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The rise in location shoots and local productions in Colombia – driven by attractive tax incentives, relative economic stability and improved security – has sparked new creative talent while enabling seasoned professionals to refine and expand their skill sets.

Honed by years of hands-on experience and formal training, these professionals have worked across a diverse range of productions – from feature films and high-end advertising to series and documentaries. Once the unsung heroes of the set, they are now gaining long-overdue recognition for their expertise, adaptability and vital contributions to the success of every project. Their deep understanding of both creative and technical demands makes them indispensable collaborators in an increasingly global and fast-paced industry.

Here are 5 Below-the-Line Talents to Track (in alphabetical order):

Juan Manuel Barreto, Gaffer, Cinematographer

With over 25 years of experience in the film industry, Barreto says he was drawn to moving images and the study of human nature from an early age.

Early in 2021, Costa Rican filmmaker Hilda Hidalgo launched a pioneering initiative in her home country: the Unión de Directoras de Cine Costa Rica, or the Union of Female Film Directors of Costa Rica, in literal translation. The organization, which aimed to create a “more egalitarian and diverse society by promoting an equitable presence of women in the writing, creation, production, evaluation, and distribution of narratives and audiovisual content,” quickly ballooned to 24 members, growing steadily in the years since.

The organization reflected a pattern in this new generation of filmmakers in the Central American country, largely comprised of women, with many telling stories focused on issues of womanhood and, most specifically, being a woman in Costa Rica today. In the last five years alone, there have been several female-directed breakout films coming out of the country, including Antonella Sudasassi’s Berlin award-winning “Memories of a Burning Body,” Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s...

Chilean actress Antonia Zegers, whose notable credits include several of Pablo Larraín’s films, including “Tony Manero,” “The Club,” “No,” and his Pinochet-as-Dracula pic, “The Count,” has boarded the upcoming drama “The Comeback” (“El Regreso”) by Peru’s Joanna Lombardi.

Zegers, who also toplined Lucia Puenzo’s lauded series “The Pack” (“La Jauria”), Marcela Said’s “Los Perros” and Belén Funes’ “The Exiles,” serves as a juror at the Ibero-American Fiction section of the ongoing 40th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), wrapping on June 14.

“What first drew me in was the chance to work with Joanna – there’s a quiet strength in her, a way of seeing the world that speaks to me. I trust that together, we’ll create something truly special,” she told Variety.

Lombardi is a former creative executive for Movistar in Latin America and leading Peruvian shingle Tondero Films. Her directorial feature debut “Casadentro” won Montreal Festival...

Ecam Forum, the new go-to international co-production market, has just announced the main program of its second edition, running June 10–13 at Madrid’s historical Matadero venue.

To mark the significance of this fast-expanding industry initiative, spearheaded by the prestigious Ecam film school in Madrid, today’s launch at the Spanish Pavilion in Cannes was attended by Icaa head Ignasi Camós, Raoul Torquemada, director of Madrid Film Office and Nacho Carballo from the Community of Madrid, key partners to the event.

Nacho Carballo, Raúl Torquemada, Alba Wystraëte and Ignasi Camós in Cannes Credit: Ecam

“Ecam Forum is particularly important as it is part of the Ecam film school in Madrid, one of the landmark audiovisual schools in Spain,” Camós told Variety at the press launch. ” In only two editions, the organisers of this new market have managed to create a vital link between talents with projects in development and in post-production,...

Exclusive: XYZ Films will commence sales in Cannes on serial killer thriller The Edge Of Normal starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Rupert Friend for Carlota Pereda, the acclaimed Spanish director of Piggy who makes her English-language debut.

Production is scheduled to begin on May 27 in Utah.

Moretz will star in the previously announced project as Reeve LeClaire, who is haunted by the memory of teenage captivity at the hands of a sadist and fears a return to the nightmare when she is asked to mentor a survivor and gets pulled into a game of cat and mouse.Friend will portray LeClaire’s psychiatrist.

Exclusive: XYZ Films will commence sales in Cannes on serial killer thriller The Edge Of Normal starring Chloe Grace Moretz for Carlota Pereda, the acclaimed Spanish director of Piggy who makes her English-language debut.

Production is scheduled to begin on May 27 in Utah.

Moretz will star in the previously announced project as Reeve LeClaire, who is haunted by the memory of teenage captivity at the hands of a sadist and fears a return to the nightmare when she is asked to mentor a survivor and gets pulled into a game of cat and mouse.

Rupert Friend will portray LeClaire’s psychiatrist.

Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton y la propia Wilde protagonizarán la comedia. © Getty Images

Según ha anunciado Variety, el tercer largometraje de Olivia Wilde, después de No te preocupes, querida y Súper empollonas, será The Invite, una provocativa comedia inspirada en la española Sentimental de 2020, adaptada por Rashida Jones y Will McCormack (Celeste & Jesse Forever), que protagonizará un reparto hollywoodiense de lujo: Seth Rogen (The Studio), Penélope Cruz (Volver), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown) y la propia Wilde.

La película original, dirigida por Cesc Gay, fue todo un éxito en España y estuvo nominada a varios premios Goya. En ella, una pareja invita a sus vecinos a su casa, lo que desencadena una noche llena de giros inesperados, emociones reprimidas y una sexualidad inexplorada. El elenco lo conformaban Javier Cámara, Belén Cuesta, Griselda Siciliani y Alberto San Juan.

Sentimental ha sido adaptada en numerosas ocasiones en varios países, incluidos Italia,...

The Málaga Film Festival unveiled winners from its various lineups this afternoon, where Eva Libertad’s “Deaf” walked away with a fest-best four prizes, including best actress (Miriam Garlo), actor (Álvaro Cervantes), the audience award and best picture.

Libertad’s debut feature is an expansion of the eponymous Goya-nominated short she co-directed with Nuria Muñoz, starring her sister Garlo, an acclaimed deaf actress. The film tells the story of Angela (Garlo), a pregnant deaf woman, and Hector (Cervantes), her hearing partner. Pregnancy brings to the surface her fears about motherhood and how she will be able to communicate with her daughter. The arrival of the girl generates a crisis in the couple and leads Angela to face the upbringing of her daughter in a world that is not made for her.

Acclaimed “A Thief’s Daughter” filmmaker Belén Funes’ latest, “The Exiles,” won Málaga’s special jury prize, best...

Uruguayan production company U Films has boarded Ignacio Lasierra Pinto‘s debut feature, “Perseidas.” The film made waves after a successful pitch at last November’s Ventana Sur when it unveiled an all-star cast led by Spanish Academy Goya-winning actor Macarena García.

Today, at the Málaga Film Festival, a co-production agreement was signed between U Films and the previously established Spanish producers of “Perceidas,” Lago&Laporta and Imval Producciones. The group described their partnership as “an organic international co-production that strengthens the ties between both countries and allows us to continue advancing this very special project.”

U Films was founded by Virginia Hinze and Lucía Gaviglio in 2012. The company’s mission is to develop projects with a special emphasis on international co-productions and independent distribution.

Securing a Uruguayan co-producer was always a point of emphasis for the “Perseidas” team. The bi-continental film tells the story of a famous Spanish chef...

Produced by Galicia’s Kraken Media, Fernando Tato’s “Goodbye, Berta,” a buzzy project heading for this week’s Málaga Festival Fund Co-Production Event (Maff), has added further production partners in Spain’s Tornasol Media, behind Academy Award winner “The Secret in Their Eyes,” and Abano Producións, a producer of “Unicorn Wars.”

Disney will handle the theatrical distribution of “Goodbye, Berta” in Spain.

Kraken Media’s Adrián Castiñeiras and Alba Gallego and director Tato will present the feature at Maff, one of the centrepieces at the Malaga Festival’s Mafiz industry forum.

Written by Ángela Andrada and Tato, the 2025 Maff feature marks an expansion of Tato’s 17-minute short, shot in Galician and Castilian Spanish on location in A Pobra de Caramiñal, a town on the Galician coast and penned and co-starring Andrade.

In the feature, when sister Berta is thrown out of her rehab center, sister Alicia, who has...

The Berlinale is just the start of a big 2025 for Catalan films, filmmakers and companies. Several high-profile Catalan buzz titles are currently shooting or in post-production and are slated to debut later in the year, while others are presently kicking off promising festival runs.

Former Berlin Golden Bear winner Carla Simon (“Alcarràs”) will debut “Romería,” currently in post, about a woman’s journey to meet her biological father’s family after he dies of AIDS. It’s a hugely personal project as the disease took both of Simon’s parents’ lives when she was just six years old.

In commercial terms, especially domestically, few films have more box office potential than Borja Cobeaga’s “Los Aitas,” an all-ages comedy about a group of middle-aged dads accompanying their daughters on an international gymnastics trip.

Miguel Ángel Jiménez’s brutally stylish 1970s-set dark comedy “The Birthday Party” stars Willem Dafoe alongside an ensemble of top Spanish talent.

Like water taking the shape of any container in which it’s kept, Catalan cinema tends to work its way into every corner of a festival or marketplace in which it is present. This year’s European Film Market is no exception. Here’s a look at 10 Catalan titles set to make an impression at this year’s festival and market.

