News

Spain’s Latido Films has acquired Eva Libertad’s upcoming feature “Sorda,” adapted from her 2023 Spanish Academy Goya Award-nominated short of the same name.

“Sorda,” which translates to “deaf” in English, tells the story of Angela, a pregnant deaf woman, and Hector, her hearing partner. Pregnancy brings to the surface her fears about motherhood and how she will be able to communicate with her daughter. The arrival of the girl generates a crisis in the couple and leads Angela to face the upbringing of her daughter in a world that is not made for her.

Libertad wrote and is directing the film, a continuation of her 2023 short of the same name that starred her sister, Miriam Garlo. In addition to a Spanish Academy Goya nomination, the film was selected by more than 110 festivals and won more than 60 awards.

“A few years ago, my sister began to consider becoming a mother,...

Anonymous Content España, backed by Anonymous Content and Spain’s Morena Films, is teaming with Alea Media to produce a series based on Spain’s 1981 Toxic Oil Syndrome, one of – if not the – deadliest case of food poisoning in modern-day Europe.

The still-to-be-titled series is the first project announced by Anonymous Content España, underscoring its ambition to “elevate local stories into premium television pieces that have a local impact with an international reach,” said its Managing Director Beatriz Campos.

To achieve that, Alea Media is an excellent partner. It rates as one of Spain’s most successful and versatile of TV companies which has scored hits ranging from HBO Europe reconciliation tale “Patria” to Mediaset España war vet vs. drug gang drama-thriller “Wrong Side of the Tracks,” which ranked No. 1 in Netflix global non-English language charts over Feb. 26-March 3, and “Yo Adicto,” a Disney+ Spain addiction survival drama.

Led by ex-Studiocanal executive Campos,...

One of Spain’s leading export powers, Mediterráneo, the film-tv international distribution arm of leading broadcast network Mediaset España, has hit Mipcom with one of its strongest slates in recent years.

This is led by “La Favorita 1922,” its first collaboration with Bambú Producciones, the Studiocanal-owned production house behind titles that have helped revolutionize Spanish scripted, such as “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and daily series “The Vow.”

Also brought to market are “Detective Romi” and “El Marqués” as Mediterráneo hit several growth axes in Spain and abroad: Modern melodramas with ultra-high production values (“La Favorita”), “lighter” procedurals and true-event-based crime stories. In the case of the latter, Mediterráneo is exploiting larger Spanish trends. According to The Wit, Spain is the number two country in Europe for fiction based on true events.

Mediterráneo also houses companies owned or part-owned by Mediaset España such as Telecinco Cinema, whose credits include “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Impossible,...

Chile’s Fabula and Spain’s Alea Media have unveiled they are allying on development of “A Long Petal of the Sea,” based on a 2019 novel by Isabel Allende.

Alea Media founder Aitor Gabilondo will serve as showrunner on the series which is scheduled to go into production by the end of 2025.

The new title joins two of the biggest powerhouses of premium scripted drama in the Spanish-speaking world and powerful IP in a swing for broad audiences worldwide.

Founded by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrain, Academy Award winners for “A Fantastic Woman,” Fabula’s production credits take in movies “Jackie,” “Spencer” and “Maria,” all directed by Pablo Larraín.

Headed by Aitor Gabilondo, Alea Media is behind HBO Spanish smash hit “Patria” and Mediaset España’s “Wrong Side of the Tracks,” whose latest third season topped Netflix global non-English TV series charts earlier this year.

“A Long Petal of...

San Sebastian — From when it began to incorporate Spanish TV series in its Official Selection – think 2017’s “The Plague” or 2020’s double whammy of “Patria” and “Riot Police” – San Sebastián has used its first Saturday to debate TV issues.

This time round, a panel highlighted crime series, featuring Movistar Plus+’s Susana Herreras, Laura Sarmiento, showrunner of Netflix hit “Intimacy” and lead writer on “Burning Body,” and Elías León Siminiani, co-creator of the 2017 docuseries “El caso Asunta (Operación Nenúfar)” which inspired the 2024 Netflix fiction series, “El Caso Asunta.”

Six takes on the panel discussion:

Spanish Crime Series Boom

The panel was entitled in Spanish “The Spanish Crime Series Boom.” That seems an understatement. According to Variety research, through Sept. 13 this year, seven Spanish titles hit No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Non-English TV series charts, occupying the top-charting position for a total 15 of the period’s total 35 weeks. That’s a...

FilmSharks has released the international trailer for “The Bus of Life,” the latest feature from Barcelona-based Arcadia Motion Pictures, producers of Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated movie “Robot Dreams” and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Cesar and Goya-winner “The Beasts.”

