News

San Sebastian — Among the diverse projects emerging from the Madrid Film School Ecam incubator, “Flowers For An Absent Mother” (“Flores para una madre ausente”), the feature debut of writer-director Ana Puentes Margarito, is poised to stand out for its intimate yet universally resonant story of family conflict and emotional recovery. Workshopped and refined through labs like LabGuion, FinLab and Ecam’s prestigious Incubator, the project has undergone a transformative journey.

Puentes Margarito credits director Bélen Funes (“A Thief’s Daughter”) as a key mentor in shaping the film’s final script. “For me, it was like shifting our minds: someone from the outside comes and tells us things we haven’t seen,” Puentes Margarito told Variety. “The version we have now is much closer to the story I will tell.” The project is now nearing a key moment as it awaits news from the Icaa selective funding, a critical step toward production next year.

New projects from Jenni Toivoniemi, Jon Blåhed, Erol Mintaş and Ester Martin Bergsmark are among selection

The Finnish Film Affair (Ffa), Helsinki International Film Festival’s industry strand, has unveiled the line-up for its market showcase of Nordic films and Finnish series running September 20-22.

Among the 31 projects selected is Jenni Toivoniemi’s comedy Butterflies, the director’s second feature after Games People Play which was also presented at the Ffa.

Also being showcased is Jon Blåhed’s new feature Raptures; Erol Mintaş’ Earth Song; Ester Martin Bergsmark’s Land Of Ferns; and Marika Harjusaari’s The Mire from the producer of Hatching.

They include Austrian drama Chucks, Finnish muscial drama Urban Family, and Canadian thriller Anna.

The pan-Asian film channel Cinema World has bought a raft of international titles from Italian sales outfit Summerside International.

They include Gerhard Ertl’s Austrian drama Chucks, about a punk girl falling in love with an AIDS patient, Oskari Sipola’s Finnish muscial drama Urban Family, a portrait of a woman in her thirties who finally meets the baby daughter she gave for adoption, and Charles Olivier Michaud’s Canadian thriller Anna, a revenge thriller about a woman who is kidnapped by gangsters in Bangkok.

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They include Austrian drama Chucks, Finnish muscial drama Urban Family, and Canadian thriller Anna.

The pan-Asian film channel Cinema World has bought a raft of international titles from Italian sales outfit Summerside International.

They include Gerhard Ertl’s Austrian drama Chucks, about a punk girl falling in love with an AIDS patient, Oskari Sipola’s Finnish muscial drama Urban Family, a portrait of a woman in her thirties who finally meets the baby daughter she gave for adoption, and Charles Olivier Michaud’s Canadian thriller Anna, a revenge thriller about a woman who is kidnapped by gangsters in Bangkok.

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The Chicago International Film Festival 2016 announced its full lineup, and it includes Julia Ducournau's Raw, the previously announced 4K restoration of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Eyes of My Mother, and The Autopsy of Jane Doe, starring Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch.

Press Release: Chicago (September 13, 2016) ­ The Chicago International Film Festival today announces Opening and Closing Night selections, as well as the full slate of films included in the Festival’s U.S. Indies, Spotlight: Musicals and After Dark categories. Chicago will play host to gala screenings of Damien Chazelle’s La La Land and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival as respective bookends to the 52nd Festival, opening on October 13th and closing on October 27th. A full list of these newly announced programs is below and at www.chicagofilmfestival.com. Tickets for these events and all film screenings go on sale September 21st for Cinema/Chicago members...