The highest profile appearance will be Eva Libertad’s debut feature, “Deaf,” based on a short of the same name, which world premieres in the Panorama section. Sold by Latido Films and produced by Distinto Films, A Contracorriente Films and Nexus CreaFilms, it’s based on Libertad’s Goya-nominated short of the same name.

Lucía G. Romero’s “Close to September” will world premiere in Berlinale Shorts. Produced by Escándalo Films, Filmax, Escac Films and Escac Studio, it centers on an imbalanced youthful romance.

Generation Kplus showcases two Catalan productions this year,...

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.

Rapidly building a packed sales slate at Berlin, Filmax has pounced on “Leo & Lou,” a feel-good road movie set against the stunning, windswept landscapes of Galicia in northern Spain and produced by Zeta Studios, producer of Netflix hit “Elite.”

Filmax will unveil first-look images at Berlin’s European Film Market.

In the film, Leo, described as a mute young orphan girl with a world of thoughts inside her, and Lou, a jaded, middle-aged nihilist, take a journey together. “As their paths intertwine, an unbreakable bond forms, one built on trust, compassion and adventure,” Filmax said in a statement.

“Lou & Leo” toplines Isak Férriz, key cast in Netflix global hit “Burning Body,” and Julia Sulleiro. Written by Carlos C. Tomé and Carlos Solano, “Leo & Lou” marks Solano’s debut as a feature film director after his Goya-nominated short film “Strangers on the Road.”

The ensemble also features Manuel Manquiña (“Airbag...

Atresmedia Cine and Buena Vista International have announced their collaboration as producers and distributors for the upcoming feature film, “A Morte Nos Teus Ollos.” Directed by Guillermo de Oliveira and produced by Sideral and Sétima, this film marks de Oliveira’s second feature following his 2019 debut “Sad Hill Unearthed.”

The production, which will commence this fall, is set to hit Spanish theaters in 2026, distributed by Buena Vista International. Based on a 1994 true story, “A Morte Nos Teus Ollos” turns on two agents of the Vigo national police who murdered a businessman, his wife, their eldest daughter and their housekeeper for a meager 20 million pesetas, or $160,000 at the time. The events happened only a few yards from Oliveira’s own house in Nigrán.

Expectations for a Galician-language true crime story are likely high, given the recent success of the Catalan-language feature “The 47,” similarly based on a true story. That film, released last year,...

Disney+ has released an international trailer for its upcoming original Spanish comedy series “Shared Custody,” directed by “Champions” creator Javier Fesser, which will debut globally on the platform on Jan. 24.

An accomplished filmmaker, Fesser, who makes his TV debut with “Shared Custody,” is best known for creating the Goya-winning and Oscar-submitted heartwarming comedy “Campeones” (“Champions”), adapted in 2023 as the Woody Harelson starrer “Champions.” In 2007, his short film “Binta y la gran idea” was nominated for the live-action short film Oscar. “Shared Custody” marks his series debut.

Over eight episodes, the series will examine the challenges faced by two parents, Cris and Diego, after their separation. The show delves into the complexities of modern co-parenting as the couple strives to maintain a mature, amicable relationship for the sake of their young daughter.

However, financial difficulties force them to move back in with their respective parents, setting the stage for awkward and often humorous family dynamics.

Marisa Paredes, the admired Spanish actress who collaborated with Pedro Almodóvar in such films as The Flower of My Secret, All About My Mother and The Skin I Live In, has died. She was 78.

Her death was announced Tuesday by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, which called her one of the country’s “most iconic actors … her body of work was defined by women who were strong, ambivalent, broken, passionate, enigmatic, but who were, above all, very human.”

Almodóvar told Spanish public broadcaster Rtve that “it is as if I woke up from a bad dream … I am struggling to come to terms with Marisa’s death.” In their country, she was known as “an Almodóvar girl.”

Paredes also portrayed Roberto Benigni’s socialite mother-in-law in Life Is Beautiful (1997) and the head of the orphanage in Guillermo del Toro’s horror film The Devil’s Backbone (2001), set during the Spanish Civil War.

Spain’s Latido Films has acquired Eva Libertad’s upcoming feature “Sorda,” adapted from her 2023 Spanish Academy Goya Award-nominated short of the same name.

“Sorda,” which translates to “deaf” in English, tells the story of Angela, a pregnant deaf woman, and Hector, her hearing partner. Pregnancy brings to the surface her fears about motherhood and how she will be able to communicate with her daughter. The arrival of the girl generates a crisis in the couple and leads Angela to face the upbringing of her daughter in a world that is not made for her.

