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Prime Video is ready with an entertainment-packed December this year. The upcoming month will see the beginning of some of Prime Video’s best original shows including Secret Level and also the return of hit movies like Your Fault. Just like every month, Prime Video is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the best 7 new movies and TV shows coming to Prime Video in December 2024.

The Red Virgin (December 5) Credit – Amazon MGM Studios

The Red Virgin is a Spanish drama film directed by Paula Ortiz from a screenplay co-written by Eduard Sola and Clara Roquet. The 2024 film is set in the 1930s during the Second Spanish Republic in Spain and it follows a precocious and prolific writer who is raised by her mother to become the model of future women.

La película se hizo con el premio Platform en el Festival de Cine de Toronto. © Elástica Films

Ya se ha publicado el primer tráiler de Polvo serán, la tragicomedia musical de Carlos Marqués-Marcet. La película inaugura hoy la Sección Oficial a Competición de la Seminci (Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid), después de su triunfo en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto en la sección competitiva Platform.

En Polvo serán, tras serle diagnosticada una enfermedad terminal, Claudia decide hacer su último viaje a Suiza. Flavio, que lleva más de cuarenta años sin separarse de ella, decide acompañarla en este viaje sin retorno.

La película, escrita por el propio Carlos Marques-Marcet, junto a Clara Roquet (Libertad) y Coral Cruz (Verónica), está protagonizada por Ángela Molina (Los abrazos rotos), Alfredo Castro (El club) y Mònica Almirall (El médico).

En palabras del director, Carlos Marques-Marcet: «En esta mezcla de géneros, el musical...

Exclusive: Disney+ has placed a big bet on daily drama with the launch of Return to Las Sabinas.

The first five instalments dropped today in Spain, as well as on Disney+ around the world and Hulu in the U.S. The remaining 65 parts will be stripped throughout the week with new eps released weekday mornings. Soapy daily dramas and telenovelas move the dial across swathes of the TV world, but Return to Las Sabinas, from Diagonal and commissioned by Disney+ in Spain, is the first series of its kind in the daily drama space created for a major subs-based streamer.

Yesterday, on the eve of the launch, Disney+ programming boss Sofía Fábregas, creator and showrunner Eulàlia Carillo, and director Jordi Frades, clued Deadline in on the buzzy project.

“We said: ‘Nobody is streaming a daily show,’” says Fábregas, VP, Original Production for Disney+ in Spain when asked about the inception...

Tras su estreno mundial en Toronto, la película inaugurará la Seminci. © Elástica Films

Polvo serán, la tragicomedia musical de Carlos Marqués-Marcet, se ha alzado con el Premio Platform en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto, donde ha tenido su estreno mundial.

En Polvo serán, tras serle diagnosticada una enfermedad terminal, Claudia decide hacer su último viaje a Suiza. Flavio, que lleva más de cuarenta años sin separarse de ella, decide acompañarla en este viaje sin retorno.

La película, escrita por el propio Carlos Marques-Marcet, junto a Clara Roquet (Libertad) y Coral Cruz (Verónica), está protagonizada por Ángela Molina (Los abrazos rotos), Alfredo Castro (El club) y Mònica Almirall (El médico).

Atom Egoyan, presidente del jurado Platform, ha destacado «las conmovedoras interpretaciones de Alfredo Castro y Ángela Molina» y «la capacidad de la película para mezclar momentos de extremo patetismo con humor, única y completamente convincente» en «una historia cargada...

Carlos Marqués-Marcet brings life to a grave situation in “They Will Be Dust,” realizing that when so many tiptoe around the subject of death, it might not be such a stretch to put an elderly couple in ballet shoes if they’re thinking it’s time to choose for themselves to shuffle off their mortal coil. The unconventional drama proves moving in more ways than one when following the septuagenarian pair that has booked a one-way trip to Switzerland, achieving a level of intimacy unusual even for its reliably sensitive director when music and dance can crack open what mere dialogue cannot.

Marqués-Marcet’s approach to his fourth feature may be unexpected, but the subject seems inevitable when the director has spent his previous three films considering different stages of life. After his impressive debut “10,000Km” involved a couple too young to see the issues that a long-distance relationship might pose,...

In “They Will Be Dust,” Carlos Marqués-Marcet, the Goya-winning director of “10,000 Km,” heads into a genre-bending exploration of life, love, and death. World Premiering at this year’s stacked Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform strand, the film is far from a conventional musical. It fuses contemporary dance and musical elements with the stark realities of a right-to-die story.

