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Looking ever more to Spain, a natural partner, Portuguese public broadcaster Rtp has boarded “Millennial Mal,” a series created by actor, screenwriter and stand-up comic Lorena Iglesias who co-directs with Andrea Jaurrieta, who made a splash with her second feature, “Nina.”

The series is produced by Oscar winner Tornasol Media (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Ukbar Filmes, behind Netflix smash hit “Turn of the Tide,” and Spanish SVOD platform Filmin which also has Spain’s first TV window. Rtp now serves as the show’s anchor broadcaster in Portugal.

Written by Iglesias, “Millennial Mal” turns on Judith, 42, an out-of-work debt-drowning librarian, who receives a university grant in a bureaucratic error. To access it, however, she has to attend the university and pass herself off as under 30. Aided by two younger women, has a Gen Z makeover. Trouble is, she ends up believing her facade.

“On social networks, we see every day how 20-year-old girls live,...

Latido Films, a Spanish sales firm, is making waves in the worldwide film business by landing large distribution deals for a wide range of films. From dark comedies and thrillers to horror films, the studio is expertly navigating an industry still splintered in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Latido recently announced sales for five independent films, showing its ability to connect with viewers in diverse countries. Among these works is Carlos Marques-Marcet’s award-winning dark comedy musical They Will Be Dust. The film, which won the prestigious Platform Award at the Toronto Film Festival, chronicles the emotional journey of a terminally sick woman as she makes an end-of-life decision and the impact it has on her family. It has already been sold in Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Japan, and critics have praised its moving and relatable storytelling.

Another standout is A Whale, a supernatural thriller about Ingrid, a talented assassin with...

Leading Spanish sales agent Latido Films has closed a wide range of deals on several of the big indie titles in its catalog, including Carlos Marques-Marcet’s Spanish dark comedy musical “They Will Be Dust,” Pablo Hernando’s Sitges player “A Whale” and Bartosz M. Kowalski’s terrifying Polish thriller “Night Silence.”

Having recently won the Toronto Film Festival’s prestigious Platform Award, Marques-Marcet’s “They Will Be Dust” has sold in Bulgaria, Taiwan (Sky Digi) and Japan (M-Pictures).

In the film, Claudia is diagnosed with an incurable illness and decides to end her life on her own terms at a clinic in Switzerland. Her husband of more than 40 years cannot imagine life without her and it’s up to their adult daughter to mediate the situation. Despite the film’s heavy synopsis, “The only sadness that comes from ‘The End’ here is that the film itself has concluded,” reads its Variety review.

Julie Delpy’s Meet The Barbarians will open the 21st edition of the Seville European Film Festival on November 8. The Spanish festival turns the spotlight on European films during this year’s awards season.

Meet The Barbarians is a satire about the arrival of a group of refugees in a village in Brittany.

The official selection includes 19 titles in competition for its top award: the Golden Giraldillo, named after the statue that crowns Sevilla’s Cathedral, La Giralda.

The prize comes with €40,000 for the Spanish distributor of the winning film or €20,000 for the company that submitted the film to the...

Latido Films, the sales company on Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” and “The Platform,” has unveiled a slew of over 30 sales deals on a wide-ranging slate of titles, led by a U.S. pick-up on “All the Names of God,” a bouquet of transactions on “Aire,” the Dominican Republic’s Oscar entry, and an HBO regional licensing deal on “Saturn Return,” Spain’s Academy Award submission.

The deals are announced as Latido hits the American Film Market with Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s “Re-Creation,” one of its hottest tickets, and Toronto Platform winner “They Will Be Dust,” which has clinched an early sale with Taiwan’s Sky Digi, with others in the offing.

“We have great hopes for ‘Re-Creation,’ Jim Sheridan’s trial film. He has been incredibly committed to tell this story, who I think is probably one of his more personal since ‘In the Name of the Father,...

La película llega a los cines en noviembre. © DeAPlaneta

Ya se ha publicado el tráiler de Raqa, un thriller de espías que nos adentra en el corazón del Estado Islámico y en las tinieblas de la Yihad bajo la dirección de Gerardo Herrero (Bajo terapia) y que adapta la novela de Tomás Bárbulo Vírgenes y verdugos, con guion firmado por Irene Zoe Alameda (La cinta de Alex).

Raqa está ambientada en 2014. En las peligrosas calles de Raqa, el espía internacional Haibala (alias El Saharaui), intenta dar caza a El Jordano, uno de los jefes del Isis más buscados del momento. Pero no es el único infiltrado en Siria. Malika, una enfermera de Ceuta al servicio de la Europol, ha llegado a Raqa con el mismo propósito. En un escenario marcado por las ejecuciones sumarias, la esclavitud de las mujeres y los bombardeos, Haibala y Malika intentarán cada uno por su...

