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Cuenca, Spain — Portugal’s “Told by Women” (“Contado por Mulheres”), an ambitious anthology of TV movies all made by first-time women filmmakers, is set for a Season 2 which raises the ante including 20 new titles as compared to the original’s 10 films.

The second season will also re-team the Portuguese producers of the original collection: public broadcaster Rtp and Lisbon-based Ukbar Filmes, behind Netflix hit “Turn of the Tide.”

Now in development, “Told by Women” Season 2 will go into production this September/October, said Ukbar Filmes producer Pandora da Cunha Telles, also the first collection’s creator, talking at Spanish co-production forum Conecta Fiction on Wednesday.

Well respected international producers, such as Gudny Hummelvoll (Norway), Mariela Besuievsky (Spain), and Francesco Virga (Italy) are providing mentorship on the new projects.

Their involvement strengthens the project’s cross-border relevance and reinforces its focus on excellence and sustainability, the producers said in a press statement Tuesday.

“Contado por Mulheres” (“Told by Women”), an initiative led by the Portuguese public broadcaster Rtp and the Lisbon-based production company Ukbar Filmes, featured 10 primetime movies told by female first-time filmmakers in its first season. For its second edition, it is expanding to 20 projects. “20 women first-time directors/20 TV movies for primetime/20 stories told by women,” highlighted a summary of the second edition of the initiative shown during a Wednesday breakfast event at the Conecta Fiction & Entertainment industry gathering in Cuenca, Spain.

Ukbar’s Pandora da Cunha Telles (Once Upon a Time in Gaza), creator of the initiative, and José Fragoso, director of programs at Rtp, presented their plans for the second season during the event, with the latter emphasizing the goal of “nurturing the next generation of Portuguese filmmakers.”

With a focus on sustainability and a collective community experience, all films will be shot back-to-back in blocks of five in small cities in Portugal,...

Exclusive: Cold Haven, the Icelandic-Portuguese crime thriller drama, has wrapped shooting and we have first-look images of the series here.

The eight-part show from Iceland’s Glassriver and Portugal’s Spi probes the immigration experience, following Icelandic detective Soffia as she attempts to solve a murder within the Portuguese community on Iceland’s Westman Islands.

Cold Haven (aka Refúgio do Medo), which is for Icelandic streamer Síminn and Rtp in Portugal, is predominantly set on the Icelandic archipelago Vestmannaeyjar, the country’s capital Reykjavík and the Portuguese city of Lisbon.

Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir (Let Me Fall, The Valhalla Murders), Anna Svava Knútsdóttir, Elva Ósk Ólafsdóttir and Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson are among the Icelandic cast, with Maria João Bastos, Catarina Rebelo, Ivo Canelas (Glória), Rui Morisson and Cleia Almeida (Nazaré) from the Portuguese side.

Filipa Poppe, Joana Andrade, and Sveinbjörn I. Baldvinsson wrote the show, with Arnór Pálmi Arnarsson and Tiago Alvarez Marques directing. About Premium Content is on international distribution ahead of a 2025 launch on Síminn and Rtp.

“As we ramp up our slate of international co-productions, we could not ask for better partners on Cold Haven than Spi and About Premium Content,” said Andri Ómarsson, executive producer and CEO of Glassriver. “It is a series that merges the stunning landscapes of Vestmannaeyjar with the vibrant culture of Lisbon. This crime thriller is a testament to the power of international collaboration.”

Ómarsson added Síminn and Rtp “as broadcasters have been fundamental for the project and we appreciate their involvement.”

Glassriver’s slate includes eight-episode drama As Long As We Live, medical drama Fractures and Black Sands, which was selected for a world premiere at Berlinale and has been commissioned for further seasons.

Birkir Agustsson, VP of Media at Síminn, said the series “perfectly aligns with our commitment to bringing high-quality, compelling stories to our viewers,” adding: “Partnering with Glassriver and Spi on this international co-production allows us to deliver a visually striking and emotionally engaging crime thriller that will resonate with audiences both in Iceland and abroad.”

