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The Guadalajara International Film Festival (Ficg) is proudly celebrating its 40th edition with a milestone: Mexico’s first-ever stop-motion animated feature, “I Am Frankelda” (“Soy Frankelda”), which opens the festival.

Running June 6-14, the country’s most prominent film festival launches a new genre section that features five pics led by Pablo Stoll’s zombie dramedy “Summer Hit” (“El tema del verano”) and Emilio Portes’ “Don’t Leave the Kids Alone.” This new by invitation only sidebar would be the 10th competitive section of the fest.

“It’s never been easy to put on a festival in Mexico – there are a lot of people who don’t really understand the work that goes into it. But what truly matters is that, for 40 years, through changing tides, shifting governments and opposition from both inside and out, we’ve kept the festival alive. And what we’ve come to realize is that...

After last year’s golden blueprint which set the roadmap for coming years, the second Ecam Forum Co-Production Market, unspooling June 10-13 in Madrid, will drive deeper into its international reach and industry talks as part of its mandate to strengthen the ties between the Spanish talents and its blooming industry with the rest of the world.

Lured by upbeat industry buzz from the first edition and Spain’s sustained film-tv golden age, industry players and projects are almost twice as many this year to bid for a spot at the industry platform spearheaded by Madrid’s prestigious Ecam film school.

More than 700 accredited delegates ,compared to 400+ in 2024, are expected to fill the halls of its Matadero and Cineteca Madrid venues; 70 international guests, vs. 50 in 2024, will sample 47 films in development and post-production, as well as shorts and series in development.

Among 15 programming reps from Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, London to...

Mexican producer Laura Imperiale at Cacerola Films, whose notable credits include the Oscar-nominated “The Crime of Father Amaro” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and dark comedy “Nicotina,” has boarded “Black Sheep, White Sheep,” the fiction feature debut of documentary filmmaker Flavio Florencio.

Drama centers on a romance between a white tourist and a young Caribbean man who, over the course of a fleeting 12-hour layover, confront their desires, vulnerabilities and the unspoken weight of privilege.

Set in a Caribbean landscape as stunning as it is conflicted, the film explores themes of racism, racialized desire, migration and tourism as a contemporary form of colonialism, while examining the fragile pursuit of connection between individuals shaped by deeply unequal worlds.

Through emotionally resonant dialogue and subtle social insight, “Black Sheep, White Sheep” explores themes of intimacy, inequality and the possibility of connection and transformation within the span of a single day, offering a socially conscious,...

A selection of Spanish titles being sold at the European Film Market.

“My Friend Eva,” Cesc Gay

A romantic comedy about Eva, who, after 20 years of marriage, seeks to rediscover love and passion, directed by “Truman” helmer Gay. “Cesc’s films are always highly anticipated. He’s a director who’s given us so much success in the past,” says the film’s sales agent.

S.A. Filmax

*”The Virgin of the Quarry Lake,” Laura Casabé

Set in 2001 Argentina, this film follows Natalia, who uses dark incantations to win back her love, leading to self-empowerment and a dramatic conclusion. A buzz title at last month’s Sundance market.

S.A. Filmax

*”Fury,” Gemma Blasco

A young actress, Alex, grapples with trauma and isolation after a New Year’s Eve assault. Her brother’s misguided support leads them down dark paths, while Alex finds solace in theatre. Headed to SXSW’s global program this year.

Spanish independent sales company Feel Sales has acquired “The Cottage,” Argentine filmmaker Silvina Schnicer’s debut solo feature, and will present it to interested buyers at this year’s European Film Market.

“The Cottage,” “La Quinta” in Spanish, follows an upper-middle-class family in Argentina as they retreat to their vacation home for winter break, only to discover signs of an intruder. The family patriarch, Rudi, tries to convince the other homeowners in the community that Tomás, the gatekeeper, is to blame and should be fired. Meanwhile, the neighborhood kids, unsupervised by their parents, engage in mischief that escalates into an unspeakable act. As the family grapples with the consequences, they are forced to bury a dark secret about the horrors committed by their 12-year-old son.

Feel Sales’ Luis Collar and Yeniffer Fasciani said of their latest acquisition: “We found in ‘The Cottage’ a fresh and unexpected experience. This story explores...