“The Bus of Life,” which will be released in Spain by A Contracorriente Films on July 3, is directed by Ibón Cormenzana, a producer of both of those films.

In the film, Andrés, a music teacher diagnosed with cancer, heads into the city to seek treatment for the illness. He makes the commute in a dilapidated school bus accompanied by other cancer patients. The bus is inspired by the real-life experiences of a Basque relative of Cormenzana’s.

Despite the consequences of their journey, the passengers strike quick friendships and turn the voyage into a celebratory one, where many learn a more joyous understanding of life. Andrés also learns to face his fears, such as stage fright,...

La cineasta transforma su cortometraje nominado al Goya en un largometraje. © A Contracorriente Films

Comienza en Murcia el rodaje de “Sorda”, la película escrita y dirigida por Eva Libertad y basada en el cortometraje homónimo nominado a los Premios Goya en 2023, también dirigido por Libertad. “Sorda” es una historia de amor materno-filial y de pareja, exacerbado por el choque entre el mundo de los sordos y el de los oyentes.

“Sorda” sigue a Ángela (Garlo), una mujer sorda, que va a tener un bebé con Héctor (Cervantes), su pareja oyente. El embarazo hace aflorar sus miedos frente la maternidad y sobre cómo podrá comunicarse con su hija. La llegada de la niña genera una crisis en la pareja y lleva a Ángela a enfrentarse a la crianza de su hija en un mundo que no está hecho para ella.

La película marca un hito en el cine español al ser...

FilmSharks has taken world sales rights outside Spain to “The Bus of Life,” next up from Arcadia Motion Pictures, producer of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Cesar and Goya winner “The Beasts” and Neon U.S. pick-up “Robot Dreams,” nominated last month for a best animated feature Academy Award.

The production and sales company has also revealed first look art work on the film, currently in post and set for delivery in 2024.

Directed by Ibón Cormenzana, producer of both “The Beasts” and Robot “Dreams,” “The Bus of Life” turns on Andrés, a music teacher diagnosed with cancer who seeks treatment at a hospital in the city.

His travels there on a singular, dilapidated bus accompanied by other cancer patients. It soon becomes an extraordinary experience, giving him new friends and a far more joyous understanding of life.He also learns to conquer his fears, such as the stage fright which has frustrated...

Bringing one of Spain’s biggest potential box office hits onto the market at the AFM, Filmax has secured international sales to “A Moroccan Affair,” the third instalment in the most successful Spanish movie franchise in history.

“Moroccan Affair” is produced by Telecinco Cinema and Lazona, the duo behind the first two instalments of the saga, comedies “Spanish Affair” (2014) and “Spanish Affair 2” (2015), which still rank as the biggest, and third-biggest, respectively, Spanish-produced box office hits of all time at Spain’s box office, grossing a combined €90.9 million ($96.3 million).

Set to open in Spain Dec. 1, released by Universal Pictures Intl. Spain, “A Moroccan Affair” is directed by Alvaro Fernández Armero, who called the film “a comedy in which culture shocks are the driving comedic force.”

The film stars Julián López (“Undercover Wedding Crashers”), Michelle Jenner (“Our Lovers”), Elena Irureta (“Patria”) and María Ramos (“El Cid”).

Written by Daniel Castro (“Vote for Juan...

As earning significant profile for shows in a packed marketplace has become one of Europe’s most pressing industry concerns, a new and ambitious TV series festival is launching in Cadiz, southern Spain, as an initiative of Mediaset España and backed by shows from other key players on the Spanish TV scene, such as The Mediapro Studio and Movistar Plus+.

Speakers from the Spanish-speaking world take in writer-director-producer Armando Bo (“El Presidente”), an Oscar winning scribe for “Birdman, or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance,” and Daniel Écija, an executive producer on key hits in the last decade in Spain such as the multi-genre free-to-air series “Estoy Vivo,” and “Locked Up” “(Vis a vis,” a key into its lift-off into premium drama selling worldwide.

Some titles screening at Cadiz are already celebrated, such as Russell T. Davies’ “Nolly,” starring Helena Bonham-Carter.

Also in the Coming Next section is Norwegian political satire “Power Play,...

Yanet, lateish twenties, opens her eyes, looks in the mirror, takes in air, straightens two braids of hair, hold her head in her hands, purses her lips, is called for her stage test.

She begins to sing. “People say I have to change, but I don’t care at all. I feel so free I could sing on the high-velocity train.”

The trouble is her memorised rap has become a screech and, rather than don’t give a damn, she’s hanging on every word which will be delivered by a judge sitting in the theater, who asks her to stop.