“We believe that what drew us to this story is also what sparked the interest of Rtp in Portugal and Síminn in Iceland, as well as the French-origin international distributor About Premium Content,” said Pedro Lopes, executive producer and Content Director at Spi. “The work process has been challenging, but it is a great pleasure to have as partners an experienced and creative production company like Glassriver, with whom we have built a relationship of trust, mutual respect, and deep friendship.”

Spi is known as Netflix’s first original production in Portugal, Glória. Also on its slate is Motel Valkirias, for Rtp, TV Galicia and HBO in Portugal and Spain and the series Vanda, which is distributed by Legendary.

Rtp’s José Fragoso added the co-production was “unprecedented and unique” co-production.

“In recent years, Rtp has been involved in the production of international fiction projects, in collaboration with partners in Spain, Brazil, or France, but the series Cold Haven opens a new path of collaboration, this time with a geographically distant region from our country, but one that is highly relevant in the production of quality fiction.

“The Nordic countries are a global reference in the audiovisual sector, and this co-production with Rtp will be a unique opportunity for Portuguese teams – writers, actors, directors, and producers – to share knowledge and experiences with Icelandic professionals. The result will undoubtedly be an exciting thriller, filmed in two countries with radically different, yet equally inspiring, atmospheres.”...

Turn of the Tide (Rabo de Peixe) is a series created by Augusto Fraga starring José Condessa, Helena Caldeira and Rodrigo Tomás.

The Turn of the Tide series draws inspiration from cinema, particularly from Guy Ritchie‘s work. The series begins with a nod to Trainspotting and takes the audience on a delightful journey through a charming landscape and a humorous story.

However, this is just the start. Turn of the Tide’s unique style, which is more relaxed than that of Ritchie or Sky Rojo, allows it to take advantage of its story and characters in a coastal setting. The series includes gangsters and marginalized characters, but it is also full of humanity and hope. If you’re looking for an entertaining weekend, consider giving this series a chance as it is definitely worth it.

About the series

Turn of the Tide is a unique series that stands out...

Globoplay, the streaming platform of Latin American TV giant Globo, has picked up Brazilian rights to police noir thriller series “Motel Valkirias,” a Spain-Portugal co-production handled by Onza Distribution.

Created by Ghaleb Jaber Martínez, writer-producer of Netflix’s Galician TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas,” the series is directed by Álex Sampaio (Schibare”) and Jorge Quiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”).

In post-production, the eight episode 50-minute “Motel Valkirias” is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal, following three women with financial and personal problems who get in serious danger after joining forces to get their hands on some valuable merchandise from a guest in the motel.

The skein toplines Lisbon-born Maria João Bastos (“The Casanova Variations”), Goya Award winning actor Chechu Salgado (“Las leyes de la frontera”) and “O Sabor das Margaridas’” Maria Mera.

Jaleb Martinez’s Galician outfit CTV co-produces “Motel Valkirias” with SPi, the Portuguese partner...

So that's where she gets her glow! If you've ever wondered how Jordana Brewster's skin stays so flawless, well, now you know: The Furious 7 star was announced as the newest brand ambassador for Pond's—a skincare classic that's clocked in over 150 years on women's bedside vanities around the world. The 34-year-old looks stunning in a series of campaign images that also includes a shot with her mother (and former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover model) Maria João, who provided a good skincare example by using Pond's products throughout Jordana's youth. "My mom, who has beautiful skin, shared that she's been using Pond's Rejuveness Anti-Wrinkle Cream...

Casanova Variations has released its first trailer.

John Malkovich plays Giacomo Casanova and himself in Michael Sturminger's film.

The film tells two stories from the life of the famous lothario, whose name is synonymous with romance and seduction.

It also tells a tale of the production of The Giacomo Variations stage play, which Sturminger directed and Malkovich starred in.

Malkovich famously played a fictionalised version of himself once before in Spike Jonze's 1999 film Being John Malkovich.

Veronica Ferres, Florian Boesch, Miah Persson, Anna Prohaska, Maria João Bastos, Lola Naymark, Kerstin Avemo, Kate Lindsey, Fanny Ardant and Jonas Kaufmann also feature in the film.

