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Spain’s Mil Monos Cine and Argentina’s Cosmic Brew Studios are teaming to produce leading Argentina-born and Spain-based filmmaker Pablo Agüero’s “Gravityland,” a 2D animated feature project selected to pitch at this year’s Animation! sidebar at Ventana Sur.

In the film, a speleologist – a scientist who studies caves – disappears while investigating changes in Earth’s gravity field. When the planet’s gravity reverses, the specialist’s children decide to climb into the planet’s interior to look for her, understanding that when the world is turned upside down, one must jump into the void to reach the stars.

Agüero is an accomplished filmmaker who has worked in various mediums and genres. His 2006 short “Primera nieve” won the jury prize for best short film at Cannes and his 2008 feature “Salamandra” screened in competition at the French festival. This year, he helmed “Saint-Exupéry” starring Vincent Cassel, Louis Garrel and...

Hugo Covarrubias’ “Baptism,” Danna Galeano’s “Foldara” and Ricardo Kump and Lucas Abrahão “The Factory Beyond the Hill” feature in a powerful lineup of titles at this year’s Animation! Pitching Sessions which take part at Ventana Sur, staged in Montevideo over Dec. 2-6.

The showcase of animation titles from Latin America also features a project, “Gravityland,” from Argentina’s Pablo Aguëro, director of upcoming “Saint-e,” starring Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger y Louis Garrel, as well as “Hua Awakens,” the multiple producers of which include Magdiela Hermida Duhamel whose credits include “Trollhunters.”

Also in this year’s Animation! mix is Coty Luzoro, writer of Oscar winning outfit Punkrobot Studio’s “Wow Lisa” and Ecuador’s Keila Cepeda, behind fest fave “Chimborazo.”

“Baptism” marks the feature film debut of Chile’s Covarrubias whose scored an Academy Award-nomination for best animated short in 2022 for “Beast.” The feature looks set to explore the...

Buenos Aires-based production outfit Mil Monos is teaming with writer-director Pablo Agüero and writer-creator Nicolás Britos to develop dystopian coming-of-age thriller series project “Decibel.”

Produced by Mil Monos’ Maximiliano Monzón, “Decibel” is currently at pilot script stage, and a shoot start is planned by January 2024, tentatively in Argentina.

Written by Britos, the eight-episode, half-hour thriller follows five deaf teenagers born in a mountainous region. When The Hum, a sound that transforms every person who can hear it into a frenzied killer, is unleashed, their deafness makes them immune.

The five teens must choose between stopping the apocalypse to save the planet or letting the world perish in order to start over from scratch.

“Decibel” is one of the ten projects selected for the 9th edition of Co-Pro Series pitches at the Berlinale Series Market, running Feb. 20-22.

“We are eager to find series-experienced partners in Europe, mainly in France, Spain and Germany,...

Also world premiering is HBO Max series ‘Spy/Master’ and Indian drama ‘Roar’

Italian crime drama The Good Mothers is among the seven titles selected for Berlinale (February 16-26) Series strand.

Scroll down for full list of titles

The Disney+ series is directed by the UK’s Julian Jarrold, whose credits include Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane and Brideshead Revisted, and Italian filmmaker Elisa Amoruso. The Good Mothers is a UK-Italy co-production and follows three women trying to bring down the Italian mafia.

The first two episodes of the six-part series is one of five series world premiering at Berlinale.

These...

Giant cats, lasers, witches, violence and partial nudity fill the first English-language trailer for Crudo Film’s animated Argentine feature “Lava,” featuring the voice acting talents of Janeane Garofalo. Rock Salt Releasing, which is representing the over-the-top, end-of-the-world comedy thriller at this week’s EFM ahead of its March 15 premiere on major digital platforms, has given exclusive access to the trailer to Variety.

An outside-the-box hit at Annecy’s Contrechamp competition last summer, the film has since featured at several major international festivals including Argentina’s Mar Del Plata and Spain’s Sitges, where it screened in competition.

The near-future sci-fi satire follows Débora (Garofalo), a lonely and ineffectual tattoo artist, and her friends through the likely end of the world. One evening, several friends come over to watch the latest episode of “Gain of Clones” when suddenly the signal cuts out. Everyone in the room loses two minutes of...

Rock Salt Releasing has picked up global sales rights and U.S. distribution for Ayar Blasco’s sophomore adult animation feature “Lava,” with sales kicking off at this year’s digital American Film Market (AFM).

Rock Salt also announced that the English dub of the Spanish-language film, a hit in this year’s Contrechamp section at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, will feature two-time Primetime Emmy-nominated actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo in the lead role.

The near-future sci-fi satire accompanies Débora (Garofalo), a lonely and ineffectual tattoo artist, and her friends through the likely end of the world. One evening, several friends come over to watch the latest episode of “Gain of Clones” when suddenly the signal cuts out. Everyone in the room loses two minutes of time as they are entranced by a subliminal message broadcast over the screen.

Soon enough the group learns that aliens have hijacked all forms of media,...

Contemporary problems call for contemporary solutions, and with streaming changing the way audiences consume their content and spend their money, companies around the world are looking for ways to make an impact on the VOD marketplace. One such company is trans-Atlantic startup The Fifth Wall, which participated in this year’s Zinemaldia Startup Challenge at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The Fifth Wall’s team includes creative director Nicolás Britos in Germany, Maximiliano Monzón in Argentina and Pedro Hernández Santos, who handled the San Sebastian Q&a, in Spain.

In his online pitch, Britos spoke about how online platforms had sparked “the largest explosion of audiovisual content in history,” emphasizing that with so many players and so much content, it can be hard for a production or service to differentiate itself. The Fifth Wall was created as a tool to offer a different kind of VOD viewing.

Simply put, and...

Argentina’s “Mother Dough,” a four-part doc series portraying how women have fed humanity through their work at home and their doughs, has won the first Iberseries Pitch, ending first year activities at this year’s Iberseries, an event which is setting out to become the foremost Spanish-language drama series festival in the world.

“‘Mother Dough’ is innovative and, at the same time. universal in its treatment, channelling the principal issues of the 21st century in a proposition that is distinctive, with multiple values in its visuals and content, a nexus connecting with our emotions,” said a jury made up of Ana Celia Urquidi, general manager, production at Mexico’s Hemisphere Media Group, Arantxa Écija, Mediaset España fiction director, and Alex Medeiros, director of development at Globo Channels, Brazil.

The winner will walk away with a €3,000 cash prize, manna from heaven for any Argentine producer at this time.

The Pitch...

Madrid — Nicolás Britos’ “Nada,” Jorge Hernández and Ainara Mentxaka’s “Los años de plomo” and Pablo Díaz and Alberto Heredia’s “La novena provincia” figure among the seven TV drama projects in development set to be presented at the 2nd Madrid TV Pitchbox.

An event focused on Spanish TV drama, organized by online platform Filmarket Hub, The 2018 Madrid TV Pitchbox will take place on Dec. 18.

The seven projects will be pitched before executives from some of the most important Spain-based TV companies. Broadcasters Mediaset España, Rtve and Atresmedia Studios, and Telefónica’s leading paybox Movistar + have confirmed their presence.

For this upcoming edition, organizers are opening Madrid TV Pitchbox to key independent production houses such as Weekend Studio and Dynamo, which have good relations with global Ott operators.

After the pitching session, there will be a networking lunch, where projects representatives and companies’ executives will be able to share impressions.