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In this episode, we talk about writing as a permanent exercise in filmmaking.Santiago Mitre is an Argentine director initially recognized for his work as a screenwriter on Pablo Trapero's films, such as Leonera, Carancho and Elefante blanco, all of which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.With his debut feature film, El estudiante, he won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno. Since then, he has developed a successful filmography as a director, using the strategies of classic cinema to renew the narrative possibilities of genres such as political thriller. He recently won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for his feature film Argentina, 1985, which also won the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film Festival.On the other hand, Alejandro Landes is a Brazilian-born director who grew up between Ecuador and Colombia. After working for some years in the press and television in the United States,...

Pablo Trapero, Argentinean director, producer and scriptwriter, has presented three of his films at the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard selection beginning in 2002. Now, in his own words, he is to "take part in another way in the adventure in Cannes." For the 67th edition, he will serve as the president for the jury for Un Certain Regard, Official Selection.  Trapero stated "I am very proud to serve as President of the Jury for Un Certain Regard... [it] is always a very exciting selection. It brings us grand masters, promising young talent, new countries, and new forms of cinema."  Trapero's projects have achieved several successes on the film circuit since his first feature ("Mundo Grua") received the Critic's Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1999. In 2002, his second feature "El Bonaerense" was selected at Cannes (Un Certain Regard), and he returned to Cannes three times thereafter with "Leonera" (2008), "Carancho" (2010) and and "Elefante Blanco" (2012). He.

Argentinean screenwriter, producer and director Pablo Trapero will head the jury for the Un Certain Regard section at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The section will be composed of 20 films, still to be announced on April 17 (the Cannes competition titles will be unveiled that day, too). 42-year-old Trapero is no stranger to prestigious international festivals; his first feature, "Mundo Grua," nabbed the Critics Award at Venice in 1999, while his following features, "El Bonaerense," "Leonera," "Carancho" and "Elefante Blanco" have all played Cannes over the past decade. Last year's Un Certain Regard president was Thomas Vinterberg ("The Hunt").

After years with films in competition at Cannes, Argentinian filmmaker Pablo Trapero will be judging the works of others. The festival announced on Tuesday that the 44-year-old writer-director will head the jury of the Un Certain Regard section, taking the spot held by Thomas Vinterberg last year. In 2002, Trapero's “El Bonaerense,” his second film, was selected for Un Certain Regard, as were his films “Carancho” (2010) and “Elefante Blanco” (2012). His 2008 film “Leonera” screened in Competition at the fest. Also read: 5 Burning Questions Before the Cannes Lineup Is Revealed All in all, his experience at the French confab made him...

Argentinean director of Carancho and White Elephant to preside over the jury for Un Certain Regard.

Pablo Trapero, the Argentinean scriptwriter, producer and director of Carancho and White Elephant, will preside over the jury for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).

The strand will compose 20 films to be announced, along with the films in Competition, at an upcoming press conference on April 17.

Trapero is no stranger to the Croisette, with his prison film Lion’s Den (Leonera) playing in Competition in 2008 and three of his features selected for Un Certain Regard: El Bonaerense (2002); Carancho (2010) and White Elephant (Elefante blanco) (2012).

He said: “I am very proud to take part in another way in the adventure of Cannes. Un Certain Regard, where I have presented three of my films, is always a very exciting selection. It brings us grand masters, promising young talent, new countries and new forms of cinema.”

Pablo Trapero was born...

Argentinean director of Carancho and White Elephant to preside over the jury for Un Certain Regard.

Pablo Trapero, the Argentinean scriptwriter, producer and director of Carancho and White Elephant, will preside over the jury for Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).

The strand will compose 20 films to be announced, along with the films in Competition, at an upcoming press conference on April 17.

Trapero is no stranger to the Croisette, with his prison film Lion’s Den (Leonera) playing in Competition in 2008 and three of his features selected for Un Certain Regard: El Bonaerense (2002); Carancho (2010) and White Elephant (Elefante blanco) (2012).

He said: “I am very proud to take part in another way in the adventure of Cannes. Un Certain Regard, where I have presented three of my films, is always a very exciting selection. It brings us grand masters, promising young talent, new countries and new forms of cinema.”

Pablo Trapero was born...

Starting off with its premiere at Bafici, Santiago Mitre's debut feature El Estudiante (The Student, 2011) has proceeded on an aggressive campaign trail, stopping to woo votes at Locarno, the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), and next at the New York Film Festival.

In his review from Locarno, indieWire's Eric Kohn dubbed Santiago Mitre "a South American Aaron Sorkin." Mitre has previously worked as a screenwriter, crafting the scripts for Leonera (2008) and Carancho (2010), both directed by Pablo Trapero. He also co-directed the film El amor—primera parte (2005) with Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui, and Juan Schnitman. I caught up with Santiago in Toronto where we sat down to talk about El Estudiante. My thanks to Tiff publicist Lina Rodriguez for facilitating the interview and for providing translative assistance.