Co-written with Clara Roquet, whose “Libertad” garnered acclaim at both the Goya and Gaudí awards, the film is co-produced by Lastor Media, Alina Film, and Kino Produzioni— part of the same team behind Carla Simón’s Golden Bear-winning “Alcarràs.” Latido Films handles international sales.

The film centers on Claudia, played by Ángela Molina, who decides not to wait for her terminal illness to strip her of agency. Instead, she and her beloved Flavio embark on a plan to end their lives together in Switzerland. Their adult children are particularly appalled...

La película tendrá su estreno mundial en el Festival de Cine de Toronto. © Elástica Films

Polvo serán, la tragicomedia musical de Carlos Marqués-Marcet, inaugurará la Sección Oficial a Competición de la Seminci (Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid), que se celebrará del 18 al 26 de octubre, después de su estreno mundial en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto en la sección competitiva Platform.

En Polvo serán, tras serle diagnosticada una enfermedad terminal, Claudia decide hacer su último viaje a Suiza. Flavio, que lleva más de cuarenta años sin separarse de ella, decide acompañarla en este viaje sin retorno.

La película, escrita por el propio Carlos Marques-Marcet, junto a Clara Roquet (Libertad) y Coral Cruz (Verónica), está protagonizada por Ángela Molina (Los abrazos rotos), Alfredo Castro (El club) y Mònica Almirall (El médico).

En palabras del director, Carlos Marques-Marcet: «En esta mezcla de géneros, el musical tendrá la función de permitir...

Clara Roquet’s debut film Libertad takes place along the rugged coast of Spain’s Costa Brava, where gentle waves lap at beaches dotted with crags. It’s here two adolescent girls from different worlds, Nora and Libertad, form an unlikely bond one summer that shines light on matters both profound and fleeting.

Nora, around 15, belongs to a comfortable Barcelona family that owns a seaside villa. However, she’s starting to feel displaced there as childhood recedes. Meanwhile, Libertad recently arrived from Colombia to reunite with her mother Rosana, who works as a caretaker for Nora’s aging grandmother. Headstrong Libertad fascinates Nora and inspires her to glimpse life beyond the villa’s gates.

Roquet immerses viewers in these characters’ experiences with sensitivity. Through languid scenes wielding subtle significance, we see how fleeting pleasures like new friendship can momentarily ease pains of loss, change, and social limits. But we also...

Una tragicomedia musical protagonizada por Ángela Molina, Alfredo Castro y Mònica Almirall. © Elástica Films

“Polvo Serán”, una tragicomedia musical de Carlos Marqués-Marcet, tendrá su estreno mundial en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto en la sección competitiva Platform.

En “Polvo Serán”, tras serle diagnosticada una enfermedad terminal, Claudia decide hacer su último viaje a Suiza. Flavio, que lleva más de cuarenta años sin separarse de ella, decide acompañarla en este viaje sin retorno.

La película, escrita por el propio Carlos Marques-Marcet, junto a Clara Roquet (“Libertad”) y Coral Cruz (“Verónica”), está protagonizada por Ángela Molina (“Los Abrazos Rotos”), Alfredo Castro (“El Club”) y Mònica Almirall (“El Médico”).

En palabras del director, Carlos Marques-Marcet: «En esta mezcla de géneros, el musical tendrá la función de permitir acercarnos a estas complejas emociones y al agujero insondable de la muerte allá donde las palabras no llegan, expresado a través del cuerpo y de la música.

Una película basada en hechos reales. © Elástica Films

Ya se ha publicado el tráiler oficial de “La Virgen Roja”, antes titulada “Hildegart”. Un drama histórico basado en hechos reales que mezcla romance y thriller y que se podrá ver en el Festival de Cine de San Sebastián como Proyección Especial, en Sección Oficial fuera de competición.

“La Virgen Roja” sigue a Hildegart, que es concebida y educada por su madre Aurora para ser la mujer del futuro, convirtiéndose en una de las mentes más brillantes de la España de los años 30 y uno de los referentes europeos sobre sexualidad femenina. A sus 18 años, Hildegart comienza a experimentar la libertad y conoce a Abel Velilla, quien le ayuda a explorar un nuevo mundo emocional y desmarcarse del férreo nido materno. Aurora teme perder el control sobre su hija y hace todo lo posible por impedir que Hildegart se aleje. Las dos...

Una película basada en hechos reales. © Elástica Films

Ya se ha publicado el primer tráiler de “La Virgen Roja”, antes titulada “Hildegart”. Un drama histórico basado en hechos reales que mezcla romance y thriller.

