News

A Amenábar se suman Laxe, Coixet y Touzani.

© TIFF

El Festival Internacional de Cine de Toronto, que celebra su 50.ª edición del 4 al 14 de septiembre, ha anunciado nuevos títulos de su programación. Por ahora, el certamen canadiense ha desvelado únicamente las selecciones Galas, Proyecciones Especiales y la competitiva Platform. España no estará presente en Galas ni en Platform, pero sí logra una presencia significativa en la sección Special Presentations, donde se han confirmado cuatro títulos con participación española. No se descarta que se sumen más en los próximos días, pero, por ahora, son cuatro las películas patrias confirmadas.

A la ya anunciada hace tiempo El cautivo, de Alejandro Amenábar, que tendrá su estreno mundial en el certamen canadiense, se suman Tres adioses, de Isabel Coixet; Sirat, de Oliver Laxe, tras su triunfo en la Croisette; y la coproducción Calle Málaga, que llegará tras su estreno en Venecia.

Te Puede Interesar...

We laugh and jump at comedies and horror films, but generally speaking, a movie tells its story, and we move on whether indifferent or moved by the experience. Mysteries are a bit different, though, in that they're actively engaging viewers to follow along, form theories, and maybe even jump ahead of the characters when it comes to solving the question of who did what with the candlestick in the kitchen.

The best mysteries, of course, give viewers enough rope to play around with while still managing to surprise, thrill, and entertain even beyond the final reveal. They're about more than simply solving the crime as the characters and journey take hold on the way to that truth. Some are suspenseful, some are good fun, but all of them should leave you satisfied as the pieces come together and the end credits roll.

Now keep reading for a look at the...

Film Factory has picked up worldwide sales rights to “Operation Cronos,” a high-stakes thriller centering on the 2017 terrorist Barcelona attacks.

Produced by Nostromo, the shingle behind Netflix hit “Through My Window,” and Beta Fiction, a producer on Spanish box office breakout “Undercover,” “Operation Cronos” will be directed by Fernando González Molina. Molina’s credits include big canvas movies such as “Palm Trees in the Snow” and “The Invisible Guardian,” both from Nostromo.

“Operation Cronos” aims to plunge audiences into one of Europe’s darkest modern tragedies with unprecedented realism and intensity.

Unspooling in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 17, 2017, attacks in Las Ramblas, with a tense countdown format, it chronicles the relentless efforts and quiet heroism of elite Spanish security forces as they race to track down the terrorists responsible.

The film stars four-time Goya Award winner Eduard Fernández. Genre specialist Alberto Marini penned the screenplay. Principal photography begins on Sept.

Borja Cobeaga firma y dirige la película. © BTeamPictures

BTeamPictures ha compartido el primer tráiler de Los Aitas, una película escrita y dirigida por Borja Cobeaga.

Los Aitas está ambientada en los suburbios obreros de Bilbao a finales de los años ochenta. Un equipo infantil de gimnasia rítmica se prepara para participar en un campeonato que se celebrará en Berlín. Ante la imposibilidad de que las madres acompañen a sus hijas, la tarea recaerá en los padres, que no parecen muy interesados en el viaje, ni en ese deporte, ni incluso en sus propias hijas. Será un largo viaje donde descubrirán, mientras cae el muro de Berlín, una nueva manera de ser padres.

La road movie está protagonizada por Quim Gutiérrez (Al otro barrio), Juan Diego Botto (La habitación de al lado), Ramón Barea (Todos lo saben), Mikel Losada (El guardián invisible), Iñaki Ardanaz (Paraíso) y Laura Weissmahr (Salve María).

Los...

The first trailer for The Dive teases an underwater thriller that is sure to leave audiences breathless. Released courtesy of Rlje Films, The Dive is centered around just two characters, Louisa Krause (Billions) and Sophie Lowe (Blow the Man Down) who find their perfect diving trip quickly turning into a life-and-death disaster. You can check out the first trailer for The Dive below.

The Dive begins as you would expect, with the perfect day for a dive. Clear sight, stable weather and an incredible, reclusive spot. Drew and May, sisters and experienced divers who share a close and complex bond, are excited as they marvel at this undiscovered underwater world. Their sense of wonder is interrupted when May is abruptly hit by a rock, which knocks off her goggles and leaves her shaken, but with only a small scratch.

However, the sisters’ relief is short-lived: the stone came from a landslide above the surface.

Cthulhu Dreamt: "Cthulhu Dreamt is a multimedia storytelling experience, taking shape as a tabletop role-playing game, a soundtrack, a novel, and more. You can immerse yourself in the story through music, prose, a connected Arg—and then you can live the story!

The game is accompanied by an original and stream-safe soundtrack written and performed by members of Cthulhu Dreamt including Fable Factory founder Reed Reimer. The soundtrack also includes tracks that were performed by orchestras from Russia and The Czech Republic. The music was written to be an audio story experience, which can be enjoyed with the game or stand-alone, and will include loopable versions.

This game is built on an original D12 system designed by Adam Baffoni and written by Jaron R. M. Johnson, one of the lead designers of Monsters of Murka. It includes:

- a fully playable campaign and the game rules in one book

-...

Infiesto is a Spanish movie written and directec by Patxi Amezcua starring Isak Férriz, Iria del Río and José Manuel Poga.

Infiesto takes us through backwater Spain in a dark thriller with secrets and devious characters. It is visually attractive, especially the surroundings.

