News

FilmSharks has announced a handful of deals with blue-chip distributors led by the US and UK on a remastered 4K version of Nine Queens, the Argentinian crime thriller that launched the career of Ricardo Darin.

Sony Pictures Classics has renewed its agreement for North America and has re-released the film digitally, 22 years after it initially distributed it, while Curzon has acquired rights for the UK.

In other deals, Warner Bros Discovery has acquired rights for Eastern Europe and A Contracorriente will distribute in Spain.

The late Fabián Bielinsky’s Nine Queens stars Darin and Gaston Pauls as conmen trying to...

With a couple more days left in this year's EFM our friends at FilmSharks have let us know about more deals they've secured in their time there. Two titles we've spoken about in recent months the other is the return of a classic Argentine thriller with a 4K restoration.    Look back in our pages for articles about Boogeyman and The Restless Waters. What's new to us is the 4K restoration of Fabian Bielinsky's (The Aura) 2000 thriller, Nine Queens. It was his debut feature film and was heavily lauded as one of the best thrillers of its time. Sadly, Bielinsky died from a heart attack one year after his second film, The Aura, premiered to equal acclaim. His second film was a favorite of mine...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Films by Carolina Markowicz, Isabel Coixet, Jaione Camborda and Isabel Herguera all have international potential.

Highly anticipated features from Isabel Coixet, Lucía Puenzo and Jaione Camborda are among the buzziest Spanish and Latin American titles screening across all strands of this year’s San Sebastián film festival. Here is a flavour of what festival audiences can expect.

Blondi (Argentina)

Dir: Dolores Fonzi

The debut feature from Argentinian actress Dolores Fonzi plays in the Horizontes Latinos section, which screens premieres entirely or partially produced in Latin America and not yet released in Spain. Fonzi also stars in the film which is...

Twelve stories set in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil make up Horizontes Latinos, a selection of the year’s feature films, not yet released in Spain, from among all those totally or partially produced in Latin America, directed by moviemakers of Latino origin, or which are set against the backdrop or subject of Latino communities in the rest of the world. In the selection of titles competing for the Horizontes Award at San Sebastian’s 71st edition are two films to have carried off awards at the last Wip Latam –El castillo / The Castle and Estranho caminho / A Strange Path– and at the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum –Alemania–.

Having shown one of her previous movies in Horizontes Latinos, Los sonámbulos / The Sleepwalkers (2019), Paula Hernández returns to the section she will open with El viento que arrasa / A Ravaging Wind, a cinematic adaptation of Selva Almada’s homonymous novel. Alfredo Castro,...

Ava DuVernay’s arts and social collective Array has announced its slate of summer programming, including an actor’s masterclass taught by Emmy winner Niecy Nash-Betts, a cinematic celebration of Jean-Michel Basquiat and the debut of two new commissioned projects from Array’s Law Enforcement Accountability Project (Leap).

The summer lineup is curated by Array’s SVP of public programming, Mercedes Cooper, and in keeping with the Array’s mission of “igniting social change through the cinematic arts,” all events are free to the public.

“Array’s focus on instigating narrative change through our non-profit Array Alliance allows us to gather audiences around issues aligned with our core mission and everyday work,” said Cooper in a statement announcing the lineup.

“With film and art as the doorway, this summer’s programs invite conversations around otherness, authority and privilege, love and loss, as well as Black masculinity,” she continued. “Our ongoing...

British screenwriter Ray Jenkins, who wrote on some of the UK’s biggest TV hits across several decades, has died aged 87. Jenkins died last month and leaves behind his two children, Pascale and Ceri.

Across a successful and lengthy career, Jenkins wrote for numerous highly acclaimed British police and justice-related drama series including Z Cars, The Outsiders, The Brothers, This Man Craig, Callan, The Sweeney, Special Branch, Juliet Bravo, Gentle Touch, The Chief and The Brief. This is to name but a few.

Jenkins also adapted Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White starring Ian Richardson and Jenny Seagrove for the BBC, along with Tom Hart’s novel The Aura and The Kingfisher as The Innocent for the silver screen, starring Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson, with cinematography by Roger Deakins.

His most recent project was TV movie Circles of Deceit: Kalon, which he wrote in the mid-1990s, and he...

Miami-based Btf Media, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is planning a series reboot for Fabián Bielinsky’s Argentine modern classic “Nine Queens” (“Nueve Reinas”), a feature film which 20 years ago introduced the world to one of Argentina’s most bankable actors in Ricardo Darín and film-tv crossover superstar Gastón Pauls.

