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Warner Bros’ DC flagship title Supermandominates the new releases this week in the UK and Ireland as the film lands in685 cinemas.

David Corenswet dons the red cape in James Gunn’s Superman, reimagining the hero for DC’s new cinematic universe. He is joined by Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luther and Nathan Fillion playing a member of the Green Lantern Corps.

The last time UK and Ireland audiences saw Clark Kent in a solo film was Zack Snyder’s Man Of Steel (2013), which opened to £11.2m and grossed £30m. Much has changed in the...

This Spanish marital drama finds Itsaso Arana and Vito Sanz planning a party to mark their separation. But not everyone thinks it’s a good idea

A little bit like Woody Allen, or an episode of Seinfeld minus the stream of gags, this talky Spanish comedy tells the story of a couple planning a break-up party. It follows film director Ale (Itsaso Arana) and her soon to be ex, actor Alex (Vito Sanz), as they call it quits after 14 years together. The decision is mutual, and as reasonable people who still like each other, they think they can split without the pain and heartache. “We’ve separated, but we’re Ok!” says Alex, so many times it starts to sound hollow.

So, alongside the breakup admin (deciding who gets to stay in their amazingly cheap rented flat in Madrid and dividing the DVDs), they organise a party to mark their uncoupling.

Universal took the top spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office with the release of “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which opened to £12.4 million ($17 million), according to Comscore.

The Gareth Edwards-directed franchise revival, starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey, marked a strong return for the prehistoric juggernaut.

Holding second place was Warner Bros.’ motorsport drama “F1,” starring Brad Pitt, which added $4.1 million in its second week, lifting its total to $17.6 million. Universal’s “How To Train Your Dragon” continued its resilient run in third, pulling in $2 million for a four-week total of $24.8 million.

Sony’s dystopian thriller “28 Years Later” took fourth place with $1.9 million, bringing its cumulative haul to $16.9 million. Rounding out the top five was Disney animation “Elio,” which collected $942,496 in its third outing for a running total of $4.1 million.

In the lower half of the chart, “Lilo & Stitch” held sixth with $650,261, taking its total to $48.7 million.

Cannes Competition titles The Substance, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, and Emilia Perez are among the first set of titles recommended for nominations at this year’s European Film Awards.

Overall, 29 titles have been selected for the first stage of nominations by the European Film Academy Board. The selection includes films from 26 countries. In the coming weeks, the 5,000 members of the European Film Academy will start to vote on the selected films. The winners will be announced at the European Film Awards ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland, on December 7.

To be eligible for a European Film Awards, films must be European feature films which, among other criteria, had their first official screening between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024 and have a European director. The rule book states that should a film director not be European, exceptions can be made if the filmmaker is “provided they have a European refugee or similar status...

Protagonizan la película Itsaso Arana y Vito Sanz. © Elástica Films

Elástica Films ha publicado el primer tráiler del nuevo largometraje de Jonás Trueba, “Volveréis”, que obtuvo el mayor galardón de la Quincena de Cineastas del Festival de Cannes 2024: el Europa Cinemas Cannes Label Prize a la Mejor Película Europea.

En “Volveréis”, después de 15 años juntos, Ale y Alex tienen una idea que podría parecer absurda: organizar una fiesta para celebrar su ruptura. Este anuncio deja perplejos a sus seres queridos, pero ellos se mantienen firmes en la decisión de separarse. ¿O quizá no?

La película está protagonizada por Itsaso Arana (“Las Chicas Están Bien”) y Vito Sanz (“Vergüenza”). Por otra parte, la dirección corre a cargo de Jonás Trueba (“Todas las Canciones Hablan de mí”) y está escrita por el director y los dos actores protagonistas.

El director comentó lo siguiente acerca del filme : «Creo que mis películas...

Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s The Other Way Around has sold widely for Memento International, after receiving the Europa Cinemas Label award for best European Film at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Wanted Cinema has snapped up the film for Italy, Piffl Medien will release it in Germany, Panda Lichtspiele Filmverleih in Austria, Vedette in Benelux, Leopardo in Portugal, Rosebud in Greece, New Horizons in Poland, Hugoeast in China, Kino Pavasaris in the Baltics, Discovery for ex-Yugoslavia and Pt Falcon in Indonesia. Elastica and Filmin are handling Spanish distribution and Arizona Distribution will distribute the film in France.