“La Virgen Roja” sigue a Hildegart, que es concebida y educada por su madre Aurora para ser la mujer del futuro, convirtiéndose en una de las mentes más brillantes de la España de los años 30 y uno de los referentes europeos sobre sexualidad femenina. A sus 18 años, Hildegart comienza a experimentar la libertad y conoce a Abel Velilla, quien le ayuda a explorar un nuevo mundo emocional y desmarcarse del férreo nido materno. Aurora teme perder el control sobre su hija y hace todo lo posible por impedir que Hildegart se aleje. Las dos mujeres se enfrentarán durante una noche de verano de 1933 poniendo fin al “Proyecto Hildegart”.

La película está protagonizada por Najwa Nimri (“La Casa de Papel...

Spain’s Latido Films has boarded international sales on Carlos Marques-Marcet’s drama They Will Be Dust (Polvo serán). Elástica Films will handle distribution in Spain.

It tells the story of a woman, Claudia (Angela Molina) diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour who takes a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when to end her life with the help of an assisted dying association. Her partner (Alfredo Castro), and daughter (Mònica Almirall) must work out where they fit in.

The screenplay is by long-time co-writer Clara Roquet, director of 2021 Cannes Critics Week title Libertad, who wrote Marques-Marcet’s previous film Long Distance.

Spain’s Latido Films has boarded international sales on Carlos Marques-Marcet’s musical They Will Be Dust (Polvo serán). Elástica Films will handle distribution in Spain.

It tells the story of a woman, Claudia (Angela Molina) diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour who takes a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when to end her life with the help of an assisted dying association. Her partner (Alfredo Castro), and daughter (Mònica Almirall) must work out where they fit in.

The screenplay is by long-time co-writer Clara Roquet, director of 2021 Cannes Critics Week title Libertad, who wrote Marques-Marcet’s previous film Long Distance.

Descúbrelo todo sobre el nuevo thriller español de Disney Plus+. © Disney+

Ya está disponible el tráiler oficial de la serie original de Disney+ “Las Largas Sombras”, un poderoso thriller femenino de 6 episodios que reflexiona sobre el peso de la culpa y cómo evoluciona la amistad de un grupo de amigas con el paso de los años. La serie, que cuenta con un equipo íntegramente femenino delante y detrás de las cámaras, es la historia de un grupo de mujeres cuyas estables vidas de éxito se ven repentinamente sacudidas por la aparición de los restos mortales de una de sus compañeras de instituto, desaparecida durante el viaje de fin de curso a Mallorca veinticinco años antes. Y es que, de primeras la serie nos recuerda algo a “Big Little Lies”, una serie muy aclamada y que ha sido una de las claras referencias de la cineasta a la hora de crear este intrigante thriller.

Ten years after clinching Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize with “Aquí y allá,” and half a decade following “Life and Nothing More,” which earned a John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards – a film Variety hailed as ‘outstanding’—Antonio Méndez Esparza returns with his fourth feature, “Something is About to Happen.”

Co-written with Clara Roquet, a Critics’ Week-selected director for “Libertad,” Esparza’s latest film delves into the life of Lucía, who loses her It job at a failing dental firm and becomes a taxi driver.

The profession she chooses is apt as we follow a character sat in loneliness moving among people while longing to connect deeply with someone. The clarity of the title and immediate rising strings of the soundtrack set the screw of tension turning in this fascinating character piece.

Esparza’s previous two features have a neorealist, almost documentary-like quality, working with non actors and using improvisation heavily.

In perhaps one of her meatiest roles since Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” Oscar-nominated thesp Yalitza Aparicio stars in Prime Video’s upcoming series “Cometierra,” created by its showrunner Daniel Burman, The Mediapro Studio’s head of content for the U.S., Mexico and Central America.

Principal photography is underway, predominantly in Mexico, with some scenes shot in Uruguay.

Inspired by the bestselling debut novel of Argentine writer-activist Dolores Reyes, “Cometierra,” meaning Eartheater in English, is a supernatural drama steeped in magical realism that follows Aylín, a young girl from the rough outskirts of Mexico City.

She unexpectedly gains the extraordinary ability to commune with the earth beneath her feet, a gift that propels her into a world of crime-solving and clashes with malevolent forces lurking in her past. With the help of her fellow misfits, Aylín finds her true identity while navigating a community plagued by violence and grappling with...

One of Spain’s biggest and oldest movie events, the Valladolid Intl. Film Festival, known as the Seminci in Spain, is broadening its range of Spanish films and aims to strengthen its position as an international platform for art films.

Running Oct. 21-28 in Valladolid, the capital city of Spanish region Castilla-Leon, the Seminci’s 68th edition marks the first under new director José Luis Cienfuegos, named last April.

