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The soap opera, or telenovela, holds cultural power like nothing else in Brazil. And no other timeslot holds the prestige of the 9 p.m. telenovela at Globo’s free-to-air channel, the television flagship of the biggest production force in Latin America. João Emanuel Carneiro, whose 9 p.m. hit “Brazil Avenue” became one of the most successful 9 p.m. telenovelas in Brazil and internationally in modern history, is back at the time slot for the fifth time with “Crazy About You.”

Carneiro’s latest marks a reunion with Adriana Esteves, whose “Brazil Avenue” villain Carminha still looms large in Brazilian pop culture. In this new story, Esteves plays Mércia, a character especially written for her. “I don’t usually think of actors when writing but Adriana is different because of our creative partnership,” the author exclusively tells Variety.

“I think it’s an interesting challenge for her to interpret a submissive woman,...

Grupo Globo, the biggest production force in Latin America, has sold the format of the major hit drama series “The Others” for Greece and German-speaking territories and the format for the anthology series “Justice” for Greece, Variety can exclusively announce.

In Greece, “Justice: Life is Not Fair” will be produced by Primavisione and broadcast by Alpha. In “the case of The Others”, the agreement provides for production and exhibition by Alpha.

For German-speaking territories, ndF (neue deutsche Filmgesellschaft) takes over production on “The Others” and may add a partner for exhibition.

Created by Manuela Dias (“A Mother’s Love”), “Justice: Life is Not Fair” was nominated for the International Emmy for Best Actress with Adriana Esteves and for Best Drama Series. “The Others”, by Lucas Paraizo (“Under Pressure”), follows two neighboring couples who clash after their teenage sons’ fight with absurd and escalating consequences.

Angela Colla, head of international business and coproductions,...

A violent courtyard scuffle between teens roils into a string of increasingly devious and vengeful acts perpetrated by their parents in creator Lucas Paraízo’s “The Others.” Slated to screen at this week’s Mipcom market in Cannes, the Globoplay original series tackles masculinity and miscommunication with urgency.

Paraízo, whose prior medical drama “Under Pressure” sold to more than 60 countries, expressed an interest in breaking down the intricacies surrounding the frail state of human connection and points to intolerance for a lack of constructive everyday dialogue.

“The series brought this idea to a scenario in which neighbors don’t know how to live with differences and are unable to accept the view of the ‘other.’ In that sense, I consider the series to be quite universal. We all live surrounded by neighbors anywhere in the world, but we’re increasingly less willing to dialogue and negotiate points of view,” Paraízo told Variety.

Executive Order Review — Executive Order (2020) Video Movie Review, an Elo Company movie written and directed by Lázaro Ramos, co-written by Lusa Silvestre, and stars Alfred Enoch, Taís Araújo, Seu Jorge, Adriana Esteves, Renata Sorrah, Mariana Xavier, Pablo Sanábio. In this video review, I talk about the new political drama film Executive Order. This [...]

Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Executive Order: A Look Into A Dark Reality [SXSW 2021]...

As Brazilian TV giant Globo gears up to present a change of guard in top management at Friday’s online Upfront, one of ithe biggest and most crafted swings that it’s bringing onto the international market is “A Mother’s Love.”

The telenovela marks the first production shot at MG4, Globo’s state of the art, 26,000 sq. meter Rio de Janeiro production complex, a milestone in Globo’s transformation into a content creator for both linear and Ott.

Globo’s core challenge, however, remains its contacting with audiences ever more accustomed to the rival offer of global dreaming platforms. What do Brazilian – and international audiences – really want to see?

As an ever more demanding audience is satiated by high end entertainment on all sides, “A Mother’s Love” looks like one Globo response to the new streaming age, pushing the envelope on telenovela creative capacity.

Written by Manuela Dias...

Does Brazil need a film that openly advocates armed confrontation against its far-right government? That’s the first question that needs to be asked when discussing “Marighella,” actor Wagner Moura’s directorial debut focused on the final year in the life of left-wing insurrectionist Carlos Marighella during Brazil’s ruthless military dictatorship. For whatever one might think of the film’s merits as an adrenaline-filled shoot-‘em-up hagiographic biopic of a resistance-fighter/terrorist, the penultimate scene, in which a woman picks up a machine gun and looks directly at the camera, is unambiguous in its deeply troubling message. If there were doubts, Moura doesn’t lose any opportunity to compare the current administration to its ideologically similar predecessor from the 1960s, thereby forcing viewers to judge the motivations of a film whose irresponsibility surpasses even its superficiality.

Of course the movie’s genesis began long before the fascist-leaning Jair Bolsonaro...

New films by Agnieszka Holland, Agnes Varda and Isabel Coixet have been added to the official lineup of the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, along with special screenings of directorial debuts by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and “Narcos” star Wagner Moura of Brazil.

The Berlinale added 11 titles to its competition slate Thursday, representing countries such as China, Norway, Mongolia and Israel. Of the 18 competition titles selected so far, eight are directed by women, including festival opener “The Kindness of Strangers,” by Danish director Lone Scherfig.

Holland’s eagerly anticipated “Mr. Jones,” starring James Norton and Vanessa Kirby, will have its world premiere in Potsdamer Platz. The politically charged film centers on the real-life Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (Norton), whose reporting uncovered a deadly famine in Ukraine in the 1930s.

Another famine-themed film heading to Berlin is Ejiofor’s “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” which was recently acquired by Netflix and...

The Berlin Film Festival has added movies by Agnès Varda, Agnieszka Holland, Hans Petter Moland, Isabel Coixet and Wang Quan’an to its competition programme. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind will play in the Berlinale Special strand. Scroll down for the full list of additions to the batch of films already announced for the competition.