“If you had any talent, you wouldn’t be on this stage at all, he tells her…”

Dropped on Amazon’s Prime Video on Oct. 4, “Urban” is produced by Spanish free-to-air broadcaster Mediaset España, in collaboration with Alea Media and Prime Video. Mediaset España will released a first episode...

Toledo, Spain — Carmen Machi, one of the foremost performers of her generation in Spain, is attached to play legendary Barcelona agent Carmen Balcells, prime architect of the Latin American Boom and a key figure in the break out of Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa to worldwide renown.

Chile’s Invercine, producer of “News of a Kidnapping” which swept April’s Platino Awards, is teaming with Spain’s Abacus, Pausoka and Grupo Lavinia to develop and produce “Boom Agency” (“La Agencia del Boom”) which turns on Balcells extraordinary life, achievement and personality. The deal was confirmed to Variety at Conecta Fiction.

The series also turns on Balcells’ worst nightmare, the rupture of the deep friendship between her star writers, Mario Vargas Llosa and Gabriel García-Marquez, whose rift broke the back of the Boom.

Spain’s Oscar Pedraza, co-director of HBO España’s “Patria,” is attached to direct. Colombians Verónica Triana...

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.

Spanish SVOD service Atresplayer Premium has announced at the Berlinale Series Market a raft of new cast members joining the continuation of its award-winning trans series “Veneno,” which played on HBO Max in the U.S. to large acclaim.

Joining the cast of the seven-episode series “Vestidas De Azul” are supporting cast members Susana Abaitua (“Crazy about Her”), Elena Irureta (“Patria”), Luis Callejo (“Jefe”), drag artist Estrella Xtravaganza, Mercedes Sampietro and Anabel Alonso (“7 Vidas”), among others.

The announcement was made at a Q&a on Monday focused on the continuation of the series. It forms part of a Next from Spain event focusing on first looks at four new series.

Currently shooting, Atresmedia,Atresolayer Premium parent, says it plans to begin streaming the new series in the fourth quarter of the year.

The original series was based on the life of Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez (La Veneno), a famous trans personality and singer from Spain.

The latest Spanish-language series for Netflix has been given its first teaser trailer, and this crime thriller looks absolutely captivating. Directed by Óscar Pedraza from a screenplay by Xosé Moraisa and Victoriano Sierra Ferreiro, "The Longest Night" will tell a gripping story about a group of armed men who surround the Monte Baruca psychiatric prison and cut off all forms of communication on December 24 to fulfill their mission to save Simón Lago, an infamous serial killer, after the prison warden refuses to turn him over. All six episodes will take place on the same night, giving audiences a...

The post The Longest Night Teaser: This Prison is About to Break appeared first on /Film.

“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.

Priya Dogra, president of WarnerMedia Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (excluding China), took the stage on Thursday to deliver a keynote speech at the Series Mania TV fest in Lille, France, and the message was clear: the U.S. conglomerate is ramping up production in Europe.

“Our industry is becoming more global,” said Dogra. “As players launch services across the world, competition is intensifying, and we are seeing record levels of investment in high-quality content in all markets, and no more so than in Europe,” she noted in her opening remarks.

The top WarnerMedia exec went on to add that amid the ongoing global rollout of HBO Max, “In Europe, we have gone from producing around 10 HBO titles in 2019 to having over 40 in the pipeline for 2023 for HBO Max across scripted and unscripted,” she said.

Five months after its launch HBO Max is now available in 21 European territories...

WarnerMedia Emea & Asia President Priya Dogra has talked up the U.S. media giant’s plan to “ramp up investment in local creative communities across Europe,” with 40 shows in the pipeline for 2023.

Taking the Series Mania early afternoon keynote, the exec said WarnerMedia wants to “honour our 100-year legacy of U.S. production know-how” in the various territories HBO Max is expanding into.

Her comments came a day after HBO Max Content Boss Antony Root said the streamer’s European operation will “broaden its appeal beyond the die hard Euphoria fan.”

In Europe, Dogra said HBO Max is quadrupling its number of titles from 10 in 2019 to 40 in 2023 across scripted and non-scripted, as it pushes into more genres.

“There is much more to come as we forge partnerships with more content creators, providing backing for more original series, and extend our reach to more territories, opening up even more opportunity for local investment,...

In one of its first major overtures to the European drama community since expanding across the continent, HBO Max commissioners used a rare Series Mania presentation to lay out their strategies and wish lists for the platform.

The team was speaking as part of a panel on Wednesday that drew a queue of at least 500 people who were snaked around the Lille Grand Palais in hopes of getting in. HBO Max is, for many a drama producer in town, the ideal partner in Europe given its existing track record as HBO Europe.

