News

In more news emerging from Spain’s San Sebastian Festival, Clara Larraín’s Clara Films has boarded Lucía Lalor’s docu-fiction hybrid “Mam” from Argentina’s Gale Cine.

Described as a “thought-provoking autobiographical hybrid documentary that explores how it is to grow up with a ghost mother,” it follows a millennial in her thirties and her fantasies about her dead mother.

Said Larraín, whose company is taking a minority stake in the project: “Lucía Lalor’s storytelling is both powerful and profound, and we are proud to support her vision of portraying not only her own journey, but the imagery of a generation,” adding: “This partnership underscores our commitment to fostering diversity and originality in cinema.”

“We are honored to collaborate with Clara Films on ‘Mam,’” said Luis Bustamante, CEO at Gale Cine. “Lucia Lalor is a remarkable talent and her project resonates deeply with our mission to bring impactful...

The Berlin Film Festival has revealed its juries, and the addition of Liu Jian’s animated feature “Art College 1994” to its competition lineup, which now has 19 films and is complete.

In addition to the already announced actor Kristen Stewart as president, the International Jury members will be actor Golshifteh Farahani (Iran/France), director and writer Valeska Grisebach (Germany), director and screenwriter Radu Jude (Romania), casting director and producer Francine Maisler (U.S.), director and screenwriter Carla Simón (Spain), and director and producer Johnnie To.

“Art College 1994” is set in China in the 1990s. It follows a group of young people who “prepare to face a world caught between tradition and modernity,” according to the festival. The film, represented for world sales by Memento Intl., was originally destined for Cannes, but Liu and the film were reported to have faced bureaucratic obstacles, which put the kibosh on those plans. The director...

goEast winners in Wiesbaden; Polish Film Institute backs Ida producers; Berlin-based A Company launches Ukrainian distributor.

Russian director Aleksandr Kott’s Insight was named Best Film at this year’s goEast Festival of Central and European Cinema (20-26 April) in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The intimate drama charting a love affair between a blind man and his nurse premiered at last year’s Kinotavr festival in Sochi and was also shown at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn.

During the festival, Kott, whose previous films include the 2010 war drama The Brest Fortress and 2014’s Test, confirmed to Screen that his next feature project, Soyuz Spaseniya (Union Of Salvation), will begin shooting from next year for a release date at the end of 2018.

The $10.7m (RUB700m) production from Direktsiya Kino with Russia’s Channel One Television is a historical drama set at the beginning of the 19th century about the founding of secret political society the Decembrists.

This...

On Wednesday, May 27th, Premios Platino's hosts Alessandra Rosaldo and Juan Carlos Arciniegas alongside actor Eugenio Derbez, as well as Elvi Cano (Director Egeda Us) and Gonzalo Elvira (Fipca Mexico) will announce the nominees for the Awards in Los Angeles, CA.

During the press conference Mexican actress Kate Del Castillo will announce the recipient of the Premio de Honor (Lifetime Achievement Award). In addition Rick Nicita, Chairman of the American Cinematheque, will accept a special Platino Award to The American Cinematheque for its contribution to Iberoamerican Cinema.

Produced by Egeda, in collaboration with Fipca, the Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema was born with the vocation to establish itself as a major international ceremony, promoting Latin American cinema as a whole and transcending borders. It is one of the most important tools to promote and support our film industry and all the professionals who, day after day, put forth all their effort and commitment so that audiences can enjoy the best films.

The candidates for the 2nd Platino Awards (Premios Platino) were announced during the 18th Málaga Film Festival in Spain. 73 feature films and 18 Ibero- American countries compete for the final nominations in the 14 categories for this prestigious award. The competing films had to be commercially released or premiered in an A-List Film Festival during 2014. The final nominations will be announced tomorrow at the Andaz Hotel West Hollywood. The Premios Platino Award Ceremony will take place on July 18, 2015 at Starlite Marbella in Spain.

As part of the same event The Premios Platino has distinguished the Málaga Film Festival with a special award for its contribution to the circulation and promotion of Spanish and Ibero- American cinema.

Here is the list of preselected candidates in each category ahead of tomorrow's final nominations

Premio Platino for the Best Ibero-American Fictional Film

· "Cantinflas"

(Kenio Films) (Mexico).

· "Conducta" (Behavior)

(Instituto Cubano Del Arte E Industria Cinematográfica, Rtv Comercial) (Cuba).

· "El Mudo" (The Mute)

(Maretazo Cine, Urban Factory) (Peru, Mexico).

· "El Niño"

(Vaca Films Studio, S.L., Telecinco Cinema, S.A., Ikiru Films, S.L., La Ferme! Productions, El Niño la película, A.I.E.) (Spain).

· "La Danza de la Realidad" (The Dance of Reality)

(Camera One, Pathe Y Le Soleil Films) (Chile).

· "La Dictadura Perfecta" (The Perfect Dictatorship)

(Imcine - Instituto Mexicano De Cinematografía, Estudios Churubusco Azteca, S.A., Bandidos Films, Fidecine, Eficine 226) (Mexico).

· "La Isla Mínima" (Marshland)

(Antena 3 Films, S.L., Atípica Films, S.L. y Sacromonte Films S.L.) (Spain).

· "Libertador" (The Liberator)

(Producciones Insurgentes, San Mateo Films) (Venezuela, Spain).

· "Matar a un Hombre" (To Kill a Man)

(Arizona Production, El Remanso Cine Ltda) (Chile).

· "Mr. Kaplan"

(Baobab 66 Films, S.L., Salado Media, Expresso Films) (Uruguay, Spain).

· "O Lobo Atrás da Porta" (A Wolf at the Door)

(Tc Filmes, Gullane Filmes) (Brazil).

· "Os gatos não têm vertigens" (Cats Don't Have Vertigo)

(Mgn Filmes) (Portugal).

· "Pelo Malo" (Bad Hair)

(Sudaca Films, Hanfgarn & Ufer Filmproduktion, Artefactos S.F., Imagen Latina, La Sociedad Post) (Venezuela Peru, Argentina).

· "Refugiado"

(Gale Cine, Burning Blue, El Campo Cine, Staron Films, Bellota Films, Río Rojo Contenidos) (Argentina, Colombia).

. "Relatos Salvajes" (Wild Tales)

(Kramer & Sigman Films, El Deseo P.C - S.A.) (Argentina, Spain).

Premio Platino for Best Directing

Alberto Rodríguez (Spain), for "La Isla Mínima." Alejandro Jodorowsky (Chile), for "La danza de la Realidad." Álvaro Brechner (Uruguay), for "Mr Kaplan." António-Pedro Vasconcelos (Portugal), for "Os gatos não têm vertigens." Claudia Pinto (Venezuela), for "La Distancia más Larga." Damián Szifron (Argentina), for "Relatos Salvajes." Daniel Monzón (Spain), for "El Niño." Daniel Vega (Peru) and Diego Vega (Peru), for "El Mudo." Ernesto Daranas (Cuba), for "Conducta." Fernando Coimbra (Brazil), for "O lobo atrás da porta." Fernando Pérez (Cuba), "La Pared de las Palabras." Luis Estrada (Mexico), for "La Dictadura Perfecta." Mariana Rondón (Venezuela), for "Pelo Malo." Miguel Cohan (Argentina), for "Betibú." Sebastián del Amo (Mexico), for "Cantinflas. "

Premio Platino for Best Actor

Benicio Del Toro (Puerto Rico), for Escobar. "Paraíso Perdido." Damián Alcázar (Mexico), for "La Dictadura Perfecta. Dani Rovira (Spain), for "Ocho Apellidos Vascos." Daniel Candia (Chile), for "Matar a un Hombre." Daniel Fanego (Argentina), for "Betibú." Edgar Ramírez (Venezuela), for "Libertador." Fernando Bacilio (Peru), "El Mudo." Ghilherme Lobo (Brazil), "The Way He Looks." Javier Gutiérrez (Spain), for "La Isla Mínima." Jorge Perugorría (Cuba), for "La Pared de las Palabras." Leonardo Sbaraglia (Argentina), for "Relatos Salvajes." Oscar Jaenada (Spain), by "Cantinflas." Salvador del Solar (Peru), for "El Elefante Desaparecido." Viggo Mortensen (USA), for "Jauja." Wagner Moura (Brazil), for "Futuro Beach" .

