Noticias

Famed Argentine director Daniel Burman’s new feature “Transmitzvah,” his first in nearly eight years, will receive a Cinéma de la Plage world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Burman first broke out internationally with a double Berlin Silver Bear win in 2004 for his fourth feature, “Lost Embrace,” and became one of Latin America’s most exportable box office draws in the following years. However, founding Oficina Burman, which was incorporated into The Mediapro Studio, his attention has shifted to creating and producing series for the past seven years, most notably Prime Video’s “Yosi, the Regretful Spy,” reckoned by many as the best title playing Berlinale Series in 2022.

“For 20 years, I made films. In my twenties, thirties, forties, I made a film every two years,” he recalled in a recent conversation with Variety. “Now, I went seven years only making series. When I went back to the...

This lesser-known suspense thriller is an excellent adaptation of a novel by Graham Greene, and a fine showcase for actor Anthony Hopkins and the upcoming Kristin Scott Thomas, with an able assist from Derek Jacobi. A Paris lawyer is sentenced to die as a random hostage of the German occupiers, but swaps with another prisoner with a desperate, questionable death-cell contract. Three years later, he must pretend not to be himself when he returns to the house he traded for his life, to face a woman who has sworn to kill the man who allowed her brother to die. Fans of Hannibal Lecter will be impressed by Hopkins’ deep, absorbing performance — the show’s moral tension and strange twists of fate are quite moving.

The Tenth Man

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1988 / Color / 2:35 1:85 1:66 widescreen 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / Street Date August 30, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Kristin Scott Thomas,...

(For nearly 30 years, Susan Haskins-Doloff was co-host and executive producer of the classic PBS TV show “Theater Talk,” featuring fascinating and witty interviews with the leading stars and other creators of Broadway’s greatest shows.)

As the 2022 Tony Awards approach, and I think about handicapping this year’s nominees, I am also remembering some of the more outstanding dramatic performance I have witnessed over the years. Long, long ago, my mother took me to see “A Raisin in The Sun.” Lorraine Hansberry’s ground-breaking play, which opened on Broadway in 1959, had already received due praise, winning the Pulitzer Prize and The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards. It didn’t get any Tony’s though. It was nominated in 4 categories, including Best Play, but lost that to The Miracle Worker. “A Raisin in The Sun” closed two months after the Tony Ceremony, with 530 performances.

It then went on the road...

Anthony Hopkins made his film debut 1968’s “The Lion in Winter” and the 83-year-old actor has become a lion in winter. He’s received extraordinary reviews for his devastating and poignant performance as an elderly man descending into dementia in “The Father,” which opened in theaters on Feb. 26.

AARP Movie for Grownups’ Tim Appelo stated: “Anthony Hopkins scores the performance of a lifetime as a man afflicted with dementia in a film that takes you inside his disintegrating reality — and also inside the experience of his daughter Anne (“The Favourite” Oscar winner Olivia Colman), who looks after him and faces terrifying decisions about his treatment.” Hopkins has won the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor, is nominated for a Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics Choice honor and is a strong contender for an Oscar nomination.

Of course, he’s no stranger to Oscar. Hopkins won his only Academy...

Sir Anthony Hopkins is one of the most acclaimed actors in modern film history, an Oscar winner in 1992 for his iconic performance as Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs.” But despite his many accolades — an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, multiple citations from critics’ groups, and even an AARP Movies for Grownups Award — the 83-year-old actor has never won a competitive honor at the Golden Globes. Barring an upset, his Globes drought will continue on Sunday, where Hopkins is nominated in the Best Actor in a Drama category, a category in which Chadwick Boseman is the overwhelming favorite to win.

Ahead, every Golden Globe Award Anthony Hopkins has lost in his career.

1979: Hopkins received his first Golden Globe nomination for the 1978 film “Magic,” but he lost in the Best Actor in a Drama category to Jon Voight in “Coming Home.”