Styled after addicting and aesthetically apt crime dramas “Mindhunter” and “True Detective,” author Ignacio del Valle and writer-director Rai García (“Al salir de clase”) are readying an upcoming series, “Black Suns” (“Soles Negros”), based on the fourth installment of del Valle’s historical suspense oeuvre published in 2016.

His novel “The Time of Strange Emperors” was adapted for the big screen in Gerardo Herrero’s 2012 film “Silence in the Snow.” It starred Feroz award-winning actor Juan Diego Botto (“I Don’t Like Driving”) and Goya winner Carmelo Gómez (“The Method”).

“Adapting my novel into a series is an exciting undertaking that ignites my creativity and makes me explore new paths to ensure that the adaptation is visual and dynamic,” de Valle told Variety.

Ignacio del Valle, Director Rai García

“This can be a challenge as the two mediums are very different, what works in a novel may not work on a series,...

New films by Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Jonas Trueba and Oliver Laxe join a brace of smart thrillers in a rich Cannes lineup from Spain.

“8,” (Julio Medem)

Medem returns towhat he does best: a love story transcending time and space and a poetic critique of recent history, according to sales agent Latido Films. “Fariña’s” Javier Rey and “La Mesías” Ana Rujus star as the lovers. Morena Films produces.

Sales: Latido

“As Neves,” (Sonia Méndez)

After a magic mushroom-fueled party, teens in a snowbound Galician village discover one of them is missing. The film was well-received at the Malaga festival.

Sales: Begin Again Films

“Barren Land,” (Albert Pintó)

From a director on “Money Heist” and “Berlin,” this suspense thriller captures how the drug trade devastates friendships and lives in Andalusía’s Cádiz. Film sports a great cast: Luis Zahera (“The Beasts”), Karra Elejalde (“While at War...

20,000 Species Of Bees, the debut film by Basque filmmaker Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, and Society Of The Snow, J. A. Bayona’s survival drama for Netflix, dominated the top honors at the eleventh Platino Awards Saturday evening.

The Mexican award show took place this year at the El Gran Tlachco theater in Xcaret Park, Riviera Maya. Bayona took best director on the night for Society Of The Snow. The film also won Best Feature while 20,000 Species Of Bees nabbed Best Screenplay and Best First Feature.

20,000 Species Of Bees debuted at the Berlin Film Festival, where lead actor Sofía Otero took the silver bear for best leading performance. The film is set during a summer in a village house linked to beekeeping and follows an eight-year-old and her mother experiencing revelations that will change their lives forever.

Bayona’s Society Of The Snow closed last year’s Venice Film Festival.

In a triumphant night for Spain, J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-nominated “Society of the Snow” swept the top prizes at Platino Xcaret, named after the venue of the annual Platino Awards this year, which took place at the Xcaret Park, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Argentina cinema’s plight, exacerbated by far-right president Javier Milei’s closure of its film institute, Incaa, was also on many people’s minds.

Citing veteran Argentine filmmaker Adolfo Aristarain as one of his inspirations, Bayona said upon receiving his best director award: “Argentina, we are here standing by your side, you’re not alone.”

Bayona’s harrowing account of the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash, from which only 16 people survived after 72 days stranded in the Andes, became Netflix’s second most-viewed non-English film of all time. “I wouldn’t be here without the book that Pablo Vierci wrote,” said Bayona, who also thanked his cast and crew,...

Madrid-based sales outlet Latido Films has unveiled sales on key titles from its European Film Market and Malaga Film Festival (March 1-10) slates.

Beginning with films in pre-production, Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s true crime courtroom docu-drama Re-creation starring Vicky Krieps has secured pre-sales for Greece (Spentzos) and Portugal (Outsider). The film sees a fictional jury assess the real-life unsolved murder of French TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead at her Ireland holiday home in 1996.

Spy thriller Raqqa from Oscar-winning producer-director Gerardo Herrero has pre-sold to the Middle East (Empire). Herrero’s previous feature, Under Therapy,...

Underscoring a renaissance on Spain’s genre scene, a duo of titles – Daniel Calparsoro’s “All the Names of God” and Carlota Pereda’s “The Chapel” – lead the lineup of the second Spanish Screenings on Tour, which unspools at Rome’s Mia forum, taking place Oct. 9-13.

A platform of market premieres, projects, pics in post and potential remake titles, the Spanish Screenings also underscore the ever stronger emergence in Spain of open arthouse titles – Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return,” Arantxa Echeverría “Chinas,” Benito Zambrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Gerardo Herrero’s “Under Therapy,” which was one of the best-selling titles at March’s Malaga Spanish Screenings.

With titles in Next from Spain set to present trailers, Spanish Screenings on Tour will also position a bevy of anticipated feature debuts, at different stages of production, from Spain’s seemingly bottomless well of new talent, such as Jaume Claret Muxart.

Madrid-based Latido Films has unveiled a slew of sales during the summer, led by standout deals reached on Daniel Calparsoro’s thriller “All the Names of God” and Gerardo Herrero’s comedy “Under Therapy.”