Scandar Copti’s Palestinian drama Happy Holidays took the Étoile d’Or main award at the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival.

The film, a Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events that sow division in a patriarchal society, also received the best performance by an actress prize, shared between Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Happy Holidays is a co-production between Palestine’s Fresco Films, Germany’s Red Balloon Film, France’s Tessalit Productions and Italy’s Intramovies. It debuted in Venice’s Biennale Cinema section in September,...

Scandar Copti’s “Happy Holidays” won top honors at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday, capping an emotional and politically resonant ceremony, while adding Marrakech’s Étoile d’Or to a list of accolades for the film that also includes best screenplay from Venice’s Orizzonti and best in show from the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The acclaimed title also claimed a shared best actress prize for leads Manar Shehab and Wafaa Aoun.

Split into four chapters, the Palestinian film follows an ensemble of characters – Arab and Jewish alike – living in contemporary Haifa. Family secrets and domestic tensions underscore scenes from everyday life as the film traces out an expansive social circle with a novelistic attention to cultural and interpersonal dynamics.

This year’s jury – led by Luca Guadagnino alongside Andrew Garfield, Jacob Elordi, Virginie Efira, Patricia Arquette, Zoya Akhtar, Ali Abbasi, Nadia Kounda and Santiago Mitre – together awarded the winning title with a unanimous vote.

Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays, Damian Kocur’s Under The Volcano, Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage and Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise shared the awards handed out at the 21st edition of the Marrakech Intl. Film Festival. Happy Holidays grabbed the top prize in the Étoile d’Or and the jury led by Luca Guadagnino who also decided to award both actresses (Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab) with the Best Actress Award. The Palestinian film was selected for the Orizzonti section in Venice.

Under The Volcano first landed Best Performance by an Actor (Roman Lutskyi) and Kocur also doubled up winning the Best Director Award.…...

Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s drama Happy Holidays has clinched the Étoile d’Or for Best Film at the Marrakech Film Festival.

The Jury Prize was awarded ex aequo to Argentinian director Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage and Somali and Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise. Damian Kocur won the Best Directing Prize for his drama Under the Volcano, which is Poland’s Oscar entry this year.

The prize for Best Performance by an Actress was shared by Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab for their performances in Happy Holidays, while Roman Lutskyi won the award for Best Performance by an Actor for his work in Under the Volcano.

Happy Holidays is a contemporary Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events, unraveling lies and unspoken truths that sow division within a multifaceted patriarchal society.

The film world premiered in the...

Silvina Schnicer’s debut solo feature, “The Cottage,” screens in competition this week at Morocco’s Marrakech Film Festival.

The film follows an upper-middle-class family in Argentina as they visit their vacation home in a rural neighborhood, only to find that squatters have been using the building and left it in an unpleasant state. The family patriarch, Rudi, tries to convince the other homeowners in the community that Tomás, the gatekeeper, is to blame and should be fired.

Meanwhile, out of sight of their parents, the neighborhood kids wander the streets, engaging in time-honored traditions of mischief, until things go much too far, and they commit an unspeakable act. After learning what his children have done, Rudi’s goals quickly change as he seeks to cover up his children’s misdeeds.

“The Cottage” is written and directed by Schnicer, an accomplished filmmaker who co-directed several successful titles, including Guadalajara best...

The Marrakech Film Festival, which opened Friday with Justin Kurzel’s timely thriller “The Order,” has more than 70 films in its lineup, which, as is customary, mixes known titles and fresh fare.

“The Order” is part of the event’s gala screenings that also comprise French-Moroccan auteur Nabil Ayouch’s feminist musical drama “Everybody Loves Touda,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” all of which will be accompanied by their directors.

The 14-title competition dedicated to first and second works includes Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s melodrama “Across the Sea,” about North African exiles in Marseilles, and Hind Meddeb’s doc “Sudan, Remember Us,” which pays homage to Sudanese people and culture by chronicling their 2019 revolution. “Sudan, Remember Us” is among films supported by the fest’s Atlas Workshops industry initiative, aimed at fostering and supporting the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan,...

Marrakech International Film Festival (Miff) is deploying a twofold tactic for its upcoming 21st edition to give a boost to its local theatrical distribution sector, and fuel wider global releases for Moroccan, Arab and Pan-African films.