With an illustrious near 30-year career as a festival director, at the helm of the Seville European Film Festival (2012-2023) and prior to that at the Gijon Intl. Film Festival (1995-2011), Cienfuegos has arrived to Valladolid at a time when a new generation of Spanish film auteurs, often women, is booming, making waves at the international festivals circuit.

“Valladolid is a city absolutely dedicated to the festival that demands and needs to open the doors to a new generation of filmmakers,...

The 68th edition will screen a mix of new Spanish films and 2023 favourites and host an expanded industry programme.

The 68th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week opens this weekend (October 21) with a screening of The Movie Teller, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Bérénice Béjo, Antonio de la Torre and Daniel Brühl and written by Walter Salles, Isabel Coixet and Rafa Russo.

For what is a vital launchpad into the Spanish market, new festival director José Luis Cienfuegos has programmed a series of international festival favourites from 2023 alongside new films by Spanish directors Antonio Méndez Esparza and...

The selections for the first edition of MyMetaStories – The Innovative European Film Festival were announced and among the seven feature films selected we find Cedric Ido’s Gravity, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s The Happiest Man in the World and Clara Roquet’s Libertad. Along with those selections we find a baker’s dozen of thirteen shorts all presented at prestigious international festivals and from filmmakers who we’ve recently seen at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week with Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot or Marie Amachoukeli. MyMetaStories will take place from October 6 to 29th on online, on digital platforms and from the 13th-16th on the Minecraft platform.…...

Spanish cinema has undoubtedly been making a strong imprint on the international film festival circuit throughout the last few years and, crucially, there’s a new wave of female filmmakers that are driving this charge.

Carla Simon’s Alcarràs took the Golden Bear in Berlin last year, while Elena Lopez Riera and Clara Roquet debuted their respective films The Water and Libertad in Cannes as well as Elena Martin’s feature debut Creatura, which played in the festival’s Directors Fortnight section this year.

So at this year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival, it’s unsurprising that the trend is continuing as three Spanish films in official competition this year are directed and produced by women: Isabel Coixet’s Un Amor, based on a bestselling novel by Sara Mesa, which is produced by Marisa Fernández Armenteros and Sandra Hermida; Sultana’s Dream, the debut feature from Isabel Herguera which...

Carlos Saldanha’s Disney comedy series How to be a Carioca will screen for the first time at the Iberseries & Platino Industria event in October.

The first episode of the Star Original Productions-badged comedy will play at the fest, which is held in Madrid. Saldanha and co-creator Joana Mariani will feature on a panel for the show alongside Leonardo Aranguibel, VP of Production, Head of Production Operations and Strategy, The Walt Disney Company Latin America.

The Portuguese-language comedy series follows an American writer who has to learn the quirks of Rio de Janeiro’s people after moving to the Brazilian city.

The show is set to launch on Star+ in Latin America and Disney’+’s streaming services, including Disney+ worldwide.

How to be a Carioca follows an American writer who has to learn the quirks of Rio de Janeiro’s people after moving to the Brazilian city. It stars the...

Driving into Spanish-language movies and series, Amazon Studios is hoping to repeat the success of “Argentina, 1985” with big Spanish period production “Hildegart,” starring Najwa Nimri and Alba Planas (“Skam España”), which wrapped production Aug. 19 in Madrid.

“Hildegart” has shot in the Spanish capital filming seven weeks and some days at historical heritage sites such as Spain’s Congress, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square, and its Atheneum.

Directed by Paula Ortiz, “Hildegart” is a fact-based tale of the extraordinary and tragic life of Spain’s Hildegart Rodríguez, born in 1914, a child prodigy raised by her mother to be a model for future women, who gave conferences on feminism and sexuality from the age of 11, writing on prostitution, contraception and eugenics – her monograph “Profilaxis anticoncepcional” sold 8,000 copies in one week just in Madrid – and accompanied H.G. Wells when he made a visit to Spain.

Sensing that she was losing control of her daughter – who,...

There are only two days left until Cannes 2023 comes to a close, and much like yesterday, things have seemed a bit quiet. The movie on most everyone’s lips, at least if social media is any indicator, was Trần Anh Hùng’s period drama “The Pot au Feu,” a feature that, according to TheWrap’s Ben Croll in his review, “might very well be the most handsomely shot and soothingly felt serving of art house food porn ever brought to screen. It’s about to become your mother’s favorite film, and it’s an absolute delight.”