Trueba’s eighth feature...

Y más buenas noticias: llegará a los cines en verano. © Elástica Films

El nuevo largometraje de Jonás Trueba, “Volveréis”, ha conseguido el mayor galardón de la Quincena de Cineastas del Festival de Cannes 2024: el Europa Cinemas Cannes Label Prize a la Mejor Película Europea.

En la película, después de 15 años juntos, Ale y Alex tienen una idea que podría parecer absurda: organizar una fiesta para celebrar su ruptura. Este anuncio deja perplejos a sus seres queridos, pero ellos se mantienen firmes en la decisión de separarse. ¿O quizá no?

“Volveréis” está protagonizada por Itsaso Arana (“Las Chicas Están Bien”) y Vito Sanz (“Vergüenza”). Por otra parte, la dirección corre a cargo de Jonás Trueba (“Todas las Canciones Hablan de mí”) y está escrita por el director y los dos actores protagonistas.

El director ha comentado lo siguiente acerca del filme y su estreno en Cannes: «Creo que mis películas...

The dogged pursuit of the relationship unicorn that is the good break-up informs the wit and winking wisdom of Jonás Trueba’s “The Other Way Around,” a delightful showcase for the Spanish director’s lithe, airy style, here accented with glistening strands of Madrileño meta-melancholy. A hip, popular twosome decide to call it quits after 14 years, cuing a very funny yet properly grown-up portrait of the ideal couple trying to smoothe, and even to celebrate, their transition into ideal exes. It’s the celebration aspect that will prove their undoing. If the good breakup is rare, the joyous breakup is completely mythical.

Filmmaker Ale (Itsaso Arana) and her actor boyfriend of 14 years Alex (Vito Sanz) have decided — mutually, they insist — to pack their bags for Splitsville. They lie in the dark in their still-shared bed with a poignant politeness recognizable to anyone who has similarly ended a longterm relationship prior to canceling a longterm lease.

“The Other Way Around” from Spanish director Jonás Trueba has won the Europa Cinemas Label for best European film in the Directors’ Fortnight section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The film turns on Ale (Itsaso Arana – who co-wrote the screenplay with Trueba) and Alex (Vito Sanz), who have been together for 15 years. Now, though, the duo is ready to split, but not without throwing a hell of a fiesta to celebrate their time together.

“The idea of a ‘separation party’ can be scary, but I just kept hearing about it,” Trueba told Variety in a recent interview. “I even suggested it to a friend of mine, but every time, people’s faces just drop. You can see fear creeping in. It’s crazy and silly, and at the same time, it could be something beautiful. It’s a great idea for a film, if not for real life.

Jonas Trueba’s The Other Way Around has received the Europa Cinemas Label as best European film in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The comedy-drama – which has the Spanish title Volveréis – was selected by a jury of four exhibitors from the Europa Cinemas network.

An eighth feature for Spanish filmmaker Trueba, The Other Way Around follows a couple who decide to throw a party to celebrate their separation after 15 years as a couple.

The jury said, “Humorous and cleverly written, the film’s circular structure manifests generosity of spirit in its inspiring look at human relationships. It is a pleasing beacon of positivity,...

Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s The Other Way Around (Volveréis) has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The prize is judged by four members of the Europa Cinema network representing independent exhibitors operating 3,121 screens across Europe. Under the prize, the film will receive the support of these cinemas as it goes on release.

This year’s jury omprised Louise Casey Conneally; Maarja Krass; Rémi Labé and Tamara Visković.

“Jonás Trueba’s well-crafted and nuanced film has an unusual premise – it tells the story of a couple who embrace a novel ritual. Prior to their separation, they elect to celebrate their 15-year relationship with a party,” read their statement.

“Humorous and cleverly written, the film’s circular structure manifests generosity of spirit in its inspiring look at human relationships.

Breaking Up is Hard To Do: Trueba Reinvents Couple Goals

Gloriously reminding us that we are doomed to repeat the same existential mundane experiences, in an

amuse bouche format with winks to Danish philosopher Sören Kierkegaard and relationship woe cinema that was Ingmar Bergman, Spanish filmmaker Jonás Trueba reshuffles the deck of (tarot) cards that is couplehood in the highly creative relationship comedy concept adorned with some meta cinema references. Reworking with the very likeable screen pairing thesps of Itsaso Arana and Vito San (also featured in Trueba’s previous number The August Virgin), The Other Way Around (which goes by the title Volveréis – which means “you will return” in Spanish) is a Kinder Surprise for how life imitates art, and how the couple-hood we see on screen might just be mordant live example of what is le passé composé.…...

