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The producers of Sundance world dramatic competition entry “Utama,” Bolivia’s Alma Films and Uruguay’s LAMAYORCine, have re-teamed for “Los Abrazos” (“The Embrace”), the sixth fiction feature of Marcos Loayza.

The father of “Utama” director Alejandro Loayza Grisi and a lauded filmmaker in Bolivia, Loayza’s credits include his career-launching 1995 drama “A Question of Faith” (“Cuestion de Fe),” adventure pic “Averno” and the docu series “Planet Bolivia” where his son served as Dp.

“’Los Abrazos’ is in quite an advanced phase and we hope to shoot it by the end of this year or early next,” said Federico Moreira of LAMAYORCine who is hoping to enlist an Argentine co-producer for the drama which they expect to film on location in Bolivia, Uruguay and Argentina. Alejandro Loayza Grisi will likely serve as Dp. Alma Film’s Santiago Loayza Grisi is Alejandro’s brother.

“There’s a good energy among the father and sons,...

Uruguay’s already expanding industry still has plenty of room to grow and looks primed to do so with its new financing pilot program about to be extended until 2025 and a host of companies who cut their teeth in international co-production.

Below, Variety highlights twelve Uruguayan companies with outstanding resumes in both domestic and international production likely to usher in a new era of film and TV prominence.

Cimarrón –

Cimarrón is a pan Latin-American alliance between established producers Hernán Musaluppi, Diego Robino and Santiago López. From their offices in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and São Paulo, the company has backed six films since 2017, including Argentine Academy Award and San Sebastian Horizons-winner “The Snatch Thief” and Miguel Cohan’s Netflix Original feature “Blood Will Tell.” Currently Cimarrón has two films in post-production, Martín Boulocq’s “El visitante” and Rafa Russo’s “El año de la furia.”

Coral Cine –

Coral Cine focuses on...

Guadalajara, Mexico — The 15th Guadalajara Festival co-production Meeting for feature film projects are taking place this week in the Jalisco capital, running March 8-14.

The 2019 Meeting sees the biggest presence in terms of gender diversity in the competition’s history. Among directors and producers participating this year, more than 45% are women.

“That wasn’t an intentional decision in filling out the slate,” according to Encuentro representative Samantha Burciaga. However, it is a noteworthy feature of this year’s edition.”

Burciaga also described another trend among the selected projects: “It’s amazing how the filmmakers convey the pain of their people, and the concerns of their communities. The recurring themes of this selection show us nomadic families, the search for the truth in a journey and the breaking of the taboos and comfort zones.”

To qualify for participation, fiction and documentary projects in development from Ibero-American territories must have a minimum...