But before the screening started, as Variety reported, a demonstration in support of Indigenous land rights took place on the film’s red carpet. It was led by the directors and actors of “The Buriti Flower,” a film showing in Un Certain Regard directed by Portugal’s João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora.

Creatura, the debut feature from Spanish director Elena Martín Gimeno, has won the Europa Cinemas Label prize for best European film in the 2023 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section. The drama, about a seemingly perfect couple who can’t manage to have sex anymore, explores themes of repression and female sexual desire.

Gimeno co-wrote the screenplay for Creatura with Clara Roquet and stars in the film alongside Clàudia Dalmau, Clàudia Borràs, Oriol Pla, Alex Brendemühl, Clara Segura, Marc Cartanyà and Carla Linares.

The European Cinemas jury called Creatura a “well-written and impressive portrayal of a woman as she tries to come to terms with her sexuality and intimacy while reflecting on her childhood and teenage experiences. This is a subject that has been covered before, but each character is so multi-layered and believable that the film is easy to relate to — both the female and the male characters. There are challenging moments but there is humor,...

Spanish drama follows a woman who goes on a journey of self-exploration to unveil her loss of desire.

Elena Martín Gimeno’s Creatura has won the Europa Cinemas’ award for best European film in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Europa Cinemas Network will now support the film with promotion and incentivise exhibitors to extend the film’s run in theatres.

Martín Gimeno also stars in the Spanish drama as a woman who goes on a journey of self-exploration to unravel her loss of desire.

It is produced by Spain’s Vilaüt Films, Avalon, Elastica Films and Lastor Media.

“Creatura,” the feature debut of Elena Martín, exploring female sexual desire and repression, has won this year’s 20th Europa Cinemas Cannes Label for best European Film at the 2022 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

Announced Thursday by Europa Cinemas, ahead of the closing ceremony this afternoon, the prize is one of two at Directors’ Fortnight, and awarded by one of the sidebar’s partners, given the section is non-competitive.

A second partner plaudit, the Sacd Prize, handed out by France’s Writers’ Guild, will be announced simultaneously to the Europa Cinemas Label.

“Creature” hit Cannes will multiple tailwinds. Like last year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” it’s made by an emerging woman director associated by the so-called Catalan New Wave of helmers and producers making films twinning a strong sense of place and universal issues.

The second feature from 2021 Málaga best director Martín (“Júlia ist”) and a “Veneno” writer and “Perfect Life” director,...

Updated with Sacd prize details: Spanish director Elena Martín Gimeno’s Creatura won the Europa Cinemas prize as Best European Film, while Pierre Caton’s Le Prince scooped the Sacd for best French film at Directors’ Fortnight on Thursday.

The prizes were announced ahead of the evening closing ceremony for the non-competitive parallel Directors Fortnight section.

The Europa Cinema label and Sacd prizes are the key collateral prizes awarded to films world premiering in the section.

Under the Europa Cinema prize, the release of Creatura will receive the support of cinemas belonging to the independent exhibitor network representing 3,060 screens in 38 countries. The jury consists of four exhibitor members of the network.

Creatura revolves around a seemingly perfect couple who no longer manage to have sex, prompting one partner to probe her past and her sexual sexual awakening, from adolescence back to early childhood.

French writers guild Sacd’s prize is...

Five Catalan movies made Cannes Festival’s cut, six were selected for Marché du Film sections. Details and other top Catalan movies on the Croisette:

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

One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox

“Blondi,” (Dolores Fonzi)

From La Unión de los Ríos, behind “Argentina, 1985”), the awaited directorial debut of Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes winner “Paulina,” a double mother-son coming of age dramedy. Sales: Film Factory

“A Bright Sun,” (Monica Cambra, Ariadna Fortuny)

Facing the end of the world, Mila, 11, tries to keep her family together by celebrating a party.

The other day Variety provided an update on Amazon’s Prime Video film items in the works for the Spanish market and one project that sticks out (and would probably receive a festival premiere – perhaps a future San Sebastian berth) is Hildegart. Paula Ortiz is directing from a screenplay co-written by the prolific Clara Roquet (Libertad) and Eduard Sola. No players have been cast yet, but the lead and supporting mother role will be a big deal. Hildegart will be produced by Elástica Films María Zamora and Avalon’s Stefan Schmitz. Here is the wiki entry and synopsis:

A precocious and prolific writer in Spain’s 1930s, raised by her mother to become a model of future women, friend of H.G.…...

Prime Video is reviving classic Spanish talent gala format Operación Triunfo and has unveiled its latest slate of scripted shows, films and doc series from the nation along with a local version of Takeshi’s Castle.