Libertad wrote and is directing the film, a continuation of her 2023 short of the same name that starred her sister, Miriam Garlo. In addition to a Spanish Academy Goya nomination, the film was selected by more than 110 festivals and won more than 60 awards.

“A few years ago, my sister began to consider becoming a mother,...

The Last Night at Tremore Beach has dropped on Netflix, and the show has everything it takes to become the next sensation for the streaming service. It is directed by none other than Oriol Paulo, who gained quite a reputation thanks to the 2016 blockbuster The Invisible Guest, along with The Body, (2012) Mirage, (2017) God’s Crooked Lines, (2022) and the Netflix miniseries The Innocent (2021). The man’s work speaks volumes, and it can safely be said that The Last Night at Tremore Beach pretty much justifies the hype. The series focuses on Alex, a composer who moves to a coastal town after a fatal accident to get his mojo back. Obviously, it is much more than that. In this article, we are going to take a closer look at the cast and the characters they play in the show.

Spoilers Ahead

Javier Ray as Alex

Actor Javier Ray – whose most notable work so...

The world premiere of Movistar Plus+’s period comedy drama The Short Life (La Vida Breve) will headline the second edition of South International Series Festival, which takes place in Cádiz in southern Spain from October 25-30. It will showcase 47 series, including 12 world premieres and 15 Spanish premieres.

Created by Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor, and starring Leonor Watling and Javier Gutiérrez, The Short Life is set during the brief reign of Spain’s King Louis I. It is the only world premiere in competition.

Two competitions, fiction and non-fiction, have been created this year. BetaSeries CEO Rémi Tereszkiewicz heads the...

Global sensation “Call My Agent!” is set for a glamorous Spanish-language adaptation starring two-time Goya Award winner Javier Gutiérrez,, Marta Hazas and Goya winner Manuela Velasco (“Velvet”).

The Madrid-set series is being produced by Mediawan’s well-established Spanish outfit Good Mood, whose previous credits include “I’m Alive,” “The Fence,” “The Accident” and “Deudas.” Mediaset Espana’s Telecinco is co-producing the show and has commissioned it.

Filming will kick off in two weeks on location in Madrid. Daniel Écija, the revered founder of Good Mood who has more than 30 series and eight films under his belt, is executive producing “The Agencia.” The rest of the cast and cameos will be announced at a later stage.

The original French series, titled “10 Pour Cent,” smashed ratings throughout four seasons on local broadcaster France Televisions, as well as ranked as the most watched shows on Netflix under its English title “Call My Agent.

San Sebastian – Basque production outfit Amania Films and Andalusia’s La Claqueta have launched a new strategic partnership to increase both companies’ presence in the Spanish audiovisual marketplace and further abroad.

According to the companies, their partnership “marks a milestone in the collaboration between Basque and Andalusian cinema and reinforces a commitment to the diversification and mutual growth of both companies.”

The first project under their new arrangement is the big-budget serial killer drama-thriller “Sacamantecas,” directed by Amania founder and award-winning filmmaker David Pérez Sañudo. The companies are also poised to team on a new fiction series, “Maddi y las fronteras,” based on writer Edurne Portela’s fictionalized biography of María Josefa Sansberro, who backed French resistance during WWII and died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Under the terms of their deal, La Claqueta will acquire a portion of Amania and, in return, help the company take on larger projects.

San Sebastian — At this year’s San Sebastian Festival, Basque cinema brings arguably its strong slate ever, fruits from its fast growing scene.

Among the throng of titles is Andrea Jaurrieta’s “Nina” offering a contemporary, feminist twist on the classic Western, featuring Patricia López Arnaiz as a woman seeking revenge in her coastal hometown. David Pérez Sañudo’s “The Last Romantics” presents a tale of second chances, starring Miren Gaztañaga as a woman confronting her mortality.

The documentary lineup is equally compelling, with Raúl de la Fuente’s “Los Williams” exploring race and identity through Basque soccer stars Iñaki and Nico Williams, and Carmen Chaplin’s “Charlie Chaplin, A Man of the World” providing an unprecedented look at the legendary filmmaker’s Romani heritage.

Here’s the rundown:

Main Competition

“I’m Nevenka,”

Co-written with Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín dramatizes the harrowing true story of Nevenka Fernández, the first...

Exclusive: A strong cast of actors, financiers and producers has come together for Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, the follow-up to his critical and commercial hit The Worst Person in the World, which was Oscar nominated and took more than $12 million at the global box office.

That film’s breakout star Renate Reinsve is back to play the lead in Sentimental Value, as previously reported, and we can reveal that she will be joined by Stellan Skarsgård (Dune), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (A Beautiful Life) and Elle Fanning (The Great).