The announcement comes as the 20 year-old company Latido disclosed early sales deals to Javier Fesser’s “Championext,” the sequel to his comedy blockbuster “Champions”- which has become Spain’s biggest box office hit of 2023, scoring €7.52 million ($8.08 million) and 1.2 million tickets sold through Sept. 3, three weekends after its Aug. 18 release.

Latido deal details add some much needed granularity to the state of the non-English language sales scene as major festivals take place at Venice and now Toronto.

A Bullish Summer

“It has been a good summer for Latido. And we hope for an even better fall,” explained Latido CEO Antonio Saura.

“The way the post-covid market works is not only linked to the market events themselves.

Five of the 19 films selected are world premieres.

Films from Álvaro Longoria, Itsaso Arana and Gerardo Herrero are among the 19 features selected for the Made In Spain strand of San Sebastian International Film Festival, the non-competitive showcase of Spanish talent.

Longoria will close the strand with the world premiere of La Vida De Brianeitor about a teenager with a physical disability who becomes an elite gamer.

Also world premiering is Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez’s documentary Perplexed Ants exploring workers trying to prevent the collapse of their industry.

The other world premieres include Juanma Betancort’s documentary Seed Of Son about...

Few European arthouse-crossover film sales agents have better weathered the ebb and flow of international market dynamics than Madrid’s Latido Films, which turns 20 in 2023.

Proof of that came at April’s Platino Awards, where Latido scored six statuettes, split between an acting double for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and four for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which has already swept Spain’s Goya Awards and scored a French Cesar for foreign film.

Scoring €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, and 327,000 admissions in France, “The Beasts” also rates as one of the top-performing recent Spanish-language movies.

If Latido has survived for so long, insists director general Antonio Saura, it’s because of a core strategy of “working with talent, our search for talent.” Beyond that, other keys have been “collaboration with production companies that understand long-term relationships, and well-established relationships with clients.”

Companies with which Latido has held or holds...

Norwegian distributor Fidalgo has acquired a number of award-winning titles following conversations began at the European Film Market in Berlin in February.

The company’s latest acquisitions include Fantastic Machine, directed by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck and sold by Heretic. Fidalgo plans a theatrical release this autumn for the documentary about humanity’s obsession with the image. The film won Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision and the Ag Kino Award Cinema Vision Award at Berlinale Generation 14plus.

Fidalgo also bought another Sundance award-winning documentary, Anna Hints’ Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, sold by Autlook.

26th edition wrapped on Sunday.

Estíbaliz Urresola’s 20,000 Species Of Bees and Kattia G. Zúñiga’s Sister & Sister won top awards at 2023 Málaga Film Festival, taking best Spanish film and best Latin American film, respectively, as the Andalusian event closed on Sunday.

In other key awards at the festival’s 26th edition, Gerardo Herrero’s Under Therapy earned a special jury prize director and Matías Bize claimed the best director prize for The Punishment.

20,000 Species Of Bees won the Berlin Silver Bear for best leading performance for young Sofía Otero last month and added the Golden Biznaga for...

Estíbaliz Urresola Solaguren’s celebrated Spanish feature “20,000 Species of Bees” and Kattia G. Zúñiga’s Panamanian drama “Sister & Sister” took the top prizes at the Malaga Film Festival, garnering the Golden Biznagas for Spanish and Latin American pictures respectively.

“20,000 Species of Bees” also won best supporting actress for Patricia López Arnaiz and picked up the Spanish Cinematographic Informers Association’s Feroz Puerta Oscura award. The film’s success follows two awards in Berlin, including a Silver Bear for Sofía Otero for her portrayal of a young girl going through a gender crisis.

For Zúñiga, the Golden Biznaga is sure to help further propel “Sister & Sister,” an autobiographical story about two teenage sisters who travel from Costa Rica to Panama in search of their absent father. Pic drew upbeat reviews in Malaga following on its SXSW world premiere.

Also making waves at the Malaga Festival, which runs...

Oscar award-winning veteran producer Gerardo Herrero, (“The Secret In Their Eyes”) returns to the director’s chair with “Under Therapy,” his stark and unnerving big screen rendition of playwright Matías Del Federico’s theatrical production. The project bowed in competition at the Málaga Film festival earlier this week and is set for broader theatrical release in Spanish cinemas on Friday.

Latido Films handles international sales.

Enamored with the staged rendition, Herrero was inspired to add a distinctly cinematic touch to the script, honoring its darker underpinnings amidst the narratives’ anxious banter.

“The first time that I saw the production, I fell in love with the work,” Herrero told Variety. “Despite the fact that the show’s very well directed, written and performed, for me it’s much lighter than the movie. The movie’s not a comedy, it’s a drama with humor,” he revealed. “I love that they laugh and that afterwards they freeze,...