Coixet’s (The Bookshop) black-and-white feature Elisa & Marcela, the true-story of two women who got married in Spain in 1901 after one adopted a male identity, will likely receive an extra dose of media attention given that it is a Netflix acquisition, marking the streaming giant’s first film to screen in competition in Berlin. Festival director Dieter Kosslick has previously said that competition films must have a theatrical release.

Among other highlights announced today are James Norton and Vanessa Kirby starrer Mr. Jones from Polish director Agnieszka Holland and Italian mafia pic Piranhas,...

Director Gustavo Pizzi wastes no time opening up the intimate and economical “Loveling” to its audience. The film is not alienating; it does not obfuscate its intentions. Pizzi knew what he wanted to make, and what he has made is a touching yarn about the pangs of familial maturation. Set on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Irene (Karine Teles, “The Second Mother”) is essentially a domestic superhero. On top of raising four boys, she’s letting her recently divorced sister (Adriana Esteves) crash while her husband Klaus (Otávio Müller) struggles with some financial woes. Oh, and she’s in the process...

There are of a bounty of riches coming to the Sundance Film Festival, and while there are plenty of high profile movies to get excited about, we’re always just as thrilled to seek out the less starry corners of the schedule. One film that could make waves on opening day in Park City is the World Drama entry “Loveling.”

Co-written and directed by Gustavo Pizzi, and starring Karine Teles, Otávio Müller, Adriana Esteves, Konstantinos Sarris, and César Troncoso, the story follows a woman whose lively family is upended when her teenage son is drafted to play professional handball in Germany.

Continue reading ‘Loveling’ Clip & Poster: Bonds Of Family Are The Hardest To Break [Sundance Exclusive] at The Playlist.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has set its nominees for the 2017 International Emmy Awards. Represented are 18 countries with notably strong showings for programming out of Japan and Brazil. The latter’s Justiça, a miniseries from TV Globo, scored double nominations for Drama Series and lead actress Adriana Esteves. Also scoring mentions are Kenneth Branagh for the BBC’s Wallander and Anna Friel for Netflix’s Marcella. Ahead of his return to the Bb…...

Julie Walters and Christopher Eccleston are among the British winners at the International Emmys. The duo picked up the 'Best Performance' gongs at the event, which was held in New York last night (November 21). Eccleston beat Brazilian actor Fábio Assunção, South Korea's Jang Hyuk and Sweden's Michael Nyqvist - from the popular Millennium - to take home the prize for his role in BBC One's Accused. Walters beat Nygvist's co-star Noomi Rapace as well as Hong Kong's Athena Chu Yan and Assunção's colleague Adriana Esteves to win the award for her portrayal of Mo Mowlam in Channel 4's Mo. Mo was also nominated in the 'Mini-Series' category, but was beaten by Millennium. Other British winners included Gareth Malone, who won the prize for arts programming for Gareth (more)...

The British star's performance of Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam - who died aged 55 from a brain tumour in 2005 – in 'Mo' will go up against Adriana Esteves in 'Songs of Betrayal', Noomi Rapace in 'Millennium' and Athena Chu Yan in 'A Wall-less World'. 'Mo' detailed the later years of the politician as she struggled to deal with her own medical issues and fight for peace in Northern Ireland, and has also been nominated in the best TV Movie/Mini-Series category. In the Best Actor list, former 'Doctor Who' star Christopher Eccleston ('Accused') will fight Fabio Assuncao from 'Songs of Betrayal', Jang Hyuk's 'The Slave Hunters' and Michael Nyqvist in 'Millennium'. Singapore series 'The Noose Season 3' has been nominated in the Best Comedy series, against 'Benidorm Bastards' from Belgium, Britain's 'Facejacker' – where members of the public are duped by fictional characters played...

Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Julie Walters, Millennium Series: International Emmys 2011 Nominations Arts programming: All My Life: Adoniran Barbosa (TV Globo/Brazil). Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne (Twenty Twenty Television/U.K.). In der Werkstatt Beethovens — Die Neunte, Thielemann und die Wiener Philharmoniker (Unitel GmbH & Co. Kg/Zdf/3sat/Germany). Memories of Origin — Hiroshi Sugimoto the Contemporary Artist(Wowow Inc./TV Man Union, Inc./Japan). Best performance by an actor: Fábio Assunção, Songs of Betrayal, (TV Globo/Brazil). Christopher Eccleston, Accused (Rsj Films for BBC One/U.K.). Jang Hyuk, The Slave Hunters (Korean Broadcasting System/South Korea). Michael Nyqvist, Millenium (Yellow Bird/Svt/Zdf/Nordisk Film /Sweden). Best performance by an actress: Athena Chu Yan, A Wall-less World (Radio Television Hong Kong/Social Welfare Department/Hong Kong, China). Adriana Esteves, Songs of Betrayal (TV Globo/Brazil). Noomi Rapace, Millenium (Yellow Bird/Svt/Zdf/Nordisk Film/Sweden). Julie Walters, Mo (ITV Studios...

Britain will lead the way at the International Emmy Awards after scooping seven top nominations, including recognition for actors Julie Walters and Christopher Eccleston.

Walters will compete for the Best Actress prize for her role in Mo, in which she portrayed the U.K.'s late Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam, while the drama itself is up for Best TV Movie/Miniseries.

Former Doctor Who star Eccleston is nominated for Best Actor for his role in Jimmy McGovern's Accused, while Sherlock, the popular reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, has received a nod for Best Drama.

Productions from Brazil landed six nominations, including acting nods for Fabio Assuncao and Adriana Esteves and their TV movie Songs of Betrayal, while Swedish small screen projects have earned three nominations - all for the mini-series Millennium, based on late author Stieg Larsson's crime trilogy.

The International Emmy Awards celebrate TV productions made outside of the U.S. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in New York on 21 November.