“The idea is not to launch a market, but to create a platform whereby international distributors can discover films premiering in the festival’s selection and the projects at the Atlas Workshops,” the festival’s artistic director Remi Bonhomme tells Screen of the bespoke initiatives spanning both the festival(November 29 – December 7) and its parallel talent incubator the Atlas Workshops (December 1 – 5).

For the first time in its history,...

Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 21st edition which will open with Justin Kurzel’s crime thriller The Order onNovember 29 and run to December 7.

Kurzel’s debut featureSnowtownwon thefestival’s jury prize in 2011, and the filmmaker returned in 2022 to serve on the jury.

This year’s jury will be presided over by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, replacing Thomas Vinterberg, and will award the Étoile d’Or for best film to one of 14 first- and second-time features in the international competition.

In total, the festival will screen 70 films from 32 countries, including 14 documentaries, 12 Moroccan titles, nine world...

Tagged as the new co-production showcase “like all those European markets but hotter,” Ecam Forum, launched by Madrid Film School Ecam, has unveiled the first 10 projects in development and eight in post-production, to be pitched to international decision-makers between June 10-13, in the Spanish capital.

Famed for its standout talent development program Ecam Incubator, the Madrid Film School has set a high bar for its inaugural Forum, which aims to broaden the reach of Spanish productions and co-productions and build bridges between Spain and the global industry.

First case in point: the heavyweight industry names in the selection committees, which reflect the ambitions of coordinator Alberto Valverde and his team, to frame Ecam Forum as a must-attend industry event.

The 10-plus Films to Come or features in development were picked by producers Inés Massa (Materia Cinema) and Agustina Chiarino (Bocacha Films), Eurimages project manager Sergio García de Leániz, and Marina Maesso,...

Paris-based Pulsar Content has taken on world sales rights to Colombian director Camila Beltrán’s debut feature Mi Bestia, which is making its world pemeire in Cannes’ Acid 2024 line-up.

Set in Bogotá in 1996, the film follows a 13 year-old girl grappling with adolescence as everyone around her grows frightened of an approaching red moon lunar eclipse said to bring the devil to earth.

Mi Bestia is produced by the filmmaker’s Colombia-based production house Felina Films with France’s Films Grand Huit, and Colombia’s Inercia Películas and Ganas Producciones. Beltrán, whose experimental short films have been shown across festivals including Locarno and Clermont-Ferrand,...

Mi Bestia

Programmers will want to keep tabs on this new voice in Colombian cinema. A filmmaker who saw her shorts compete in Clermont-Ferrand and Locarno, Camila Beltran‘s Mi Bestia (aka The Day of My Beast) was a winner of the Arte Kino Prize at the Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum at San Sebastián in 2020. Mentioned as a cross between Carrie and The Holy Child, this is co-written with filmmaker Silvina Schnicer and is coined as a coming-of-age film that has monster and disaster film elements. Production took place in the month of June in Bogota with cinematographer Sylvain Verdet in the fold.…...

Set to be unveiled at this week’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, “Bajo el Mismo Sol” has secured a first co-production deal ahead of the festival.

Argentina’ Pucará Cine has boarded the project, reteaming with lead producer Wooden Boat Productions in the Dominican Republican on director Ulises Porra’s third feature. Both production companies co-produced Porra’s most recent movie, “Carajita” (2021), co-directed by Silvina Schnicer, which won the New Directors award at last year’s San Sebastián, swept Guadalajara, and collected hardware at Argentina’s Mar del Plata and the Miami Film Festival.

Set in 1820, “‘Bajo el mismo sol’ is a historically resonant tale of three “highly contrasting characters,” says Porra – Lázaro, an entrepreneur, son of a rich trader; Mei, a young Chinese woman and expert in silk; and Baptiste, an Haitian army deserter – who battle to create a first silk factory in the Dominican Republic. But it...

New projects by Argentina’s Anahí Berneri and Emiliano de Torres, both big winners at San Sebastian, plus Brazilian Beatriz Seigner’s next all feature in the 14-project lineup for San Sebastian’s 2022 Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, the Spanish festival’s biggest industry event.

Now preparing her sixth feature, Berneri debuted in 2005 with Berlin Teddy Award winner, “A Year Without Love.”

Famed as an early Daniel Burman co-scribe and longtime Ad, Torres’ career dates back to the turn of the century, although he only saw his feature debut, “The Winter,” bow in 2016.