Cementing their place as auteurs of the absurd, Spanish writer-directors Juan González and Nando Martínez, of creative outfit Burnin Percebes, presented their latest feature “The Fantastic Golem Affairs,” to audiences at the Malaga Film Festival.

A sci-fi caper that embodies the duo’s freeform, standalone filmmaking style, it competed alongside further buzz titles “20.000 Species Of Bees,” from Spanish director Estíbaliz Urresola, and Gerardo Herrero’s,“Under Therapy.”

Selected for Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival, it begins after a night of heavy drinking, with quintessential bachelor Juan and his friend David playing a game of charades on the roof. During a highly-animated round, David falls from the ledge and shatters into a million ceramic pieces. The event sets off a fiendishly ludicrous odyssey through Juan’s daily affairs as he seeks to uncover the truth behind his ruptured relationship.

With a keen eye on the absurd, the film ponders death,...

Daniela Fejerman and Elvira Lindo’s “Someone Who Takes Care of Me,” a celebration of actors, their passion, craft and historical legacy, opened this year’s Malaga Film Festival in a fitting tribute to the Spanish entertainment industry.

The film, which screened out of competition, centers on three women whose careers have spanned stage, film and television, actresses of different generations whose fortunes in life have greatly differed and who struggle with untold secrets and unresolved conflicts.

Aura Garrido stars as Nora, a young, award-winning actress with a promising future who carefully balances between the two main pillars in her life, her grandmother Lilith (Magüi Mira), who reigned for decades as a renowned theater star, and her mother Cecilia (Emma Suárez), whose career has languished after having achieved some glory in the 1980s, a decade of excess in which she heavily partook.

As Nora experiences success in her burgeoning career,...

The festival opens on March 10 and will include super-sized industry progrramme Mafiz.

The 26th edition of the Malaga Film Festival kicks off today, giving the Spanish and international industry the chance to discover the latest films and talent emerging from the local and Latin America landscapes.

Twenty films will screen in the main competition. They include new films from returning Malaga filmmaker Elena Trapé, who won the best film and best director award in 2018 for The Distances. She’s in competition with a drama called The Enchanced, starring Laia Costa, about a young mother who has recently separated and is missing her young daughter.

Films presented include Baltasar Kormákur’s Whaleman (At The Ends Of The Earth) and Gerardo Herrero’s Raqqa.

Executives from Wild Bunch, A24, Netflix and Focus Features are among those who will attend the inaugural two-day Creative Investors’ conference taking place at the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), organised in collaboration with CAA Media and running from September 19-20.

Participants will include A24 Europe’s head of film and head of TV, respectively, Rose Garnett and Piers Wenger; Netflix’s head of international original film Teresa Moneo; Focus Features’ president of production and acquisitions Kiska Higgs; Mubi’s VP...

Co-organized with CAA Media Finance, a new San Sebastian Festival Creative Investors’ Conference will see many of the good and great of the international film business descend on September’s fest edition to be pitched 10 higher-budget Spanish movies by their producers.

The Conference will run Sept.19-20. In a cosmopolitan lineup, titles pitched include international co-productions such as “Whalemen (At the Ends of the Earth)” from “Everest” director Baltasar Kormákur as well as the latest from “Amama” helmer Asier Altuna and “Raqa,” from Gerardo Herrero, an Academy Award wining producer for “The Secret in Their Eyes.”

The conference’s high-profile international investors, producers, agents and executives take in Mubi’s Bobby Allen, Piers Wenger at A24 Europe, Focus Features’s Kiska Higgs, 30West’s Trevor Groth, Vincent Maraval at Wild Bunch International and Netflix’s Teresa Moneo.

Also confirmed are the Elysian Film Group’s Danny Perkins, Neon CEO Tom Quinn,...

Five Madrid-based companies, led by leading Spanish production house Tornasol Films, producer of Oscar-winner “The Secret in Their Eyes,” are teaming to launch services consortium Centro Navarro para la Producción Cinematográfica in Navarre, Northern Spain.

Based out of the Sarrio industrial park in Berrioplano, a town near Pamplona, Cnpc will provide production services, develop R&d projects and launch industry training programs in a region of Spain that is consolidating as a film-tv hub bulwarked by tax incentives.

Since 2015, Navarre offers a competitive 35% tax credit for Spanish shoots and co-productions.

“The Cnpc aims to complete the value chain of a film’s production,” said Miguel Iturralde, manager of Cnpc, which officially starts operations in October.

“Navarre is in vogue thanks to its tax incentives, although in order to be eligible for them, production must meet a series of requirements. The main one and the most complicated: Making 40% of production spend in the region,...

