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No company has a more powerful spread of productions at this year’s San Sebastian Festival than Telefónica’s domestic platform and super-producer Movistar Plus+. The group brings a festival competition movie, “I’m Nevenka,” a premium drama series, “Querer,” a broad audience thriller series, “Celeste” and “Mugaritz,” a documentary feature about Spain’s most cerebral restaurant.

The diverse projects underscore Movistar Plus+’s muscular new content initiatives as the company drives ever more into nonfiction, emerging as Spain’s leader, and launching its first movie slate in January. Spain’s biggest national investor isn’t pulling out of content; in fact, it’s diving into deeper.

For nearly a decade, Movistar Plus+ has both increased the amount of content it produces and diversified the kinds of productions it backs. During the early days of streaming, Movistar Plus+ was a pioneer of local production by investing larger-than- ever budgets in its TV productions.

It’s been a good week for Basque directors Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi, who, along with Jose Mari Goenaga, world premiered “Marco” at Venice and landed a spot on the shortlist for Spain’s Oscar entry.

Sold by Film Factory Entertainment, with market screenings in Toronto and upcoming stops at San Sebastian, London and Vancouver, “Marco” is generating significant buzz. Based on real events, it centers on Enric Marco, an imposter who gained sympathy, fame, and respect by falsely claiming to be a concentration camp survivor while serving as chairman of the leading Spanish association for deportees. His story was a lie.

The filmmakers initially aimed to capture Marco’s downfall as a documentary, but like everything he touched, truth slipped away. He told them he was going to Germany to get papers from a prison he’d stayed in. The filmmakers wanted to accompany and capture key footage.

The San Sebastian Film Festival, the biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world, has unveiled a packed lineup of Spanish titles that is strong on women auteurs, led by Iciar Bollaín, Pilar Palomero, Paula Ortiz and Alauda Ruiz de Azua, who are now stepping up in scale or industry backing as big SVOD players – Movistar Plus+, Prime Video – move into the production of Spanish movies aimed at theatrical release or back their original series.

Vying in main competition, Bollaín’s “I Am Nevenka” looks like the first film to see the light of day from six auteur event movies co-produced by Movistar Plus+ and directed by leading cinematographic talent such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Alberto Fernández.

Also selected are two leading lights of a younger generation of women directors which have galvanised Spanish arthouse but are now looking for broader audiences.

Goya and San Sebastian winner Pilar Palomero competes in main competition with “Glimmers,...

Los detalles de la película protagonizada por Luis Zahera aquí. © Sony Pictures

Termina el rodaje del thriller de suspense “Tierra de Nadie”, del director Albert Pintó. El rodaje se llevó a cabo en diferentes localizaciones de la provincia de Cádiz y luego continuó en la Comunidad de Madrid.

La trama sigue la historia de tres amigos: Mateo el Gallego, un heroico – a su pesar – guardia civil, Juan El Antxale, un pescador convertido en narco por la mala suerte y en el paro, y Benito el Yeye, un resignado e inteligente depositario judicial siempre a medio camino entre la ley y la delincuencia. Tres amigos separados por un lugar, Cádiz y un momento, el presente. Los tres están atrapados entre el abandono de las instituciones, el ascenso violento e imparable del narco en la provincia y el peligroso aumento del descontento social. Tres amigos atrapados en un polvorín que pondrá a prueba su amistad.

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...

Principal photography has begun on “The Captive,” a historical epic from “The Others’” Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña (“Berlin”) as “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes, a prisoner of Ottoman corsairs, seen in a very first still from the film, alongside Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), playing his captor, which has been shared in exclusivity with Variety.

Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales. Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture is on board to release the film in Spain in 2025.

If Peña look spruce but worse for wear, little wonder. An origins story of the early flowering of literary genius in Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote” and slice of mean street life “Rinconete and Cortadillo,” this story is wrapped in a historical thriller.

“The Captive,” no ordinary bio, turns on an episode in Cervantes life which was to shape not only his gift for storytelling...

Entérate de todos los detalles de la película protagonizada por Luis Zahera. © Sony Pictures

Sony Pictures ha dado inicio al rodaje del thriller de suspense “Tierra de Nadie”, del director Albert Pintó. El rodaje se está llevando a cabo en diferentes localizaciones de Cádiz, y continuará más tarde en Madrid.

La trama sigue la historia de tres amigos: Mateo el Gallego, un heroico – a su pesar – guardia civil, Juan El Antxale, un pescador convertido en narco por la mala suerte y en el paro, y Benito el Yeye, un resignado e inteligente depositario judicial siempre a medio camino entre la ley y la delincuencia. Tres amigos separados por un lugar, Cádiz y un momento, el presente. Los tres están atrapados entre el abandono de las instituciones, el ascenso violento e imparable del narco en la provincia y el peligroso aumento del descontento social. Tres amigos atrapados en un polvorín que pondrá a prueba su amistad.

“Barren Land,” from Spain’s Albert Pintó, director of Netflix global blockbusters “Money Heist,” “Berlin” and “Nowhere,” have been snapped up by Spain’s Film Factory Entertainment.