The 12th season Operación Triunfo, which is filmed in front of a live audience, will stream on the SVoD in Spain and Latin America later this year.

A major ratings hit and cultural phenomenon, the first 11 seasons aired on Spanish public broadcaster Rtve and ran between 2001 and 2020.

The musical talent show follows a series of aspiring contestants as they enter a musical academy to train and display singing and artistic skills. Each week, in a live gala, they compete on stage.

“Operación Triunfo has entertained fans for over 22 years and brought joy to millions of viewers. We are thrilled and honored to bring back this beloved show to fans not only in Spain but also across Latin America,...

Filmmaker Clara Roquet is a lucky star for several of her Spain filmmaker contemporaries as we just learned that she has contributed to one more project currently in prep mode. Carlos Marques-Marcet reteams with his 10,000Km co-screenwriter for a project that puts a twist to the typical euthanasia end-of-life in Switzerland film treatments. Screen Daily reports that They Will Be Dust will go into production this year with Lastor Media’s Tono Folguera producing. The interesting move her is that the film will fall under the musical drama sub-genre. Folguera is quoted as saying this is, “a reflection on the right to a dignified death, with a musical part.…...

International co-production is led by Tono Folguera at Spain’s Lastor Media.

Carlos Marques-Marcet, who took the top prize at the Málaga Film Festival in 2014 with 10,000Km, is readying his new project, the musical drama They Will Be Dust.

The film will be a co-production beteen Spain’s Lastor Media, Switzerland’s Alina Film and Italy’s Kino Produzioni. Backing is in place from Eurimages, Icaa and the Catalonia film institute Icec.

They Will Be Dust is about a woman diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor who decides to undertake a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when...

Few feature debuts at Malaga are more awaited than “Unicorns,” which world premieres on March 15, sold by Filmax. It is directed by multi award winning Àlex Lora best known for his work in documentary having won Gaudis, Emmys, and a nomination for a Goya with 2017’s “The Fourth Kingdom,”.

His feature debut gives us Isa played by Greta Fernandez. She is a hedonist, full of touch and feeling, lust and cool. She brings up Simone De Beavoir’s Second Sex in argument, but seems afflicted more by Sartre’s assertion of us being ‘condemned to be free.’ Skimming the surface of freedom from experience to experience fosters an inability to decide for herself what to focus on. Meanwhile, her mother is focussed on her novel writing, her boyfriend his wine shop, and her boss his marketing agency’s success.

Playing the mother is Nora Navas, whose latest accolade came with...

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s take on a western wins nine prizes, but none for Carla Simon’s Berlinale winner

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts scored big at the 37th edition of the Spanish Film Academy Goya awards held on Saturday in Seville, scooping major prizes including best film and best director.

The ceremony celebrated a year hailed as one of the strongest for Spanish cinema in recent memory. However, one of Spain’s most high-profile films on the international stage, Carla Simon’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Alcarras, left the Goyas empty-handed despite 11 nominations.

The Beasts, which debuted in Cannes in the Premieres section,...

Sorogoyen’s take on a western wins nine prizes, but none for Carla Simon’s Berlinale winner

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts scored big at the 37th edition of the Spanish Film Academy Goya awards held on Saturday in Seville, scooping major prizes including best film and best director.

The ceremony celebrated a year hailed as one of the strongest for Spanish cinema in recent memory. However, one of Spain’s most high-profile films on the international stage, Carla Simon’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Alcarras, left the Goyas empty-handed despite 11 nominations.

The Beasts, which debuted in Cannes in the Premieres section,...

Que nadie duerma

Settling into his fourth feature film (and third fiction following 2020’s Courtroom 3H) in February of last year, Spaniard Antonio Mendez Esparza teamed with writer-director Clara Roquet on the screenplay for professional impasse in a woman’s life. Starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón and Malena Alterio, this was originally titled “Madrid It Is,” and is about reinvention and….revenge and is based on Juan José Millás’ novel. Esparza first blasted onto the scene with 2012’s Aquí y Allá (a Cannes Critic’s Week winner) and 2017’s Life and Nothing More (TIFF/San Sebastián entry), the filmmaker reteamed with Barbu Balasoiu. Aquí y Allí Films’ Pedro Hernández produced what smells like a comedy tweaked with darkness.…...

Creatura

Barcelonian actress turned filmmaker Elena Martín (who was among the Spain Stars of Tomorrow 2022) brought her sophomore film project to San Sebastian Film Festival’s creative lab Ikusmira Berriak and the reason why this is high up on our list is: she co-wrote the project alongside Clara Roquet. A tale about the sexual and relationship history of a young woman, Creatura stars Martín, Clara Segura, Oriol Pla and Alex Brendemühl. This was produced by Lastor, Vilaüt Films, Avalon and Elastica Films. Martín got her feature film start with 2017 drama Júlia ist. Production took place in August of last year.…...