Premio Platino for Best Actress

Angie Cepeda (Colombia), for "El Elefante Desaparecido." Bárbara Lennie (Spain), by "Magical Girl." Carme Elías (Spain), for "La Distancia Más Larga." Elena Anaya (Spain), for "Todos Están Muertos." Érica Rivas (Argentina), for "Relatos Salvajes." Geraldine Chaplin (USA), for "Dólares de Arena." Isabel Santos (Cuba), for "La Pared de las Palabras." Julieta Díaz (Argentina), for "Refugiado." Laura de la Uz (Cuba), for "Vestido de Novia." Leandra Leal (Brazil), for "O Lobo Atrás da Porta." Maria do Céu Guerra (Portugal), for "Os gatos não têm vertigens." Martha Higareda (Mexico), for "Cásese Quien Pueda." Paulina García (Chile), for "Las Analfabetas." Samantha Castillo (Venezuela), for "Pelo Malo." Silvia Navarro (Mexico), for "La Dictadura Perfecta. "

Premio Platino for Best Original Score

Adán Jodorowsky (Chile), for "La Danza de la Realidad." Antonio Pinto (Brazil), for "Trash. A esperança vem do lixo." Edilio Paredes (Dominican Republic), Ramón Cordero (Dominican Republic), Benjamín de Menil (Dominican Republic), for "Dólares de Arena." Federico Jusid (Argentina), for "Betibú" Gustavo Dudamel (Venezuela), for "Libertador." Gustavo Santaolalla (Argentina), for "Relatos Salvajes." Juan A. Leyva (Cuba), Magda R. Galbán (Cuba), for "Conducta." Julio de la Rosa (Spain), for "La iIsla Mínima." Mikel Salas (Spain), for "Mr Kaplan." Pedro Subercaseaux (Chile), for "Crystal Fairy y el Cactus Mágico." Ricardo Cutz (Brazil), "O lobo atrás da porta." Roque Baños (Spain), for "El Niño." Ruy Folguera (Argentina), for" Olvidados." Selma Mutal (Peru), for "El Elefante Desaparecido." Vicent Barrière (France), for "La Distancia más Larga."

Premio Platino for Best Animated Film

"Até que a Sbórnia nos Separe" (Otto Desenhos Animados) (Brazil). "Dixie y la Rebelión Zombi" (Abra Prod. S.L.) (Spain) "El Ultimo Mago o Bilembambudín" (Fabula Producciones, Aleph Media S.A., Filmar Uno) (Argentina, Chile). "Historia de Cronopios y de Famas" (Prodarte) (Argentina). "La Leyenda de las Momias de Guanajuato" (Ánima Estudios, S.A. De C.V.) (Mexico). "La Tropa de Trapo en la Selva del Arcoíris" (Continental Producciones, S.L, Anera Films, S.L., Abano Producions, S.L. La Tropa De Trapo, S.L.) (Spain, Brazil). "Meñique" (Ficción Producciones, S.L., Estudios De Animación Icaic) (Cuba, Spain). "Mortadelo y Filemón Contra Jimmy el Cachondo" (Zeta Audiovisual y Películas Pendelton) (Spain). "The Boy and the World" (Filme de Papel) (Brazil). "Pichinguitos. Tgus, la Película" (Non Plus Ultra) (Mexico, Honduras). "Ritos de Passagem" (Liberato Produçoes Culturais) (Brazil).

Premio Platino for Best Documentary Film

• "¿Quién es Dayani Cristal?" (Canana Films, Pulse Films Limited) (Mexico).

"2014, Nacido en Gaza" (La Claqueta Pc, S.L.Contramedia Films) (Spain). "Avant" (Trivial Media Srl, Tarkio Film) (Uruguay, Argentina). "Buscando a Gastón" (Chiwake Films) (Peru). "E agora? Lémbra-me" (C.R.I.M. Produçoes, Presente Edições De Autor) (Portugal). "El Color que Cayó del Cielo" (K & S Films) (Argentina). "El Ojo del Tiburón" (Astronauta Films, Gema Films) (Argentina, Spain). "El Río que Nos Atraviesa" (Ochi Producciones, Maraisa Films Producciones) (Venezuela). "El Sueño de Todos" (S3d Films, Tridi Films) (Chile). "El Vals de los Inútiles" (La Pata De Juana, Cusicanqui Films) (Chile, Argentina). "Invasión" (Apertura Films, Ajimolido Films) (Panama, Argentina). "Maracaná" (Coral Cine, S.R.L., Tenfield S.A.) (Uruguay, Brazil). "The Salt of the Earth" (Decia Films) (Brazil) "Paco de Lucía. La búsqueda" (Ziggurat Films, S.L.) (Spain) "Pichuco" (Puente Films) (Argentina).

Premio Platino for Best Screenplay

Alberto Rodríguez (Spain), Rafael Cobos (Spain), for" La Isla Mínima." Alejandro Jodorowsky (Chile), for "La Danza de la Realidad." Álvaro Brechner (Uruguay), for "Mr. Kaplan." Anahí Berneri (Argentina), Javier Van Couter (Argentina), for "Aire Libre." Carlos Vermut (Spain), for "Magical Girl." Claudia Pinto (Venezuela), for "La Distancia Más Larga." Damián Szifron (Argentina), for "Relatos Salvajes." Daniel Ribeiro (Brazil), for "The Way He Looks." Daniel Vega (Peru), Diego Vega (Peru), for "El Mudo." Ernesto Daranas (Cuba), for "Conducta." Fernando Coimbra (Brazil), for "O lobo atrás da porta." Luis Arambilet (Dominican Republic), for "Código Paz." Luis Estrada (Mexico), Jaime Sampietro (Mexico), for "La Dictadura Perfecta." Mariana Rondón (Venezuela), for "Pelo Malo." Tiago Santos (Portugal) for "Os gatos não têm vertigens. "

Premio Platino for Best Ibero-American Fiction Debut

"10.000 Km," by Carlos Marqués- Marcet (Lastor Media, S.L., La Panda) (Spain). "23 segundos," by Dimitry Rudakov (Clever Producciones) (Uruguay). "Branco sai, preto fica," by Adirley Queirós (Cinco Da Norte Serviços Audiovisuais) (Brazil). "Ciencias Naturales," by Matías Lucchesi (Tarea Fina, Metaluna Productions) (Argentina). "Código Paz," by Pedro Urrutia (One Alliance Srl) (Dominican Republic). "Feriado" by Diego Araujo (Cepa Audiovisual S.R.L., Abacafilms, S.A., Lunafilms Audiovisual) (Ecuador, Argentina). Historias del Canal (Hypatia Films, Manglar Films, Tvn Films and Wp Films) (Panama). "La Distancia Más Larga," by Claudia Pinto (Castro Producciones Cinematograficas, S.L.U., Sin Rodeos Films C.A., Claudia Lepage) (Venezuela). "Las Vacas con Gafas," by Alex Santiago Pérez (Cozy Light Pictures) (Puerto Rico). "Luna de Cigarras," by Jorge Bedoya (Oima Films, Koreko Gua, S.R.L., Sabate Films) (Paraguay). "Mateo," by Maria Gamboa (Hangar Filmsdiafragma, Fabrica De Peliculas, Cine Sud Promotion) (Colombia). "Perro Guardian," by Bacha Caravedo, Chinón Higashionna (Señor Z)(Peru). "Vestido de Novia," by Marilyn Solaya (Icaic) (Cuba). "Visitantes," by Acan Coen (Sobrevivientes Films, Akira Producciones, Nodancingtoday) (Mexico). "Volantín Cortao," by Diego Ayala and Aníbal Jofré (Gallinazo Films) (Chile)...

Following the unveling of the Official Selection, news from the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24) continues to arrive. The prestigious Critics' Week –aimed at discovering the world's most interesting directors– announced the list of films to be included in the 54th edition of this event, one of the Festival's most important, along with the Directors' Fortnight.

The big news for Colombia is the selection of director/screenwriter César Augusto Acevedo's first film, "La Tierra y la Sombra" (Land and Shade), one of the seven feature films chosen to compete from among 1,100 submissions from around the world. The film was produced by Jorge Forero, Paola Pérez Nieto and Diana Bustamante, partners and founding members of Burning Blue, the production company responsible for some of the most internationally recognized films to come out of Colombia in recent years ("El vuelco del Cangrejo," "La Playa D.C," "La Sirga," "Solecito," "Los Hongos," "Climas," "Refugiado," and many others).

In "La Tierra y la Sombra," a woman refuses to give up the land she has fought to defend all her life; a son is incapable of leaving his mother, to the point of risking his own life; a father must confront past mistakes in order to recover the loved ones he abandoned; a brave wife fights to save her family; and a child grows up in the midst of devastation. Staged in a family microcosm –a tiny house and a tree surrounded by a formidable sugar cane filed–, the film presents the final days of these characters intent on repairing the fragile ties that bind them as they face their own imminent demise in the overwhelming wake of progress. Out of this situation comes a cruel story, densely populated with metaphors and allegories for culture, the fatality of alienation and oblivion, the fragility of memory, the inevitability of family breakdown, and the solitude it provokes.

The film was produced by Burning Blue (Colombia) in co-production with Ciné-Sud Promotion (France), Tokapi Films (Holland), Rampante Films (Chile), and Preta Portê Filmes (Brazil). In addition to director/screenwriter Cesar Acevedo, the film's crew included cinematographer Mateo Guzmán; editor Miguel Schverdfinger; art director Marcela Gómez; actor trainer Fátima Toledo; and soundman Felipe Rayo. The film stars Haimer Leal as Alfonso; Hilda Ruiz as Alicia; Edison Raigosa as Alfonso's and Alicia's son Gerardo; Marleyda Soto as Gerardo's wife Esperanza; and Felipe Cárdenas as Gerardo's and Esperanza's son Manuel.