A burgeoning film-tv hub and shoot locale in Spain, Navarre is proving a hotbed for new companies and projects which are now helping the region to gain bigger visibility abroad. Some start-up, or standout Navarre-based outfits expected to attend this week’s on-site Conecta Fiction in Pamplona:

Adhokers Navarra

Created by Beatriz Acinas and José Luis Tejedor, Adhokers has offices in Madrid and Pamplona and produces TV contents and commercials. Upcoming projects include TV series “Encuentros en Villa Lancaster” and “Manual de usar y tirar.”

Apolo Films

Founded by legendary animation creator-entrepreneur Claudio Biern Boyd, indie studio Apolo has operated in Navarre since 2018, focusing on toon features inspired by well-known international brands. On Jan. 21, it will release in Spain swashbuckling adventure “Dogtanian & The Three Muskehounds,” the newest installment in the the 40-year-old iconic TV property. “Dogtanian” is helmed by Apolo creative director Toni García and written by “Puss in Boots...

Oscar-nominated “City of God” DoP Cesar Charlone, who went on to direct “3%,” South America’s first Netflix series, is set to co-direct and serve as cinematographer on “Graf Spee,” a six-part human drama evolving during the most memorable of World War II naval battles, the Battle of the River Plate.

Based on real events and taking place over what its producers describe as “seven days of honor, love and hell,” “Graf Spee” will be one of 12 scripted series projects pitched in the main CoPro Series category at the 4th Conecta Fiction, the Europe-Latin America TV co-production set to take place over Sept. 2-3 in Pamplona, Spain.

Charlone, whose cinematography credits also take in Fernando Meirelles’ “The Constant Gardener,” “Blindness” and “The Two Popes,” will direct the first three episodes of “Graf Spee.” Directing the remainder is Andrés Varela, CEO of Uruguay’s Coral Cine, producers of “Graf Spee” with Gretha Media,...

Latido Films has picked up international sales rights to musical comedy “Explota Explota” (“My Heart Goes Boom!”), a Spanish-Italian co-production, based on the hit songs by Italian singer Raffaella Carrà.

Produced by Mariela Besuievsky at Madrid-based Tornasol Films and Carlotta Calori at Rome’s Indigo Film, the movie marks the feature debut by Uruguayan-Spanish director Nacho Álvarez.

“My Heart” teams two Oscar-winning European companies: “The Secret In Their Eyes” producers Besuievsky and Gerardo Herrero’s Tornasol with Indigo, the shingle behind Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty.”

Spanish pubcaster Rtve is also co-producing.

Amazon Prime Video will offer “The Heart” after its theatrical release, which will be handled by Universal Pictures International Spain.

The film went into production in early November and will shoot for eight weeks in Madrid, Pamplona and Rome.

Set in the ’70s, it tells the story of María, played by Ingrid García-Jonsson (“Beautiful Youth”), a young...

Aided by a game Maribel Verdú, Gerardo Herrero delivers CSI: Spanish Romantic Painters edition. Gerardo Herrero’s thriller The Goya Murders, presented as an Òrbita – Special Session at the Sitges Film Festival, sees two female inspectors butting heads while trying to capture a killer on the loose, taking his sweet time painstakingly reproducing scenes from Goya’s Caprichos – a series of prints in aquatint and etching depicting, as rumour has it, the foolishness of Spanish society at that time. In all probability, said foolishness is still very much intact, as human stupidity is the one thing that never really seems to age. A bit like Cher. Built around the undeniable fact that Madrid-born Maribel Verdú is a national treasure, so good in everything from Y Tu Mamá También to Pan’s Labyrinth and justly celebrated with a Time Machine Award for Lifetime Achievement at the festival, The Goya Murders is dumb,...

Navarre’s 35% tax credit has mainly lured a large list of national feature productions since its launch in 2015. Further international film and TV projects partially shot there, accessing Spain’s 20% tax deductions; other benefited from R&d incentives for Navarre-based animation and post-production companies. Here are some recent highlights:

Title – Year Of Production – Director – Production Company – Location

-”Ventajas de Viajar en Tren.” 2019. Aritz Moreno. Logical Pictures, Morena Films, Señor & Señora. Pamplona.

-“Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds.” 2019. Toni García. Apolo Films. Animation.

-“Line Walker: Operation Midnight Shadow.” 2018-2019. Babieka Line Walker. Filmed in Pamplona, Tafalla.

-“Offering to the Storm“ (The Baztán Trilogy). 2018-2019. Fernando González Molina. Nostromo Pictures, Atresmedia Cine, Nadcon. Baztán Valley, Elizondo, Pamplona.

-“The Legacy of the Bones” (The Baztán Trilogy). 2018-2019. Fernando González Molina. Nostromo Pictures, Atresmedia Cine, Nadcon. Baztán Valley, Elizondo, Pamplona.

-”Los Japón.” 2018. Álvaro Díaz Lorenzo. Dlo Producciones, Atresmedia Cine,...

Madrid — Navarre has been a long-term film and TV shooting locale thanks to diverse and sometimes stunning landscapes that take in the Bardenas Reales badlands, immortalized in titles such as “The World Is Not Enough” and “Game of Thrones.”