Antony Root, executive VP and head of original production for WarnerMedia Emea, presented the streamer’s four pillars for local originals: Local first; broad appeal; distinctive storytelling; and a diverse slate.

The task at hand, he said, is to drive subscriber acquisitions and “get people in who might not otherwise subscribe to the HBO channel, by having a broader slate.

Netflix today unveiled a slate of new Spanish content, including two fiction series and a pair of feature films.

The streamer renewed its popular Spanish YA drama series Elite for a sixth season, well ahead of the series’ Season 5 premiere. Created and written by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, Elite is one of the streamer’s best performing Spanish originals.

Netflix also confirmed three new holiday-themed installments of the short-form spinoff Elite: Short Stories: Phillipe, Caye, & Felipe, premiering Wednesday, Dec. 15, Samuel & Omar, premiering Monday, Dec. 20 and Patrick, premiering Thursday, Dec. 23.

On the film side, Patxi Amezcua is writing and directing Infiesto (working title). Isak Férriz and Iria del Río star in the pic, which is set on the first day of a national emergency involving a virus and follows two detectives who are called to a small mining town in the Asturian mountains where a young woman who had...

Netflix’s Spanish adaptation of its hit original movie “Bird Box” is coming together.

Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”

Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.

Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...

WarnerMedia has been rolling out HBO Max around the world over the last few months and has been ramping up the number of international originals that it orders.

The company has now revealed that it is launching its first international original day-and-date in the U.S. and globally and has plans for more.

Danish drama series Kamikaze will be the first show, commissioned and produced out of Europe, that will bow on the service everywhere HBO Max is available at the same time.

It brings the streamer in line with rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple in terms of launching shows in all of its markets at the same time, giving series the opportunity to create a global buzz on social media and replicate the success of breakout local-language hits such as Netflix’s Squid Game.

Kamikaze, which is based on the novel Muleum by Erlend Loe, follows the fierce and charming 18-year-old Julie,...

Eighth annual celebration of Ibero-American audiovisual industry returned to in-person event in Madrid.

Colombia dominated the Platino Awards – the Ibero-American equivalent of the Oscars – as Memories Of My Father, a drama about a public health activist murdered in the 1980s, took five awards on Sunday night (October 3) while Michel Franco’s New Order emerged empty-handed from the Madrid ceremony.

Memories Of My Father won best film and art direction and earned three awards for Spaniards as Fernando Trueba triumphed in the directing category, his brother David Trueba won for best screenplay and Javier Camara took the best actor prize for...

David Tennant, French comedy Call My Agent and Israeli drama Tehran are among those vying for prizes at the International Emmy Awards this year. Nominations for the awards this year saw 44 nominees across 11 categories and a record number of 24 countries.

Tennant is up for Best Performance from an Actor for his starring role in ITV crime series Des while Call My Agent has been nominated in the comedy category and Tehran in the Drama Series category.

Actress Menna Shalaby has earned her first ever Emmy nomination for her performance in the crime mini-series Every Week Has A Friday.

“We’re so proud of our nominees and the record-breaking number of countries,” said International Academy President and CEO Bruce Paisner in a statement. “To those who feared the pandemic would slow down TV production around the world, this is your answer.”

Winners will be announced at an in-person ceremony in New...

Historic protests swept Cuba on Sunday as thousands of people gathered across the island and expressed their outrage over longstanding economic hardships, food scarcity, and vaccine shortages, marking one of the country’s biggest anti-government demonstrations in the last decade.

Social media videos captured Cubans marching through city streets, shouting “Libertad!” But amid the cries for “Freedom!” another refrain was heard over and over again: “Patria y vida!” a reference to a song of the same name that’s quickly become the anthem for a nation that’s reached a boiling point.

WarnerMedia has appointed broadcast executive Annelies Sitvast to the newly created role of head of unscripted production for Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea).

Based in Amsterdam, Sitvast will commission unscripted programming for streamer HBO Max, which will begin rolling out in Europe by year’s end, and will report into Antony Root, head of original production for WarnerMedia Emea. Sitvast will join the company in May.

Most recently, Sitvast was head of Net 5, the Talpa Network-backed Dutch commercial television channel. The exec served as a commissioning editor, overseeing content strategy and brand development, including all original programming, production and scheduling.

Prior to this, she was channel coordinator at Net 5, where she coordinated programming and supervised local productions. Before that, Sitvast spent seven years at Sbs Broadcasting B.V. as senior acquisitions executive, where she worked on acquisition strategies and advised on brand positioning, content selections and series/slate development for several Dutch TV channels.