Michael GUILLÉN: El Estudiante rests on the shoulders of your lead actor Esteban Lamothe. What were the qualities within Esteban that convinced you...

A speedy depiction of university politics and the spirited radicalism associated with them, "The Student" ("El estudiante") announces 31-year-old Argentinean filmmaker Santiago Mitre as a South American Aaron Sorkin. A screenwriter whose credits include Pablo Trapero's "Carancho" and "Leonera," Mitre uses his directorial debut to craft a fascinatingly heady universe filled with moody young intellectuals and back-stabbing schemes. It might be the first serious political narrative about undergraduate matriculation. The ...

Robert De Niro

The 64th festival de Cannes announced its Jury on Wednesday. No Indian follows in the footsteps of actress Sharmila Tagore and director Shekhar Kapoor who served on the Cannes Jury in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

The Jury of the Competiton presided over by Robert De Niro will comprise Martina Gusman (actress and producer, Argentina), Nansun Shi (producer, Hong Kong/China), Uma Thurman (actress, scriptwriter, producer, USA), Linn Ullmann (writer,literary critic, Norway), Olivier Assayas (director, France), Jude Law (actor, producer, UK), Mahamat Saleh Haroun (director, Chad) and Johnnie To (director, producer, Hong Kong/China).

The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury presided by Michel Gondry will comprise Julie Gaynet (Actress and Producer, France), Jessica Hausner (Director and Producer, Austria), Corneliu PorumBoiu (Director, Romania and João Pedro Rodrigues (Director, Portugal).

Brief introduction of the Main Jury as stated on Cannes official website:

Martina Gusman created Matanza Cine, a production company with...

This is the Pure Movies review of Lion's Den (Leonera) directed by Pablo Trapero and starring Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro, Laura García, Tomás Plotinsky and Leonardo Sauma. With his fifth feature Argentinian director/writer Pablo Trapero offers an intelligent and unorthodox take on a well worn subject. Essentially a prison drama, Lion’s Den is a surprising and sincere film that won plaudits at last year’s Cannes, Toronto and London film festivals. Martina Gusman has rightly been singled out for her performance as Julia but a brilliant supporting cast make it feel like an ensemble effort.

A Work In Progress: Halls and the lobby of Loews remained bare and quiet until Monday when the final day approaches and buyers began congregating in final deals. Surprisingly to all multiple sales had already been made by day 2 and sales for some, if not all were better than expected even if prices were lower. At the Thursday evening European Film Promotion reception, where all friends in the biz meet with welcoming smiles, Marcus Hu of Strand said he was already packing up to go as he had made his purchases..they were already screening Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before AFM began he said. One sales agent remarked that Toronto was the zero level and AFM looked like level 1 had been reached. One sales agent said only theatrical films were selling. Jonathan Wolf says AFM has are 10% fewer sellers (369 vs. 412 in 2008) but 4% more buyers with 13 new buyers from South Korea,...

Hong Kong – The team behind last year's Cannes competition entry "Lion's Den" has reunited for new AFM film "Carancho."

The picture, about an ambulance-chasing lawyer who gets into trouble way out of his depth, is again a collaboration between writer-director Pablo Trapero, actress Martina Gusman, Argentinian producers Matanza Cine, Patagonik Film Group and South Korea's Finecut. French distributor Ad Vitam also returns as investor and local distributor. Finecut will handle world rights sales outside Latin America and France.

Production is now under way in Buenos Aires, with Ricardo Darin ("Son of the Bride," "Nine Queens") as the sleazeball lawyer. Delivery is set for early summer 2010.

"This film is a classic 'film noir, like those of the 1940s and 1950s, where the police plot quietly became a portrait of a complicated social fabric," said Trapero. "It is also the description of the privacy of characters trying to survive in an unstable world,...

2009 Torino Glbt Film Festival Awards 2009 Torino Glbt Film Festival: April 23-30, 2009 Best Feature Film: Leonera / Lion’s Den by Pablo Trapero (Argentina/South Korea/Brazil, 2008) Special Mention: Actress Martina Gusman for Lion’s Den Special Jury Award: Elève libre / Private Lessons by Joachim Lafosse (Belgium, 2008) Special Mention: Actor Jonas Bloquet for Death in Venice Special Mention: Wu sheng feng ling / Soundless Wind Chime by Kit Hung (Hong Kong/China/Switzerland, 2008) Best Documentary (ex-aequo): Khastegi / Sex My Life by Bahman Motamedian (Iran, 2008) and Out in India: A Family’s Journey by Tom Keegan (USA/India, 2007) Special Mention: Giorgio/Giorgia…storia di una voce by Gianfranco Mingozzi (Italy, 2008) Best Short Film: Saliva by Esmir Filho (Brazil, 2008) Special Mention: Même pas mort / Tomboy by Claudine Natkin (France, 2008) The Nuovi Sguardi Award: Wu sheng feng ling / Soundless Wind Chime by Kit Hung (Hong Kong/China/Switzerland, 2008) Audience Awards Best Feature [...]...