One of Spain’s richest regions, Navarre has historically levied its own tax regime, which led in 2015 to its launching a highly competitive 35% tax credit for shoots which spend at least 40% of their budgets in the territory.

Once the incentive became part of Navarre’s film-tv mix, it started to generate larger economic activity around the audiovisual industry, and see high-profile national companies such as Tornasol Films and Nostromo Pictures choose Navarre as a preferential locale.

Gerardo Herrero’s Tornasol, for example, shot Terry Gilliam’s Cannes Festival closer “The Man Who Shot Don Quixote” in the towns of Galipienzo, San Martín de Unx and Lerga; Nostromo filmed feature adaptations of...

It has also secured deals for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Goya-winning political thriller The Realm.

Antonio Saura’s Latido Flms has sold Juan José Campanella’s The Weasel’s Tale to France (Eurozoom), Portugal (Outsider Films), Italy (Movies Inspired), Greece (Seven Films) and Hong Kong (Edko Films) after market screenings in Cannes.

An Argentina-Spain co-production, The Weasel’s Tale is a black comedy starring Óscar Martínez (The Distinguished Citizen), Graciela Borges (The Quietude) and Clara Lago (Spanish Affair) star. Campanella won the best foreign language Oscar in 2010 for The Secret In Their Eyes.

Latido has also secured deals for Rodrigo Sorogoyen...

Barcelona – Spanish production company Good Mood has initiated a co-operation agreement with Madrid’s Ecam Film School aimed at creating professional internships for university alumni.

Madrid-based Good Mood was founded by Daniel Écija, a veteran producer and showrunner behind more than 30 TV series including, when Ecija was a senior executive at Globomedia, recent titles such as the groundbreaking “Locked Up,” one of Spain’s biggest primetime hits “Red Eagle,” and supernatural cop thriller popular “I Am Alive.” He currently has upcoming series “The Fence” in production.

Produced by Good Mood and Atresmedia, “The Fence” is a dystopian fantasy set in 2045 Spain starring Ángela Molina (“Broken Embraces”) and her daughter Olivia Molina.

Two Ecam screenwriter alumni, Roberto Martín Maiztegui and Clara Botas –pictured, are working on the series as part of the Good Mood-Ecam agreement. Spanish director Inés París (“Miguel and William”) executive produces alongside Écija, David Molina and Sonia Martínez.

It took nearly two decades, 17 years to be exact, but filmmaker Terry Gilliam has finally wrapped production on his passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The filmmaker took to social media to announce that filming is finished, while posting one final photo from the set before returning home. Here's what the filmmaker had to say on his Facebook page about the production wrap.

"Sorry for the long silence. I've been busy packing the truck and am now heading home. After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers. Quixote Vive!"

Terry Gilliam made this statement on Facebook, while posting a photo of a truck on the set, and another of a "Happy Ending Rainbow over Los Suenos, Don Quixote's village of dreams." The director first started working on the film in 1989, and had originally...

Director celebrates wrapping production on the long delayed project.

Terry Gilliam has finished shooting The Man Who Killed Don Quixote after struggling to make the film for nearly 20 years.

In a celebratory Facebook post, the director said: “Sorry for the long silence. I’ve been busy packing the truck and am now heading home. After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers. Quixote Vive!”

Gilliam later said in a statement: ““Don Quixote is a dreamer, an idealist, and a romantic, determined not to accept the limitations of reality, marching on regardless of setbacks, as we have done. We’ve been at it so long that the idea of actually finishing shooting this “clandestine” film, is pretty surreal. Any sensible person would have given up years ago but sometimes pig-headed dreamers win in the end, so thank you to all of the ill paid...

Exclusive: FilmSharks has licensed the hit Latin comedy for a remake that will be directed by Hector Cabello Reyes.

FilmSharks of Buenos Aires has licensed French remake rights on the hit Latin comedy Chinese Takeaway (Un Cuento Chine) to 22h22 Films.

Hector Cabello Reyes will direct Benoît Poolvoerde, Alexandra Lamy and Pitobash Tripathay in Brussels through the end of March.

The reconfigured story will centre on an Indian immigrant who clashes with a local shop owner following a tragic accident.

As previously announced, FilmSharks has licensed Indian remake rights to Gobsmack, while Pantelion and 3pas will handle the Mexican remake.

3 pas’ Ben Odell along with Pampa Films’ Pablo Buscarini and Pablo E. Bossi, Tornasol’s Gerardo Herrero and Telefe’s Axel Kuschevatzky produced the original comedy.

FilmSharks has also acquired worldwide remake rights to Alex de la Iglesia’s The Commonwealth (La Comunidad).

The story tells of a sinister community of residents in a building where an old...