Production has begun in Oslo on Trier’s anticipated sixth feature. It will film in Norway’s capital through November, with additional shoots in France, before launching in 2025. Refreshingly, the comedy-drama keeps Trier in his native Norwegian language.

The film will be fully expected by many to launch in Cannes competition in 2025. The Worst Person in the World had its world premiere in 2021 at Cannes,...

Projects from Albert Serra and Iciar Bollain are among the 12 Spanish features selected for the 2024 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), taking place from September 20-28.

Serra will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s official section with bullfighting documentary Tardes De Soledad. His previous films include Locarno winner The Story Of My Death and 2022 Cannes premiere Pacifiction.

Competing in the main section for the fifth time is Iciar Bollain with I’m Nevenka, about a town councillor who reports abuse by the major. Mireia Oriol and Urko Olazabal star.

Also selected are Pedro Martín-Calero’s directorial debut The Wailing,...

The San Sebastian Film Festival, the biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world, has unveiled a packed lineup of Spanish titles that is strong on women auteurs, led by Iciar Bollaín, Pilar Palomero, Paula Ortiz and Alauda Ruiz de Azua, who are now stepping up in scale or industry backing as big SVOD players – Movistar Plus+, Prime Video – move into the production of Spanish movies aimed at theatrical release or back their original series.

Vying in main competition, Bollaín’s “I Am Nevenka” looks like the first film to see the light of day from six auteur event movies co-produced by Movistar Plus+ and directed by leading cinematographic talent such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Alberto Fernández.

Also selected are two leading lights of a younger generation of women directors which have galvanised Spanish arthouse but are now looking for broader audiences.

Goya and San Sebastian winner Pilar Palomero competes in main competition with “Glimmers,...

Prime Video is doubling down in Spain with a slate of new movies, drama series, docs and true-crime shows.

The streamer unveiled its latest slate at a Prime Video Presents event in Madrid last night, with thriller feature Zeta, scripted series Cochinas, a trio of unscripted shows and doc La Joia: Bad Gyal. Original series Reina Roja was confirmed for a third season, while live entertainment show Operación Triunfo has also landed a new season.

Ricardo Cabornero, Director at Prime Video in Spain and Portugal, claimed it had been a “record-breaking year” for the service in Iberia as he rolled out the titles.

Spy pic Zeta follows a Spanish Cni agent, Zeta, who is tasked with tracking down a former spy who participated in an undercover mission 35 years before, with a Colombian spook, Alfa, also trying to find him. The other five participants are murdered at the same time at different embassies around the world,...

Amazon hosted its annual Prime Video Presents event in Madrid this afternoon, where the streaming giant made a raft of announcements, including new theatrical features, true crime docuseries, returning drama programs and the next season of Spain’s uber-popular singing competition “Operación Triunfo.”

Ricardo Carbonero, director of Prime Video in Spain and Portugal, and Maria José Rodríguez, head of Amazon Studios’ Spanish Originals, were in attendance. Joining them were local stars Mario Casas (“Tres metros sobre el cielo”), Elena Anaya (“The Skin I Live In”), Malena Alterio (“Aquí no hay quien viva”), Najwa Nimri (“Money Heist”), Anna Castillo (“Nowhere”) and Maxi Iglesias (“Los artistas: primeros trazos”). Also in attendence were several of the streamer’s current filmakers, including Dani de la Torre (“La sombra de la ley”), Paula Ortiz (“La novia”), Hugo Stuven (“El desafio”) and Ginesta Guindal (“Élite”).

Prime Video Presents, Madrid

According to the streamer, the first half...

In this episode, writing and directing are discussed as deeply intimate and emotionally demanding professions.Ana Cristina Barragán is a young and prolific Ecuadorian director internationally recognized for her debut feature Alba, a film that won the Lions Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the Fipresci Critics' Prize in Toulouse. Over the past ten years, she has directed several short films and two feature films that have been presented in venues such as Locarno, San Sebastian, Toronto, and Thessaloniki. In her works, she has portrayed,  in a haunting and sometimes gloomy way, intimate experiences of girls and teenagers facing death for the first time. Alba and La piel pulpo, her second feature film, were nominated for the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film.On the other hand, Sofía Quirós Ubeda is a director and screenwriter from Costa Rica based in Argentina. Her short film Selva and her debut feature...

Studios that call the Canary Islands home are curating top talent to further diversify their audiovisual offerings, luring and retaining creatives dedicated to costume design, sound, production, animation and editing. Others are simply born in the Islands.

A further testament to the sustained development of the local sector and its increasing relevance to a broader global cinematic landscape, the Islands have seen growing audiences for their domestic films.

