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In its 23rd year, Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event has expanded in its scope and reach without moving away from its core: training, promoting Baltic film and TV filmmakers and connecting them with the rest of the world.

According to industry honcho Marge Liiske, this year’s event will focus on the role of cinema in larger society. “As the world undergoes profound changes, the role of cinema is more important than ever. At a time when humanity faces environmental challenges, social injustice and unrelenting conflict, our films need to be more than entertainment; they need to be calls to empathy, understanding and action.”

More than 800 delegates from 47 countries have signed up for the event, which spans eight days (Nov. 15-22) instead of the usual five, due to an extra three days dedicated to short films.

The new Shorts Industry Shortcut for emerging local, regional and international filmmakers is meant to...

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event has selected 17 films in production or post-production for its Works in Progress lab, divided across International, Baltic Event and Just Film sections.

The titles include Jonas Ulrich’s Swiss social drama Wolves. Set in the heart of an underground music scene, a young woman’s relationship with the frontman of a metal band blurs the line between freedom and fanaticism.

Scroll down for the full selection

The film stars newcomer Selma Kopp, alongside Corpus Christi star Bartosz Bielenia. Written and directed by Ulrich, the project won the Zurich Film Foundation Fast Track prize in 2022. It is...

Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event, the Baltic region’s leading industry confab and sidebar to the Black Nights Film Festival, has unveiled the list of 17 films from 15 countries selected for its three Works in Progress sessions: the International Works in Progress, Baltic Event Works in Progress (from the Baltics and Finland) and Just Film Works in Progress (for kids and youth).

The projects – which are in production or post-production and are looking for sales, extra coin and festival platforms – will be pitched to more than 500 industry delegates from at least 45 countries on Nov. 21-22.

Buyers and programmers who first discovered in Tallinn little gems like Berlin winner “20,000 Species of Bees” from Spain, can look forward to this year’s WiP program. “It is exciting, strong, and so diverse!”, said Marge Liiske, head of Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event. “From the Baltics, we have slightly fewer projects this year, as many international...

French auteur filmmaker Claire Denis returns to Panama to open the 11th Panama Int’l Film Festival Dec. 2 with her Cannes Grand Prix winner “Stars at Noon.”

While set in Nicaragua, the drama shot primarily in Panama last year and is associate produced by Hypatia Films, run by Pituka Ortega Heilbron and Marcela Heilbron, which provided production services. Fest – the Iff Panama as it is also known – closes Dec. 4 with “Tito, Margot y Yo,” an intriguing documentary about the 20th century’s greatest ballerina, Dame Margot Fonteyn, and her marriage to Panamanian politician, Tito Arias.

Some changes are afoot at the festival where, starting this year, Bernardo Ordás Guardia takes over festival duties from Ortega Heilbron who is now chair of the festival board and foundation. Ortega Heilbron plans to devote more time to directing and producing although she will continue to be involved with programming, guests and expanding the festival’s reach.

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

by Nathaniel R

Panama is fairly new to the Oscar game. They've been submitting since 2014 and last year they got close to a nomination for the first time with a finalist spot for Abner Benaim's Plaza Catedral. This year they're submitting Cumpleañero (or Birthday Boy) starring Albi De Abreu. While we don't yet know what it's about (though those of you who know Spanish can see the trailer here) the Spanish-language poster (to the right) is very intriguing with its upside down solo figure in the waves above group joy and it's tagline "Suffering is not an option." This is the second submission for Panama from director Arturo Montenegro after the trans drama Everybody Changes (2019). He's now tied with Abner Benaim as the most often submitted Panamanian director.

Oscar predictions and submission charts here...

Medellín-based Héroe Films, the production company behind Henry Rincón’s “The City of Wild Beasts,” an HBO Max-Outsider Pictures pickup for the U.S., is teaming with Panamanian director Arturo Montenegro’s Q Films (“Everybody Changes”) to produce Paloma Valencia feature debut, “El susurro del río” (“The Whisper of the River”).