San Sebastian, Spain – Gracia Querejeta’s 15 Years and One Day will represent Spain in the foreign language Oscar race, the Spanish Film Academy announced Wednesday. The drama, starring Maribel Verdu, beat out Manuel Martin Cuenca’s Cannibal, Sanchez Arevalo’s La Gran Familia Espanola and Santiago Zannou’s Alacrán enamorado for the coveted spot. Photos: 100 Oscars Gowns The film won rave reviews for Verdu's performance as a mother navigating her relationship with her son in the shadow of her own mother. "We know what it is to win an Oscar and what it takes to do so," the film's producer Gerardo Herrero told journalists

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For short films, the Tribeca Film Festival is a must. Winning the award for Narrative Short or Best Documentary Short automatically qualifies a film for the Academy Awards. Their track record isn’t too bad either. Shawn Christensen’s Curfew had its New York premiere at the Festival and went on to win the Academy Award.

This year, Tribeca will show 60 short films in eight categories, from a variety of new and returning directors (including Christensen with Grandma’s Not A Toaster), and featuring performances from a number of Hollywood stars. Elijah Wood plays a standup comic who attempts a daring set in Setup,...

The 2013 Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding sponsor American Express, today announced its lineup of 60 short films, 30 of which are world premieres a record number for the Festival and a special screening. The recipients of the Tribeca Film Festival?s Best Narrative Short award and Best Documentary Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules. The 2012 Tff Narrative Short Winner Asad and competition short Curfew were nominated for best Live Action Short at this year’s Annual Academy Awards, with Curfew taking home the coveted honor. Curated from more than 2870 submissions, the 2013 roster represents 19 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Cyprus, Finland, France, Hungary, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Palestine, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom. The 2013 shorts program will be presented in 8 thematic programs — 5 narrative categories,...

The 11th Pune International Film Festival (January 10-17, 2013) has announced its slate for 2013. These films will be screened under nine sections: International Competition, Marathi Competition, Student Competition (live action and animation), Global Cinema, Country Focus, Retrospective, Tribute, Indian Cinema and Regional Cinema.

Israeli film Hayuta and Berl by Amir Manor will open the festival on 10th January. See the schedule here.

Feature films at the festival contend for the Best Film, Best Director and Government of Maharashtra “Sant Tukaram” Best International Marathi Film Award. The Marathi films in competition will vie for the Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography Awards. The Student Competition will also have a Special Award and a cash prize.

Eighty contemporary films from more than 50 countries will be screened under the Global Cinema section. Hungary and South Korea will be the Countries in Focus with the screening of six and seven films, respectively.

The Last Circus is a Spanish language film that will be releasing in some theatres August 19th, thanks to Magnolia Pictures. This is a surreal film that puts a clown in the middle of the Spanish Civil War. The film seems to jump from frame to frame in the red band trailer for the film, while a sneering clown unloads clip after clip. This clown is not out to bring smiles but bloodshed and fans of the film can enjoy the North American poster for the film here. The graphic tells fans: "it's showtime!" And the show begins this summer.

A partial synopsis for The Last Circus is here:

"1937: Spain is in the midst of the brutal Spanish Civil War. A 'Happy' circus clown is interrupted mid-performance and forcibly recruited by a militia. Still in his costume, he is handed a machete and led into battle against National soldiers,...

Fox International Productions has purchased the rights to Everybody Has A Plan starring Viggo Mortensen. The film is the directorial debut of Ana Piterbarg, who also penned the screenplay. Distribution rights are being sold at Cannes. Piterbarg is slated to begin filming this summer on location in Buenos Aires and El Tigre in Argentina, and Ciudad de la Luz in Alicante-Spain.

The film tells the story of "Agustín (Mortensen), a man desperate to abandon his unfulfilling existence after years of living in Buenos Aires. Following the death of his identical twin brother Pedro, Agustín sets out to begin his life anew by assuming Pedro’s identity and returning to the mysterious Tigre Delta region where the brothers had spent their childhood. Soon after his homecoming, however, Agustín finds himself unwittingly embroiled in the deadly criminal underworld that his brother had been part of."

I am a huge fan of Mortensen...

And the genre-themed pool at this year's Tribeca Film Festival has expanded by one with the Us premiere of writer/director Gerardo Herrero's short film Picnic, which is described as "psychological" in nature.

Herrero's Picnic is in Serbian with English subtitles and stars Sveta Zhukovska, Nacho Medina, Alejandro Rodríguez, Irene Paumard, and Marko Mihailovi. It involves a restful day turning tense for a family in Grebak, Bosnia.

Synopsis:

A father is resting with his son under a tree while the mother walks with her baby in her arms. They do not know it, but a few metres away a dangerous and deadly enemy is awaiting.

Check out a few stills below, and for more visit the official Tribeca website, where the full screening schedule is now live. The 10th edition of the fest will take place from April 20 to May 1 in lower Manhattan.