According to César Acevedo: "The idea for this film was born of personal pain. At the time I began writing the screenplay my mother was dead, my father was a ghost, and given my inability to generate memories, they seemed completely lost to me. Thus arose my need to make a film that would allow me to recover the two most important people in my life, using the language of film. What I intended at the time was a reflection on our lives together, and what they might have been, based on the most private, the most important elements of this relationship. I believed that only by returning to my roots would I be able to face what I'd forgotten. This led to my decision to create a microcosm consisting of a small house and a tree, where I could somehow be reunited with those I loved most."

That was just the beginning, however, and the film couldn't remain tied to this initial concept with time tugging it in another direction. Acevedo continues: "As I began writing the screenplay I realized that the house was inhabited by ghosts, who drifted through the rooms, incapable of speech, unrecognizable to each other. It took a long time to accept that what I was trying to accomplish was impossible, simply because everything I was looking for had disappeared with them. So I distanced myself from the original intention with the sole purpose of better developing my characters and the film's conflict and the idea arose of telling the story of a dysfunctional family's attempt to repair the ties that bind them, just before being separated for good. Not only are they forced to confront the feelings of others, but, more challenging still, they discover feelings they never knew existed, or never suspected they harbored. "

Burning Blue: Spearheading the Internationalization of Colombian Cinema

After participating in the 65th Berlin Film Festival's Forum less than two months ago with Jorge Forero's film "Violence," Burning Blue is proud to announces the inclusion of "La Tierra y la Sombra" in the Cannes Festival's Critics' Week. This selection confirms Burning Blue's role as key Colombian representative in major film events around the world.

Burning Blue's efforts to produce daring films focusing on the value and power of stories, and construction of self-sustaining formats to achieve significant results internationally, allowing Colombian films to be seen worldwide, are examples of the creativity and innovation in Latin America productions and prove that Burning Blue has succeeded in asserting itself in a depressed market with a new vision that provides transcendent stories.

The successful start-up of a co-production model allowing films to work with partners in France, Germany, Poland and Holland –not to mention Latin America, where they have co-produced with Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Brazil; the presence of the company's films in more than 200 festivals, with commercial releases in countries like the Us, Greece, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, and several African nations (as well as co-producing countries); an the company's presence at the Cannes Film Festival in four consecutive years (co-producers of Argentine director Diego Lerman's "Refugiado" in 2014; co-producers of Oscar Ruíz Navia's short film "Solecito" at the 2013 Director's Fortnight; and producers of William Vega's "La Sirga" and Juan Andrés Arango's "La Playa D.C." included in the 2012 Director's Fortnight and Certain Regard sections, respectively) make Burning Blue Colombia's most visible presence on the global film market.

Although Burning Blue has achieved major recognition for its films on the international market, the company aspires, above all, to participate in the creation of films by and for Colombians and, in even more romantically ambitious terms, the creation of Latin American cinema for the Latin American subcontinent. The stories told, therefore, speak profoundly of the continent's many different peoples and uncover the traditions, imagery, dreams, desires, fears and problems facing these richly diverse, passionate, and complex cultures. To this end, Burning Blue hopes to harness the favorable international attention garnered to date to continually ignite local interest, using international platforms as a springboard to its natural audience: Colombia.

Burning Blue, led by Diana Bustamante, Jorge Forero and Paola Pérez Nieto, is currently developing the feature films "Asilo" (Jaime Osorio Márquez), in co-production with Rhayuela Cine, "Desobsesión" (Jorge Navas), and the co-production "Niño Nadie" (Fernando Guzzoni), produced for Chile's Rampante Films.

Diana Bustamante produced Ciro Guerra's "Los Viajes del Viento" (included in the 2009 Cannes Festival's Certain Regard section) and Oscar Ruiz Navia's "El vuelco del cangrejo" (2009 Toronto Film Festival premiere and Fripresci Award at the 2010 Berlinale Festival and Forum). She also designed and managed Caracol Television's film department from 2008 to 2012, taking more than 20 Colombian feature films from the financing to final promotion stages. She recently became the artistic director of the Cartagena International Film Festival (Ficci), contributing to the success of the festival's 55th edition last March, and is currently working on the 2016 festival.

"La Tierra y la Sombra" - Nothing But Success

The process of creating and financing "La Tierra y la Sombra" allowed the film to mature with assistance from specialists, tutors, and evaluation committees at a number of national and international institutions and festivals, each of them helping to move the film towards its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Festival.

During the project's development stage it won a development grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund in 2009 and was selected the following year to participate in the Pitch Workshop at Colombia's Cali Film Festival. The project also took part in the Ibero-American Films Crossing Borders event at the 2010 Havana Film Festival and the 2012 Ibero-American Co-Production Meeting at the Huelva Film Festival in Spain.

It was, however, in 2013 that the project became a reality, winning at the Cartagena International Film Festival's Co-Production Meeting, which made it possible to attend the Cannes Marché Du Film. The film went on to win a Casa de las Américas Film Project Development grant from the Carolina Foundation and a production grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund. Also in 2013, the Hubert Bals Fund awarded the project a development grant and the San Sebastian Film Festival selected it for the Co-Production Forum.

The final push came in 2014 when the project was invited to participate in Boost! at the Rotterdam Film Festival in Holland and received production grants from both the Ibermedia and Hubert Bals Funds. Shooting took place in late 2014 with post-production following in early 2015 and, finally, the film's submission, in the company of another 1,100 feature films, to the Cannes Festival.

On December 17, El Dia de St. Lazaro, something extraordinary happened! Equivalent to the “Fall of the Wall”, President Barak Obama simultaneously with Raul Castro of Cuba announced that diplomatic relations between our two countries was being restored; the last of the Cuban Five imprisoned for 15 years in the U.S. for spying (on Cuban terrorists based in Miami) would be returned to Cuba in exchange for Alan Gross (imprisoned for 5 years for bringing Cuba forbidden internet technology), and an unnamed CIA agent incarcerated for 20 years, along with other Cuban political prisoners; And that this would be the first step in finally normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S.A.

Read More: Sydney Levine's First Impression at the 2014 Havana Film Festival

As my friends and I were driving from Trinidad to visit a sugar plantation which was the basis for the Cuban wealth of the 19th century, we got a message that in one hour Raul Castro would make the formal announcement and President Obama’s address would also be broadcast.

As we entered the former plantation home, now a restaurant, we heard the singing and jubilation coming from the bar and immediately joined in as the only Americans to share the joy; the Scotch (not rum) was flowing and the dancing and singing continued until the address came on the television.

I realized that in my 15 years of coming to Cuba, this was the moment I had been waiting for. We watched Raul Castro explain, and we watched President Obama explain, and as I watched the faces of the beautiful Cuban people as they listened, some with tears and others with smiles, all with great intensity, I understood the meaning of “rapprochement”. We turned toward each other in pure happiness and felt ourselves united after 55 years of separation.

This is The Place and I am here.

We knew when the Mercosur Heads of State were gathered under tight security at the Hotel Nacional during the first days of the festival that something was afoot. We heard that not only were they planning a possible counter boycott of U.S. in their upcoming May meeting, shutting out U.S. from attending, but the Hotel Nacional’s guest roster included the name of an American who was negotiating something much bigger.

Some speak of the idealism behind this long-wished-for move of U.S.; others speak of the economic necessity. Looking back at my most incredible year of traveling around Latin America, I understand that with the new expansion of the Panama Canal enabling the huge Chinese container ships to pass through, the most convenient next-stop-port for them is Havana. And from Havana, the most convenient port is not Cartagena or Cali in Colombia but New Orleans! And so we may see the rapprochement bring back the glorious days when music and adventure were equated with the Louisiana-Cuban connection. My hope is that the values held so dear in Cuba spread to U.S. and that we Americans don’t spread our U.S. arrogance when we land on the shores of the country which has managed 55 years with no help from us.

There is still more to this tale of reunion, but I am sworn to secrecy for the moment. But you will read it in papers other than this blog. Thirteen months of secret negotiations took place in Canada with the help of the Pope. At a wonderful dinner at a newly opened up Cuban-Russian restaurant on the Malecon, “Nostrovia”, our friend the restaurant owner, Rolando Almirante, whom we know as a documentary filmmaker and host of a weekly Cuban TV show, introduced us to a Canadian and an American both of whom had been involved with the long negotiations. Together we toasted the event with vodka.

To return to the Hotel Nacional and the festival:

Exceptionally quiet for those political reasons, it was also quiet because but there was none of the active debating over the new Law of Cinema which so excitedly animated the festival here last year. There was a low-key conference about the law of cinema and audiovisual culture held by the Cuban Association of Cinema Press with Fipresci and other invited guests to discuss and express opinions about whether most countries by now have a law of cinema, whether developing countries are planning on establishing a law of cinema, whether a law of cinema is necessary for a country aspiring to a higher level of culture for its population, and in what way would a law contribute to the development of production and to the appreciation of cinema. But you do not see everyone gathering in groups to discuss these ideas as they did last year.