About the Movie

The plot you might say is similar to Twin Peaks. It starts the same but later it is more a horror thriller in the vein of the trilogy of Baztán.

This movie is entertaining enough, well made visually and above all, knows how to use that “star landscape” that is so romantic which shapes the movie in a good way.

The director does a good job in this third feature film (previously he had directed Séptimo and Carat): knows what he wants, how to direct a thriller and create the right atmosphere, know what to rely on and be guided by the cold...

Exclusive: David Heyman’s Heyday Television has optioned four novels from award-winning Spanish noir author Dolores Redondo: The North Face of the Heart and its Baztan Trilogy prequel, the latter of which has already been made into three Netflix films.

The North Face Of The Heart follows Spanish detective Amala Salazar, as she helps the FBI track an extraordinary serial killer down in New Orleans on the eve of Hurricane Katrina. Salazar joins a high-profile team led by FBI agent Aloisius Dupree, whose own complicated past is entwined with the communities struggling to defend their homes as the flood waters rise.

Prior to its publication, Redondo wrote the Baztan Trilogy, which comprises The Invisible Guardian, The Legacy of the Bones and Offering to the Storm and has already been made into three Spanish language Netflix films by Fernando González Molina.

Harry Potter’s Heyman and Heyday president Tom Winchester will oversee the projects.

Over the last five years, presented by industry icons such as Guillermo del Toro, Ron Perlman and Vincenzo Natali, the Sitges Pitchbox has been built up by its organizers, Filmarket Hub and the Sitges Festival, into the industry centerpiece of Sitges itself, a pilgrimage destination for fantastic film creators and fans worldwide.

A movie project showcase, the Sitges Pitchbox Online 2020 will for the first time also feature genre series drawn from Europe, as the Sitges Pitchbox expands from nine to a total of 14 titles.

The inclusion of series at the Sitges Pitchbox looks near inevitable. Long gone are the days when just sports and Hollywood movie blockbusters ruled the pay TV premium content space in Europe.

“Many of the trends that we are seeing now, if you follow the path back to the gestation, you get to Netflix somehow,” says Guy Bisson, at Ampere Analysis.

It was Netflix that established...

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the first winners of its new talent-cultivation program in China, including a young director, an up-and-coming actress, and a line producer on a $127-million-grossing romcom.

Five Chinese artists were named Tuesday as the inaugural honorees of BAFTA’s Breakthrough China program. Among them is young director Bai Xue, whose first feature, “The Crossing,” grossed $1.4 million (RMB9.9 million) in March, and her producer He Bin, who is also an audio engineer. Line producer Ye Ting, who worked on last year’s box-office hit romantic comedy “How Long Will I Love U,” actress and director Bonnie Chen, and games producer Guan Dan, who worked on the full-length live-action interactive work “The Invisible Guardian,” were also selected for the program.

Over the next year, BAFTA will support the five honorees to “build, develop and continue their careers” via meetings, events and introductions in the U.

San Sebastian — Since the 1950s, Spain has been a favorite European shooting locale. One of the biggest reasons remains its easily accessible, unique and diverse locations.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this past June, the Navarre Film Commission kicked off a traveling exhibition which has been touring Spain over the summer and will present in San Sebastian during this year’s festival.

A tribute to the diversity of locations that exist in Navarra – including castles, deserts, mountains and lush temperate forests – the exhibition shines a spotlight on 18 such locations used by international and domestic film and TV shoots over the past few decades, as well as the productions themselves.

With medieval castles and fortifications a-plenty, Navarre has long been a favorite for historical and fantasy shoots. The most recently recognizable and widely seen, the Bardenas canyon badlands, played host to the Dothraki hordes and their Khalisi in “Game of Thrones.” Artajona...

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...

While the international media industry grapples with the tectonic shifts triggered by the growing proliferation of streaming services, Zdf Enterprises is riding the wave of change by seizing opportunities, creating new business models and forging partnerships with the likes of Netflix and other digital players.

As the world sales, licensing and co-production arm of German broadcaster Zdf, Zdfe has long established itself as an independent player in both domestic and global markets and it is quickly adapting to the sector’s new reality.

The company has also expanded its sales and production operations through key acquisitions as part of its overall growth strategy.

“We have tried to embrace the changes, the disruption that these platforms have brought to the market through digitization and streaming possibilities, to recognize the opportunities rather than the threat,” Zdfe President and CEO Fred Burcksen tells Variety. “We have so far been able to profit from that.

Spanish drama production has evolved quickly in the past few years, while the proliferation of Svod platforms is revolutionizing the sector. Ott distribution has helped push some Spanish series onto not only continental screens, but also global TVs.

Take, for example, Alex Pina’s “La Casa de Papel,” produced by Vancouver Media for Atresmedia, and acquired worldwide by Netflix. Its Dalí-inspired aesthetic has been celebrated at Brazil’s Carnival and Saudi soccer matches.

Netflix has now commissioned Spanish drama series (such as Bambú’s “The Cable Girls”) and made early investments in others (such as Rtve’s “The Department of Time,” Atresmedia’s “The Cathedral of the Sea”).

Spanish fiction has “always been a quality product,” says Mediapro head of content Javier Méndez. Now, “the world is discovering Spanish fiction through its presence on new global platforms.”

Beyond Spain, the main target is Latin America.

In February, Movistar Plus — Telefonica...