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Organisers of the Tribeca Film Festival have announced this year's line-up of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

The international festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and real-estate investor Craig Hatkoff to help revitalise Manhattan's Tribeca neighbourhood following the 9/11 terrorist attack.

The 2011 event - presented by founding sponsor American Express - will run from April 20 to May 1. The 60 shorts represent 21 countries, including the UK, and feature stars from around the globe.

In a new development this year, the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Oscars without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with Academy rules.

The short film program, drawn from 2,862 submissions, will be presented in eight thematic programs, which are detailed below.

There is a broad spectrum of styles and storytelling, from zombies taking over Manhattan to the humanitarian effort in Haiti.

The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday announced its lineup of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

A new wrinkle at this year’s festival is the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Drawn from 2,862 submissions, the short-film program represents 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.

The following is a listing of the selected short films in the eight programs in which they will be presented, with descriptions provided by the festival.

2011 Tribeca Film Festival Short Film Program

Off the Grid (Documentary)

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are a few of the topics explored in these thought-provoking short documentaries.

The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday announced its lineup of 60 short films, 22 of which are world premieres.

A new wrinkle at this year’s festival is the recipient of the Tff Best Narrative Short award will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.

Drawn from 2,862 submissions, the short-film program represents 21 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States.

The following is a listing of the selected short films in the eight programs in which they will be presented, with descriptions provided by the festival.

2011 Tribeca Film Festival Short Film Program

Off the Grid (Documentary)

Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll are a few of the topics explored in these thought-provoking short documentaries.

Danny Boyle.s .127 Hours,. David Fincher.s .The Social Network. and Joel & Ethan Coen.s .True Grit. led the Houston Area Film Critics Award nominations with six nominations each including Best Picture and Best Director. But the Houston Film Critics also chose the Worst Pictures of the year pitting "Jonah Hex" against "The Last Airbender."

Here's the complete list of nominees:

Best Picture:

127 Hours, Fox Searchlight (produced by Christian Colson, John Smithson, Danny Boyle)

Black Swan, Fox Searchlight (produced by Mike Medavoy, Scott Franklin, Arnold Messer, Brian Oliver)

Inception, Warner Bros. (produced by Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas)

Kick Ass, Lionsgate (produced by Matthew Vaughn, Brad Pitt, Kris Thykier, Adam Bohling, Tarquin Pack, David Reid)

The Kids are All Right, Focus Features (produced by Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Philippe Hellmann)

The King.s Speech, The Weinstein Company (produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin)

The Social Network,...

Roman Polanski's thriller has been nominated for 7 European Film Awards including best European film, director, actor (Ewan McGregor), screenwriter, editor, production design and composer. Other leading nominees are Samuel Maoz's Lebanon with 5 nods and Semih Kaplanoğlu's Honey with 3. This year's European Film Awards will take place in Tallinn, Estonia on December 4. The 2,300 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the winners. Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon won the European film, director and screenwriter awards last year. European Film 2010: Bal (Honey), Turkey/Germany Directed by Semih Kaplanoğlu Written by Semih Kaplanoğlu & Orçun Köksal Produced by Semih Kaplanoğlu & Johannes Rexin Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of Gods and Men), France Directed by Xavier Beauvois Written by Etienne Comar & Xavier Beauvois The Ghost Writer, France/Germany/UK Directed by Roman Polanski Written by Robert Harris & Roman Polanski Produced by Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde & Roman Polanski Lebanon,...

Madrid -- The message Spanish cinema is pushing about itself these days is that there is an industry beyond the familiar names of Pedro Almodovar and Alejandro Amenabar. And as the Madrid de Cine Spanish Film Screenings kick off Sunday, the industry is looking to show buyers there's more to Spanish cinema than its two favorite sons.

"It was very important that Isabel Coixet was in Competition at Cannes," said Beatriz Setuain of Imagina Sales, which will screen its thriller "25 Karats." "That generates more interest in the industry from abroad and we can show how international and varied our productions are."

Organized by Spain's Producers Federation, Fapae, this year's screenings will showcase more than 50 recent Spanish productions to 132 buyers from 31 countries, including 11 confirmed acquisition executives from the U.S.

Sellers agree that while they would prefer the dates to be somewhere in winter, coming straight after Cannes has its benefits.

MADRID -- Gerardo Herrero's Rough Winds took top honors as the ninth annual Malaga Spanish Film Festival wrapped Saturday, though by all accounts there were no real losers as the festival maintained its position as a platform for Spanish cinema. Though Winds was handed the €60,000 ($72,000) prize for best film, Daniel Sanchez Arevalo's DarkBlueAlmostBlack won the special jury prize, critics award and best screenplay, while David Trueba's Welcome Home snagged the directing nod. Manuel Iborra's period piece The Idiot Maiden won most of the acting awards, including actress (Silvia Abascal), supporting actress (Macarena Gomez) and supporting actor (Roberto San Martin). Best actor went to Juan Diego for El Triunfo and Remake.