Héroe is also partnering with Colombia and U.S.-based 36 Grados and Colombian director-producer Felipe Martínez’s Proyectil on “God Level,” a “City of Wild Beasts” TV series spin-off.

The company is furthermore preparing Henry Rincón’s third feature, prison drama “Hummingbird Heart,” conceived as a co-production with Europe.

Combining folklore with socio-political themes through magic realism, “The Whisper of the River” tells “a story about loss, resilience, and mainly about the loss of innocence,” in Colombian debutant director Valencia’s own words.

The film follows Antonia, a young woman with an adventurous spirit, living in a town cut off from civilization,...

Sex in all its permutations dominates this year’s crop of Latin American submissions, whether it be intersex issues in Venezuela’s “Being Impossible,” Bolivia’s homophobia in “Tu Me Manques,” or a transgender’s person’s plight in Panama’s “Everybody Changes.”

“Retablo,” set in a mountaintop hamlet in Peru, is Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio’s nuanced portrait of a young indigenous teen as he struggles with a revelation about his devoted father, exacerbated by the ultra-conservative, religious community they live in.

The Dominican Republic’s Jose Maria Cabral, representing his county for the third time with “The Projectionist,” also dwells on unsettling revelations about parents in the context of a road movie.

Colombian Alejandro Landes’ “Monos” is a breed apart although one of its child soldiers is androgynous in this haunting tropical mash-up of “Apocalypse Now” and “Lord of the Flies.”

Out of the 15 entries this year, four are by women,...

New Cadence Productions has acquired North American rights to the transgender family drama “Everybody Changes,” Panama’s official selection for the 92nd annual Academy Awards.

The movie from writer-director Arturo Montenegro tells the true story of a Panamanian couple with three children who grapple with the father’s decision to come out as a transgender woman. “Everybody Changes” has also been submitted for foreign-language film consideration to the upcoming Golden Globe Awards.

New Cadence, a newly formed content venture headed by producer Jeff Valdez, plans to arrange a limited theatrical release and it will shop the movie to cable and streaming buyers. “Everybody Changes” was produced by Gina Cochez of Gc Films and Andry Barrientos of Q Films.

“Everybody Changes” has been a controversial movie in its native country. Cochez said it is the first Lgbtq film produced in Panama. “Its production has not been an easy ride as many...

A record 93 countries submitted entries in the International Feature Film race at the 2020 Oscars. That is up by six from last year,when the category was still called Best Foreign-Language Film, and eclipses the record 92 submissions in 2018. The nations represented ranged from A (Albania) to V (Vietnam). Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees is made difficult by the two-step process.

First, the several hundred academy members of the Foreign-Language Film screening committee are required to watch a number of the submissions (upwards of a dozen) over a two-month period that ends in mid December. They will rate them from 6 to 10 and their top six vote-getters make it to the next round, as will three films added by the 20 members of the executive committee.

Those nine semi-finalists will be screened three per day beginning in early January by select committee members in Gotham, Hollywood, London and San Francisco. These 40 folks will...

Expanded shortlist of 10 films to be announced on December 16.

The Academy on Monday (7) confirmed that 93 countries have submitted films for consideration in the international feature film category for the 92nd Academy Awards.

Ghana, Nigeria and Uzbekistan are first-time entrants with Kwabena Gyansah’s Azali, Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart, and Umid Khamdamov’s Hot Bread, respectively.

Earlier this year, the Academy board voted to rename the category formerly known as foreign language film, and expand the shortlist from nine to 10 films.

The shortlist will be announced on December 16. Nominations for the 92nd Oscars will be unveiled on January 13, 2020, and the Oscars...

The 2020 foreign-language Oscar nominees will come from submissions from 93 countries, up from last year’s 87, and breaking the record 92 from 2017. A contender for the renamed Best International Feature must be a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

Ghana, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan are first-time entrants, but Uganda did not qualify. China (Yu Yang’s “Ne Zha”) and Senegal (Mati Diop’s “Atlantics”) submitted their films under the wire on the deadline of October 1.