Torino Glbt Film Festival 2009: Feature Lineup Feature Films In Competition Rückenwind (Light Gradient) by Jan Krüger (Germany, 2009) friday 24 april, 18.30 – saturday 25 april, 14.30 El patio de mi cárcel (My Prison Yard) by Belén Macías (Spain, 2008) friday 24 april, 22.45 – saturday 25 april, 11.30 Gu huo (Fire in Silence) by Shen Weiwei (China, 2008) saturday 25 april, 18 – sunday 26 april, 14.15 Leonera (Lion’s Den) by Pablo Trapero (Argentina/South Korea/Brazil, 2008) saturday 25 april, 20 – monday 27 april, 11 Selda (The Inmate) by Ellen Ramos, Paolo Villaluna (Philippines, 2008) saturday 25 april, 22.15 – sunday 26 april, 11 A Festa da Menina Morta (The Dead Girl’s Feast) by Matheus Nachtergaele (Brazil, 2008) sunday 26 april, 18.15 – monday 27 april, 15.45 Serbis (Service) by Brillante [...]...

• Though this year’s Cannes film festival was well represented by Latin American and Spanish speaking cinema, with the exception of the brilliant film from Chile called Tony Manero, it was this contingent of films such as to Pablo Trapero's Brazilian, Argentine and Korean co-production that got lost in the shuffle. Though I missed the film and never bothered to see it in carry over fests several months later, the folks at Strand Releasing believe they got themselves a prison life drama that is compelling enough for theatrical play. Variety reports that Lion's Den (Leonera) - Argentina's pick for Oscar consideration in the foreign-language film category will be released in theaters next year. In a gripping opening sequence, a pregnant young woman, Julia, wakes in her apartment beside the bloodied bodies of two men, Ramiro and Nahuel. Ramiro is still alive, Nahuel is dead, and Julia herself is pretty beaten.

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London -- The 10th Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, which kicks off Thursday with Brazilian director Bruno Barreto's "Last Stop 174," will be centered in brand new headquarters in the city's historic port area.

The custom-designed, 64,500-square-foot Centro Cultural da Acao e Cidadania will house the Rio Market, the Cine Encontro, in which panel discussions and conferences take place, and a meeting point called Cine Mobile Nokia.

The glamorous side of the festival, which will screen 350 films, will continue to take place at the downtown venues Cinelandia's Cine Palacio and Cine Odeon Petrobras, which has been refurbished.

Among the Latin American premieres scheduled are Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Francis Ford Coppola's "Youth Without Youth," Joel and Ethan Coen's "Burn After Reading," Lucrecia Martel's "La mujer sin Cabeza," Pablo Trapero's "La Leonera," Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Korean director Kim Jee-woon's "The Good, the Bad and the Weird.

TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival made way for some Cannes heavyweights Thursday, unveiling Special Presentation slots for Laurent Cantet's Palme d'Or winner The Class and Matteo Garrone's Grand Prix winner Gomorrah among a group of about two dozen North American premieres.

Arnaud Desplechin's Un conte de Noel and Canadian helmer Atom Egoyan's Adoration -- both Cannes Competition titles -- also will get the red-carpet treatment in Toronto, alongside South Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon's Out of Competition "The Good, the Bad and the Weird."

Other Cannes entries making their Canadian splash include the Dardennes brothers' Lorna's Silence, best screenplay winner in Cannes; Jerzy Skolimowksi's Four Nights With Anna; Terence Davies' Of Time and the City; Jia Zhang-ke's 24 City; and Three Monkeys, which earned director Nuri Bilge Ceylan the best director trophy.

The quintet has been programmed as part of Toronto's Masters sidebar.

On the documentary side, films headed for Toronto include Blind Loves, from Slovakian director Juraj Lehotsky, Lisandro Alonso's Liverpool and Service, by Brillante Mendoza.

Cannes Competition titles from Brazil -- Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas' Linha de Passe and Pablo Trapero's Lion's Den -- headline a Contemporary World Cinema sidebar that includes Federico Veiroj's Acne, Bent Hamer's O'Horten, Amos Kollek's Restless and Gotz Spielmann's Revanche.

The Discovery program will feature Steve McQueen's Hunger, which earned the Camera d'Or in Cannes, U.S.

• Surprise, surprise! Last week’s misleading speculations of titles pulling out and the odd closer for the 61st edition of the Cannes film festival were indeed debunked. Soderbergh's pair of Che films (The Argentine and Guerrilla) come as a possible four-hour epic (hopefully with at least one pee break), Woody Allen takes another out of comp slot with Vicky Cristina Barcelona and so far, there are no opening or closing titles announced. Unlike last year’s edition, this is a loaded with world preems year with the exception being Marina Zenovich's Roman Polanski docu. Films that were to be expected were confirmed, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s comes with a differently titled film that will take some getting used to from the former "Daydreams" to Three Monkeys, Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York was a shoe-in since it was first introduced at last year’s Cannes, native Arnaud Desplechin

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