Some of last year’s top filmmakers – producers like Ivonne Cotorruelo and Claudia Calvino are so busy preparing their next coproductions that they have no time for such discussions. Others shrug and resignedly express Cuban forbearance as usual.

I asked my friends what is the status of the law being established here in Cuba where only one law of cinema exists, which is the establishment of Icaic, the government institute that determines everything about film behind closed doors. Their answer was “Nothing”. Nothing has changed since last year. Discussions are continuing, and there will be a law established, but not yet…and so I learned that once the first big step is taken here, the next steps are very slow to follow.

So here is what happened on Day 3, December 7 of the my festival:

Our friend Pascal Tessaud whose short from France “City of Lights” brought him to Los Angeles several years ago, had a screening of his new film “Brooklyn”. Its premiere screening here (It premiered in Cannes’ Acid section earlier this year) was to an odd audience of older people. No doubt they were expecting a film about “Brooklyn” (which used to be the name of a bar in Central Havana) but instead got a film about a young Afro-Swiss rapper-girl named “Brooklyn” who enters the rap scene of Paris, made up of Arabs and Africans.

“Afronorteamericano” films were also spotlighted with Oscar Micheaux’s “Assassination in Harlem” (1935), “Within our Gates” (1920), “Body and Soul” (1926) starring Paul Robeson, “Underworld” (1937), “Swing” (1938), and Spencer William’s “The Blood of Jesus” (1941).

Also showing were North American documentaries “Citizen Koch”, “The Notorious Mr. Bout”, “The Overnighters”, and an homage to filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki (“Capturing the Friedmans” 2003, “Arbitrage” 2012, “The Trials of Henry Kissinger” 2002, “Why We Fight” 2006, Emmy Award winning “Reagan” 2011 and 2012’s “The House I Live In” about the war against drugs which along with “Why We Fight” won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance) and a retrospective of Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck. Trinidad & Tobago’s annual showcase featured “Creole Soup” from Guadalupe and “Legends of Ska” by American DJ and ska specialist Brad Klein. And of course there was the latest crop of new films from Latin America and the newest films from Cuba, and much, much more.

Today Benecio del Toro, a regular at this festival, won the Coral of Honor for his role as “Che” in Steven Soderbergh’s movies and for his role as the narcotraffiker, Pablo Escobar in the NBC miniseries “Drug Wars: The Camarena Story” and here now, as Escobar in “Escobar: Paradise Lost” directed by the Italian Andrea Di Stefano. For Benecio, Cuba is “a dream come true”.

Day 4, December 8.

There seems to be a trend toward films about children. The prize winning film “Conducta” and Cuba’s submission for Academy Award Nomination as Best Foreign Language Film has already won awards around the world including The Coral for Best Picture and Best Actor here in Havana. This young boy loses every government protection because of his family’s dysfunctions and yet he maintains the spirit of survival and transcendence. Another story from Argentina, Poland and Colombia, France and Germany, “Refugiado” directed by Diego Lerman, also deals with a child who returns home from a birthday party to find his mother unconscious on the floor. The mother then flees seeking a safe place for them and he experiences fear in all the formerly secure places he has known. “Gente de Bien” a Colombia-France coproduction directed by Franco Lolli also explores the world of a young boy, abandoned by his mother and placed in the disheveled home of his impecunious father, who is taken in by a teacher who means well but whose family refuses to accept him. This little kid reaches his limit when his dog dies; but thrown back to his caring if off-kilter father, you get the feeling he too will be all right after all.

A couple of new gay films showed: Cuba’s “Vestido de Novia” was so crowded I could not get near it. Lines around blocks and blocks to get into the 1,000 seat theater were incredible proof of how much Cubans love cinema. Winner of last year’s prize for a work-in-progress, “Vestido de Novia” (“Wedding Dress) will soon be on the festival circuit. Two years ago, at Guadalajara’s coproduction market “Cuatro Lunas” by Sergio Tovar Velarde was being pitched. A sort of primer on gayness, four stories tell the tale of 1) discovery of one’s gayness, 2) first gay love, 3) first gay betrayal of love and 4) love at a mature stage of life. Producer Fernando … hung out with us a bit as we all come from L.A. and have friends in common.

What – aside from the new rapprochement between Cuba and U.S.A. – is “good for the Jews”? A wonderful film from Uruguay, Spain and Germany, “Mr. Kaplan” directed by Alvaro Brechner and produced by my most helpful friend Mariana Secco, and my German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner (Isa: Memento) brought a new understanding for the good and the bad in our recent history. Almost a comedy and almost a tragedy, the film’s resolution served to transform our propensity to see and judge in black and white.

Chicago – The 50th Chicago International Film Festival announced its award winners in a ceremony at the city’s Sofitel Chicago Water Tower on October 17th. The Gold Hugo for “Best Film” went to “The President,” a dark satire from Georgia, France, UK, and Germany. This year’s jury members for the international feature film competition included Oscar-nominated actress Kathleen Turner and renowned German director Margarethe von Trotta.

This festival also marked the introduction of its “Roger Ebert Award,” a celebration of rising new directors, which went to director Jorge Pérez Solano for his film “La Tirisia.”

Honored films include Niels Arden Oplev’s coming-of-age story “Speed Walking,” Abderrahmane Sissako’s luminous film “Timbuktu,” William H. Macy’s directorial debut “Rudderless,” Chicagoan Marie Ullrich’s “The Alley Cat,” and more.

International Feature Film Competition

’The President’

Photo Credit: © Chicago International Film Festival

Gold Hugo for Best Film: “The President” (Georgia, France,...

The 16th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival announced its line-up in a press conference today.

Here is the complete list of films which will be screened at the festival:-

International Competition

Difret

Dir.: Zeresenay Berhane Mehari (Ethiopia / 2014 / Col / 99)

History of Fear (Historia del miedo)

Dir.: Benjamin Naishtat (Argentina-France-Germany-Qatar-Uruguay / 2014 / Col / 79)

With Others (Ba Digaran)

Dir.: Nasser Zamiri (Iran / 2014 / Col / 85)

The Tree (Drevo)

Dir.: Sonja Prosenc (Slovenia / 2014 / Col / 90)

Next to Her (At li layla)

Dir.: Asaf Korman (Israel / 2014 / Col / 90)

Schimbare

Dir.: Alex Sampayo (Spain / 2014 / Col / 87)

Fever

Dir.: Raphaël Neal (France / 2014 / Col / 81)

Court

Dir.: Chaitanya Tamhane (India (Marathi-Gujarati-English-Hindi) / 2014 / Col / 116)

Macondo

Dir.: Sudabeh Mortezai (Austria / 2014 / Col / 98)

India Gold Competition 2014

The Fort (Killa)

Dir.: Avinash Arun (India (Marathi) / 2014 / Col / 107)

Unto the Dusk

Dir.: Sajin Baabu (India (Malayalam) / 2014 / Col / 118)

Names Unknown (Perariyathavar)

Dir.: Dr. Biju (India (Malayalam) / 2014 / Col / 110)

Buddha In a Traffic Jam

Dir.

Once again the San Sebastian Festival will showcase the best Latin American productions of the year. The program of the Horizontes Latinos section at the 62nd edition includes fourteen productions from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia. Films that have competed or been presented at important international festivals, but which have not yet been seen at a Spanish festival or commercially released in the country.

The selected films compete for the Horizontes Award, decided by a specific jury and carrying €35,000, of which €10,000 go to the director of the winning film, and the remaining €25,000 to its distributor in Spain.

"Casa Grande"Fellipe Barbosa (Brazil - U.S.A.)Set within Rio's social elite, a teenage boy struggles to escape his overprotective parents as his family spirals into bankruptcy. This second movie by Brazil's Fellipe Barbosa was presented in the Official Selection at the Rotterdam Festival.

"Natural Sciences" (Ciencias Naturales)

Matías Lucchesi (Argentina - France)Presented in the Generation section of the Berlin Festival and winner of the Award for Best Ibero-American Film at the Guadalajara Festival, the first film by Matías Luchesi revolves around a girl who, starting to become a woman, feels the profound need to discover her true identity. She does not know who her father is and she is determined to find him.

"Two Gun Shots" (Dos Disparos)

Martín Rejtman (Argentina - Chile - Netherlands - Germany)The Argentinian filmmaker Martín Rejtman competed at the Locarno Festival with his latest film. Early one morning, 16 year-old Mariano finds a gun in his house and proceeds to shoot himself twice without giving it a second thought. He survives. Dos disparos (Two Shots Fired) is the tale of how Mariano and his family react to the situation.

"Gente de Bien"Franco Lolli (France - Colombia)The feature film debut of Franco Lolli, following several short films to have won awards at several festivals, was presented in the Critics' Week at Cannes. Ten year-old Eric finds himself almost overnight living with Gabriel, his father, who he barely knows. Maria Isabel, the woman Gabriel works for as a carpenter, decides to help and invites them both to the country to spend Christmas with her and her family. However, she fails to foresee all the consequences of taking the child under her wing.