From an original idea by producer Alvaro Ariza, “Barren Land” (“Tierra de Nadie”) is penned by Fernando Navarro, one of Spain’s go-to screenwriters whose credits include Netflix hits “Below Zero” and “Veronica.”

Film Factory will launch world sales on “Barren Land,” as it builds a powerful slate of upscale commercial packages. Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia will release the film in Spain next year.

Now with principal photography underway in Cadiz, southern Spain, the suspense thriller captures the devastation of friendships, lives and the whole province by a rampant drug trade, action also expanding to the Straits of Gibraltar.

“An ode to friendship, focusing on three characters whose paths diverge due to the longstanding situation in the Southern part of Spain,” “Barren Land” turns on Mateo “El Gallego,...

Over the last seven years or so, the ever more capitalized Catalan industry, much based in capital Barcelona, has driven into domestic co-production with other parts of Spain. One result: an exciting new generation of young directors and producers, often women, which have scored a Berlin Golden Bear (Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs”) and best lead performance.

The Catalan film-tv industry is now, however, in the throes of a gathering industry makeover which is showing its first fruits. One driver, as so often in Europe, is public sector funding.

In 2019, total allocated Catalan government audiovisual funding stood at €12.6 million ($13.7 million). It rose to €40.8 million ($44.5 million) in 2022 and will rise again to an estimated €50 million ($54.5 million) in 2024, if the Catalan Parliament approves the budget, says Edgar Garcia, director of the governmental culture industry unit Icec.

In response to ramped-up funding, Catalonia industry has grown vibrantly. 130 execs and talent, representing 80 companies, attend 2024’s Berlin Film Market.

Principal photography is set to begin in April on “The Captive” (“El Cautivo”), the period adventure epic from Alejandro Amenábar, whose “The Sea Inside” won an Oscar for best foreign language film. Film Constellation has boarded worldwide sales, and will introduce the project to buyers at the European Film Market.

The film centers on the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the iconic novel “Don Quixote.” At the age of 28, Cervantes was taken captive by the Moors in Algiers, leading to his creative birth.

The $15 million production will shoot at locations in Spain including Valencia, Alicante and Seville.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is on board to release the film in Spain next year.

The film is set in Algiers in 1575 when Cervantes, a wounded 28-year-old Spanish Navy soldier, is held prisoner by Ottoman corsairs. Faced with a ticking clock, a cruel death awaits him should his...

Telefonica’s Movistar Plus+, Spain’s biggest pay TV-svod operator, is set to co-produce new movies from Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Iciar Bollaín, Alberto Rodríguez, Óliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. It’s a move which sees the high-end Spanish TV powerhouse become one of Spain’s most significant movie players.

Titles in the slate are backed by top Spanish producers such as Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García at El Deseo – backing Laxe’s next – and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo at their high-flying new production house Suma Content, producing what will be Rujas’ debut feature as a director.

The acclaimed “La Mesías,” the latest series from Los Javis – as Ambrossi and Calvo are known – will have its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it will the only European series at this year’s event.

In a fillip for Spain’s box office, still 26% down on pre-pandemic levels, Movistar Plus+ will...

Madrid-based Rock & Ruz – the production company of Netflix’s “Nowhere,” which has just been confirmed by Netflix as its most-viewed Spanish-language movie of all time – has pacted new projects with Italy’s Leonardo Fasoli, a head-writer of “Gomorrah” and creator of “ZeroZeroZero,” and Spain-based Alejandro Hernández, a co-writer on Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and “La Fortuna.”

Targeting the key to high-end fiction success in Europe – its screenwriters – and added to “Nowhere” and an upcoming Spanish-Mexican remake of hit Korean movie “Miracle in Cell No. 7” – the freshly-announced projects mark out Rock & Ruz as a new and significant Spain-based international player.

As international markets – both theatrical and global streamers – are asking for bigger films with identifiable audiences, Rock & Ruz’s bold slate looks like a ready source of titles.

“Our company is focused on producing global strategic projects. No matter if they are in English or Spanish,” Rock & Ruz...

New Amazon Prime Video series “Los Farad,” released Dec. 12, takes a look at the Cold War from one of its strangest geo-political hubs, 1980s Málaga. The action-packed show follows a family that is normal in many ways, despite earning a luxurious living as arms traffickers.

Part of a determinedly diverse and burgeoning lineup at Spain’s Prime Video, “Los Farad” is a high-profile prestige package starring Miguel Herrán – who plays Rio in “Money Heist” and Cristián in “Elite” – and the on-the-rise Susana Abaitúa, who delivered a tearaway performance in Netflix rom-com “Crazy About Her.”

Co-created by Alejandro Aménabar co-scribe Alejandro Hernández, “Los Farad” is directed by Mariano Barroso in his fifth collaboration with Hernández.

Emerging as one of Spain’s most notable drama series directors in an age of premium fiction, Barroso has extracted terrific, nuanced performances in series set in Spain’s recent past, such as “The Invisible Line” and “What the Future Holds.