Starzplay has unveiled plot details, casting and a first-look image for “Express,” an original co-produced with Spanish production giant The Mediapro Studio and U.S. streaming platform Pantaya. “Express” is Starzplay’s first local language Spanish production, but one of several announced in August of last year. Each will be available on the Starzplay platform in Spain and Latin America as well as Spanish-language focused streamer Pantaya – a co-venture between Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media Group – in the U.S.

Heading the cast of “Express” is “Locked Up” and “Cable Girls” star Maggie Civantos, joined by Spanish Academy Goya Award nominee Kiti Mánver, Vicente Romero (“Cell 211”), Loreto Mauleón (“Patria”), Esteban Meloni (“Los Internacionales”), Alba Planas (the Spanish version of “Skam”), Ana Marzoa (“Locked Up”), Omar Banana (“Veneno”), Bernardo Flores (“Women in Charge”) and newcomer Carmen Daza and Manuela Rojas.

In “Express,” criminal psychologist Bárbara (Civantos) becomes the victim of an express kidnapping,...

Spanish director and screenwriter Rodrigo Sorogoyen, fresh off large acclaim, prizes and recording-breaking viewership on Movistar Plus for “Riot Police,” is preparing a follow-up series for the Telefonica Spanish pay TV/SVOD service in Spain, which will deliver Sorogoyen’s personal take on the Spanish Civil War.

The untitled series will be co-written by Isabel Peña and Eduardo Villanueva, Sorogoyen’s regular co-scribes. It will go into production in 2022.

The move is a natural one. In his breakout movie, “May God Save Us,” a grueling, grimy melancholic serial killer thriller about men who cannot control their actions, as well as “Riot Police” – the chronicle of a Police Intervention Unit bungling an eviction in a Senagalese community in Madrid, its results and cause – Sorogoyen has shown a fascination with toxic authoritarianism and violence.

There have been few more violent conflicts or chamber of military horrors than the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War,...

San Sebastian’s Tabakalera, a former tobacco factory repurposed as a hub of cultural activity for the Basque region with close ties to the city’s film festival, has launched the 2deo Serieak, an ambitious, international program developed to tutor, guide and support projects from TV series creators, producers and scriptwriters. The new initiative is backed by 2deo, Tabakalera’s audiovisual laboratory, and promoted by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa in collaboration with the San Sebastian Festival.

For the Tabakalera, the program represents a further step forward in the promotion and dissemination of Spanish, and more specifically Basque culture and talent, perhaps best exemplified by the recent global success of HBO Europe’s “Patria,” the company’s first Spanish-language original which can now be seen HBO Max.

The fact that the program welcomes international projects is another step in the creation of a cosmopolitan cultural industry hub in San Sebastian based around the Tabakalera,...

The Juan José Millás novel is being turned into a psychological thriller by the Spanish filmmaker; the cast includes Leonor Watling, Paco León and Álex Brendemühl. The director behind half of the episodes of the series Patria (read the review), Félix Viscarret, currently finds himself in his home town of Pamplona, engrossed (as he has been for the last few weeks) in making the film From the Shadows, a big-screen adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Juan José Millás. Leonor Watling, Paco León, Álex Brendemühl, Juan Diego Botto, María Romanillos, Marcos Ruiz and Susana Abaitua will topline the feature. With a screenplay penned by the director together with David Muñoz (La estrategia del pequinés), the film revolves around Damián, who, in order to run away from his boss when he fires him after many long years of service in his company, hides in an...

Catching up on news from and beyond NATPE Miami, ITV Studios and Hot begin shooting on “Jerusalem,” while Disney Plus starts production on its first originals in Spain and Argentina, Newen ropes its French production companies together as Newen France, Beyond Rights sells 250 hours of content in Spain and Portugal and Onza Distribution gets the global rights to new Spanish game show “The Celebrity Challenge.”

Production

Drama Team, in association with ITV Studios and Hot, have kicked off shooting on their new thriller series “Jerusalem,” created by “Blank Bullet’s” David Ackerman.

Inspired by Ackerman’s previous career in national security and the multicultural nature of the city, “Jerusalem” unspools in the lead up to the Jewish fast of Tisha Be’av and the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha. It turns on Superintendent Amir, a well educated and culturally literate lawman who too often puts his work ahead of his own family,...