More on six of the players currently anchoring the regional production push:

Orlando Harris

The Santa Cruz de Tenerife-born art director and green-screen foreman has put his muster behind large studio bets such as Netflix hits “The Witcher” and “La Palma,” as well as Amazon’s “The Rings of Power.” A frequent collaborator with the isles’ Volcano Films, he notes that his work with them “has always been, without a doubt, the most rewarding professional experience.” Ahead, several international productions and a...

In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.”

The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin, “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.

“The Gentleman” is produced by Spain’s Esto También Pasará (“Ferocious Wolf”). Now shooting, “The Gentleman” will be released by Universal in Spain next year.

From Goya winner Arantxa Echevarría (“Lola and Carmen”), “Undercover” is inspired by the real-life story of Spain’s only police officer to successfully infiltrate Eta. Carolina Yuste (“Saben aquell”) and Luis Tosar (“Maiaxabel”) headline; Bowfinger Intl. Pictures and Beta Fiction Spain produce, with the latter...

Exclusive: Vmi Releasing, the North American distribution arm of Vmi Worldwide, has picked up North American rights to Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba’s latest pic Haunted Heart, starring Matt Dillon.

Vmi acquired the pic from Film Constellation. Oscar-winner Trueba directs the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rylend Grant. Starring alongside Dillon are Goya-nominated Aida Folch (The Artist and the Model) and Juan Pablo Urrego (Memoria).

Set on a beautiful remote island in Greece, a young and spirited Alex (Folch) joins the team of a boutique seaside restaurant as their new waitress. Despite her femme-fatale charm quickly winning the heart of the charismatic Enrico, she instead falls for the enigmatic restaurant manager Max (Dillon), a reclusive American, who settled on the island decades ago. As the seasons pass, sexual tensions rise, and tourists come and go, Enrico begins to unearth disturbing clues about Max’s dark and mysterious past.

The San Sebastian Film Festival has announced Cate Blancett will receive the Donostia Award for lifetime achievement at its 72nd edition.

The Australian star also features on this year's official poster for the festival, created by graphic designer José Luis Lanzagorta based on a photograph by Gustavo Papaleo.

The double Oscar winner has more than 100 films to her name in a career spanning more than three decades. She has also won four Baftas and four Golden Globes as well as receiving further international recognition with an honorary French César and Spanish Goya for lifetime achievement. Her Academy Awards came for her supporting role in The Aviator and her lead turn in Blue Jasmine. She has been Oscar-nominated a further six times for films including Carol and Tár.

Blanchett, who also has 17 producer credits,...

German distributor-producer SquareOne Entertainment, part of rising European film studio Vuelta Group, has acquired German film and TV production, distribution and licensing company Telepool, which was owned by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook.

The news was announced Wednesday by Vuelta Group chairman Jerome Levy and CEO of SquareOne and Vuelta Group Germany Al Munteanu.

Munteanu will spearhead the newly combined entity under the SquareOne banner with Michael Heyd serving as CFO/COO.

The newly combined SquareOne entity will boast a library consisting of over 1,200 titles such as “Drive,” “Intouchables,” “The Olympus Has Fallen,” “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” “Imitation Game,” “Lone Survivor,” “Book Club,” “Transporter 3,” “King Richard,” “Maurice the Tomcat” and the recently released “One Life” among others.

“For over 60 years, Telepool has been one of the leading global content houses and we are proud of the work we did with the company,” said Westbrook CEO Kosaku Yada.

The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the eight jurors who will be joining jury president Greta Gerwig for the event’s 2024 edition (May 14-25).

They are American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, French actor and producer Omar Sy, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, and Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino.

The jury will award the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 films in competition at the closing ceremony on May 25. Anatomy Of A Fall picked up the top prize last year.

Netflix’s global subscribers climbed by 9.3m to 269.6m in the first quarter of 2024 and revenue increased 14.8% year-on-year to $9.4bn, beating analysts’ expectations on both counts.

The streamer said starting in Q1 2025 it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per member and focus on its “primary financial metrics” like revenue, operating income, profit, earnings per share, and free cash flow.

Q2 revenue guidance of $9.49bn was below Wall Street estimates, causing stock to fall more than 5% after closing to $581.

However Q1 numbers were strong. The ad-supported tier is entering its second year and business grew 65% since last...

Netflix’s global subscribers climbed by 9.3m to 269.6m in the first quarter of 2024 and revenue increased 14.8% year-on-year to $9.4bn, beating analysts’ expectations on both counts.

The streamer said starting in Q1 2025 it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per member and focus on its “primary financial metrics” like revenue, operating income, profit, earnings per share, and free cash flow.

Q2 revenue guidance of $9.49bn was below Wall Street estimates, causing stock to fall more than 5% after closing to $581.