Paris-based Haut et Court has closed French distribution rights with sales agent Film Factory Entertainment on Victor Erice’s ”Close Your Eyes” (“Cerrar los ojos”), the legendary Spanish director’s return to feature film direction 30 years after Cannes Jury Prize winner “Dream of Light” and a half century on from his milestone debut, “The Spirit of the Beehive.”

“Beehive” is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made. “Light” was chosen by the world’s cinematheques as the best film of the 1990s. “Close Your Eyes” reunites Erice with Ana Torrent, a wide-eyed mite in “Beehive.”

One of the most awaited Spanish films of 2023, it will be released in Spain by Avalon Films, the producer-distributor of “Alcarràs.”

“Close Your Eyes” turns on a famed actor who disappears while making a film. Many years later, a TV program airs the final scenes he shot, the beginning...

The San Sebastian Festival opens on Sept. 16 with a bang: Alberto Rodriguez’s “Prison 77,” most probably the biggest Spanish film of 2022, the latest title from one of the Spain’s most preeminent auteurs and a foretaste of one possible future face of Spanish cinema, thanks to Movistar+.

“Prison 77” begins as a fish-out-of-water jail survival thriller. Manuel, in 1977, a young accountant, played by Miguel Herrán, is sent to Barcelona’s legendary Modelo penitentiary pending trial for embezzlement.

It grows, however, for all of its length, as a character-driven tale of psychological observance, as Miguel gradually befriends Pino, his seen-it-all cell mate, who just wants a quiet life.

Charting “the evolving relationship between two completely different people, a young accountant with his whole life before him, and Pino, who’s lived nearly his whole life behind bars,” “Prison 77” is a story of friendship and solidarity, says José Antonio Félez...

Launched in 1998, the Malaga Film Festival first grabbed attention as a Spanish movie showcase and birthplace of a Spanish star system, TV actors walking a red carpet to acclaim from milling throngs.

Under Juan Antonio Vigar, director from 2013, it has consolidated as a platform for a new generation of Spanish filmmakers while adding ever increasing industry heft – co-pro forums, WIPs, a Hack digital forum initiative – and also opening up to TV.

In 2021, however, Malaga Festival and Spanish Screenings have exploded in scale, impact and attendance. The narrative of this year’s event is largely one of that growth. Eight takes on this and other Malaga highlights:

Malaga Lifts Off

Little wonder Malaga forms part of what’s now the Spanish Screenings Xxl. In its first full edition since 2019 with festival and industry onsite and aligned, Malaga has truly taken off. It received almost 2,000 film and TV submissions, says Vigar. Attendance has skyrocketed to over 1,100 delegates,...

Few movies are as awaited at this year’s Málaga Festival as Daniel Guzman’s “Canallas” (“Monkey Business”) which world premieres in competition this March 19.

It marks the follow-up by Guzmán, an acclaimed actor-turned writer-director, to his notable debut “Nothing in Return” which scored best picture, director and a Critics’ Prize at 2015’s Malaga Festival, going on to scoop Spanish Academy Goyas for new director and breakout actor, the latter for Miguel Herrán.

“Canallas” also reps the second original movie production from Movistar Plus, as Spain’s industry looks to the pay TV/SVOD arm of telco giant Telefonica to co-produce some of the biggest movie plays in the country.

Though the subject, setting and tone of “Canallas” could hardly be different from Movistar Plus’ debut movie outing, Alejandro Amenabar’s “While at War,” “Canallas” gives further clues to what kind of movies Movistar Plus is willing to sink money in.

Carol Polakoff, a two-time Directors Guild of America award winner, is teaming with “Exodus” producer Denise O’Dell to adapt to the big screen “Speak Sunlight,” American writer Alan Jolis’ much-loved memoir.

Now in pre-production and scheduled to shoot from May 8, the high-profile title is produced by Madrid-based Babieka Films, most recently behind Netflix hit “The Paramedic,” and L.A.’s Viewfinder Pictures.

“Speak Sunlight” (“La Voz del Sol”) marks the directorial debut of journalist-screenwriter Polakoff whose curriculum includes two DGA wins and three Daytime Emmy Awards nominations for “ABC Afterschool Specials.” Most recently, Polakoff produced Daniel Rosenberg’s 2020 Cannes Official Selection title “The Death of Cinema and My Father Too,” which won a Cannes Label for making the cut in Thierry Frémaux’s First Features category.

To film in Spanish, with a smattering of French, “Speak Sunlight” is written by Polakoff with a Spanish version from Natxo López, a creator...

Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-tv/SVOD operator, has launched an in-house overseas sales division, Movistar Plus Internacional, headed up by former Sony and Buendía Estudios exec Maria Valenzuela.

Lorena Molloy, an ex-exec at The Mediapro Studio, has joined Movistar Plus Internacional beginning in March as its head of communication and marketing.

Valenzuela, who began working with the platform last summer, heading international strategy and business development, reports directly to Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus’ director of original production.