Costa Brava, Lebanon Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Mounia Akl Screenwriter: Mounia Akl, Clara Roquet Cast: Nadine Labaki, Yumn Yunna Marwan, Saleh Bakri, Nadia Charbel, Geana Restom, Seanna Restom Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 8/19/22 Opens: September 13, 2022 streaming A snail-paced drama about a […]

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This review of “Costa Brava, Lebanon” was first published July 14, 2022, before it opened in New York City.

Mounia Akl’s debut feature film “Costa Brava, Lebanon” is valiant filmmaking. Using the beauty of cinema to show the destruction of man’s cruelty to the environment is not just effective — it’s heartbreaking.

In a film landscape dominated by blockbusters, “Costa Brava, Lebanon” offers a reality check, reminding us that there are indeed concerns bigger than our own entertainment. It’s indie filmmaking at its most productive.

Set in Akl’s native Lebanon, whose political and environmental unrest helps drive the plot, “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” co-written with Clara Roquet (“10.000 Km”), draws us in with the charming Bardi family, who has gone off the grid. For eight years, husband and wife Walid and Souraya (Oscar-nominated “Capernaum” director Nadine Labaki) have lived in the mountains with their two girls — Rim (twins Seana and...

Arriving at TIFF after having premiered at the Venice Film Festival, first-time Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who actually penned the screenplay with Clara Roquet and is premiering only months apart from Roquet’s launch of Libertad in the Cannes’ Critics’ Week section. Akl explores the perplexing psyche of country via a family collective — tension really does exist a bit everywhere …even in safe spaces.

Costa Brava, Lebanon was developed during the Cannes’ Cinéfondation Residency and took part of the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters and Director’s Labs and comes we a lot of support. The notion of support is at the heart of this dramatic text – one that isolates its characters and demonstrates how the family is a strong or stronger when civil disobedience is what is for dinner.…...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to first-time Lebanese director Mounia Akl’s timely drama “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” which launched positively last year from Venice.

“Costa Brava” provides an acerbic take on Lebanon’s waste management crisis and its turbulent political landscape and combines the country’s strife with the global climate crisis.

The darkly comic drama pairs Oscar-nominated Lebanese star and filmmaker Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”) and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“The Band’s Visit”) as a couple who has moved from Beirut to live idyllically in the mountains, until one day the government decides to build a garbage landfill right beside their house.

After bowing from Venice “Costa Brava” segued to the Toronto and London fests, where it won prizes.

The pic’s production team boasts about it being the first feature in the Arab region to implement green measures on set, with strict sustainability protocols about recycling, water use,...

“El agua,” (Elena López Riera)

A Directors’ Fortnight title, the feature debut of Locarno winning López Riera (“Los Que Desean”), a fantasy-laced village-set critique of gender violence. S.A. Elle Driver

“Alcarràs,” (Carla Simón)

The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, Simón’s follow-up to “Summer 1993” and the flagship title for Catalonia and Spain’s newest filmmaking generation. S.A. MK2 Films

“Amazing Elisa,” (Sádrac González-Perellón)

The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González-Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, plans revenge after her mother’s tragic death. S.A. Filmax

“The Beasts,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

One of 2022’s most awaited Spanish titles, playing Cannes Premiere, a Galicia-set thriller from Oscar-nominee Sorogoyen (“Mother”), produced by Arcadia, Caballo Films and Le Pacte. S.A. Latido Films

“The Communion Girl,” (Víctor García)

A revenge thriller involving an urban legend about a girl in a communion dress. S.

The Good Boss, Fernando León de Aranoa’s comedy-drama starring Javier Bardem, dominated Spain’s top film prizes this year, The Goyas, collecting six awards including Best Picture.

The film also nabbed Best Director and Best Screenplay for Aranoa, Best Actor for Javier Bardem, Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes) and Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert). It had previously received a record-setting 20 nominations.

The ceremony saw Bardem continue his streak at the awards, collecting his sixth Goya in total, while filmmaker Aranoa is now up to seven across his career.

The Good Boss stars Bardem as a factory owner who deviously schemes his way to solving all of the problems within his business and his personal life, including his infidelities. It was produced by companies including The MediaPro Studio and MK2 Films. Cohen Media Group will handle the U.S. release.

Deadline sat down with Bardem and Aranoa at last year...

Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Parallel Mothers’ went home empty-handed.