"Güeros"Alonso Ruiz Palacios (Mexico)A road movie and coming of age comedy which pays homage to the French new wave, winner of Panorama's First Feature Award in Berlin Film Festival and of Best Cinematography Award and Special Jury Mention in Tribeca Festival. Since the teenager Tomás is clearly too much of a handful for his mother, she packs him off to stay with his big brother who is studying in Mexico City.Tomás has brought a cassette along with him; the tape is part of his father’s legacy and contains the music of Epigmenio Cruz. When the trio learns that their idol is in hospital fading fast and alone, they set off in their rusty heap of a car to pay their last respects to this one-time rock star.

"History of Fear" (Historia del Miedo)

Benjamín Naishtat (Argentina - France - Germany - Uruguay - Qatar)Following its screening in Films in Progress at last year's San Sebastian Festival, Benjamín Naishtat's first film competed at the Berlin Festival and won Best Film at the Jeonju Festival. When a heat wave grips the suburbs, blackouts and waves of pollution push the social order to the brink of collapse, forcing each inhabitant to confront his own motives, instincts and fears.

"Jauja"

Lisandro Alonso (Argentina - U.S.A. - Mexico - Netherlands - France - Denmark- Germany)Viggo Mortensen stars in a film by Lisandro Alonso that competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Festival and won the Fipresci Award. In 1882, Captain Dinesen arrives in Patagonia from Denmark with his 15 year old daughter Ingeborg to take up an engineering post with the Argentinian army. When Ingeborg falls in love with a young soldier and runs away with him, the Captain ventures into enemy territory to find the couple. A solitary quest that takes us to a place beyond time.

"The Princess of France"(La Princesa de Francia)

Matías Piñeiro (Argentina)Matías Piñeiro returns to his reflections on the theatre world in this competitor in the Official Selection of the Locarno Festival. A year after his father's death in Mexico, Víctor returns to Buenos Aires with a job for his former theatre company: to make a Latin American series of radio dramas by recording a pilote episode of the last play they put on together.

"La Salada"Juán Martín Hsu (Argentina - Spain)The winning film of the Films in Progress Industry Award at last year's Festival is a mosaic of experiences for new immigrants in Argentina. Three tales of people from different races who struggle with loneliness and alienation during "La feria de La Salada".

"The Third Side of the River" (La Tercera Orilla)

Celina Murga (Argentina- Germany - The Netherlands)The Argentinian director Celina Murga competed in Berlin's Official Selection with this film focused on the seventeen-year-old Nicolas, who lives with his mother and younger siblings in a small provincial city. When his entranged father returns to his life, tensions rise between father and son. Nicolas realizes he has to make radical choices for his own future.

"To Kill a Man" (Matar a un Hombre)

Alejandro Fernández Almendras (Chile - France)The third film from Chile's Alejandro Fernández Almendras participated in Films in Progress last year and has won awards at several international festivals, including Sundance and Rotterdam. Jorge, a hardworking man, is muggled by Kalule, a neighbourhood delinquent. Jorge’s son, in an attemp to defend his father, is shot by Kalule for what Kalule is sent to prision. When he is released, only wants one thing: revenge.

"Futuro Beach" (Praia do Futuro)

Karim Ainouz (Brazil - Germany)A love story directed by Karim Aïnouz which competed in the Official Selection at the Berlin Festival. Donato works as a life guard patrolling the spectacular but treacherous Praia do Futuro beach. When he dives into the sea after two men caught in the undercurrent, he saves Konrad, a German vacationing in Brazil, but Konrad’s friend is lost to the sea. While waiting for the body to resurface, a bond grows between donato and Konrad and the initial sexual sparks give way to a deeper,emotional connection. Winner of the Sebastiane Latino Award.

"Refugiado"Diego Lerman (Argentina- Colombia - France - Poland - Germany)Presented at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes, the latest film from Diego Lerman opens when Matías, a 7 year-old boy, finds his mother, Laura, unconscious on the floor on coming home from a birthday party. When Laura comes round, she decides to flee with her son to a shelter for battered women. Seen through the eyes of Matías, we follow their escape and the way everything he knew turns into danger, while Laura looks for a safe place to live.

"August Winds" (Ventos de Agosto)

Gabriel Mascaro (Brazil)The arrival to a small coastal village in Brazil of a researcher registering the sound of the trade winds and a surprise discovery take Shirley and Jeison on a journey that confronts them with the duel between life and death, loss and memory, the wind and the sea. A first film by Gabriel Mascaró, winner of a special mention at the Locarno Festival.

Competitive strand will feature 14 films, including Jauja starring Viggo Mortensen.

A total of 14 titles have been selected to compete in Horizontes Latinos at the 62nd San Sebastian Festival (Sept 19-27).

The strand comprises productions from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and Colombia that have competed or screneed at international festivals but have yet to be seen in Spain.

The selected films compete for the Horizontes Award, decided by a jury and including a prize of €35,000 ($46,000), of which €10,000 ($13,000) goes to the director of the winning film, and the remaining €25,000 ($33,000) to its distributor in Spain.

Casa Grande

Fellipe Barbosa (Brazil - USA)

Set within Rio’s social elite, a teenage boy struggles to escape his overprotective parents as his family spirals into bankruptcy. This second movie by Brazil’s Fellipe Barbosa was presented in the Official Selection at the Rotterdam Festival.

Ciencias naturales (Natural Sciences)

Matías Lucchesi (Argentina - France)

Presented in the Generation section of the Berlin Festival...

Early predictions have emerged for most Academy Award categories. As the studios reveal their hopeful offers to be released in the final months of the year, the speculation increases. But despite all the information available on the centerpiece awards, other more obscure races remain a complete mystery at this point. Among these, the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is almost certainly the most complex to prognosticate. The lengthy process that precedes the announcement of the final nominees makes for a competition that begins months in advance in nations around the globe.

Having the opportunity to submit only one film, each country must carry out its own selection process. Once these decisions have been made, their chosen works will compete to make it to the nine-film shortlist, and eventually into the final five slots. Although this procedure allows for a certain degree of democracy, it also excludes all those other films that were left behind in their homelands. This, in turn, gives us a narrow view of what is being produced abroad.

Therefore, after lots of research and arduous educated guessing to put it together, the list below offers a more insightful look at this race before the actual individual selections are announced. For the sake of time, the amount of films is limited to five per country, but in some cases the choices are scarcer and less films are listed. While trying to speculate is always an uncertain endeavor, the factors taken into account to determine which are some of this year’s most important films in each country and their prospects of being chosen as their representative at the Academy Awards, were varied. Festival exposure, release date, the country’s previous submissions, and even the thematic elements of a few of them were considered to create this piece.

Clearly nothing is definitive at this point, but at the very least, this compilation will provide a sense of what the film industries in these territories are putting out and sharing with the world.

It is important to note that several of the films mentioned below are being handled by Mundial, a joint venture between Im Gobal and Canana, including "Gueros," "A Wolf at the Door," and "The Liberator."

Here is the first list dedicated to the Americas

Argentina

With four films presented at Cannes and several others receiving praise in festivals around the world, Argentina has several interesting options this year. Unfortunately, Lisandro Alonso’s period piece “Jauja” will almost certainly be ineligible due to its November release date, unless a qualifying one-week run is scheduled. That scenario seems unlikely. Screening in the Directors’ Forthnight, Diego Lerman’s “Refugee” (Refugiado) will open on October 3rd, also a few days after the deadline. That leaves the Almodovar-produced “Wild Tales” as the undisputed favorite. Acclaimed films such as “Natural Sciences," “The Third Side of the River”, “El Ardor“ (staring Gael Garcia Bernal), and “La Paz” are longer shots but still viable choices.

1. "Wild Tales" (Relatos Salvajes)

2. "Natural Sciences" (Ciencias Naturales)

3."The Ardor" (El Ardor)

4."The Third Side of the River" (La Tercera Orilla)

5."La Paz"

Bolivia

The last time the landlocked country submitted a film was back in 2009. However, this year offers several possibilities for the Bolivian film industry. Given its production value and historical theme, it is likely that - if they choose to send a film - it will be Mexican director Carlos Bolado’s “Forgotten” (Olvidados), which deals with the 70s Operation Condor. Another likely choice is “Yvy Maraey,” which highlights the mysticism of the country’s indigenous people and is the latest work by Juan Carlos Valdivia, whose films have represented Bolivia in 3 out of the 6 occasions they’ve participated. A long delayed road trip flick (“Once Upon a Time in Bolivia”) and a unique documentary (“Apricot”) round up the list of contenders.