Casanova Variations is expected to be released in 2015.

Chicago – In many ways, 2011 was the year of startlingly successful throwbacks. Who could’ve guessed that Woody Allen, Tom Cruise and The Muppets would revive their crowd-pleasing appeal? How many moviegoing soothsayers predicted that Michel Hazanavicius’ melodrama, “The Artist,” would become an Oscar front-runner that proves the silent art form is far from dead?

And who could’ve possibly dreamed that veteran Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz would end his extraordinary 48-year-long career with a staggering epic that revitalized the storytelling techniques of a nineteenth century Portuguese novelist? “Mysteries of Lisbon” is a direct rebuke to the conventional narratives that follow uncluttered three-act structures. At four-and-a-half hours, this film preserves the scope and density of its source material, while utilizing modern technology to make every frame thrillingly cinematic.

Blu-ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

Author Camilo Castelo Branco’s illegitimate birth and upbringing as an orphan are clearly reflected in the young character placed at the center of his 1852 novel.

It may be more than four hours long, but Raúl Ruiz's final film is an entrancingly strange, beautifully eccentric fable set in 19th-century Portugal

This is the last completed work from the remarkable and prolific Chilean film-maker Raúl Ruiz, who died in August this year at the age of 70. Originally intended as a TV mini-series, it has now been boldly put together as a dream-epic feature in two parts, lasting four-and-a-half hours. Mysteries of Lisbon is intensely and captivatingly strange, a sinuous melodrama about secrecy, destiny and memory in which everyone involved appears to be in a state of hypnosis and on the edge of departing for some Magrittean alternative universe. "Mysteries" is exactly right.

Ruiz's screenwriter Carlos Saboga has adapted an 1854 novel, Mistérios de Lisboa, by the Portuguese author Camilo Castelo Branco, set around the turn of the 19th century. Branco's story is an involved tale of coincidences,...

Finally making its way into American theatres on the cusp of its director’s passing, Mistérios de Lisboa [Mysteries of Lisbon] gives us an epic look into the bourgeois dramatics of Portugal’s capital city. The press notes for the film contain a pretty accurate and concise three-word description by Raúl Ruiz—“birth, betrayal, redemption”. That triplet sums up Camilo Castelo Branco’s 1854 novel and the adapted screenplay from Carlos Saboga to perfection, each word a huge piece to the tale surrounding an anonymous orphan named João. But as his mystery is uncovered, the sprawling soap opera turns into a sumptuous visual splendor of the past and fate’s often surprisingly coincidental blueprint. Through the orations of dying men and men raised from the ashes of dead aliases, Lisbon is brought to life through its 19th century aristocratic nobility. With a young boy in search of an identity at its center, his part...

The award-wnning period drama "Mysteries of Lisbon", directed by Raúl Ruiz, stars Adriano Luz, Maria João Bastos, Ricardo Pereira, Clotilde Hesme and Afonso Pimentel, adapting the nineteenth-century Portuguese novel by author Camilo Castelo Branco:

"...'Joao' is the child of an ill-fated romance between two members of the aristocracy who are forbidden to marry. His quest is to find out who is parents are, as a multitude of characters conjoin, separate and then rejoin again over three decades in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy..."

"Mysteries of Lisbon" opens August 5th, 2011.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Mysteries of Lisbon"...

The Los Angeles Film Festival has announced the world premiere of Richard Linklater's Bernie as the opening night film for the 2011 festival.

The film will kick off the festival on June 16 at Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 at L.A. Live. It is written by Skip Hollandsworth and director Linklater and stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey.

The film follows a beloved mortician (Black) from a small Texas town, even winning over the town's richest, meanest widow (MacLaine). Even after Bernie commits a horrible crime, people still will not utter a bad word against him.

"We're thrilled to be opening the Festival with the world premiere of this delicious black comedy - a treat from one of the most original and exciting voices in independent film, Richard Linklater," said Festival director Rebecca Yeldham. "With its fabulous all-star cast, Bernie is a perfect stage setter for the incredible line-up of...