However Q1 numbers were strong. Operating income grew by 54% from $1.7bn in Q1 2023 to $2.6bn, and operating margin...

Netflix’s global membership climbed by 9.3m to 269.6m in the first quarter of 2024 and revenue increased 14.8% year-on-year to $9.4bn, beating analysts’ expectations on both counts.

The streamer said starting in Q1 2025 it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per member and focus on its “primary financial metrics” like revenue, operating income, profit, earnings per share, and free cash flow.

Q2 revenue guidance of $9.49bn was below Wall Street estimates, causing stock to fall more than 5% after closing to $581.

However Q1 numbers were strong. Operating income grew by 54% from $1.7bn in Q1 2023 to $2.6bn, and operating margin...

Netflix’s global membership climbed by 9.33m to 269.6m in the first quarter of 2024 and revenue increased 14.8% year-on-year to $9.4bn, beating analysts’ expectations on both counts.

The streamer said starting in Q1 2025 it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per member and focus on its “primary financial metrics” like revenue, operating income, profit, earnings per share, and free cash flow.

Q2 revenue guidance of $9.49bn was below Wall Street estimates, causing stock to fall more than 5% after closing to $581.

However Q1 numbers were strong. Operating income grew by 54% from $1.7bn in Q1 2023 to $2.6bn, and operating margin...

Netflix’s global membership climbed by 9.33m to 269.6m in the first quarter of 2024 and revenue increased 14.8% year-on-year to $9.4bn, beating analysts’ expectations on both counts.

The streamer said starting in Q1 2025 it will stop reporting quarterly membership numbers and average revenue per member and focus on its “primary financial metrics”: revenue and operating margin, as well as engagement.

Q2 revenue guidance of $9.49bn was below Wall Street estimates, leading stock to fall after closing.

The company noted that with more than two people per household on average, its global audience is now close to half a billion.

Operating...

Memento International has boarded Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s eighth feature The Other Way Around set to world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.

The relationship comedy is about a couple who decide to throw a party to celebrate their recent break up after 15 years together.

It is produced by Trueba and Javier Lafuente of Spain’s Los Ilusos Films and Sylvie Pialat and Alejandro Arenas of France’s Les Films du Worso. Elastica is handling Spanish distribution and Arizona Distribution will distribute the film in France.

Trueba’s credits include Goya-nominated first feature Every Song Is About Me,...

Spain’s film & TV giant The Mediapro Studio is joining forces with Catalan pubcaster 3Cat and its online platform to co-produce “El Mal” (“Quiet”), a thriller series based on a true story, on a serial killer prowling the streets of locked-down Barcelona in March-April 2020.

Presented April 8 at MipTV, the eight-part series will topline two Goya Awards-winning actor David Verdaguer and double Goya nominee actress Ángela Cervantes.

The series is set to premiere initially on 3Cat while The Mediapro Studio Distribution owns the worldwide commercial rights.

Created and lead written by Lluís Alcarazo – creator of Oriol Paulo’s crime thriller “Night and Day” and doc feature “Special Case “Quiet” – tells the story of an investigation to uncover the identity of a serial killer who chooses their victims from among the most vulnerable members of the society: the homeless.

The plot unfolds at the end of April 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The Critics’ Week section of the Cannes film festival has set Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen as the president of the jury for its 63rd edition.

Sorogoyen is known for films including “Stockholm” in 2013, “The Candidate” in 2018, and “The Beasts” from 2022. The Beasts last year earned him the best foreign film prize at France’s Cesars awards. Sorogoyen also wrote and executive produced TV series “Antidisturbios.”

“It is a big responsibility, one that I look forward to very much,” said Sorogoyen in a Spanish-language video message posted to social media. “The Critics Week supports and rewards directors’ first and second feature films as well as short films, thus providing vital support to cinema, new voices and new ways to tell stories. Without these new voices there would be no new cinema. They’re the ones who make it live and make it work.”

Rodrigo Sorogoyen sera le Président du Jury de...

Spanish writer-director-producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen has been named President of the Jury of the 63rd edition of Cannes’ Critics’ Week, the festival’s parallel selection dedicated to first and second features running May 15-23.

Watch Sorogoyen announce the news below.

Sorogoyen praised Critics’ Week for providing “vital support to cinema, new voices, and new ways to tell stories” and that without such voices, “there would be no new cinema. They’re the ones that make it live and make it work.”

He said his role as jury president is “a big responsibility which I look forward to.”

The multiple Goya award-winning...

A Spanish police officer’s life is about to turn upside down as she infiltrates a dangerous lion’s den in the exclusive new teaser trailer for Arantxa Echevarría’s upcoming crime thriller “Undercover.” The film arrives in Spanish cinemas on Oct. 11 courtesy of Beta Fiction Spain.