1. "Forgotten" (Olvidados)

2. "Yvy Maraey: Land Without Evil" (Yvy Maraey: Tierra Sin Mal)

3. "Once Upon a Time in Bolivia" (Erase una vez en Bolivia)

4. "Apricot" (Durazno)

Brazil

Producing an impressive amount of films per year, the Brazilian film industry is seeing incredible progress recently. Particularly this year, the quality of works was exceptional across the board. Having such an overflow of great material could make it difficult to select just one. However, there are a few films that standout amongst the crowd. Fernando Coimbra’s debut feature “A Wolf at the Door” is undoubtedly the one to beat after receiving rave reviews and touring some of the most important international festivals. Its biggest competitors are the quiet character study “The Man of the Crowd” and the adorable coming-of-age tale “The Way He Looks.” Rounding up the top five are locally acclaimed “Runriver” and powerful Lgbt drama “Futuro Beach.”

1. "A Wolf at the Door" (O Lobo atrás da Porta)

2. "The Man of the Crowd" (O Homem das Multidões)

3. "The Way He Looks" (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)

4. "Riverrun" (Riocorrente)

5. "Futuro Beach" (Praia do Futuro)

Canada

This definitely seems like Xavier Dolan’s year. After sharing an award with New Wave patriarch Jean-Luc Godard in Cannes, the 25-year-old prodigy is almost a safe bet having two films that could represent his country. While “Mommy” is the clear favorite, it will have to go against “An Eye for Beauty, ” the latest film from Oscar-winner Denys Arcand. Both films will screen at Tiff in the upcoming weeks, just as time runs out for Canada to nominate a film by the end of September. Less probable but still great options are Dolan’s own “Tom at the Farm,” quirky black-and-white dramedy “Tu Dors Nicole,” and the well-received rural family drama “The Auction. ”

1. "Mommy"

2. "An Eye for Beauty" (Le Règne de la Beauté)

3. "Tom at the Farm" (Tom à la ferme)

4. "You's Sleeping Nicole" (Tu Dors Nicole)

5. "The Auction" (Le démantèlement)

Chile

Here is one of the few countries in the region with a very clear choice, but which sadly might decide to miss that opportunity. Alejandro Fernández Almendras ‘“To Kill a Man” won at Sundance, Rotterdam, Berlin, Cartagena amongst several other festivals and has received extremely positive reactions from critics and audiences. Yet, its opening date in its homeland (October 16th) might prevent it from being selected, which would be a regrettable mistake. A one-week run or an earlier release date would be a worthwhile investment. If they decide to leave it behind for next year, this great film would definitely miss its chance. If that is the case, the South American nation, which in recent years has garnered incredible success with films like “No” and “Gloria,” might decide to go with “The Dance of Reality,” the first film in over 20 years by veteran auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky. Other plausible candidates include “Illiterate” (starring Paulina Garcia), Marcela Said’s remarkable “The Summer of Flying Fish,” and historical biopic “Neruda.”

1. "To Kill a Man" (Matar a un Hombre)

2. "The Dance of Reality" (La Danza de la Realidad)

3. "Illiterate" (Las Analfabetas)

4. "The Summer of Flying Fish" (El Verano de los Peces Voladores)

5. "Neruda"

Colombia

Being forced to resort to mainstream cartel-themed fare in past occasions, this year has fortunately seen a fantastic reemergence of auteur-driven works in the country. Cartagena winner “Dust on the Tongue” is by far the most promising Colombian offer of the year with a thought-provoking premise. Next in line is “Mateo” about a young man struggling to pursue his passion for theater while living in a crime-ridden community. Other films include the touching “Catching Fireflies,” apocalyptic comedy “Chronicle of the End of the World,” and music-infused romance “Ciudad Delirio.” Franco Lolli’s award-winning “Gente de Bien” doesn’t have a release date yet, but will probably be in the running next year.

1. "Dust on the Tongue" (Tierra en la Lengua)

2. "Mateo"

3. "Chasing Fireflies" (Cazando Luciernagas)

4. "Chronicle of the End of the World" (Crónica del Fin del Mundo)

5. "Ciudad Delirio"

Costa Rica

Having three great films eligible for consideration, Costa Rica will likely enter the Oscar race for what would be only the third time in its history. Without a doubt, the country is spearheading Central America in terms of increased film production. Lauded throughout multiple festivals, “Red Princesses,” about a girl growing up in the Sandinista-era, is the most notable work. “Port Father,” a coming-of-age drama set in a coastal town and the comedy “All About the Feathers” are the other two that could be picked. Regardless of which one is selected, they all serve as an encouraging sign of growth for the Costa Rican industry.

1. "Red Princesses" (Princesas Rojas)

2. "Port Father" (Puerto Padre)

3. "All About the Feathers" (Por las Plumas)

Cuba

Hosting the Havana International Film Festival and its consistent investment in local talent make Cuba a unique place for film in the Caribbean. In spite of this, only a few national productions have reached cinemas this year. The three notable titles revolve around personal stories of survival and the struggles associated with living on the island. Winner of several international awards, “Behavior” is the clear favorite. “Melaza,” another local drama dealing with the economic challenges Cubans face and the gay love story “The Last Match,” complete the trio.

1. "Behavior" (Conducta)

2."Melaza"

3. "The Last Match" (La Partida)

Dominican Republic

For its size, this island nation has an impressive working industry that steadily produces films in diverse genres. The Dominican Republic will almost certainly participate again with one of the works by its homegrown talent. Screening in Toronto last year, crime romance “Cristo Rey” has the highest probability of being chosen. In second place is the documentary “The Mountain,” which centers on a unique expedition to Mount Everest by a Dominican team. Passionate road trip story “To the South of Innocence” and psychological thriller “Despertar ” conform the list of options.

1. "Cristo Rey"

2. "The Mountain"(La Montaña)

3. "To the South of Innocence" (Al Sur de la Inocencia)

4. "Despertar"

Ecuador

Seemingly dormant for many decades, the Ecuadorian film industry has recently exploded. Even though they have only submitted three times in the past, it appears they plan to make their presence more consistent moving forward. What is even more surprising, are the numerous alternatives they have to make their selection. At the top of the list is “Holiday,” which premiered in Berlin and has received considerable praise. Two other art house offers, “Silence in Dreamland” and “Saudade,” could be serious contenders. “Girl Without Fear,” a gritty crime film and “The Facilitator,” a politically charged work, have less chances but are still interesting offers.

1. "Holiday" (Feriado)

2. "Silence in Dreamland" (El Silencio en la Tierra de los Sueños)

3. "Saudade"

4. "Girl With No Fear" (Ciudad Sin Sombra)

5. "The Facilitator" (El Facilitador)

El Salvador

Sporadically producing feature length works due to the lack of initiatives that facilitate their funding, El Salvador has never entered the race. Nevertheless, there are three films that could potentially be submitted: Supernatural horror film "The Supreme Book," romantic comedy "The Re-Search," and the more viable choice, " The Four Cardinal Points," a documentary about the diverse lifestyles throughout the tiny country. The latter was exhibited commercially as part of Ambulante El Salvador for about a week, which could possibly make it eligible. But in all honesty, it is hard to think they’ll feel so inclined as to participate.

1. "El Salvador: The Four Cardinal Points" (El Salvador: Cuatro Puntos Cardinales)

2. "The Re-Search" (La ReBusqueda)

3. "The Supreme Book" (El Libro Supremo)

Guatemala

With only one submission under their belt back in 1994 and several missed opportunities in recent years, Guatemala might opt to remain out of the spotlight once again. If, however, they change their mind, there are three films that qualify to be entered. Focusing on the indigenous Maya‘s beliefs and legends, “Where the Sun is Born” is surely the most authentic and visually powerful of these films. Then there is “Pol,” a story about two teenage friends and their mishaps. Lastly, there is “12 Seconds,” a sort of slasher flick set in the countryside. It’s been 20 years since their last try, it wouldn’t hurt to see them make the effort once again.

1. "Where the Sun is Born" (Donde Nace el Sol)

2. "Pol"

3. "12 Seconds" (12 Segundos)

Honduras

Although they have never submitted an entry, the Central American country is showing signs of progress in terms of its film industry. With only two local, low budget films released this year, it is highly unlikely they will enter. Nevertheless, they do have an eligible film “11 Cipotes,” a sports comedy about a soccer team in a small town. The other film, “The Zwickys,” is surprisingly ineligible because it is mostly in English.

1. "11 Kids" (11 Cipotes)

Mexico

Now that the Mexican Academy has announced their shortlist - which strangely and inexplicably includes titles that have no scheduled release dates or that will be released after AMPAS' deadline (September 30th, 2014) - the landscape has dramatically changed. Three of the original selections mentioned here (“The Empty Hours,” “Potosi,” and “ Club Sandwich”) are not included among the finalists. It is important to note that films need to be submitted by the filmmakers in order to be considered by the Mexican Academy. One can assume that these films, though they qualify, decided not to participate. The 21 films listed include several documentaries such as “Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border,” “Disrupted” (Quebranto), “Eufrosina’s Revolution” (La Revolución de los Alcatraces), and “H2Omx" among others. But even if many of these are outstanding films, it is highly unlikely that the Academy will decide to go with a documentary over a narrative given their track record and the other options available. Comedic offers like the charming “Paraíso” by Mariana Chenillo, "Flying Low" (Volando Bajo), and "The Last Call" (Tercera Llamada) also made it in. Just like last year with “Instructions Not Included,” most people could assume that the film with the most commercial prospects would make for a good candidate for Oscar consideration, in this case that would be the biopic “Cantinflas," which was also listed. Fortunately, however, the selection committee often prefers to bet on films honored internationally regardless of their controversial content (“Heli,” “After Lucia,” “Silent Light,” “The Crime of Father Amaro”).