Víctor Amilibia (The Night of the Virgin and TV Series Allí Abajo and Acacias 38), Emma Caballero, Leire Ucha and Christian Stamm are the protagonists of “Bad Weed (Maleza)”, written and directed by Rubén Arnaiz. It is a thriller (or social terror) about …

The post Trailer, poster, frames and Press note from Maleza (Bad Weed) appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Ventana Sur, which wrapped Friday, was, on many counts, quite extraordinary. With Buenos Aires, the market’s normal location, still under Covid-19 lockdown, Latin America’s biggest movie mart-meet spread out film screenings over five cities in two continents – Madrid, Mexico City, Bogotá, São Paulo and Santiago de Chile – complemented by digital screenings for the rest of the world. Following, five takes on that bold gambit and the market itself, organized by Argentina’s Incaa Film Institute and the Cannes Marché du Film and Festival:

It Was Remarkable – But Did It Work?

Ventana Sur’s five city spread marks a revolution. But did it work? Global attendance held stable at 2,957 participants from 61 countries. 188 online screenings, complimented by 118 theatrical screenings, and the loss of a single on-site event in Buenos Aires, sparked a dramatic increase in non-Argentine attendees with delegates rocketing up to 78% in Europe to 546, 49% in the U.S. to 110 and 185% to 134 in Mexico,...

In a powerful Spanish talent package, “Patria” director Felix Viscarret is set to direct “House of Flowers” Paco Leon and “Nasdrovia” star Leonor Watling in psychological thriller “From the Shadows” (“Desde la Sombra”), adapting a novel by Spanish writer Juan José Millas, winner of most of Spain’s foremost literary awards, including the Planeta, Nadal and National Narrative Awards.

A star of sitcom “Aida,” a free-to-air TV phenomenon over 2005-14, and more latterly Netflix Mexico hit “House of Flowers,” Leon co-wrote and directed “Arde Madrid,” a Movistar Plus Rose d’Or winning original series. Star of Pedro Almodovar’s Academy Award winning “Talk to Her,” Watling confirmed her comic talents most recently in Movistar Plus’ excruciatingly discomforting Russian mob comedy “Nasdrovia.”

Produced by Academy Award winning Tornasol Media (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), and co-produced by Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup, “From the Shadows” will be brought onto the...

Festival will focus on shows based on literary adaptations.

Marseille Series Stories, a new French TV festival focused on TV shows adapted from literary works, has unveiled the line-up for its inaugural edition running in the southern French city from November 19-22.

The new event joins a raft of TV festivals and industry events in France, including Canneseries in Cannes, Series Mania in Lille and Series Series in Fontainbleau, near Paris.

Aldous Huxley adaptation Brave New World, which premiered on NBCUniversal’s new streaming service Peacock in July and debuted on Sky One at the beginning of October, will open the event.

Amazon Prime Video hosted a San Sebastian press conference for its new Spanish docu-series “The Challenge: Eta,” sharing a new trailer for the program and announcing that the series will be made available to stream around the world on Oct. 30.

The well-attended panel, also streamed on San Sebastian’s website, was hosted by Oscar Prol, head of Spanish unscripted originals, Amazon Studios, Luis Velo, executive producer at Atar TV, and series director Hugo Stuven.

One of a series of high-profile productions to come out this year examining the violent conflict between the Basque Country’s Eta armed resistance group and the Spanish government, it joins the likes of Movistar Plus’ “La Linea Invisible,” launched earlier this year to rave reviews and massive audience numbers, and HBO’s “Patria,” one of the highest profile titles, film or series, playing at this year’s festival.

“The Challenge: Eta” is based on Manuel Sánchez Corbí...

This quality in this year’s crop of home-grown productions at the San Sebastian Festival is no surprise to anyone following the region’s growth in recent years, but it is impressive.

Below, 20 Basque projects and finished films and series which stand out at this year’s event.

“Akelarre,” (Pablo Agüero)

A former San Sebastian Festival Co-Production Forum project, “Akelarre” is the latest from Cannes Jury Prize-winner Pablo Agüero (“First Snow”) and plays in this year’s main competition. Heavily influenced by Jules Michelet’s novel “The Witch,” Agüero’s period drama came from a “feeling of injustice that almost all works of fiction dealing with witch hunts perpetuate, clichés first created by the Inquisition.” Seven companies combined on the ambitious co-production.

S.A. Film Factory

“Patria,” (Aitor Gabilondo)

HBO Europe’s original series about two families caught up in the Basque Country’s armed conflict with the Eta organization,...

“Patria,” the signature series of HBO España, has struck a chord at Spain’s San Sebastian Festival.

“’Patria’ is the most important series of the year, and also a marvel, which will move everyone and give us a lot to talk about,” tweeted Javier Zurro of El Español. Cineuropa hails it an “extraordinary HBO series.”

The eight-parter was screened in its entirety on Friday evening with a 90-minute interval. Near all the audience returned for the second half, though it finished at 1.30 a.m.

The robust reception for “Patria” at San Sebastian, which is located in the Basque Country, was no given when one considers the series’ subject.