“Annie Hall” changed the game in being a cautionary tale about a couple that conspicuously doesn’t last, while at the same time an enduring case for the wonder and necessity of romance. “The Other Way Around” is a similarly wacky subversion of the rom-com theme in that its central couple, successful millennial director Ale (Itsaso Arana) and actor Alex (Vito Sanz), cheerfully announce to their friends and loved ones that they’re breaking up. A big party will mark the occasion and duly end the relationship — which, their friends remind them, has gone on forever (more than a decade). The only people who think this is a sane idea is Ale and Alex. Not even Ale’s father(played by director Jonás Trueba’s real-life father, Fernando) can fathom it, although it was originally his idea. The concept seems to be born out of a kind of 90s stand-up...

Spanish director Jonás Trueba wants you to celebrate the endings, not just the beginnings.

That includes the demise of a serious relationship, because Ale and Alex (Itsaso Arana and Vito Sanz) have been together for 15 years. Now, they want only two things: to go their separate ways and to have a proper fiesta.

“The idea of a ‘separation party’ can be scary, but I just kept hearing about it. I even suggested it to a friend of mine, but every time, people’s faces just drop. You can see fear creeping in. It’s crazy and silly, and at the same time, it could be something beautiful. It’s a great idea for a film, if not for real-life.”

In “The Other Way Around,” premiering at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, the couple in question still has a lot of affection for each other.

“It’s a love story, but another kind of love story,...

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...

‘Volveréis’ se estrenará en la Quincena de Realizadores de Cannes.

El nuevo largometraje de Jonás Trueba, “Volveréis”, tendrá su estreno mundial en la Quincena de cineastas del Festival de Cannes.

En la película, después de 15 años juntos, Ale y Alex tienen una idea que podría parecer absurda: organizar una fiesta para celebrar su ruptura. Este anuncio deja perplejos a sus seres queridos, pero ellos se mantienen firmes en la decisión de separarse. ¿O quizá no?

“Volveréis” está protagonizada por Itsaso Arana (“Las Chicas Están Bien”) y Vito Sanz (“Vergüenza”). Por otra parte, la dirección corre a cargo de Jonás Trueba (“Todas las Canciones Hablan de mí”) y está escrita por el director y los dos actores protagonistas.

El director ha comentado lo siguiente acerca del filme y su estreno en Cannes: «Creo que mis películas anteriores tenían siempre algo de humor, pero con “Volveréis” tenía ganas de hacer una comedia más declarada.

Memento International has boarded Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s eighth feature The Other Way Around set to world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.

The relationship comedy is about a couple who decide to throw a party to celebrate their recent break up after 15 years together.

It is produced by Trueba and Javier Lafuente of Spain’s Los Ilusos Films and Sylvie Pialat and Alejandro Arenas of France’s Les Films du Worso. Elastica is handling Spanish distribution and Arizona Distribution will distribute the film in France.

Trueba’s credits include Goya-nominated first feature Every Song Is About Me,...

David Pérez Sañudo (“Ane is Missing”) and Carlos Vila Sexto (“Motivos Personales”) are ready for a different kind of hero in “Detective Touré.”

A six-episode series, backed by Spanish public broadcaster Rtve, Detective Touré Aie, Tornasol Media, DeAPlaneta and Basque state TV Eitb, the series is based on stories by Jon Arretxe.

The series first caught attention when selected as a project at Series Mania’s 2022 Co-Pro Pitching Sessions. Sneak-peaked at Content Americas in January, it was one of the highlights at its Spain Content Goldmine.

Set in Bilbao’s neighborhood San Francisco, it sees an immigrant from Guinea – with acute skills of deduction – who becomes immersed in a complex investigation, with the Nigerian mafia on his trail.

“We are used to having police officers involved in these kinds of shows, but an illegal immigrant? That’s something we have never seen before, at least in Spain,” says Vila Sexto.

Ja Bayona’s Society Of The Snow was the big winner at Spain’s Goya awards on Saturday night (February 10), scooping 12 prizes including best film and director to become the third-most garlanded film in Goya history.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall, was named best European film, and Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams won the prizes for best adapted screenplay and feature animation.

