News

Spain brings a robust crop of developing projects and completed titles to this year’s Cannes Film Market.

“Alcarrás” (Carla Simon)

Much anticipated after Simon’s “Summer 1993,” “Alcarrás” tracks the final harvest at a multi-generational family farm. Co-produced with Italy. Sales: MK2 Films

“Ama” (Julia de Paz Solvas)

A Malaga premiere from La Dalia Films about single motherhood and raising a child without a permanent home. Sales: Filmax

“Ane Is Missing”

(David Pérez Sañudo)

A 2021 best picture Goya nominee, Patricia López Arnáiz dominates the screen as a mother looking for her teenage daughter. Sales: Latido

“Beyond the Summit” (Ibon Cormenzana)

Javier Rey (“Fariña”) & Patricia Lopez Arnaiz (“Ane”) star in this mountain climbing metaphor for self-realization.

Sales: Filmax

“Canto Cósmico. Niño de Elche”

From Señor y Señora and Código Sur, the story of a former child prodigy flamenco singer who pushed the boundaries of the artform.

“Carpoolers” (Martín Cuervo)

A...

Just over half a year since its launch, upstart European sales company Feel Content is heading to the Cannes Film Market with a slate of six Spanish-language features from Spain and Latin America.

Feel Content is the joint endeavor of Geraldine Gonard, director of Spain’s Conecta Fiction co-production forum, and Luis Collar, a partner and CEO at The Circular Group, a diversified film company. At last year’s Ventana Sur the company made its public bow with a slate of four productions: Matías Meyer’s “Modern Loves,” “Karakol” from Argentina’s Saula Benavente, Gracia Querejeta’s “The Invisible” and Toni Bestard’s “Pullman.”

“We think there’s a clear gap to fill in Spain for one more international sales agency, given there aren’t many in the country. Those that are here can’t represent all the films coming onto the market,” Collar told Variety ahead of the Argentine market.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.

The festival runs from January 27-February 7.

Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.

World Premieres

A Better You, USA

Directed by Matt Walsh

Cast: Brian Huskey,...

A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...

Icelandic director Bendikt Erlingsson’s Of Horses And Men won the Golden Iris Award, the top prize at the 12th Brussels Film Festival.Scroll down for full list of winners

Of Horses And Men won €10,000 ($13,600) and beat out 11 other competitors at the festival, which ran from June 6-14.

The drama about the deep relationships between members of a small Icelandic community and their horses debuted in Iceland last August and has toured the festival circuit ever since, beginning with the San Sebastian Film Festival in September. It was released in the UK last weekend.

Other notable winners included Swedish director Anna Odell’s The Reunion, which won the White Iris Award for best first film, as well as €2,500 ($3,400).

Odell’s feature about her imagined high school reunion picked up two other prizes at the festival, the Fedex Cinephile Award and the Rtbf TV Prize of Best Film.

Another film that scooped multiple awards was Farewell To The...

Exclusive: New films by Dominique Deruddere, Alfonso Zarauza and Chus Gutiérrez are among five new titles acquired by Cologne-based Media Luna New Films ahead of Cannes’ Marché du Film.

There will be market premieres of:

Belgian director Deruddere’s ninth feature, the romance Flying Home, starring Jamie Dornan, Anthony Head, and Jan Decleir, was released by Kfd in Belgian cinemas on April 2.

Zarauza’s dark comedy The Aces, with Spanish actors Lola Dueñas, Luis Tosar and Juan Carlos Vellido, Miguel de Lira, competed in Malaga’s Spanish Film Festival last month.

One of Spain’s foremost women directors, Gutiérrez cast more than 200 professional dancers including world champions for her salsa musical romance Ciudad Delirio between a dedicated Spanish dancer and a beautiful Colombian salsa dancer.

Mexican director Jorge Pérez Solano’s second feature, the drama La Tirisia, starring Amores Perros’ Gustavo Sanchez Parra.

Fellow countryman Jack Zagha’s road movie comedy One For The Road with three 80-year-olds...