With the new additions, the possibilities have shifted. On the top spot is Alonso Ruiz Palacios’ black and white debut “Güeros,” which won in Berlin and Tribeca, and screened at Karlovy Vary. The festival pedigree will definitely help this unique road trip film set in Mexico City during the late 90s. The runner up is Luis Urquiza’s “Perfect Obedience,” though it did not have any festival exposure or a highly profitable theatrical run, the local critics praised the compelling portrayal of a depraved Catholic priest with satirical undertones. It would definitely make for a great contender if the Academy were willing to run the risk given its controversial subject matter. At number three we have Christian Diaz Pardo’s “Gonzalez,” an intriguing drama about a man looking to change his destiny by joining a for profit evangelical church. Dark comedy “ Workers,” by Salvadoran filmmaker Jose Luis Valle, comes in at number four. Lastly, there is Luis Estrada’s long awaited new film “The Perfect Dictatorship,” which made the cut despite having an October 16th release date. The film could definitely come into play; however, voters should consider the fact that its premise and humor might be too specific to the Mexican political idiosyncrasies to connect with foreign voters. Two other films that might be in the race next year are “Perpetual Sadness” (La Tirisia) and “ The Well” (Manto Acuifero)

1."Güeros"

2. "Perfect Obedience" (Obediencia Perfecta)

3. "Gonzalez"

4. "Workers"

5. "The Perfect Dictatorship" (La Dictadura Perfecta)

Nicaragua

With three submissions in over 30 years (1982, 1988, 2010), Nicaragua is the Central American nation with the most attempts at Oscar glory. More astonishing perhaps, is the fact that their first ever entry, “Alsino and the Condor,” earned them a nomination. These days production is almost non-existent. Still, the country’s most prolific filmmaker Florence Jaugey, responsible for their last submission “La Yuma,” made a small documentary titled “Class Days." It is just over 50 minutes long but actually had a theatrical run. Though eligible, it’s probable they’ll decide to skip this year. On the other hand, Jaugey has just finished a new narrative new feature, “The Naked Screen” (La Pantalla Desnuda), which will surely be part of the conversation next year.

1. "Class Days" (Dias de Clase)

Panama

An unprecedented amount of national productions were scheduled to premier in Panama during 2014. All of those four films - which by the country’s standards is an exceptional number - are documentaries. However, only two of them will be eligible given their set release dates. Out of those two, the top choice would certainly be Abner Benaim’s “Invasion” which uses reenactments in lieu of archive footage to revisit the American military intervention in the Central American country in 1989. The runner-up, “Majesty,” deals with the more lighthearted subject of carnival queens. In any case, should Panama decide to submit a film, this would be their first ever appearance.

1. "Invasion"

2. "Majesty" (Reinas)

Paraguay

Disappointed after missing the chance to submit last year's surprise hit “7 Boxes”due to the lack of a selection committee, Paraguayan authorities have stressed their wish to send a film to compete this time around. Unfortunately, it appears that their two best options might be scheduled to open theatrically past the Academy’s deadline. The documentary “Cloudy Times,” a Swiss co-production, has garnered positive reactions internationally and would be their best shot. A second choice could be the crime flick “Filthy Luck,” which sports a decent production value. But if neither of them manages to qualify, then the country’s only other option is yet another crime film “End of the Line.” In any case, hopefully they follow through with their intentions and participate for the first time.

1. "Cloudy Times" (El Tiempo Nublado)

2. "Filthy Luck" (Luna de Cigarras)

3. "End of the Line" (Fin de Linea)

Peru

The eclectic collection of Peruvian films released this year speaks of the great development the medium is experiencing in that country. The five films mentioned here represent the array of genres and stories coming out of Peru today. Given its incredible reception abroad, dark comedy “The Mute” by Daniel Vega Vidal & Diego Vega Vidal is undoubtedly the frontrunner. Behind it comes the intriguing thriller “Guard Dog” starring Peruvian star Carlos Alcántara, multi-narrative drama “The Gospel of the Flesh,” romantic tearjerker “Trip to Timbuktu,” and “Old Friends” about a group of elderly men on a mission. Definitely a though decision needs to be made.

1. "The Mute" (El Mudo)

2. "Guard Dog" (Perro Guardian)

3. "The Gospel of the Flesh" (El Evangelio de la Carne)

4. "Trip to Timbuktu" (Viaje a Tombuctu)

5. "Old Friends" (Viejos Amigos)

Uruguay

Last year the country decided to take a chance and submit the adorable animated film “Anina,” which despite not getting a nomination has become a great success. This time they have “The Militant,” a serious contender about a man retuning to his late father’s hometown. Empowered by a positive festival run, this seems to be their most ideal option. “23 Seconds,” a drama about an unlikely connection between two people and “Mr. Kaplan,” a buddy comedy by Álvaro Brechner - whose previous film “A Bad Day to Go Fishing” was selected a few years back - are the next best choices. The remaining film “At 60 km/h” is a documentary about a unique journey around the world.

1. "The Militant" (El Lugar del Hijo)

2. "23 Seconds" (23 Segundos)

3. "Mr. Kaplan"

4. "At 60 Km/h" (A 60 Km/h)

Venezuela

Dubbed as “the most expensive film ever made in Latin America” and focusing on the accomplishments of the country’s most important historical figure, selecting “The Liberator” is simply a no-brainer. Added to those qualities, the film is actually an elegantly achieved period piece that really showcases the sizable budget and director Alberto Arvelo’s talent. Two of his previous films have also represented his country in the past. On the other hand, this has been a monumental year for Venezuelan films. Festival darling “Bad Hair” would be the perfect choice if it weren’t going against the imposing major production. Other important films that could figure in the mix but have much less prospects are the emotional road-trip film “The Longest Distance,” the women-centered drama “Liz in September,” and the acclaimed thriller “Solo.”

1. "The Liberator" (El Libertador)

2. "Bad Hair" (Pelo Malo)

3. "The Longest Distance" (La Distnacia Mas Larga)

4. "Liz in September" (Liz en Septiembre)

5. "Solo"...

No topic is taboo when it comes to movies, but some of them do require care. If certain subjects are not handled correctly, filmmakers can be accused of being exploitative and/or insensitive. It takes a deft directorial hand successfully work with sensitive material. Thankfully, Argentinian director Diego Lerman shows such a hand in his film Refugiado, from which tackles the thorny subject of domestic abuse in a mature and responsible way.In the film, young Matías (Sebastián Molinaro) arrives home from a birthday party, only to find his mother, Laura (Julieta Díaz) battered and bruised on the floor. The duo immediately flees across Buenos Aires, desperate to get away from their broken home, and the abusive husband, Fabián. Throughout their ordeal, Fabián is never seen, only heard on...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s latest feature among those to receive funding from World Cinema Fund.

At the 20th jury session, the World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has backed four new features for production funding and one for distribution funding.

The Wcf jury made their selection from 126 submissions and have awarded a total funding of €145,000.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cemetery of Kings, Min Bahadur Bham’s Kalo Pothi, Akosua Adoma Owusu’s Black Sunshine and Alejandro Landes & Alexis Dos Santos’ Monos all received production funding, while Claudia Sainte-Luce’s The Amazing Catfish was awarded distribution funding.

Since Oct 2004, the Wcf has awarded funding to a total of 119 projects and all films produced to date have screened in cinemas or in the programmes of international film festivals.

Two Wcf-funded films premiered at this year’s Cannes: Lisandro Alonso’s Jauja and Diego Lerman’s Refugiado.

Full details of the latest funding round are as follows:

Production funding

Cemetery of Kings, director: [link=nm...