20,000 Species Of Bees, the feature debut of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, received three Goyas for best new director and original screenplay for Solaguren, and best supporting actress for Ane Gabarain. The 15 nominations for Bees were the...

Netflix Original “The Society of the Snow” won best picture and director for J.A. Bayona at Saturday night’s 38th Spanish Academy Goya Awards.

Those plaudits were two of a total 12 prizes, the third-highest kudos count for any title in the Goyas’ near 40-year history.

The lineup of best picture nominees was, however, a reminder in itself of the high quality and diversity of Spain’s current film production output. These took in Estibaliz’s Urresola Berlin triple winner “20,000 Species of Bees,” David Trueba’s real-life tender love story “Jokes & Cigarettes,” Isabel Coixet’s probing “Un Amor” and Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes,” an “aching ode to film, time and memory,” Variety wrote in its review.

Even after Bayona took best director there was still genuine suspense whether he would also win best picture, after best adapted screenplay went to “Robot Dreams” and “Jokes & Cigarettes” took best actor for David Verdaguer.

Tenerife’s Bendita Film Sales has picked up worldwide sales for “Memories of a Burning Body,” a hybrid-doc just selected for the Berlinale Panorama.

Directed by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, the Costa Rican writer-director-producer, this is her second film following the critically acclaimed “The Awakening of the Ants.”

Her debut film, which premiered at Berlinale 2019, was the Costa Rican entry for the Academy Awards and received global recognition, including a Goya Award nomination, and Costa Rica’s first Platino Award.

“We immediately fell in love with the film when we attended the Wip screening at Ventana Sur, where it would later win the main awards in Primer Corte,” said Luis Renart, CEO at Bendita Film Sales.

“Antonella has a dazzling talent and has crafted a beautiful, honest, intimate and unique film,” he added. “At the end of the [Ventana Sur] screening, almost all attendees stayed silent for a few minutes, deeply moved by...

“20.000 especies de abejas”, “La sociedad de la nieve”, “Saben Aquell” y “Cerrar los Ojos” encabezan las nominaciones a los premios Goya 2024.

El pasado jueves se anunciaron los nominados de la próxima edición de los prestigiosos Premios Goya, el destacado evento anual que celebra lo mejor del cine español. La gala de los Goya 2024 se celebrará el 10 de febrero en Valladolid, con la actriz y cantante Ana Belén y por Los Javis como presentadores. Aquí os dejamos con la lista de los nominados de esta edición:

Mejor PELÍCULA

20.000 especies de abejas

Cerrar los ojos

La sociedad de la nieve

Saben aquell

Un amor

Mejor DIRECCIÓN

Víctor Erice, Cerrar los ojos

Elena Martín, Creatura

J.A. Bayona, La sociedad de la nieve

David Trueba, Saben aquell

Isabel Coixet, Un amor

Mejor PELÍCULA Europea

Aftersun (Reino Unido)

Anatomía de una caída (Francia)

Las ocho montañas (Italia)

Safe Place (Croacia)

Sala de profesores...

The Society Of The Snow has garnered 13 nominations, followed by Close Your Eyes and Jokes & Cigarettes with 11.

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species Of Bees leads the nominations for Spain’s prestigious Goya awards, which will be presented on February 10, 2024.

20,000 Species Of Bees premiered in competition at Berlin, going on to win the Silver Bear for best performance for Sofía Otero, playing an eight-year-old girl who spends a summer working in the Basque Country’s beehives while exploring her identity.

The film scored 15 nominations, including best film, best director and four nods in the acting categories.

Ja Bayona’s...

Indie films have scored some impressive figures at Spanish box office this year.

As the Spanish film industry comes together at Valladolid International Film Week (known locally as the Seminici), one of the big talking points will be how to make independent films stand out at the local box office.

Although Spain’s box office in the year to mid-October has grossed €400m, 35% higher than the same period in 2022, it is still 17% lower than the 2015-2019 pre-Covid average.

US studio blockbusters led the charge, headed by Barbie ($35.2m), Super Mario Bros. Movie ($29m), Avatar: The Way Of Water, ($26.9m) Oppenheimer...

Five of the 19 films selected are world premieres.