The Good Boss, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem, scored big at the 36th edition of the Goyas, the Spanish Academy Awards held on Saturday in Valencia. With a record 20 nominations, it won six wards including best film, best director and screenplay for León de Aranoa and best actor for Javier Bardem.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, nominated for eight awards, left empty handed.

Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, The Good Boss premiered in competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival and went on to...

Shortlisted for the Academy Awards in the international feature film category, Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” capped a record 20 Spanish Academy Goya nominations by scoring best picture and actor for Javier Bardem at Saturday’s Goya prize ceremony.

The prizes marked both Leon and Bardem’s seventh Goya wins. Produced by El Reposado and The Mediapro Studio, and a workplace dramedy skewering the abuse of power practised by a seemingly benign factory owner, “The Good Boss” also won best director and original screenplay for León, as well as best score and editing.

Blanca Portillo beat out “Parallel Mothers’” Oscar-nominated Penélope Cruz, thanks to Portillo’s powerful performance as Maixabel Lasa, the real life widow of former Basque Country governor Juan Mari Jauregui who agreed in 2011 to meet one of his Eta killers. Her forgiveness, and Portillo’s portrait, has touched a large nerve in Spain.

One highlight...

Javier Bardem in The Good Boss Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival Fernando León de Aranoa has secured a record 20 nominations for his film The Good Boss at this year's Goyas - the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars.

The satire stars Javier Bardem, who is in the running for Best Actor.

Icíar Bollaín’s terrorism drama Maixabel, meanwhile, secured 14 nominations while Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers - about two mothers who give birth on the same day - has eight nods.

The Goya awards ceremony will be held on February 12 in Valencia.

2022 Goya Nominations

Best Film

The Good Boss (Fernando León de Aranoa) Libertad (Clara Roquet) Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar) Maixabel (Icíar Bollaín) Mediterraneo, The Laws Of The Sea (Marcel Barrena)

Best Director

Fernando León de Aranoa (The Good Boss) Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers) Manuel Martín Cuenca (The Daughter) Icíar Bollaín (Maixabel)

Best New Director

Carol Rodríguez Colás (Chavalas) Javier Marco Rico,...

Nominations have been unveiled for Spain’s primary film awards, the Goyas, with the Javier Bardem-starring comedy-drama The Good Boss racking up an all-time record of 20 nominations across 17 categories.

The film is up for Best Picture, Best Director for Fernando León de Aranoa, and Best Original Screenplay. In the acting categories, it also set another record by clocking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.

Finally, the pic is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume...

‘The Good Boss’ leads Icíar Bollaín’s ‘Maixabel’ and Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Parallel Mothers’.

The Good Boss, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem, led the Goya nominations from the Spanish Film Academy with 20 nods, an all-time record.

The satire, also Spain’s entry for the Oscars, is ahead of Icíar Bollaín’s Maixabel and Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, on 14 and eight nominations respectively.

The Good Boss is the fifth highest-grossing film in Spain this year with €2.6m. Written and directed by León de Aranoa, it follows the petty boss of an industrial scales factory, played...

Already selected as this year’s Spanish Best International Feature Film submission for the Oscars, Fernando León de Aranoa’s dark workplace comedy “The Good Boss,” starring Javier Bardem, has set a new record for most Spanish Academy Goya Award nominations with 20, ahead of Icíar Bollaín’s standout Basque drama “Maixabel” with 14 and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” which secured eight.

The 20 nominations include: Best picture, director, original screenplay, original music, lead actor, three nominations for supporting actor, supporting actress, two nominations for best new male actor and one for best new female actor, production design, cinematography, editing, art direction, costume design, makeup, sound design and special effects. It’s a total which breaks an almost 30-year-old record held by Imanol Uribe’s “Numbered Days,” which received 19 nominations in 1994.

León’s latest, produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, is a return to a fruitful partnership between the director and his leading man.

Spain’s top independent sales agents are prepped and ready for this year’s online American Film Market; however, most are eagerly awaiting the return of in-person events, seen as a more productive platform for selling independent cinema abroad. The optimism is cautious, though, with theatrical prospects for international independent films in a post-covid world still hard to predict.

Traditionally, AFM has been a popular launchpad for Spanish films to find distribution in the non-Spanish-speaking world but, while most of the regular faces will be attending digitally, many are holding back their bigger titles for Berlin, where they can be pitched in-person and meetings can be held face-to-face.

“Online markets have been really important for us over the past year, but now we need in-person events. The success of Mia in Rome is proof of that,” said Latido Films general director Antonio Saura, who hosted three market premieres at the...