Movistar Plus Internacional is making further appointments, raising staff to around 10 employees, Valenzuela said. It will attend all major markets, beginning with Series Mania and MipTV/Canneseries, focusing at least in the short term on sales to Europe, Eastern Europe, U.S. and Latin America, she added.

Presented officially on March 4 in Madrid, the new distribution arm comes after Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest content investor, has until recently used...

World premiering at the Seville European Film Festival, Santi Amodeo’s latest production “The Gentiles” is a robust reminder of the director’s vibrant and idiosyncratic voice which hasn’t always attracted the notice it merits on the Spanish film scene. After having made cult pieces such as “Astronauts” (2003) and “Doghead” (2006), Amodeo turns again to a portrait of adolescence with “The Gentiles,” this time with a generation of full-on digital natives.

Produced by Grupo Tranquilo and Sacromonte Films, headed by Gervasio Iglesias, the film follows Ana – played by Africa de la Cruz – a teenager who, while struggling with the typical problems of adolescence, is thunderstruck by her charismatic friend Corrales – played by Paula Díaz – who fantasizes with taking her own life.

Amodeo imbues his characters with a spontaneity that you’d expect from a younger filmmaker, someone much closer to the age of its characters. Álex Catalán, a Dp on...

Since 2017, when it released its first original production, “Velvet Collection,” Movistar Plus has produced and aired 45 original or returning series in Spain.

Now it’s looking to raise the ante, investing more in original production than ever before, says Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé.

“Original production is a brutal anti-churn driver. Consumption of our original content is directly linked to customer satisfaction and consequently to loyalty,” says Movistar Plus CEO Cristina Burzako.

“In such a disruptive environment with a huge proliferation of brands and platforms and somehow, with some fatigue of entertainment, we must ensure we deliver a complete, personalized and curated entertainment proposal.”

This involves “integrating all key global brands [although they tend not to be exclusive deals anymore] and building our original production, which is more important than ever to drive differentiation.”

Building original production now cuts several ways. Movistar Plus is maintaining its original series output. It is also plowing more into non-fiction.

At September’s San Sebastian Festival,...

Jaione Camborda’s “The Rye Horn,” Enrique Buleo’s “Still Life with Ghosts” and Eva Saiz’s “Casa de fieras” feature among a bevy of new Spanish film projects to be offered at the 4th Madrid-based Incubator.

A mentorship program hosted by Madrid’s Ecam Film School, the Incubator has fast consolidated as one of the foremost development labs in Spain targeting producers of first and second features.

The 4th Incubator runs from April through October.

Projects were chosen from a preselection made from over 200 submitted projects led by The Screen program manager Gemma Vidal. All Incubator’s projects receive €10,000 for development. As valuable, however, will be the tutorship led, among directors, by Arantxa Echevarría (“Carmen & Lola”), Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“May God Save Us”), Juan Cavestany (“Spanish Shame”) and director-producer Alberto Marini (“Summer Camp”).

Producer mentors, packing a large experience and multiple hits, take in Simón de Santiago (“While at War...

“Words for an End of the World,” the third feature by Spain’s Manuel Menchón, continues his exploration of the towering figure of Miguel de Unamuno, also the subject of his prior fiction film, “The Island of Wind.” The documentary, however, covers new ground, embarks on a far more ambitious revisiting of Spain’s still not so distant past with a deep dive into a muddled history that for years has had just one interpretation that has simply been accepted as canon.

Unamuno, the great Spanish intellectual and analyst of Spain’s atavistic woes, was for decades regarded as the man who sided and funded the fascist coup led by Francisco Franco. With historical echoes that reverberate down to today’s political landscape, Unamuno’s final days have been increasingly revisited, most notably in Alejandro Amenabar 2019 “While at War.” Menchón’s documentary uses Unamuno, his position as head of Salamanca...

Pilar Palomero’s “Schoolgirls” (“Las Niñas”), a coming-of-age story and generational portrait of Spanish women who would now be in their 40s, swept an extraordinary and admirable 35th edition of Spain’s Goya Awards on Saturday, scooping best picture, new director, original screenplay and cinematography.

Salvador Calvo won best director for the three-part, Africa-set drama “Adú,” a Netflix pick-up produced by Telecinco Cinema, Ikiru Films and La Terraza Films that proved one of Spain’s biggest box office hits of last year, earning €6.3 million ($7.6 million) at the Spanish box office, promoted to the hilt by Telecinco Cinema parent Mediaset España.

Marking a milestone in his transition from Spanish heartthrob to character actor, Mario Casas won best actor for “No Matarás.” Patricia López Arnaíz took best actress for her role in “Ane is Missing,” a confident mother-daughter relationship drama-thriller melding psychological observation and social critique, set against the background of high-speed train construction in a 2009 Bilbao.

Gearing up for its final-phase filming on locations in northern Spain and North America, Movistar Plus-AMC’s high-end original “La Fortuna,” starring Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters (“The Wire”), has shared a behind-the-scenes featurette with Variety.