Films from Álvaro Longoria, Itsaso Arana and Gerardo Herrero are among the 19 features selected for the Made In Spain strand of San Sebastian International Film Festival, the non-competitive showcase of Spanish talent.

Longoria will close the strand with the world premiere of La Vida De Brianeitor about a teenager with a physical disability who becomes an elite gamer.

Also world premiering is Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez’s documentary Perplexed Ants exploring workers trying to prevent the collapse of their industry.

The other world premieres include Juanma Betancort’s documentary Seed Of Son about...

The loose, lolling chapters of “The Girls Are Alright” are marked and separated by a simple visual motif: for each one, a different close-up panel of ornately illustrated Toile de Jouy fabric, rendered in various pastel shades against a calico background. The material’s distinctive period pastoral scenes, depicting gussied-up women in various states of passive repose and their corresponding noblemen, contrast pleasingly with the more modern, less dependent portrait of 21st-century femininity presented in Spanish writer-director-star Itsaso Arana’s short, sweet, winsome freshman feature. When its female characters don Toile-appropriate corsets and hoop skirts, it’s with a postmodern, literally performative sense of irony.

For the five women descending on a sleepy, tucked-away villa at the outset of Arana’s film are all in the theater — four of them actors, one a playwright — with the reflective, hyper-examined ways of being that come with that environment, where even real life...

Opening ceremony featured Johnny Depp trailer, which poked fun at the actor’s 2021 attendance.

Russell Crowe brought rock and roll to the opening night of the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), playing a 90-minute set having earlier accepted the Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema.

Crowe and his band Indoor Garden Party combined their own music – including new single ‘Let Your Light Shine’, the title track from their upcoming album, and ‘Southampton’, about the English city – with covers including Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘A Hazy Shade Of Winter’, a Crowe-solo...

Spanish actress Itsaso Arana proves that “Girls Are Alright” with her directorial debut, vying for the Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Known to the festival’s audience thanks to Jonás Trueba’s “August Virgin,” which she also co-wrote, she is currently readying their next project, set to shoot in the autumn.

“That experience, as well as his other films I starred in, have been profoundly significant in my life. Jonás is a great inspiration,” says Arana. But after years of collaborations, however satisfying, she is ready to venture out on her own.

“I have always created collectively or in a partnership, and I needed to prove to myself I was capable of leading a project. For better or worse, it’s mine,” she says, calling the process “healing.”

“I feel like acting, writing and directing, at least as I experience it, are part of the same thing. These...

Film won her a best director award at Sundance earlier this year, and has its European premiere at Karlovy Vary

Lithuanian filmmaker Marija Kavtaradze came to international attention with her 2018 debut feature Summer Survivors, the story of a psychologist who travels with two patients suffering from mental illness. Premiering in official selection at Toronto, Kavtaradze was lauded for her empathetic stance amidst a raw and powerful drama

Her sophomore effort is Slow. The film follows sign-language interpreter Dovyda (Kęstutis Cicėnas) who meets dancer Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė) with the pair immediately finding a spark between them. But as they begin a relationship,...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which takes place in an elegant spa resort in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, is set to get political during its 57th edition, but in a subtle way.

“I am not sure if you can even use the word ‘subtle’ when talking about politics, but it doesn’t always have to be in your face. You can be political by showing the existential struggles of an elderly lady who gets framed by some crooks,” says artistic director Karel Och, mentioning Stephan Komandarev’s “Blaga’s Lessons,” which will vie for the Crystal Globe.

While the main competition features many stories about people trying to return home or simply find their place in the world, he adds, the festival will also celebrate Iran with a separate section “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now.” “Before our consultant Lorenzo Esposito came up with this name,...

The 57th edition includes new films by directors Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali.

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its 57th edition, including new features by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev and Tinatin Kajrishvili.

The festival, which runs from June 30-July 8 in the Czech spa town, has nine world premieres and two international premieres in its main Crystal Globe Competition.

Canadian director Plante, whose Nadia Butterfly was in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2020 and Fake Tattoos played in the Berlinale’s Generation strand in 2018, world premieres arthouse thriller Red Rooms about a woman...

The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar-nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members.

The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.

Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...

The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled its competition lineup for its 57th edition, set to run in the bucolic Czech spa town from June 30 to July 8.

Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.

Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.

Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled the official selection for its upcoming 57th edition. The lineup comprises 31 films across three sections and a host of world and international premieres. Scroll down for the full list.

