iglesia Catholicism, Emir Kusturica Orthodox Christianity, Bahman Ghobadi Islam.

"Words with Gods" is a panoramic and global history that questions birth and death, determining decisions, and lost and found faith.

"Gods Blood" directed by Guillermo Arriaga.

The order of the short films in " Words with Gods" was curated by Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa and the music was created by British musician, Peter Gabriel.

"I am very happy to be a part of Los Cabos International Film Festival with this project. I believe this is currently one of the most important festivals, with more interest from entrepreneurs and the media. The synergy achieved with this project is very interesting and has reached enormous levels of expectation”, said the film’s producer, Alex Garcia.

Alex Garcia himself is one of Mexico’s most prolific producers. To be able to speak with him at Los Cabos will be one of my most unforgettable experiences.

In addition, Los Cabos International Film Festival Third Edition’s Mexican Tribute will be dedicated to Guillermo Arriaga.

"Words with Gods" Trailer: https://vimeo.com/90574711...

Further details have emerged of the marketing and release plans for religious-themed portmanteau picture Words With Gods, which features contributions from such directors as Guillermo Arriaga, Emir Kusturica, Mira Nair and Hector Babenco.

The film, which has been screening out of competition in Venice, is produced by Arriaga along with Alex Garcia and Lucas Akoskin.

Speaking in Venice, Paula Alvarez Vaccaro, who produced Kusturica’s contribution, has revealed that there will be “a big inter-faith” campaign to accompany the distribution of the film. This is being coordinated through Vaccaro’s London-based company Pinball.

Sales are currently being handled by Garcia’s LatAm Pictures.

“We are going to tackle different territories and different areas with different activities,” Vaccaro explained. The intention is to create events around each short that will promote inter-faith dialogue and debate as well as educational activities.

The film looks at everything from atheism to Aboriginal spirituality, from Serbian orthodoxy to Buddhism.

Words With Gods has already...

Guillermo Arriaga's faith-themed anthology film "Words with Gods," with an original song by Peter Gabriel and shaped into its current structure by Nobel prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, has a first trailer. Watch below. The likes of Bahman Ghobadi, Mira Nair and Amos Ghitai directed segments for the film, along with other international renowned filmmakers. Here's the official synopsis:In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature length film. Words with Gods is ultimately the first part of the Arriaga-helmed Heartbeat of the World feature film series, which will...