The on-set first-look comes as Germany’s Beta Film has acquired international rights to “La Fortuna,” which marks the first incursion into drama series direction by Oscar winning director Alejandro Amenabar.

An adventure series, based on the true-to-life discovery of the biggest sunken treasure of all time in 2007, “La Fortuna’s” two-minute making of video marks the first footage of any sort from the six-hour series, one of the most-anticipated TV shows from the Spanish-speaking world.

The teaser forefronts the cast, taking in high-caliber character actors such as T’Nia Miller (“Years & Years”) and Peters, as well as Tucci, who’s gaining heat for his performance in “Supernova.” The video also features...

The film, currently being shot in Valencia, stars Spanish actors such as Karra Elejalde, Susi Sánchez and Alexandra Jiménez alongside Bulgarian thesps like Ivan Barnev. On 1 February, the shoot kicked off in Valencia for Vasil, the feature debut by Avelina Prat, starring Bulgaria’s Ivan Barnev (The Father), Spaniards Karra Elejalde (While at War), Alexandra Jiménez (Distances) and Susi Sánchez (Sunday’s Illness), and Brit Sue Flack (The Year of the Plague). The movie tells the story of the titular immigrant, a peculiar man who radiates kindness, passion and a bizarre kind of wisdom: he looks at life differently... This story depicts the two months that he spends in Spain, through four characters who accompany him. The main topics tackled by this feature are immigration and the welcome offered to refugees, but it will also prompt reflection on how difficult it is to connect with others and how relating to other.

ViacomCBS International Studios (Vis) has boarded Amazon Prime Video and Rtve’s resurrection of Chicho Ibáñez Serrador’s legendary Spanish horror series “Historias Para No Dormir,” (“Stories to Stay Awake”), which started filming this week in Madrid.

Set as a four-part anthology miniseries, “Historias Para No Dormir” boasts a superstar cast and crew on either side of the camera, with episodes to be directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“Mother”), Spanish Academy Goya-winner Rodrigo Cortés (“Buried”), “[Rec]” writer-director Paco Plaza, and Paula Ortiz, director of “The Bride.” Local outfit Prointel e Isla Audiovisual has been tasked with producing the reboot.

Episode 1, “La Broma” (The Joke) is currently filming in the Spanish capital, written and directed by Rodrigo Cortés. An interpretation of the 1966 original, the episode is the story of a love triangle including three Goya-winning actors in “While at War” co-stars Eduard Fernandez (“30 Coins”) and Nathalie Poza (“Julieta”), and Raúl Arévalo (“Marshland”).

50 years ago,...

Poland’s Camerimage, the world’s leading film festival dedicated to cinematography, has been forced to abandon plans to stage a hybrid event, and will pivot to a purely digital format.

The festival, which takes place Nov. 14-21 in Toruń, had already announced that the majority of its screenings and events would be online, but it had hoped to stage a number of them on-site too.

However, the Polish government’s decision to limit cultural events due to the growing number of Covid-19 cases in the country has put the kibosh on that.

“The decision has filled us with pain, but also understanding,” the fest director Marek Żydowicz said in statement sent to participants. “At the same time, we appeal to all creators of culture to find strength and survive the necessary restrictions.”

It said it had prepared everything necessary to stage the festival on-site and “despite the pandemic, many...

Johnny Depp will head to Poland next month to pick up a special acting award at the 28th edition of the Camerimage festival.

The event, running November 14-21 in the city of Torun, will close with a screening of Andrew Levitas’ Depp-starring drama Minamata, which features the actor as celebrated photographer W. Eugene Smith.

The screening will take place following the event’s Closing Gala on November 21, with Depp in town to pick up the lengthy-titled Camerimage Award to an Actor with Unique Visual Sensitivity.

The fest’s international competition line-up this year is as follows: Ammonite, The Banker, Caged Birds, Charlatan, Falling, The Glorias, Helene, Never Gonna Snow Again, Nomadland, Pinocchio, Rifkin’s Festival, and While At War.

Depp is waiting to find out on Monday (November 2) what the verdict will be in his libel battle in UK court with British tabloid newspaper The Sun.

‘Ammonite’, ‘Nomadland’ to play in main competition.

Poland’s EnergaCamerimage Film Festival has revealed the main competition lineup for its 28th edition, which is set to go ahead as a mix of physical and online events.

Scroll down for full list of titles

A total of 12 films will compete for the festival’s Golden Frog, which will take place in Torun, Poland from November 13 to 21.

They include Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, Francis Lee’s Ammonite and Woody Allen’s Rifkin’s Festival.

The festival, which focuses on the art of cinematography, also announced that Andrew Levitas’ war photographer drama Minamata...

Johnny Depp will be awarded the Camerimage Award for “an actor with unique visual sensitivity” at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival. “Minamata,” starring Depp, will be the closing film of the 28th edition of the event, which focuses on cinematography.

Due to the pandemic, Depp will be unable to accept the award in person, but will connect to the ceremony remotely from the U.S. Depp has appeared in person at other fall festivals, including Zurich and San Sebastian, but Covid-19 levels have now risen across Europe.