Among the lineup is Les chambres rouges (Red Rooms), the latest pic from Canadian filmmaker Pascal Plante, who will compete alongside Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali and Swedish director Ernst De Geer, who will also debut new works in competition.

The Czech festival’s Crystal Globe competition will feature nine world and two international premieres, while the Proxima Competition for young filmmakers and auteurs with films that defy categorization will screen ten world and two international premieres.

The jury for this year’s Crystal Globe competition will feature actress Patricia Clarkson (Sharp Objects), who will join producer Dora Bouchoucha, Sundance senior programmer John Nein, filmmaker Olmo Omerzu, and Irish actor Barry Ward.

“It has been...

In the lead-up to Cannes, Spanish film sales continue to show resilience despite shifting market trends and global challenges. The market signals suggest an enduring preference for genre movies and high-concept films, while the sale of arthouse fare remains tough.

Antonio Saura, director general of Latido Films, tells Variety, “The trends we are seeing confirm the trends we identified last year — movies with a strong concept, genre in general, generate interest, [whereas] drama and ‘art house’ is more complicated and requires a different type of attention and positioning.”

While there are signs of interest for movies with top talent attached, smaller films without a significant festival presence face an uphill battle.

This trend is underscored by the Spanish films selected for Cannes, which range from Benito Zambrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Roya Sadat’s “Sima’s Song,” to Pau Calpe’s “Werewolf.” These films, part of the Spanish Screenings Goes to Cannes section,...

“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)

One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and now racking up healthy sales, the story of a family off for a village summer holiday which builds to a moving ode to women’s freedoms. Sales: Luxbox

“21 Paraíso,” (Nestor Ruiz Medina)

Living in an idyllic Andalusia, a couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Screened at Seville and Tallinn. Sales: Begin Again Films.

“All the Names of God,” (Daniel Calparsoro)

One of the big Spanish action-thrillers hitting this Cannes market, from a specialist (“Sky High”). Pre-sold to France (Kinovista), Germany and Italy (Koch Media) with Tripictures releasing in Spain. Sales: Latido

“Un amor,” (Isabel Coixet)

The multi-prized Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words”).

directs Goya winner Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) in a village-set study of an isolated woman’s succumbing to devouring passion. Sales: Film Constellation.

“Ashes in the Sky,...

Bendita Film Sales has grown its slate acquiring Itsaso Arana’s directorial debut “The Girls Are Alright,” (“Las chicas están bien”).

The acquisition marks the latest pick up by the Tenerife based-outfit following recent announcements on Juan Sebastián Torales’ “Almamula,” and Lois Patiño’s “Samsara,” both featuring at the Berlinale. The film has already secured domestic distribution in Spain with Elástica Films.

“Itsaso gave us the chance to read one of the first versions of the script for ‘The Girls Are Alright.’ We immediately fell in love and realized that we were dealing with a singular talent, with a unique vision,” said Luis Renart, head of Bendita Film Sales. “It has been a pleasure to follow the evolution of this project and to finally discover this beautiful, festive and unique film, which we are thrilled to bring to audiences around the world,” he added.

Arana has built a strong reputation in film,...

Whether you’ve moved out of the city, or your friends have, there’s much to relate to in You Have To Come And See It (Tenéis Que Venir A Verla). This Spanish film from Jonás Trueba (The August Virgin) is an enjoyable entry into the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Competition, centering on two couples in their thirties, who used to hang out in Madrid.

Elena (Itsaso Arana) and Daniel (Vitor Sanz) are still wedded to the city, unlike their friends Susana (Irene Escolar) and Guillermo. The latter pair have moved out to a small rural town, and returned to the city for a rare reunion at a piano concert.

We know it’s rare because, over a glass of wine after the show, Susana and Guillermo appear to have been counting the months. You have to come and see it,...

In Spain there is a tradition called “la hora del vermut” (the vermouth hour) which refers to a little stretch of time before lunch when you sip vermouth to prepare your stomach for the meal to come. Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s “You Have to Come and See It,” one of the late-breaking joys of the Karlovy Vary competition, only just crosses la hora mark, but it is as sociable and swiggable as a draught or ten of sweetly fortified wine. In fact, it’s an aperitif that proves so satisfying, so simple and sunny and sage, that you might find yourself filling up on its drowsily erudite, oddly nourishing pleasures and forgetting about lunch altogether.