It also established, just as the New Argentine Cinema was lifting off in the country, a crossover style of movie which could combine artistic ambition and genre heft to appeal to broad audiences at home and abroad, a filmic mode inherited by Juan José Campanella and Pablo Trapero among others.

The announcement is the latest in what could prove a trend for the company, as earlier this year Btf Media also secured the remake rights to Alejandro Amenabar’s Golden Globe-nominated “The Others,” starring Nicole Kidman, and are planning a Spanish-language series version of the horror classic.

Btf Media...

The Secret In Their Eyes

It's been a while since we turned our Streaming Spotlight on a country, so this week we thought we'd turn our attention to Argentinian filmmakers. As with all country focus pieces, it's disappointing to learn about films it is not yet possible to stream - on which note, I urge you to look out for El Aura, and the other films of Fabián Bielensky along with early films from Juan José Campanella like Son Of The Bride and more recent films, including Santiago Mitre's Paulina. If you're looking for more inspiration, check out our Stay-At-Home Seven.

The Secret in their Eyes, Amazon, from £2.49

Remade in English in 2015, with an all-star cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman - the original is far superior. Juan José Campanella crafts a dense and twisting thriller about retired court employee Benjamin (Ricardo Darín who as one of Argentinian cinema's leading.

Argentine sales agency FilmSharks Int’l label The Remake Company has sold remake rights at Ventana Sur to Peruvian family comedy hit “Papa YouTuber” (“YouTuber Dad”) to Mexico’s Cinepolis and Italy’s Colorado Films, with several other territories pending.

Advanced discussions are underway in Germany, with Spain, France and the U.S. also pending. “The U.S. deal will likely have a high-profile female director attached,” said FilmSharks Founder-ceo Guido Rud.

“Family comedies are the hot new wave in summer releases,” Rud observed, citing the box office successes of the Italian and Spanish remakes of Argentine family comedy “10 Days Without Mom,” which he sold. The Italian remake was the number one box office hit this year in Italy while in Spain, its remake grossed $27 million, said Rud who noted that “Papa YouTuber” is the first Peruvian title that the Remake Company has handled.

Released by Cinecolor in Peru where...

Mexican satire sold 7.5m tickets across Latin America

Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks’ The Remake Co. has landed another key deal on one of its hottest titles, closing negotiations with New Classics Media for Chinese remake rights to Latin American smash The Noble Family.

Gaz Alazraki’s Mexican comedy about a millionaire businessman who fakes his own bankruptcy in order to force his entitled children to find work was remade in Italian (Belli di Papa), and adaptations are in the works in France, Spain, and Germany.

A major Us studio is understood to be backing the Chinese version and further details are expected shortly.

Chile’s ’No Filter’, Argentina’s ’A Boyfriend For My Wife’, Thailand’s ’Bad Genius’ among big draws

Remake rights have been doing a roaring trade in Cannes. South Korea’s Company L has acquired Chilean hit No Filter while the Philippines’ Glimmer Entertainment has bought the Argentinian rom-com A Boyfriend For My Wife.

Both deals were done by Guido Rud’s Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks, one of the world’s most active purveyors of remake rights. Spain’s Latido Films has assembled an inaugural remakes sales slate where titles include the Argentinian thriller 4x4, a hit at Ventana Sur last December,...

Exclusive: Ricardo Darin-starrer An Unexpected Love is one of a handful of films going global for Argentine outfit FilmSharks. Guido Rud’s label has sold remake rights for Juan Vera’s film to Recifilm for France and Btf for Mexico.

The film has to date been sold to more than 45 countries by sales outfit and remake rights specialist FilmSharks. A Chinese theatrical deal is said to be in advanced discussions. Mercedes Moran (El Angel) stars opposite Argentine superstar Darin (The Secret In Their Eyes) in the rom-com about a marriage tested by their son leaving home. The film opened last year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.

FilmSharks has also struck remake deals on swinger comedy 2+2 , which is from the same writer duo as An Unexpected Love. Pacts have been signed with Pirueta Films for Spain, Btf for Mexico, and with Brazilian producer-distributor Paris Entretenimento, owned by París Filmes. A U.

Argentina sales company handling Marcos Carnevale, Fabián Bielinsky projects.

Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has picked up worldwide sales and remake rights from Latin American production powerhouse Patagonik to the upcoming high-concept comedy Crazy Heart and remake and format rights to the iconic 2005 thriller The Aura.

Argentine ace Marcos Carnevale is scheduled to direct Crazy Heart (Corazon Loco) in the third quarter of this year. Box office darling Adrián Suar stars as Fernando, whose two wives finally find out about each other after nine years and set out for revenge.