The screening of “Minamata,” which was directed by Andrew Levitas and shot by cinematographer Benoît Delhomme, will take place on Nov. 21 in Toruń’s Jordanki Festival Center, following the closing gala and awards ceremony. The festival announced its competition lineup at the weekend, which includes critics’ favorites “Ammonite” and “Nomadland.”

“Minamata,” Levitas’ sophomore feature, tells the story of how war photographer W. Eugene Smith...

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...

No telecom in Europe has driven into original production with such energy as Spain’s Telefonica. Since its first series, “Velvet Collection,” bowed in Sept. 2017, its pay TV operator, Movistar Plus, has produced 21 original series, 13 returning seasons and one original film, Alejandro Amenábar’s “While At War.”

These titles include quite possibly the biggest scripted series ever made in Spain, “The Plague,” set in 1580s’ Seville, Canneseries winner “A Perfect Life,” Rose d’Or laureate “Arde Madrid” and a string of series, most recently “The Invisible Line,” about the buildup to Eta’s first assassination, that proved more popular on Movistar Plus than the Real Madrid-Barca F.C. soccer clásico.

Conecta Fiction caught Corral as Telefonica and Atresmedia, have just launched Buendía Estudios, a series/movies production joint venture. Corral, a lesson in humility, did use his Conecta Fiction keynote, however, to set the record right on a clutch of issues,...

Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci is set to star as a buccaneering treasure hunter in “La Fortuna,” a modern-day six-part adventure thriller from AMC Studios and Spain’s Movistar Plus, representing one of the most ambitious drama series to come out of Spain to date.

Linking AMC Studios to Spain’s biggest content investor, Movistar Plus, the pay TV division of telecom Telefonica, “La Fortuna” also marks the drama series directorial debut of “The Others” helmer Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Academy Award for “The Sea Inside.”

Now sporting an official title, and produced in collaboration with Mod Pictures, the thriller also stars Spanish actors Álvaro Mel, who has appeared in several TV series such as Spanish public broadcaster Rtve’s “A Different View,” and Ana Polvorosa, star of Netflix Spanish hit “Cable Girls,” where she plays cross dresser Sara Millán.

“La Fortuna” will see Tucci take on the role of adventurer Frank Wild,...

Just because Elite is returning for Season 4, don't expect every cast member to return. 

Netflix on Monday revealed the official cast for the fourth season of the Spanish drama series. 

Andrés Velencoso, Manu Rios (El Chiringuito de Pepe), Carla Díaz (El Príncipe), Martina Cariddi (Mientras dure la guerra), Pol Granch and Diego Martín will be part of the universe of Las Encinas, the streamer has announced.

Their characters will cross paths with Guzmán (Miguel Bernardeau), Samuel (Itzan Escamilla), Ander (Arón Piper), Omar (Omar Ayuso), Rebeca (Claudia Salas), and Cayetana (Georgina Amorós).

To celebrate the new additions, Netflix has also unveiled the first cast photo, and as previously reported, several stars from the first three seasons are nowhere in sight. 

Álvaro Rico is out as Leopoldo "Polo" Benavent Villada after the events of Season 3, which followed a How to Get Away With Murder-esque killing that resulted in his character being, well,...

Signaling one of the biggest deals ever struck by a U.S. company on a single Spanish drama series, AMC Studios and Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator Movistar Plus are partnering on the production and distribution of a sunken treasure adventure series from Academy Award winner Alejandro Amenábar.

Inspired by the Spanish graphic novel “The Treasure of the Black Swan,” the as-yet-untitled series will premiere in 2021 on AMC in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America and the Caribbean as well as on Movistar Plus in Spain.

The six-part thriller is produced in collaboration with independent production house Mod Producciones, whose head, Fernando Bovaira, has produced all of Amenábar’s movies from his second feature, 1997’s “Open Your Eyes.”

Featuring an international cast, set on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the near-present day but with flashbacks to 1804, the series also weighs in as one of the most...

‘Money Heist’ scooped the most awards in the TV categories.

Pedro Almodovar’s Pain And Glory swept the Platino Xcaret Awards for Ibero-American films on June 29 winning six trophies including best Ibero-American film.

Almodovar was also awarded best director and best screenplay while Antonio Banderas - who was Oscar-nominated for his performance and won the actor prize at Cannes - picked up best actor. The film also won best editing for the work of Teresa Font, and best original score, for composer Alberto Iglesias.

The awards were originally meant to take place in Riviera Maya, Mexico, in early May but...

Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” swept the 7th Platino Xcaret Awards, winning best Ibero-American film, as well as the best director and screenplay for Almodovar. It also took home three other awards: Original music for Alberto Iglesias, editing for Teresa Font and best actor for Antonio Banderas, Oscar-nominated for his role in Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical opus.

Relegated to an online announcement by the Covid-19 pandemic, Ibero-America’s most prestigious awards ceremony unveiled the winners on its YouTube channel on Monday, June 29 where Platinos ambassador and CNN Español journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas teamed up with Mexican actor-comedian Omar Chaparro and Colombian actress-singer Majida Issa to read out the winners.