Even the opening titles are a zippy, witty delight, popping up onscreen in time to a skittery uptempo piano piece which, as we learn by the burst of applause that cutely occurs just as Trueba’s writer-director credit appears,...

Tenerife-based Bendita Film Sales has taken international sales rights to Nely Reguera’s sophomore outing, drama “La voluntaria” (“The Volunteer”), toplining “Broken Embraces,” “Perfect Life” and Piggy” star Carmen Machi, one of the biggest marquee draws in Spain.

World premiering in main competition at this year’s Malaga Festival, “La voluntaria” marks Reguera’s follow-up to her well-received feature 2016 debut, the Bárbara Lennie-starrer “María (And the Others),” which won the best Ibero-American film prize at the Miami Film Festival and earned new director and lead actress nominations at the Spanish Academy Goya Awards.

Barcelona-born Reguera forms part of the new generation of exciting young female Catalan auteurs, alongside Carla Simón (“Alcarràs”), Belén Funes (“The Daughter of the Thief”), Neus Ballús (“The Odd-Job Men”) and Meritxell Colell (“Facing the Wind”).

A Spain-Greece co-production, “La voluntaria” is produced by Adriá Monés at Fasten Films, Bteam Pictures’ Alex Lafuente and Maria Drandaki from Homemade Films.

Carmen Machi stars in this political drama with hints of comedy, which is being filmed in Barcelona and Athens, co-produced by Fasten Films’ Adrià Monés. Ever since María (and Everybody Else) was presented in the New Directors section of the San Sebastián Film Festival in September 2016, there has been a big buzz around the follow-up by its director, Nely Reguera. At last, the beginning of the shoot for El nieto (lit. “The Grandson”) in Barcelona a few days ago confirms that her sophomore effort is under way. From mid-April, it will continue for six weeks in the Malakasa refugee camp (Athens), and its lead actress is popular thesp Carmen Machi, who appeared recently in It Snows in Benidorm and An Optical Illusion. Its cast is rounded off by Itsaso Arana (The August Virgin), Arnau Comas (Yesterday’s Two Nights), Dèlia Brufau, Yohan Levy and Henrietta Rauth. According to the screenplay,...

In a year marked by a stagnant box office and distributors experimenting with a wide variety of releases, what does an overlooked film constitute? While there are fewer means than in years past to quantify such a metric, there are still plenty of films that didn’t get their due throughout 2020 and deserve more attention in the weeks, months, years to come.

Sadly, many documentaries would qualify for this list, but we stuck strictly to narrative efforts; one can instead read our rundown of the top docs here. Check out the list below, as presented in alphabetical order. A great deal of the below titles are also available to stream, so check out our feature here to catch up.

A Sun (Chung Mong-hong)

Chung Moog-hong’s A Sun––a rich Taiwanese drama with the texture of a novel––was unceremoniously released on Netflix in the middle of the Sundance Film Festival,...

Lagging a few weeks behind the rest of the world (where Russell Crowe road-rage thriller “Unhinged” released in several territories late last month), the United States is slowly seeing cinemas reopen in anticipation of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” — still optimistically dated for Sept. 3.

But that doesn’t mean film fans don’t have options, opening on drive-in screens, virtual cinemas and subscriptions services.

With more than 30 new movies releasing in the U.S. this week, Variety helps steer you to the most interesting of these choices. Take your pick of everything from hard-hitting dramas — including stirring Black history lessons “The 24th” and “Emperor” — to action movies such as “Cut Throat City” and “Train to Busan” sequel “Peninsula.” Family audiences will find “The One and Only Ivan” on Disney Plus, while those with more twisted sensibilities can choose to watch a “The Most Dangerous Game”-inspired humans-hunting-humans movie: Cambodian thriller “The Prey.

I’m writing this review from my summer vacation. Loath as I am to invoke the first person, this admission is relevant for two reasons. Like Eva (Itsaso Arana), the main character of Jonás Trueba’s patient, zephyr-like “The August Virgin,” I’ve chosen to stay home during this stifling late-summer heatwave, a decision that can breed ennui the way stagnant water spawns mosquitoes. More importantly, this is the first time in more than two decades that I’ve taken a week off in August, which just goes to show how different the American idea of summer is from that practiced abroad.