Seigner released her first feature in 2010, “Bollywood Dream,” though she is best known for 2018’s “Los Silencios,” a supernatural-laced refugee crisis drama.

Berneri, Torres and Seigner are joined at the Forum by prospective new titles from more seasoned filmmakers such as Chile’s Niles Atallah and Spain’s Helena Taberna.

At least half the berths at this year’s Co-production Forum,...

Festival’s Europe-Latin America forum is set to run from September 19-21.

New projects from Ulises Porra and Beatriz Seigner are among the 14 taking part in this year’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, now in its 11th edition.

Spanish filmmaker Porra returns to San Sebastian after Carajita, co-written and co-directed with Silvina Schnicer, received a special mention from last year’s New Directors jury. Porra’s new project Bajo El Mismo Sol is produced by Dominican Republic’s Wooden Boat Productions, a company founded by Ulla Prida, who also produced Carajita.

The feature is set in 1820, and tells...

Carajita Review — Carajita (2021) Film Review from the 21st Annual Tribeca Film Festival, a movie directed by Ulises Porra and Silvina Schnicer, written by Ulises Porra, Ulla Prida, and Silvina Schnicer, and starring Cecile van Welie, Magnolia Nunez, Richard Douglas, Javier Hermida, Dimitri Rivera, and Eduardo Martinez Sturla. Carajita (‘Sweetie’) essentially concerns [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Carajita: Tragedy Blurs the Lines Between Caste, Love & Liability [Tribeca 2022]...

Claudia Sainte-Luce’s “El reino de Dios” (“The Realm of God”) and “Carajita” by Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra took home the bulk of the prizes in their respective categories, the Mayahuel for best Mexican film and best Ibero-American film at the 37th Guadalajara Int’l Film Fest (Ficg), which wrapped June 18.

Festival highlights included a conversation, albeit by remote, between festival director Estrella Araiza and Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro who talked about the making of his upcoming stop-motion animation feature, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” The film, set to bow on Netflix in December, was filmed with 20 animators in more than 60 sets in Canada and Guadalajara, Del Toro revealed.

Sainte-Luce’s coming-of-age drama about a young boy’s struggle with his faith as he’s about to take his first communion, which world premiered at the Berlinale’s Generation Kplus sidebar, also won Ficg’s Mezcal awards for best cinematography,...

Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” described by Variety as “a fizzy, delirious, impishly energized, compulsively watchable 2-hour-and-39-minute fever dream,” is set to open the 37th Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (Ficg) on June 10.

The biopic starring Austin Butler as Elvis opposite Tom Hanks as his controversial manager, received a rousing 12-minute standing ovation at Cannes, the longest at this year’s edition.

The Festival closes June 18 with Mexico’s own musical icons, Los Tigres del Norte, in the documentary “Los Tigres del Norte: Historias que contar,” by Carlos Pérez Osorio (“Las Cronicas del Taco”), with its band members descending on Guadalajara to present it.

The documentary debuts on Prime Video the day before but it’s all about bringing back the in-person theatrical experience, said festival director Estrella Araiza.

Ficg has managed to push through the pandemic and the current government’s indifference to culture and subsequent budget cuts. Nevertheless,...

Hybrid event ran March 4-13.

Dramas from Hispaniola dominated the jury and audience awards at the hybrid 39th Miami Film Festival as Géssica Généus’s Haiti-set Freda won the $25,000 Knight Marimbas Award and Jose Maria Cabral’s Dominican Republic production Parsley took the audience feature film award.

The festival, which ran both in-theater and virtual presentations and ran from March 4-13, gave special recognition through the Knight Marimbas jury to actor Haztin Navarrete from The Box and actress Mari Oliveira from Medusa.

A third Hispaniola drama, Carajita (Dr-Arg) by Ulises Porra and Silvina Schnicer, was awarded the $10,000 HBO Ibero-American Feature Film Award sponsored by WarnerMedia.

Benjamín Mirguet’s “Alfredo Larón,” Niles Atallah’s “Celestial Twins” and Silvina Schnicer’s “The Cottage” feature among 16 projects to be presented at Ventana Sur’s 4th Proyecta co-production forum, a wide-ranging showcase of emerging auteurs and new talents to track from Latin America and Europe.