1989: Hopkins is mainly known for his film work,...

Madrid — New York’s Visit Films announced at Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur market, that the company has secured distribution in Mexico and Spain on Maria Alché’s directorial debut, “A Family Submerged.”

In Mexico, the film was snagged by top indie production and distribution company Interior 13 Cine, distributors for Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s Colombian Oscar-hopeful “Birds of Passage.” Spanish distribution went to Surtsey Films, experts in theatrical placing of festival hits like Panos Cosmatos’ Sitges best director winner “Mandy” and Árpád Bogdán’s “Genesis,” a winner at Spain’s Valladolid Film Festival.

The film is held up as a case of a successful independent Argentine film which has not only charmed critics and won festival prizes but snagged a prestige sales agent and now broken out to commercial sales in key, major territories for a Spanish-language movie.

“A Family Submerged” turns on Marcella, played by Argentine film and theater actress Mercedes Morán,...

The hits keep on coming from your friendly neighborhood streaming giant, Netflix, which announced a fresh round of titles hitting the airwaves next month. Ranging from never-before-streamed comedy specials to historical classics to critically acclaimed kids’ films, these titles are sure to keep you cooped up and entertained throughout mud season. Enjoy.

1. “Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin'” (available April 1)

The first of only four specials ever filmed by the legendary comedian, this 45-minute stand-up set from 1978 was released on VHS in 1985 and has never been available to stream before (legally). Almost universally revered by comedians of all stripes, this special has stayed relatively obscure due to an uneven performance from Pryor. Still, you can learn from a genius even on a bad day.

2. “Across the Universe” (available April 1)

Even Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess anchor this visually enchanting Beatles movie musical from visionary Broadway director and choreographer Julie Taymor (“Titus...

The Tribeca Film Festival is losing its festival director, Genna Terranova, who is moving to Los Angeles with her family. Terranova has yet to announce her future plans, though she told IndieWire in an emailed statement she will “continue supporting great storytelling” in her next endeavor. Her last day at the organization is Tuesday.

Read More: How Film Festivals Decide Which Movies to Accept

Tribeca has delegated Terranova’s duties among its existing festival staff, and has no plans to name a successor. The festival’s 12-person creative team includes executive vice president Paula Weinstein, director of programming Cara Cusumano and artistic director Frederic Boyer.

“It has been a great pleasure to work with an incredible team and contribute to such a forward thinking institution,” Terranova wrote in the email. “Over my time here we built a program that celebrates film’s brightest voices, but also made Tribeca a must-stop...

The global arms trade makes billions of profit each year off the backs of countless human lives, all while fostering corruption, controlling international policy and creating suffering around the world. Johan Grimonprez’s (“Double Take”) new documentary “Shadow World” examines the shady world of the arms trade in order to shed light on the malfeasance that occurs right under our noses every single day.

Read More: Watch: ‘Shadow World’ Trailer Shines a Light on Hard Truths the Government Doesn’t Want You to Know About

Based on Andrew Feinstein’s book “The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade” and produced by Joslyn Barnes (Louverture Films) and Anadil Hossain (Dillywood, Inc), the film unravels some of the world’s largest arms deals via those involved in perpetrating and investigating them, exploring how it operates under the guise of legality and why high-level leaders are never prosecuted for their crimes.

The Untamed, from Cannes best director award winner, among 13 titles.

The 64rd San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 16-24) has revealed the 13 titles in its Horizontes Latinos programme, comprising some of the best Latin American films of the year to date.

Films selected may have competed or premiered at international festivals, but will have not yet been screened at a Spanish festival or had their commercial release in Spain.

The selected films compete for the Horizontes Award, decided by a specific jury and coming with €35,000, of which €10,000 will go to the director of the winning film, and the remaining €25,000 to its distributor in Spain.

The titles include The Untamed, from Amat Escalante, who won the Best Director Award in Cannes for Heli in 2013. The film, which will premiere in competition at this year’s Venice, centres on a young couple living in the Mexican lowlands whose lives are changed when a meteorite crashes into an nearby mountain.