Patagonik co-owner Disney holds Latin American rights and plans a second quarter 2020 release on 300 screens in Argentina.

In this year’s foreign-language race, a number of Lgbt-oriented titles are vying for attention. France’s Bpm (Beats Per Minute), directed by Robin Campillo, could be the favorite: a rich, sensual, impassioned study of early AIDS activism and gay awakening in Paris, it took the Grand Prix at Cannes and has been winning hearts on the festival circuit and kudos from critics.

After Cannes, Bpm (Beats Per Minute) played Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival among others, winning many awards along the way.

“Impassioned and deeply absorbing. Notable for both its hot-blooded sensuality and its intricate, bittersweet play with memory.”

- Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

“Broadly enlightening and piercingly intimate. A vital contribution to queer and political cinema. Campillo has given his movie the breath of true life. It grieves and triumphs and haunts with abounding grace and understanding, its heartbeat thumping with genuine, undeniable resonance.

When it comes to Crime Thriller, Argentina is one the most epic crime thriller movie making of all time, specially movies like "The Aura", "Carancho" and the Oscar winner "Secret in their eyes".   Story: Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin) and his boss and friend Irene Hastings (Soledad Villamil) are two legal counselors that investigate crimes with the police, in a 1970s Argentina when the government were poor and the authorities were corrupt or paid by mafia. One case becomes personal for Benjamin when he investigate a murder of a young girl named Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo) and when he relies the judge dropped the case, than he take action in his own hands. Eventually he finds the murderer and arrest him, only to be ordered...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: Guido Rud’s FilmSharks International has prevailed in a bidding war, acquiring feature rights to Abel Basti’s Latin American publishing sensation.

Buenos Aires-based Rud is developing the project with Amsterdam-based European Film Company, the company behind Kidnapping Freddy Heineken that is understood to be bringing equity and soft money to the table.

Rud is aiming for a studio-level feature, preferably in Argentina, and will commence pre-sales at the Afm.

In After Hitler’s Steps Basti produces evidence purporting to show how the Führer survived WWII and fled to Argentina and Paraguay, where he lived until his death in the 1970s.

The world-renowned authority on the Third Reich and the flight of Nazis to Latin America and the Us is adapting the screenplay. His previous work has been acquired by the BBC and he wrote a documentary that aired on History Channel called Hitler’s Escape (El Escape De Hitler).

Producing is Pablo Bossi, Fabian Bielinsky’s producer...

Exclusive: Guido Rud’s FilmSharks International has prevailed in a bidding war, acquiring feature rights to Abel Basti’s Latin American publishing sensation.

Buenos Aires-based Rud is developing the project with Amsterdam-based European Film Company, the company behind Kidnapping Freddy Heineken that is understood to be bringing equity and soft money to the table.

Rud is aiming for a studio-level feature, preferably in Argentina, and will commence pre-sales at the Afm.

In After Hitler’s Steps Basti produces evidence purporting to show how the Führer survived WWII and fled to Argentina and Paraguay, where he lived until his death in the 1970s.

The world-renowned authority on the Third Reich and the flight of Nazis to Latin America and the Us is adapting the screenplay. His previous work has been acquired by the BBC and he wrote a documentary that aired on History Channel called Hitler’s Escape (El Escape De Hitler).

Producing is Pablo Bossi, Fabian Bielinsky’s producer...

Exclusive: Guido Rud’s FilmSharks International has prevailed in a bidding war, acquiring feature rights to Abel Basti’s Latin American publishing sensation After Hitler’s Steps (n).

Buenos Aires-based Rud is developing the project with Amsterdam-based European Film Company and said he was aiming for a studio-level feature, preferably in Argentina.

Rud expects to commence pre-sales at the Afm on After Hitler’s Steps, which investigates the notion that he Fuhrer survived WWII and fled to Argentina, where he lived until the 1970s.

Basti, a world-renowned authority on the Third Reich and the flight of Nazis to Latin America and the Us, is adapting the screenplay.

Pablo Bossi, whose credits include the Argentinian thriller The Aura (El Aura) is producing.

The filmmakers said they were in talks with a major Iberoamerican director.

“We are very proud and excited to announce the development and production of After Hitler’s steps with Guido Rud of Film Sharks,” said...