Earlier this year, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted not only to rename the Foreign Language Film category, but to expand the shortlist from nine films to 10.

The 2019 submissions, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Albania, “The Delegation,” Bujar Alimani, director;

Algeria, “Papicha,” Mounia Meddour, director;

Argentina, “Heroic Losers,” Sebastián Borensztein, director;

Armenia, “Lengthy Night,” Edgar Baghdasaryan, director;

Australia, “Buoyancy,” Rodd Rathjen, director;

Austria, “Joy,...

The 2020 foreign-language Oscar nominees will come from submissions from 93 countries, up from last year’s 87, and breaking the record 92 from 2017. A contender for the renamed Best International Feature must be a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes) produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.

Ghana, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan are first-time entrants, but Uganda did not qualify. China (Yu Yang’s “Ne Zha”) and Senegal (Mati Diop’s “Atlantics”) submitted their films under the wire on the deadline of October 1.

Earlier this year, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted not only to rename the Foreign Language Film category, but to expand the shortlist from nine films to 10.

The 2019 submissions, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Albania, “The Delegation,” Bujar Alimani, director;

Algeria, “Papicha,” Mounia Meddour, director;

Argentina, “Heroic Losers,” Sebastián Borensztein, director;

Armenia, “Lengthy Night,” Edgar Baghdasaryan, director;

Australia, “Buoyancy,” Rodd Rathjen, director;

Austria, “Joy,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the full list of countries that have submitted a pic for consideration for the new International Feature Film Oscar category.

Here are the 93 nations and their hopefuls, in alphabetical order:

Albania, The Delegation, Bujar Alimani, director;

Algeria, Papicha, Mounia Meddour, director;

Argentina, Heroic Losers, Sebastián Borensztein, director;

Armenia, Lengthy Night, Edgar Baghdasaryan, director;

Australia, Buoyancy, Rodd Rathjen, director;

Austria, Joy, Sudabeh Mortezai, director;

Bangladesh, Alpha, Nasiruddin Yousuff, director;

Belarus, Debut, Anastasiya Miroshnichenko, director;

Belgium, Our Mothers, César Díaz, director;

Bolivia, I Miss You, Rodrigo Bellott, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Son, Ines Tanovic, director;

Brazil, Invisible Life, Karim Aïnouz, director;

Bulgaria, Ága, Milko Lazarov, director;

Cambodia, In the Life of Music, Caylee So, Sok Visal, directors;

Canada, Antigone, Sophie Deraspe, director;

Chile, Spider, Andrés Wood, director;

China, Ne Zha, Yu Yang, director;

Colombia, Monos, Alejandro Landes, director;

Costa Rica, The Awakening of the Ants,...

Panama is the first Latin American country to announce its candidate for the Oscars' international feature film category: Arturo Montenegro's family drama Everybody Changes.

Starring Gaby Gnazzo, Andrea Pérez Meana, Susan Elizabeth Castillo, Mónica Lola Díaz and José Manuel Arispe, and shot in Panama and Thailand, Everybody Changes tells the story of Federico and Carol, parents of three children who have a perfect home, but everything is challenged when they must adapt to Federico's coming out as a transgender woman.

"The film deals with minorities, particularly one that is very attacked and demands human and civil ...

Panama is the first Latin American country to announce its candidate for the Oscars' international feature film category: Arturo Montenegro's family drama Everybody Changes.

Starring Gaby Gnazzo, Andrea Pérez Meana, Susan Elizabeth Castillo, Mónica Lola Díaz and José Manuel Arispe, and shot in Panama and Thailand, Everybody Changes tells the story of Federico and Carol, parents of three children who have a perfect home, but everything is challenged when they must adapt to Federico's coming out as a transgender woman.

"The film deals with minorities, particularly one that is very attacked and demands human and civil ...