All over Europe — but especially in densely populated places like Paris, London and Madrid — bustling cities practically shut down at the beginning of August as people schedule their vacations at the same time. Like migratory birds, entire populations check out of work and skip town for the month,...

The August Virgin (La virgin de Agosto) Outsider Pictures Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Jonás Trueba Screenwriter: Itsaso Arana, Jonás Trueba Cast: Itsaso Arana, Vito Sanz, Isabelle Stoffel, Joe Manjóln, María Herrador Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 8/1/20 Opens: August 21, 2020 Francisco Franco is turning in […]

The post The August Virgin Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Now that Tenet has officially been removed from August’s slate so it can be released in international theaters while our country continues to botch its Covid-19 response, you can settle in for another four weeks of VOD, Digital HD, and Drive-Ins (if you’re lucky enough to have one close by). Unhinged (discussed in last month’s feature) is holding out hope nonetheless in its quest to be the “first” indoor theatrical-only release despite our nation’s constantly moving restart, but that doesn’t guarantee its August 21 date succeeds where its others have failed.

Regardless of that outcome, the question remains whether or not you’ll walk through the doors of your local multiplex anyway. All these posters may be caught behind glass with no eyes to peer upon them before another week goes by without any recollection that they were even there. So bask in the work’s...

We’re now entering the end of the summer movie season and it continues to be an unprecedented era in the world of film. Smaller-scale movies got a bigger spotlight than usual, with distributors finding success in drive-ins and on digital platforms while all tentpoles continued to get delayed. We’ll have to wait and see if Warner Bros. will go ahead with plans to release Christopher Nolan’s Tenet first in the international territories who have a handle on the pandemic, and then in the U.S. next month.

In the meantime, August brings a number of notable independent and foreign film highlights, including favorites from Sundance, TIFF, Venice, Karlovy Vary, and more. We should also note that our #1 pick from last month, Boys State, will be getting an Apple TV+ debut on August 14 following a limited theatrical release beginning this past weekend. As is the case these last few months,...

"Bumping into each other again, it's odd, right?" Outsider Pictures has released an official US trailer for an indie summer drama titled The August Virgin, from acclaimed Spanish indie filmmaker Jonás Trueba. He partnered with actress / writer Itsaso Arana to make a very personal film about figuring yourself out in your 30s. Arana stars as Eva, a young actress who is not quite satisfied with her life. In an act of faith, she decides to stay in Madrid during August, when all the other locals leave because it's too hot to stay. August offers her a chance to start from scratch as she wanders around the city. The small cast includes Vito Sanz, Isabelle Stoffel, Joe Manjon, María Herrador, Luis Heras, and Mikele Urroz. The film premiered at the Karlvoy Vary Film Festival last year and also opened in Spain last year. I saw it at Kviff, loved it, and published a glowing review,...

The idea summer movie to close out the season, Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s The August Virgin impressed us greatly with The August Virgin when it premiered at last year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival. With vibes of both the films of Éric Rohmer and Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, the film follows a woman named Eva who decides to extend her trip in Madrid during the sweltering month of August. Picked up by Outsider Pictures, it’ll now get a Virtual Cinemas release, fittingly, in August, and a trailer and poster have arrived.

Rory O’Connor said in our review, “In the new movie The August Virgin, a young woman named Eva wanders the sidewalks and watering holes of Spain’s sunny capital on a series of increasingly hot, clammy nights leading up to August 15th–or “The Assumption,” as some like to call it. It is a heartbreakingly tender,...

Spain took the spotlight at the Marche du Film on Tuesday afternoon with a Cinema From Spain panel in which sales agents were given a platform to present one of their features currently selling in the market.

Moderated by Tito Rodríguez, marketing policy director at Spain’s Institute of Cinematography and the Audiovisual Arts (Icaa), the presentation was broken up into four blocks with one dedicated to each of the participating companies: Latido Films, Filmax, Moonrise Pictures and Bendita Films.

Latido Films

A particularly current proposition, Latido presented “Tales of the Lockdown,” a new anthology feature which will launch on Amazon Prime Video in Spain next month. Five of Spain’s top filmmakers were enlisted to remotely directed five variations on a theme, life under quarantine. Latido head Antonio Saura was joined by producer Alvaro Longoria of Morena Films, director Fernando Colomo, director-actor Carlos Bardem and actor Sara Sálamo.

Each...