Enrique Cerezo, president of the Premios Xcaret, said: “We regret that we couldn’t be present on site because of a nightmare we hope to wake up from soon.”

It was a banner year for Spanish productions which went home with...

Latido Films, Amazon Prime Video and Vértice Cine have boarded vet Spanish filmmaker Fernando Colomo’s comedy project “Poliamor para principiantes”.

Produced by Álvaro Longoria at Madrid-based Morena Films, the film will begin shooting in early October. It starr high-profile Spanish thesps María Pedraza and Karra Elejalde.

Amazon Prime Video has acquired Spanish TV rights, Latido is handling international sales, while Vértice Cine will distribute in Spain.

Helmer-producer-director Colomo has made his reputation over more than four decades with small-scale comedies with a social agenda, such as “Tigres de papel,” “Bajarse al moro” and “Alegre ma non troppo.”

“Colomo has a very intelligent take on the transformations of Spanish society and knows how to sharpen its contradictions,” said Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura.

Questioned about the increasing international demand of film comedies, Longoria said: “Certainly, we are facing the boom of local products, very local films that deal with global issues.

Madrid – Like so many industry events meant to take place from March, this year’s Mafiz, the Malaga Film Festival’s industry section, was forced online, while the festival has elected to postpone until later in the year.

On Tuesday, winners of the 3rd Malaga Works in Progress sections were announced, with local drama “Ane” boasting a day’s best three awards – – while each of the event’s three sidebars – LatAm Wip, Wip Doc and Spanish Wip – had films scoop prizes. Spanish feature “Amateurs” and Argentine doc “Adiós a la memoria” were selected as the event’s best Spanish and Latin American projects, each receiving a cash prize of €5,000

In the end, three domestic features from the Malaga Spanish Wip were rewarded.

“Ane,” from first-timer David Pérez Sañudo, is produced by Amania Films and stars one of the Spanish industry’s hottest film and TV actors in Patricia López Arnáiz,...

Madrid — Legendary Global, the TV production-financing house launched last December by Chris Albrecht and Anne Thomopoulos, has struck a weighty production alliance with Barcelona’s ESPotlight to develop and produce premium content targeting the global Spanish-speaking market.

Announced Thursday, the deal sees Legendary Global committing to develop and produce with ESPotlight 10-plus productions a year targeting streaming platforms, pay TV and commercial networks.

First up, and currently in production, is “La Treintena,” a feel-good dramedy written and directed by Mireia Noguera and co-written by Marta Vives.

Following the lives of four, late-twenties girlfriends living under Covid confinement in Barcelona, the six-part series stars Mireia Oriol, Paula Malia, Marta Vives and David Solans.

Driving into Spanish-language production, Legendary Global has gone straight to the jugular, striking a production relationship with a budding Spanish producer with established talent relations: Barcelona-based, ESPotlight is the content arm of talent agency Alter Ego Talent House whose clients include Mariano Barroso,...

The Others, the 2001 period horror film starring Nicole Kidman, is going to be remade.

According to Deadline, Los Angeles production company Sentient Entertainment has won the rights to mount a new version of the film, which will mark its 20th anniversary next year.

The original, directed by Alejandro Amenabar, featured Kidman as Grace, a young mother who shelters herself and her two children at a remote, isolated mansion on the British island of Jersey during World War II. The children suffer from a rare disease that makes them literally allergic to light, so Kidman keeps the curtains drawn and the house in shadow throughout the day.

After three servants show up out of nowhere to work at the house, Grace becomes convinced that there are “others” there as well — possibly the spirits of former occupants. The truth of what is happening in the house (we won’t spoil it here...

Madrid – Originally planned to premiere alongside fellow Movistar Plus Original “La Unidad” at this year’s MipTV, “La Línea Invisible” will now instead screen for international buyers digitally in an online showcase hosted by the Spanish broadcaster on Monday.

From “What the Future Holds” creator Mariano Barroso (“The Wolves of Washington”), the six-part series is the origins story of Spain’s Basque terrorist organization Eta, and its first assassination of José civil guard Antonio Pardines on June 7, 1968 by the young group leader Txabi Etxebarrieta, later the organization’s first member killed in action. Eta would be responsible for another 828 murders before agreeing to a final extended ceasefire on Sept. 5, 2010.

“La Linea Invisible” boasts some of Spain’s most-awarded cinematic talent in front of the camera as well, including Antonio de la Torre, a recent Spanish Academy Goya and Platino Award winner for his tour de force lead in “The Kingdom...

Madrid — Ever expanding the geographic reach of its drama series, Spain’s Movistar Plus’ announced Thursday that it will go into production this year on the Cuba-set “Habanos,” written and led creatively by Alejandro Hernandez, a rising star on Spain’s premium content scene.