We all know that Adopt Films has acquired all U.S. rights to the 2014 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or Winner, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “Winter Sleep.” And we all know that Memento, with three films in the festival (“Cold in July” by Jim Mickle and the Argentinean “Refugiado” by Diego Lerman in the Quinzaine des Realisateurs, and “Winter Sleep” in Competition) is one of the top international sales agents of the best arthouse cinema today…

Our Pre-Cannes Film Festival Report, the Pre-Festival Report which Tom Brueggemann and I publish before the Festivals of Toronto, Sundance and Cannes. (Ask me if you want a free copy and I’ll send it to you.) lists international sales agents’ films in all sections of the Cannes Film Festival by numbers:

Wild Bunch

7

Le Pacte

5

Pyramide

4

3 films: Memento , Bac, Doc & Film, Films Distribution, Gaumont, Other Angle

2 films: Cj, Visit, Elle Driver, eOne, Seville, Urban Distribution Int’l, Les Films du Losange, MK2, Ndm, Sierra/ Affinity, The Match Factory, Westend

1 film: Alpha Violet, Altitude, Cinetic, Filmnation, Dreamworks Animation, Showbox, Films Boutique, Rezo, Myriad, Indie Sales, Snd - Groupe 6, Sunray, The Coproduction Office, Kinology, Pathe, The Festival Agency, Trust Nordisk, Versatile, Premium Panorama/ Annapurna, Kazak, Lotus,

Celluloid Nightmares, Film Factory, Rai Trade, 31 Juin Films, Alfama, Alice Films, Atoms & Void, Aud, Capricci, Morgane, Paraiso, Six Island Productions

Regarding this film, read my Cannes Blog: Cannes 2014 What I Saw #2: Palme d’Or Winner 'Winter Sleep' or just continue reading here:

Here is what I had to say about the film after I saw it in Cannes:

Whether this film will find a home in the U.S., whose audiences and movie theaters are so impatient, is questionable. At the very least, it should screen at New York’s Film Forum and in L.A. at the American Cinematheque or UCLA’s Film Program. Certainly it will play in the top film festivals forever. It is the sort of classic movie cinephiles will love, along the line of Tarkovsky or Angelopoulos. It is the sort of movie one wishes to see, to fully immerse oneself in, an experience only available in a certain type of movie or after reading a deeply immersive novel of Proust, Tolstoy or Marquez.

Once again, Jeff Lipsky and Adopt Films President Tim Grady who negotiated the deal with Memento Films International head of International Sales and Acquisitions, Tanja Meissner, have proven that they have an impeccable eye for quality.

Adopt plans a year-end 2014 U.S. release for “Winter Sleep.”

Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s epic and yet personally intimate story is about a wealthy self-absorbed Anatolian hotelier and landowner and his uneasy relationships with those around him. Is he evil? Is the power of evil best resisted by giving in to it?

This is Nuir Bilge Ceylan’s first Palme d’Or but he has received the Grand Prix twice already: once for “Distant” (2002) and again for 2011 for “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”. He also won for the Director Award in 2008 for “Three Monkeys”. It also won the Fipresci prize in Cannes.

“Winter Sleep” is also the second film by a Turkish director to win the Palm, after Yilmaz Guney and Serif Goren’s “The Way” in1982.

When Ceylan received the award, he noted that 2014 was the 100th anniversary of Turkish cinema. “This is a great surprise for me,” Ceylan said, “I want to dedicate the prize to all the young people of Turkey, including those who lost their lives over the past year.”

“Winter Sleep” is being sold internationally by Memento who will also release it in France. Ama Films acquired Greek rights before Cannes. New Wave acquired U.K. rights in Cannes. Stadtkino-Filmverleih has rights for Austria, Film Point Group has Poland.

Mexico

Mantarraya Producciones

Norway

As Fidalgo Film Distribution

Slovak Republic

Film Europe Media Company

Memento coproduced the film with the director's company, NBC Film, in collaboration with Turkey's Zeynofilm, Germany's Bredok Film Production. Eurimages backed the film with 450,000 € of the total 3.6 million € allocated to 13 film productions announced in March 13. (Parenthetically, seven of the Eurimages backed productions had French participation and five German were co-productions. “One, “Lucy in the Star” by Giuseppe Petitto an Italian, Swiss and Austria co-production received 130,000 €. “All My Children” by Ladislav Kabos from Slovakia and Czech Republic received 30,000 €.

To return to “Winter Sleep”: The opening scene of the stunning and surrealistic landscape of Cappadocia, Anatolia immediately establishes this story as exotic and yet familiar. The actor, Haluk Bilginer, seems to be a familiar type – and in fact, his character is that of a former actor who has turned hotelier and landowner; he is attractive in an actor sort of way and seems always somehow distracted while maintaining a hawk’s eye on the household and the area he appears to rule in an almost feudal style. The household he enters and its inhabitants fall into place like pieces of a puzzle one did not realize was, in fact, a puzzle, with the housekeeper, the sister and the young wife slowly taking on a shape within a larger context in this beautiful and ancient city built in the rocks like caves, with a primitively frightening side, personified by the impecunious family living on the property of the landlord. A modern and affable meeting of concerned citizens of the town establishes his relationship with his wife who lives an uneasy truce until he makes one final effort at destabilizing her hard-won independence of mind.

The 3-½ hours of the film pass without ever loosing the audience interest as the story unfolds about the relationship among the townspeople and the landowning man who, in factm is a tyrant until he is forced to see his own powerlessness.

The philosophic underpinnings, discussed in several intimate conversations, about the best way to resist evil, about wealth and the power it bestows and the resentment it engenders, finds a quiet resolution, which arrives unexpectedly along with the end of the story.

One wonders at the movie’s end if one is about to settle into a long winter sleep or if, in fact, one is emerging from such a sleep in which one dreamt of the previous autumn. And does Winter Sleep solve the problem of evil? In a silent and enigmatic way, it says that the power of money and of tyranny, in the face of resistance by one whose soul is not to be conquered, is null.

In a joint statement Grady and Lipsky said: “ ‘Winter Sleep’ is an epic film: A symphony of words and a sonata of visual splendor. A significant stylistic departure from one of the greatest international filmmakers working today. ‘Winter Sleep’ is a motion picture that will have movie audiences discussing with great passion its provocative discussions about art and artists, class struggle, and love and marriage. A film like this, so rich with ideas, dazzling dialogue, and intelligent characters, is one that is instantly unforgettable. We are proud to partner with Nuri Bilge Ceylan on his achievement of a lifetime. “

Adopt Films just debuted Martin Provost’s follow-up to “Seraphine,” “Violette,” starring Emmanuelle Devos and Sandrine Kiberlain. (Another great film)

Read our coverage here:

'Violette' by Martin Provost

Other recent successes for Adopt Films include the Oscar nominated “Omar” from Hany Abu-Assad, and Yuval Adler’s Venice Film Festival award-winning thriller “Bethlehem.” Its upcoming releases include Vinko Brešan’s Karlovy Vary comedy hit “The Priest’s Children,” Oscar winner Caroline Link’s new drama “Exit Marrakech,” Frederik Steiner’s Zurich,” starring Liv Lisa Fries, and Jacques Doillon’s “Love Battles.”

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Exclusive: Mfi reports strong business on Palme d’Or winner.

Paris-based Memento Films International has sold Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep to more than 30 territories.

Set against the backdrop of the remote Cappadocia plateau in central Turkey, the film revolves around a retired actor who runs a small hotel with his young wife with whom he has a stormy relationship and his recently divorced sister. It was Ceylan’s sixth film to premiere in competition in Cannes.

The latest European territories to acquire the film include Hungary (Vertigo), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Italy (Lucky Red), Spain (Golem), Scandinavia excluding Norway (Non Stop), the Baltics (Kiff), Bulgaria (Sofia International Film Festival) and Poland (Film Point Group).

Cinema Prestige has taken the film for Russia and Beirut-based Moving Turtle acquired Middle East rights.

In Asia, it has sold to Japan (Bitters End), Hong Kong (Edko), China (Media Asia) and South Korea (Art House...

Exclusive: Mfi completes slew of deals on Palme d’Or contender.

Turkish Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s three-hour Palme d’Or contender Winter Sleep, which has been racking up rave reviews in Cannes, has also been attracting buyers.

Paris-based Memento Films International has sold the film to the UK and Ireland (New Wave), Benelux (Cineart), Israel (Orlando Films), Greece (Ama Films), ex-Yugoslavia (MegaCom), Mexico (Mantarraya), Romania (Asociatia Culturala Macondo), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Switzerland (Trigon), Austria (Stadkino) and Portugal (Leopardo Filmes).

A Us deal is underway.

The film, revolving around a disillusioned former actor who has returned to his home village in a remote Cappadocia village to run the family hotel, was second in Screen International’s daily critics’ poll as of Monday evening.

Mfi has also been doing good business on Argentine Diego Lerman’s Refugiado – about an abused mother and her son looking for a safe place to stay – just a day after it premiered in Directors...

The Golden Lola for best feature film went to veteran director Edgar Reitz’s Home From Home - Chronicle of a Vision at the German Film Awards.Scroll down for full list of winners

The black-and-white epic, set in a fictitious village in Germany’s Hunsrück region in the mid-19th century, also received awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay (shared with co-author Gert Heidenreich) after being nominated by the members of the German Film Academy in a total of six categories.

The co-production with Margaret Ménégoz’s Les Films du Losange is handled internationally by Arri Media Worldsales and was released theatrically in Germany by Concorde Filmverleih.

The prizes were handed out at the 64th annual film awards, held in Berlin.

Austrian accent to ceremony

The night belonged to Austrian film-maker Andreas Prochaska and his producers Helmut Grasser of Allegro Film and Stefan Arndt of X Filme Creative Pool with their Alpine western The Dark...