Depicting the visceral impact of the Basque Country’s armed conflict on normal people on both sides – as well as many somewhere in between – the series’ main storyline turns on Bitorri and Miren, two women who were once the closest of friends.

Seven drama series play at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival, a historic record. Three series, Movistar Plus’ “Riot Police” and HBO Europe’s “Patria” and “We Are Who We Are,” screen in their entirety in San Sebastián’s Official Selection, another first.

None of this seems a coincidence. Traditionally the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world, San Sebastian is fast becoming one of its most important drama series showcases as well.

This year the San Sebastián Film Festival’s TV cup runneth over. Why is another matter. Following, five suggestions:

San Sebastian Festival’s Backers

The Festival’s two major sponsors, Telefonica pay TV division Movistar Plus and public broadcaster Radio Televisión Española (Rtve), are TV companies. In Spain, local series have mesmerized local audiences for the last 25 years. Over 2011-16, only three U.S. shows – “The Pillars of the Earth,” “The Witch” and ABC’S “Resurrection” – made the...

Braving Covid-19, Spain’s 68th San Sebastián Film Festival bowed on-site on Sept. 18, launching a somewhat slimmed edition that maintains, however, all its main sections. Following, seven more takes on the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world as it finally kicks off:

Depp, Dillon, Gershon Confirm Attendance

Stars are rallying round this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival. Viggo Mortensen is already confirmed as the recipient of a Donostia Award. On Thursday, the festival announced that Johnny Depp, who takes a producer credit on Julien Temple’s “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan,” will also be in town, as Matt Dillon, director of Cuban music doc “The Great Fellove,” and Gina Gershon, star of Woody Allen’s “Rifkin’s Festival.” “The Skin I Live In’s” Elena Anaya, Rifkin’s Festival’s” other female lead, also attends along with a strong Spanish star contingent attached to other titles.

With a diverse lineup of series coming out this year, HBO España is making its mark in Europe with top tier productions that differentiate themselves from the current crop of shows currently on the market, according to the service’s head of original programming.

Discussing the pay TV outlet’s strategy and upcoming productions at this year’s Conecta Fiction Reboot confab, Miguel Salvat, HBO España’s commissioning editor of original programming, said the channel receives and reviews around 1,000 projects a year, and that figure is growing.

“We don’t close the door to anyone, to any person or company, because you never know where the next project that you want to make will come from,” Salvat stressed.

“We’re keeping with that strategy of making few projects,” he added. “What we are looking for in projects are basically three things: an original voice; we are also looking for differentiation,...

Dancing Ledge, the drama producer 25% owned by Fremantle, has promoted executive producer Chris Carey to the newly-created role of managing director. He will work alongside CEO Laurence Bowen having joined Dancing Ledge last year after spells producing shows including Les Misérables. Dancing Ledge’s current slate includes Martin Freeman series The Responder and novichok drama The Salisbury Poisonings, which are both being made for the BBC, as well as Netflix’s Delhi Crime. Bowen said: “Chris’ experience, knowledge, contacts and creative flair make him the perfect first MD of Dancing Ledge. He’s had huge success in the industry before and since joining Dancing Ledge and with him in a leadership position, the company can grow its reputation as a producer of memorable, bold drama and a champion of new talent.”

Smithsonian Channel is to broadcast the five-year hunt for a fleet of infamous German battleships that were sunk in 1914 off the Falklands Islands.

Drama Adult Material and Basque conflict saga Patria among series set to market premiere online.

French TV festival and industry event Series Mania has kicked off its industry-focused online platform the Digital Forum, showcasing 40 completed series and 10 short format works as well as 30 pre-recorded pitches for shows in development.

The digital initiative replaces the physical event that was due to take place in the northern French city of Lille from March 20 to 28 but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. France is now under a lockdown which is expected to run into April.

Channel 4’s drama Adult Material and...

Drama Adult Material and Basque conflict saga Patria among series set to market premiere online.

French TV festival and industry event Series Mania has kicked off its industry-focused online platform the Digital Forum, showcasing 40 completed series and 10 short format works as well as 30 pre-recorded pitches for shows in development.

The digital initiative replaces the physical event that was due to take place in the northern French city of Lille from March 20 to 28 but was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. France is now under a lockdown which is expected to run into April.

Channel 4’s drama Adult Material and...

Wild Bunch TV-sold “Albatros,” Turner Latin America’s banner title “Amarres” and REInvent Studios’ globe-trotting “Peacemaker” will feature at a 54 series-strong Buyers Showcase, which launches today March 25 as a backbone of Series Mania’s online Digital Forum, Europe’s first big festival experiment in a virtual marketplace.