Germany has chosen Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” as its entry for the newly re-branded International Feature Film award at the 92nd Academy Awards, it was announced Wednesday by promotional body German Films.

Produced by Kineo Filmproduktion and Weydemann Bros, the film won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, where it received its world premiere in February, and has since gone on to be a fixture on the festival circuit picking up a number of other prizes. It stars Helena Zengel as nine-year-old Benni, whose untamed energy in her wild quest for love drives everyone around her to despair.

The film was chosen from a list of seven films, submitted by their producers, by the eight members of the German selection committee, which consists of representatives from eight German cinema trade associations and institutions. German Films organizes the selection procedure for the German candidate for the Oscars’ International...

Panama City — Prior to the launch of Iff Panama in 2012, Panama’s film production was virtually non-existent. With the aid of the festival, the national film fund, and impetus created by an influx of foreign shoots, local productions have secured an increasingly important role at the domestic box office.

Several projects now enjoy multi-territory releases – such as Abner Benaim’s “Ruben Blades Is Not My Name” and Arturo Montenegro’s “Frozen in Russia,” both released in 2018.

Iff Panama has increased visibility for local films and helped local helmers set their sights on the international market.

Seven Panamanian films are screening at the 8th Iff Panama; other promising projects are in production or pre-production.

All projects explore the complex, multi-faceted dimensions of Panamanian culture, ranging from tropical rainforests and indigenous tribes to the legacy of decades of U.S. presence.

Miguel González’s half-hour documentary, “The Fourth Estate,” turns on corruption...

Madrid — After years of marked box-office growth, Central American box office dipped 5.6% in 2018, from $144.34 million in 2017, to $136.3 million last year – which is nonetheless almost 50% higher than the regional box office recorded in 2012, according to comScore figures.

Honduras bucked the trend, with 8.5% growth, whereas the biggest drop was recorded in one of the smallest markets – Nicaragua – with a 34.5% fall.

Notwithstanding the dip in admissions, 56 new screens in 14 theaters opened in 2018, headed by Guatemala which bowed 25 new screens at six sites, followed by Costa Rica with 13 new screens, Panama with seven, Honduras with six and El Salvador with one.

Having emerged from decades of instability and war, Central America has prospered in recent years with low inflation rates, rising prosperity, and an increasingly stable middle class, which has fueled cinema-going habits. Nonetheless, box office revenues plateaued in 2017 and the dip in admissions in 2018 places a question mark for the future.

According to Luis Vargas,...

Q Films in historic success.

Panamanian World Cup rom-com Frozen In Russia (Congelado En Rusia) has capitalised on the country’s first ever participation in the football tournament to become the national all-time box office champion in a little over two weeks.

As of Sunday, writer-director Arturo Montenegro’s smash stood at 147,941 admissions and $712,034 and counting, eclipsing the eight-year record of Chance, which finished on 136,039 admissions and $475,271.

Frozen In Russia set a new admissions mark when it reached 137,462 on June 13 and centres on a football-mad local who promises to marry a Russian woman if his country qualifies for the World Cup.

Q Films in historic success.

Panamanian World Cup rom-com Frozen In Russia (Congelado En Rusia) has capitalised on the country’s first ever participation in the football tournament to become the national all-time box office champion in a little over two weeks.

As of Sunday, writer-director Arturo Montenegro’s smash stood at 147,941 admissions and $712,034 and counting, eclipsing the eight-year record of Chance, which finished on 136,039 admissions and $475,271.

Frozen In Russia set a new admissions mark when it reached 137,462 on June 13 and centres on a football-mad local who promises to marry a Russian woman if his country qualifies for the World Cup.

Q Films in historic success.

Panamanian World Cup rom-com Frozen In Russia (Congelado En Rusia) has capitalised on the country’s first ever participation in the football tournament to become the national all-time box office champion in a little over two weeks.