Film noir. What is it? What are its defining characteristics? What films best express its qualities? Sex appeal, violence, cynicism, anti-heroes, femmes fatales, bleak commentary on modern society, maddening twists of fate that perpetuate one’s misery, running away from danger yet never making any ground…noir is and represents a wide variety of things, so much so that film experts do not even agree on whether it is a genre unto itself. (Two of the leading voices, James Ursini and Alain Silver, agree that it represents a movement rather than a definable genre.) For well over two years now, Sound on Sight has hosted the Friday Noir column which, on a near-weekly basis, has covered a great many noir entries of the commonly recognized classic period (1941 to 1959) as well as sizable portion of neo-noirs. Slowly and steadily, the column has explored the extremely exhaustive catalogue of titles with still many to come.

Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article. Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the academic, is a game of knowledge and perception filtered through personal taste.

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Other Notable Director & Actor Teams

This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.

Terence Young & Sean Connery

Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).

Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).

Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its 276-member-strong class of 2013.

The list, published by The Hollywood Reporter, includes actors, cinematographers, designers, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, "members-at-large," musicians, producers, PR folks, short filmmakers and animators, sound technicians, visual effects artists, and writers.

Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, and Michael Peña are among the roster of actors, while "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig made the directors' cut.

"We did not change our criteria at all," says Academy president Hawk Koch of this year's larger-than-usual class. "Yes, this year there is a tremendous amount of women, a tremendous amount of people of color, people from all walks of life. This year, we asked the branches to look at everybody who wasn't in the Academy but who deserved to be.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the 276 members of the entertainment industry invited to join organization. The list includes actors, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, producers and more. Of those listed below, those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2013. "These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today," said Academy President Hawk Koch in a press release. "Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy." Koch also told Variety, "In the past eight or nine years, each branch could only bring in X amount of members. There were people each branch would have liked to get in but couldn't. We asked them to be more inclusive of the best of the best, and each branch was excited, because they got...

The Academy just added 276 Oscar voters.

That’s 100 more than last year, and part of an easing of a longstanding cap on the number of new members allowed to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year.

AMPAS usually adds between 130 and 180 new members, replacing those who have quit or passed away. The membership now stands around 6,000.

Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Riva, and Chris Tucker are among the actors who have been invited to join, the organization announced today.

Other interesting additions: the musician Prince, Girls and Tiny Furniture writer/director/actress Lena Dunham,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2013.

“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.”

The 2013 invitees are:

Actors

Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno”

Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface”

Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City”

Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises”

Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid”

Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town”

Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator”

Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl”

Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2013. “These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.” The 2013 invitees are: Actors Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno” Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface” Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City” Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved” Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises” Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid” Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town” Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator” Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl” Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...

This article is dedicated to Andrew Copp: filmmaker, film writer, artist and close friend who passed away on January 19, 2013. You are loved and missed, brother.

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Looking at the Best Actor Academy Award nominations for the film year 2012, the one miss that clearly cries out for more attention is Liam Neeson’s powerful performance in Joe Carnahan’s excellent survival film The Grey, easily one of the best roles of Neeson’s career.

In Neeson’s case, his lack of a nomination was a case of neglect similar to the Albert Brooks snub in the Best Supporting Actor category for the film year 2011 for Drive(Nicolas Winding Refn, USA).

Along with negligence, other factors commonly prevent outstanding lead acting performances from getting the kind of critical attention they deserve. Sometimes it’s that the performance is in a film not considered “Oscar material” or even worthy of any substantial critical attention.

Film producer Mike Medavoy announced today that Patricia Riggen has come on board to direct the theatrical film currently entitled The 33, based on the story of the 33 Chilean Miners, whose remarkable rescue from the San Jose Mine captivated the world's attention.

The Mexican-born director is best known for her independent film Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna), which premiered at Sundance Film Festival to a standing ovation. After a heated bidding war, the film was acquired for worldwide distribution by Fox Searchlight and The Weinstein Company and was released theatrically to opening-weekend record numbers for a Spanish language film in the Us.

"I saw in her film not only her talent but the real humanity and humor that this film needs." Medavoy said. "Patricia has the heart and sensibility to bring this story to life in a way that accurately reflects what the miners and their families endured."

Riggen...

On the occasion of his latest film, Shadow Dancer, hitting Sundance and finding distribution, James Marsh is taking to the publicity circuit to discuss projects both current and future. And, as it so happens, one his stops along the way was ThePlaylist, with whom he shared details on three potential, narrative projects that lie ahead.

One we’re only hearing of now is The Silent Land, which Marsh describes as a “very interesting, unusual supernatural story.” Based on Graham Joyce‘s novel, the story — which has been given a first draft by the director and Nick Drake — follows Jake and Zoe, a married couple who, after digging themselves out from an avalanche, discover that their hotel in the French Pyrenees is empty. That’s bad enough; but there’s also a complete silence in the area, any sort of communication is dead, and another avalanche is coming. After a series...