Also featuring a powerful Co-Pro Pitching lineup, packed by pedigree producers and creatives, the Digital Forum’s industry audience, such as the number of accredited distributors, still has to be confirmed.

Some high-profile titles are missing: Opener “The Luminaries,” for example, from Fremantle and Working Title, and HBO closer “Run.” That said, the Buyer’s Showcase looks set to include five of Series Mania’s original 10 main competition entries and 13 of its 15 International Panorama titles, the festival’s two main sections.

Looking to the long-haul, as it also address urgent financial fall-out from Covid-19, the industry needs festival selection more than ever.

“Series...

In this week’s International TV Newswire: Covid-19 lockdowns halt Spanish post-production; HBO finds a home in Thailand; Globo shifts its broadcast priorities; Sundance Now gets a new Nordic thriller; Zed sells two newly-finished series; and Spain’s “Élite” tops global binge lists as audiences self-isolate.

Coronavirus Halts HBO Post-production of “Patria”

Film and TV shoots have been canceled across Europe and the globe in the wake of Covid-19’s rapid spread, and now with stricter quarantines being put into place in hard-hit countries post-production services are taking a similar hit. Today it was announced that the release of HBO Europe’s highly anticipated Spanish series “Patria” has been pushed back in an effort to reduce risk to the health of those still working on finishing the series.

“We really wanted to release and share #PatriaHBO with you, but due to circumstances that we cannot control and to guarantee the safety of the post-production teams,...

France’s Warner TV has acquired NBC’s drama Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist from Lionsgate. Starring Jane Levy, the show will premiere in France on May 19 after launching in the U.S. earlier this year. It was created by Austin Winsberg and centers on a San Francisco coder who starts to hear other people’s thoughts through popular songs. “This new Lionsgate property is a truly innovative idea brought by a world-class creative team. Musically adventurous, heartfelt and intriguing, the show has everything to entertain Warner TV fans,” said Julien Borde, head of kids and general entertainment channels at WarnerMedia France and Africa. Channel 4 has previously picked up Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist in the UK.

HBO Europe’s first Spanish original drama Patria is to debut in the U.S. and 61 countries across Europe and Latin America on May 17. Set in Spanish Basque Country and taking place over thirty...

Madrid — HBO Europe’s “Patria” will debut day and date on May 17 in the U.S. and 61 countries across Europe and Latin America, a first for HBO Europe, the pay and streaming TV service announced on Thursday, also dropping the first trailer to the series.

In the U.S., “Patria” will be made available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand, HBO Latino, and partners’ streaming platforms.

Depicting the visceral impact of the Basque Country’s armed conflict on normal people on both sides – as well as many somewhere in between – “Patria” will also be available on HBO Europe’s branded services in 21 countries including Spain. In Latin America, it will be broadcast on HBO in over 40 countries and will be available on HBO Go.

The scale of the roll-out reflects the artistic ambition of the Spanish series, the first production announced by HBO España, its signature original series,...

Paris — “Narcos” showrunner Chris Brancato and “Godfather of Harlem” star Giancarlo Esposito, actors Carole Bouquet and Zabou Breitman, and the cast and crew behind the Canal Plus series “The Bureau” will be among the many guest of honor at this year’s Series Mania, which will kick off its 11th edition on March 20.

Returning to the north-eastern French city of Lille, Series Mania will once again offer a broad cross-section of international scripted dramas, with a selection culled from 25 different countries including Chile, Peru, Niger, Senegal and South Korea, alongside high profile productions from the U.S., the U.K. and France.

Among the 38 productions world premiering in Lille, the BBC/Tvnz literary adaption “The Luminaries,” with Eva Green, will play as opening series while the closer remains unannounced.

Once again, Netflix makes a strong showing this year. Beyond bringing the cast and crew of their Paris-set drama “The Eddy,...

Madrid — Rolling off the success of “El Pueblo” on both Spain’s Amazon Prime Video and Telecinco, the main commercial channel of top Spanish broadcast network Mediaset España, the U.S. online giant has clinched pay/TV and Svod rights to four Mediaset España dramas and two docu series.

The deal was sealed between Amazon Prime Video and Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group, the broadcaster’s sales and distribution arm.

Announced Tuesday in Madrid, the agreement takes in the second season of rural relocation comedy series “El Pueblo,” whose Season 1 bowed May 14 last year on Amazon Prime Video, and then on Jan. 15 on Telecinco, to buoyant audience results.

“El Pueblo” turns on a group of urbanites who flee the city for different reasons – existential and economic crisis, need for fresh air, search for peace, inspiration to compose – and the conflict in the way of living between them and their new rural neighbors.