As of Sunday, writer-director Arturo Montenegro’s smash stood at 147,941 admissions and $712,034 and counting, eclipsing the eight-year record of Chance, which finished on 136,039 admissions and $475,271.

Frozen In Russia set a new admissions mark when it reached 137,462 on June 13 and centres on a football-mad local who promises to marry a Russian woman if his country qualifies for the World Cup.

Panama City — One of the biggest challenges facing filmmakers from Central America and the Caribbean is how to release their films in neighboring countries.

This is a problem facing Latin American cinema as a whole, but in larger countries such as Mexico, Argentina or Portuguese-speaking Brazil, the home territory is sufficiently large to achieve significant box office revenues.

In Central America, the countries have small populations and limited domestic funding opportunities, which can be asphyxiating for local filmmakers.

Two Panamanian features are planning multi-territory releases in 2018 – Abner Benaim’s “Ruben Blades is Not my Name” and Arturo Montenegro’s “Frozen in Russia.” This year’s Primera Mirada pix-in-post sidebar also included the omnibus film “Days of Light” which involves six Central American countries, and will be released across the region.

Iff Panama’s industry events attract an increasing number of festivals, distributors and sales agents, which this year included the Tribeca Film Institute,...

Panama City — Panamanian films represented over 10% of Iff Panama’s screenings, including closing pic, Abner Benaim’s “My Name is not Ruben Blades.”

“This is something that was unthinkable 10 years ago, when we didn’t even have one film per year.” said Benaim,

“Blades” had its world premiere in South by Southwest (SXSW) where it won the 24 Beats Per Second audience prize, and will have a wide theatrical release in Panama, plus bows in Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.

In 2017, Panama produced the two biggest local hits in Central America and had the region’s fastest-growing box office. The pics playing at Iff Panama revealed themes of recurring interest in national cinema, such as social injustice, sport, music and local history.

Alberto Serra had two pics screening at Iff Panama – “Sin Voz,” about an indigenous girl who gets raped and runs away to Panama City, and “La Fuerza del Balon,...

Filmmaker to attend Cannes and launch international sales.

Panamanian writer-director Arturo Montenegro of Panama-based Q Films has showcased the first trailer from his football comedy Frozen In Russia.

Montenegro completed principal photography in January in Portobelo in Panama following a three-week shoot in Russia, where he was granted permission to film in Moscow’s hallowed Red Square as well as the city’s subway system.

The Panama-Russia co-production also shot in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, where this summer’s World Cup final will take place, and in parts of Saint Petersburg. Montenegro recorded the score with an orchestra in Macedonia.

Filmmaker to attend Cannes and launch international sales.

Panamanian writer-director Arturo Montenegro of Panama-based Q Films has showcased the first trailer from his football comedy Frozen In Russia.

Montenegro completed principal photography in January in Portobelo in Panama following a three-week shoot in Russia, where he was granted permission to film in Moscow’s hallowed Red Square as well as the city’s subway system.

The Panama-Russia co-production also shot in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, where this summer’s World Cup final will take place, and in parts of Saint Petersburg.

Montenegro recorded the score with an orchestra in Macedonia.

Panama once again recorded the fastest-growing box office in Central America in 2017, driven by the opening of new multiplexes, and some of the region’s biggest local hits.

Central America consolidated its region-wide box office growth in 2017 with 3% growth, again due primarily to new theater openings, but the exponential growth curve recorded since 2012 now seems to be plateau-ing.

Total box office for the region in 2017 was $144.34 million – 50% higher than in 2012, but growth in 2017 was lower than in previous years, such as an 8.3% growth in 2016.

Unlike some Latin American countries, where inflation is rampant, Central America maintains very low inflation rates, rising prosperity, and an increasingly stable middle class, which has fueled cinema-going habits.

15 new cinema theaters, with a total of 69 screens, bowed in the region in 2017. Almost half of the news screens opened in Panama, with six new cinemas, and 31 screens. Guatemala saw four new cinemas, with 18 screens, and Costa Rica two new cinemas,...