“Undercover” is based on the real-life story of Aranzazu Berradre Marín, the pseudonym for the only police officer in Spanish history to infiltrate the terrorist organisation Eta successfully. The Basque nationalist separatist group killed over 829 people between 1968 and 2010 and injured over 22,000 until its dissolution in 2018.

The film, written by Echevarría and Amèlia Mora, takes place over the eight-year period when Marín was infiltrated and focuses on the mind-shattering fear of discovery that permeated her days during the mission.

The Goya-winning “Carmen and Lola” director reunites with Carolina Yuste, who stars as the undercover agent and plays alongside three-time Goya-winning actor Luis Tosar.

The Malaga Film Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings Content industry section, in its third edition once again put the spotlight on Spain’s impressive cinematic output, presenting a total of 222 Spanish productions.

They included four market premieres, four titles in the fest’s official selection, 21 that have sold internationally as remakes, 38 in market screenings and 11 works in progress, of which five were presented in the Animation Hub.

In addition, 65 shorts screened as part of the Malaga Short Center — an eclectic selection of works from established and up-and-coming filmmakers that are set to make their mark on Spain’s already muscular film sector.

Here are are six standout shorts that dazzled and sometimes bewildered audiences:

“Long Journey,” (Héctor Herce)

Charming, whacky and inventive, with sporadic uses of animated sequences, “Long Journey” recalls beloved kids shows and zany family entertainment that once graced Saturday morning television. A boy wakes up on his 12th...

A myriad of sentiments converge when estranged siblings meet to unpack the weight of their father’s recent death in Spain’s Álex Montoya’s third feature “La Casa,” adapted from the Eisner-winning graphic novel by Paco Roca and sold by Latido Films.

The film, which bowed last night, figures in the official competition selection at this year’s Málaga Film Festival, his project “Lucas” having previously swept the fest’s Zonazine sidebar in 2020 – snagging best film, actor (Jorge Motos) and Audience Award plaudits.

Written by Montoya and Joana M. Ortueta, the project serves as a bittersweet rumination on regret, duty and the ties that bind us, proving a reflective journey through collective consciousness that’s held to task as the three work to rekindle a semblance of affection while sifting through hefty and lingering recollections.

“I’ve been a comic reader for as long as I can remember and,...

Eager to move into horror, Spanish director Miguel Martí is partnering with famed actress-producer Macarena Gómez and distributor Carlos Guerrero on an ambitious project to find their perfect hair-raising script.

The trio’s respective, Madrid-based companies, Wonder Ficción, Cilantro Films and 39 Escalones, have launched the We Are Looking for Your Horror Script initiative, putting the call out to screenwriters with a penchant for chills, thrills and the macabre to submit their works from March 2 to April 16 via the website buscamostuguiondeterror.com.

The winning script will be announced on July 13 at the Sotogrande Music Festival, one of the initiative’s many partners. The winner will initially receive €4,000 as a four-year option on the script in addition to €3,600 for three months of development work. The producers will seek to finance the production over the four-year period. A purchase of the script under previously agreed upon terms will be effective once financing is confirmed.

Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Nina,” the new feature written and directed by Andrea Jaurrieta (“Ana by Day”) that bows at this week’s Málaga Film Festival as one of its higher profile titles in main competition.

Loosely based on the play of the same name by José Ramón Fernández, which borrows elements of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” “Nina” tells the story of a woman, an actress, who returns to her home town on Spain’s rugged northern coast seeking to take revenge on a celebrated writer. As she encounters past acquaintances, including a once close childhood friend, and faces dark memories, she begins to question whether vengeance is the only way forward.

“Nina” stars Goya-winning actress Patricia López Arnaiz (“Ane is Missing”) as the titular character and San Sebastián Silver Shell winner Darío Grandinetti, famed for his performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,...

Spanish indie film studio Filmax has sold sleeper hit “The Teacher who Promised the Sea” to Italy’s Officine Ubu following sales to Nachshon Films in Israel, Angel Films Scandinavia, India’s BookMyShow and airline rights to Encore Inflight.

“The Teacher…” is based on the real story of Antoni Benaiges, an instructor from Catalonia who, back in 1935, was assigned to teach at a little village school in the province of Burgos. With his new and innovative teaching methods, he began to change not just his students’ lives but also life in the village. However, not everyone in the village was happy about these changes.

The film had a successful run in Spanish cinemas in the autumn and winter of 2023-24.

Filmax head of international, Ivan Diaz, expects to close other key territories at EFM where it is being screened.

“We are thrilled that a company as prestigious as Officine Ubu...