A co-scribe on Mariano Barroso’s “What the Future Holds,” held by many critics to be Movistar Plus’ best series to date, Hernández also co-wrote Alejandro Amenabar’s recent movie hit “While at War” and Barroso’s upcoming “La Linea Invisible,” both for Movistar Plus, as well as Netflix’s “Criminal: Spain.”

A Movistar Plus Original Series, “Habanos” is produced by José María Morales at Wanda Films and Cuban film-tv agency Icaic.

Hernandez co-wrote “Habanos” with film director Manuel Martín Cuenca, extending a partnership which takes in Martín Cuenca’s newest film, “La hija,” and “El autor” and goes back to the director’s 2001 docu-feature “El juego de Cuba.

Caramel Films has boarded Manuel Martin Cuenca’s “The Daughter,” produced by Fernando Bovaira (“The Others” ) at Mod Producciones and Cuenca’s own La Loma Blanca. Pic was unveiled at Berlin’s European Film Market by its sales agent, Film Factory Entertainment.

Set to be released in Spain by Caramel in late 2020, “The Daughter” marks the new movie from one of Spain’s most resilient auteurs, whose “Cannibal” proved a breakout hit for Cuenca, La Loma Blanca and Mod Producciones. Mod’s production credits include Alejandro Amenábar’s hit “While at War,” Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Biutiful,” with Javier Bardem, and historical drama “Agora,” with Rachel Weisz.

Described as a dramatic thriller, “The Daughter” tells the story of Dana, a pregnant 15-year-old who’s just escaped from a juvenile center and given a safe place to hide by Javier, her tutor, and his wife, Adela, if she follows their rules...

Pedro Almodóvar calls for “protection” of independent cinema in Spain.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory was the big winner at the Spanish Film Academy Awards in Málaga on Saturday night (25) with seven Goyas including best film, best director and best actor for Antonio Banderas.

With 17 and 16 nominations respectively, Alejandro Amenábar’s While At War and Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory started the night as the two favourites and the race looked close until almost the end, when Antonio Banderas went onstage to collect the Goya for best actor.

A moved Banderas – who had already seen his work recognised with...

Pedro Almodóvar calls for “protection” of independent cinema in Spain.

Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory was the big winner at the Spanish Film Academy Awards in Málaga on Saturday night (25) with seven Goyas including best film, best director and best actor for Antonio Banderas.

With 17 and 16 nominations respectively, Alejandro Amenábar’s While At War and Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory started the night as the two favourites and the race looked close until almost the end, when Antonio Banderas went onstage to collect the Goya for best actor.

A moved Banderas – who had already seen his work recognised with...

Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory, a double Oscar nominee for star Antonio Banderas and the film itself in the Best International Feature race, swept the top categories Saturday at Spain’s Goya Awards. Scroll down for the full list.

Banderas, up for Best Actor at the Oscars, won best actor award at the Spanish film academy’s annual ceremony, held this year in Malaga. Almodovar won best director and for best screenplay, and the film took a total of seven awards from 16 nominations. One of those misses was Penelope Cruz, who lost in the best actress category to Belen Cuesta of The Endless Trench.

Alejandro Amenabar’s While at War, the Spanish Civil War drama that came in with a leading 17 nominations, won five awards including Eduard Fernandez for supporting actor.

Pain and Glory played in competition this year at the Cannes Film Festival, where Banderas won the Best...

Madrid — Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” took home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Antonio Banderas) and Best Original Screenplay at the 34th Spanish Academy Goya Awards, as well as Best Editing, Original Music and Supporting Actress (Julieta Serrano).

Almodóvar’s night did have one blemish, however. On the red carpet ahead of the ceremony he accidentally let slip that actress Penelope Cruz will be handing out this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, as she and Banderas did last time Almodóvar won, with 2000’s “All About my Mother.”

Saturday night’s ceremony ran like a marathon, with Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” exchanging the lead back and forth over the 3.5 hour ceremony before “Pain and Glory” took the ceremony’s final three prizes, ending with seven awards while Amenábar’s Spanish Civil War epic notched five.

In his first on-stage appearance of the night,...

Madrid — Disney. An extraordinary Mouse House septet, all ranking in Spain’s Top 10, drove its 2019 box office to its biggest cinema theater ticket sales in the decade, according to Comscore figures released Thursday.

The last time movies in Spain scored more spectators was 2009, said David Rodríguez, general manager, Spain & Portugal, Comscore Movies.

In all, Spain’s B.O. gross for movies of any nationality came in at €624.1 million ($699.0 million), 7% up on 2018, and the best figure for Spain since 2011’s €630 million ($705.6 million). Admissions totaled 105.5 million, a year-on-year increase of 8%, and the best score since 2009, Comscore announced.

Disney’s “The Lion King” alone grossed €37.2 million ($41.7 million), the best result in Spain for any individual movie since 2014’s “Ocho apellidos vascos” (“Spanish Affair”), which earned €56.1 million ($62.8 million).

No. 3 at 2019’s box office was “Avengers: Endgame,” which made the best opening of any film last year with €10.4 million ($11.6 million) over April 26-29, accounting for...