First comes Oscar. If you follow my charts and this race each year it's impossible to escape Argentinian movie star Ricardo Darín. Not only is he continually employed but whichever body chooses Argentina's Oscar submission each year has a huge crush. He's the star of their 2001 nominee Son of the Bride and their 2009 winner The Secret in Their Eyes and he's also principle cast in their submission titles that weren't nominated from 2002 (Kamchatka), 2005 (El Aura) and 2007 (Xxy).

<--- Portrait of a Busy Actor.

The charts have been updated to include new submissions from Argentina, Costa Rica, Hong Kong and Portugal. The latter chose a transsexual film from the controversy baiting director João Pedro Rodrigues of O Fantasma (2000) fame. If you've ever seen that one, and if this one feels like it's coming from the same mind, you'll understand this is a brave if impossible choice.

Here are the trailers for...

Filipino director Erik Matti has long been a favorite of this site, his films consistently charming with their unique sense of style and energy.  But as much as we may argue that films like superhero riff Gagamboy or atmospheric chiller Pa-Siyam are fun films - which they very definitely are - the realities of the system that Matti has been forced to work within have largely meant that while his films are consistently fun they are very seldom what would be called good, at least not good in the big, serious arthouse definition of the word.  Only once that I'm aware of in his career - with the gritty drama Prosti - has Matti really been able to showcase the serious craftsman in him and that film has been seen by so tragically few people that it hardly counts.

This is about to change.

When posting the trailer for Matti's...

IFC Entertainment has acquired two films that will be distributed in the coming months by its day-and-date distribution banner. IFC First Take Films will release Argentinean helmer Fabian Bielinsky's El Aura and fellow countryman Daniel Burman's Derecho de familia -- both slated to bow this year. IFC Entertainment has been a trailblazer in the day-and-date field. IFC First Take, launched in January, acquires and distributes 24 films a year, releases them nationwide and simultaneously offers them on-demand to cable subscribers. The films are available on Cablevision and Comcast services on IFC in Theaters.

• This year Ioncinema.com is covering the 2006 edition of the Sundance Film Festival Live from Park City, Utah. Weâ€.ll be on hand to cover the festival, and while we wonâ€.t be able to cover everything from A to Z: here is a comprehensive beforehand look at the selections in each of the festivalâ€.s sections. (Note: To access individual preview pages, simply click on the links below) January 19th to the 28th, 2006Counting Down: updateCountdownClock('January 19, 2006'); World Cinema - Dramatic Competition         "13 (Tzameti)" (France), writer-director Gela Babluani's intense drama about the dire consequences suffered by a man who follows instructions left for someone else. "Allegro,"(Denmark), directed by Christoffer Boe and written by Boe and Mikael Wulff, a look at an amnesiac pianist who reconnects with his forgotten past upon returning to Copenhagen. "The Aura," (Argentina), writer-director Fabian Bielinsky's twisty drama about a taxidermist's dream of pulling off the perfect robbery.

...

MADRID -- A clutch of fresh Spanish talent will see its films debut in the 53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival's official section, festival organizers said Friday as they announced the first batch of films in competition. The titles announced for the official competition all belong to Spanish films and "are directed by young moviemakers, ensuring the generational change essential to all cinematographies," according to the festival's statement. Chema de la Pena and Gabriel Velazquez's Sud Express (South Express), Manuel Martin Cuenca's Malas Temporadas (Bad Times) and Alberto Rodriguez's Siete Virgines (Seven Virgins) will participate in the competition, along with two Spanish co-productions: Fabian Bielinsky's El Aura and Farida Benlyazid's La Vida Perra de Juanita Narboni (The Dog's Life of Juanita Narboni).

MADRID -- A clutch of fresh Spanish talent will see its films debut in the 53rd San Sebastian International Film Festival's official section, festival organizers said Friday as they announced the first batch of films in competition. The titles announced for the official competition all belong to Spanish films and "are directed by young moviemakers, ensuring the generational change essential to all cinematographies," according to the festival's statement. Chema de la Pena and Gabriel Velazquez's Sud Express (South Express), Manuel Martin Cuenca's Malas Temporadas (Bad Times) and Alberto Rodriguez's Siete Virgines (Seven Virgins) will participate in the competition, along with two Spanish co-productions: Fabian Bielinsky's El Aura and Farida Benlyazid's La Vida Perra de Juanita Narboni (The Dog's Life of Juanita Narboni).