“Alfredo Larón,” for example, marks the feature debut of Mirguet, the editor of Carlos Reygadas’ “Battle in Heaven,” and also a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight programmer. Its action takes in a 17-year-old Larón syndrome sufferer’s battle for legal compensation from the Ecuador government and, in a turn of fortune, his happy high-school days in Germany.

Atallah caught attention with “Lucia” at San Sebastián’s 2009 Films In Progress, but all the more for 2017 Rotterdam Tiger Award Special Mention winner “Rey,” edited, as it happens, by Mirguet. A vision of the delirious Orllie-Antoine de Tonnens, who proclaimed himself King of Patagonia in 1860, “Rey” was shot...

Fouth edition of co-production sidebar will run in-person and online.

In the run-up to the hybrid 13th edition of Ventana Sur that starts in Buenos Aires later this month, top brass have unveiled the 16 development titles selected for its Proyecta co-production sidebar organised with San Sebastian Film Festival.

Proyecta filmmakers pitch to producers, programmers and sales agents in search of partners to complete financing and international distribution on co-productions between Latin American and Europe.

The fourth edition of Proyecta will run in-person and online and comprises a pitching session by project representatives on November 30 in Buenos Aires followed on December...

Talk to the people behind the Zff Academy, and it quickly becomes clear that this Zurich Film Festival talent program is close to their hearts.

Launched back in 2006, just a year after the festival itself, the aim of the Zff Academy is to promote exchange between notable filmmakers and aspiring directors, writers and producers. It’s there to help up and coming creatives and execs to learn from film industry experts, connect with each other and to exchange ideas.

In many ways, it’s like the well-known Berlinale Talents program – only more intimate. Just 19 talents – nine women and 10 men – have been selected from hundreds of applicants to take part in the five-day Zurich initiative.

Talent from all over the world traditionally apply to the Zff Academy, but this year the cohort is largely European – reflecting the difficulties that many people are having travelling due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Head of Zff...

Other winners included Earwig, Jessica Chastain, Tea Lindeburg and Terence Davies.

A debut feature by Romanian director Alina Grigore, Blue Moon has won the Golden Shell award for best film at the 69th edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff).

The victory adds another woman director as winner of a festival’s main prize following the Palme d’Or win at Cannes for Julia Ducournau’s Titane and the Venice Golden Lion triumph for Audrey Diwan’s Happening.

Other awards in Ssiff’s main competition included a special jury prize for Earwig, by Lucile Hadzilhalilovic; the Silver Shell...

This year’s Ssiff will run as an in-person event from September 17-25.

A total of 13 first and second features will compete for the New Directors award at this year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival.Â

The winning film is awarded €50,000 to be shared by the director and the Spanish distributor.

This year’s selection includes Philippe Grégoire’s The Noise Of Engines, inspired by his experiences as a customs officer, a job he took to pay for his film studies; Selmar Nacar’s Between Two Dawns, which won the Wip Europe Industry award in San Sebastian last year; Darko Sinko’s Inventory,...

The 2021 San Sebastian Film Festival (September 17-25) has revealed the 13 features that will compete in its New Directors showcase.

Of the pics selected, nine are debuts while the remainder are second features. Directors include Canada’s Philippe Grégoire, who has been at more than 100 festivals with his short films, Fran Kranz from the U.S., and Turkish filmmaker Selman Nacar, whose project Between Two Dawns won two industry prizes at San Seb last year.

The filmmakers will compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award, which comes with a $60,000 prize that is split between the director and Spanish distributor of the movie.

Here’s the full New Directors lineup:

Carajita

Directors: Silvina Schnicer (Argentina), Ulises Porra (Argentina)

Country(ies) of production: Dominican Republic – Argentina

Ese Fin De Semana / That Weekend

Director: Mara Pescio (Argentina)

Country(Ies) Of Production: Argentina – Brazil

Hon-Ja Sa-Neun Sa-Ram-Deul / Aloners

Director: Hong Sung-Eun (South Korea)

Country...

Mexican virtual lab offers Usd 30,000 in cash prizes.

Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.

Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants

Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.

His project After (France) follows a man and...

Mexican virtual lab offers Usd 30,000 in cash prizes.

Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe, US auteur Rick Alverson and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.

Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants

Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.

His project After (France...