Horizontes...

Summer is chugging along at the specialty box office.

Another acclaimed Sundance 2016 entry, Ira Sachs’ “Little Men” (Magnolia), showed a credible opening in New York and Los Angeles, as two of last week’s Park City 2016 premieres, “Indignation” (Roadside Attractions) and “Gleason” (Open Road), expanded this weekend to varying results.

The biggest recent success, Woody Allen’s “Café Society” continued to do well, but it’s still below three of his recent hits. Mike Birbiglia’s “Don’t Think Twice” continues to impress. Comedy is the common denominator in their broader appeal.

As usual, Netflix reported no grosses for its token theatrical dates for Mark Osborne’s animated feature “The Little Prince,” the children’s classic adaptation that was initially scheduled to be a Paramount release last March.

Opening

“Little Men” (Magnolia) – Metacritic: 86; Festivals include: Sundance 2016

$32,250 in 2 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $16,125

Ira Sachs’ most recent film joins the...

It’s been a decade since Daniel Burman completed the loose trilogy of films that launched the writer-director to international renown (“Waiting For The Messiah,” “Lost Embrace,” and “Family Law”), and even longer since he helped to kick off the new wave of Argentinian cinema. With his new film, “The Tenth Man,” Burman once again returns […]

The post Daniel Burman’s ‘The Tenth Man’ Is A Droll But Motionless Comedy [Review] appeared first on The Playlist.

Every week, a bevy of new releases (independent or otherwise), open in theaters. That’s why we created the Weekly Film Guide, filled with basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

For August, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for August 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, August 5. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Bazodee

Director: Todd Kessler

Cast: Chris Smith, Kabir Bedi, Kriss Dosanjh, Machel Montano, Natalie Perera, Staz Nair

Synopsis: Anita Ponchouri (Natalie Perera), the dutiful Indian daughter of a deep-in-debt businessman (Kabir Bedi) is about to marry a wealthy Londoner (Staz Nair) when a chance encounter with local singer,...

For a story where faith plays a pivotal role, it’s appropriate that two of the pivotal characters in “The Tenth Man” are perpetually off-screen. Just as writer/director Daniel Burman asks us to understand people and ideas we cannot see, the story of a middle-aged Jewish man’s Buenos Aires homecoming becomes defined by what keeps its attention. Focusing on the personal, it keeps its scope small, to mostly compelling effect.

Home from New York for the week before Purim, Ariel (Alan Sabbagh) spends most of his days reconnecting with the Jewish neighborhood in the Argentinian capital, forestalling an eventual reunion with his estranged father Usher. As the days pass before the holiday, Ariel offers his time at Usher’s charity, making deliveries to hospital patients and negotiating with the local butcher. Through his efforts to help out, Ariel spends more time with Eva (Julieta Zylberberg), a young woman...

In the dedication of his immensely beloved 1943 novella, “The Little Prince,” author and aristocrat (and aviator) Antoine de Saint-Exupéry made a passing remark that succinctly captured the soul of his story: “All grown-ups were children first (but few of them remember it).” While the unique locations and landscapes of Saint Exupéry’s tale might seem to resist adaptation — this is, after all, a narrative that splits its time between the Sahara Desert and a galaxy of tiny asteroids suspended in the stars — there’s a good reason why it’s been reimagined as everything from an opera, to a ballet, a stage play, an anime, a pop-up book, a graphic novel, a television series and a rather terrible live-action film by “Singin’ in the Rain” director Stanley Donen. Despite a multitude of logistical hurdles, the fundamental essence of “The Little Prince” is so pure that the narrative has proven capable...

Well, here we are in the closing weeks of summer movie season. It’s the last gasp for big-budget blockbusters before the coming fall festival season, but there are plenty of indie alternatives for whatever your tastes may be. Below, you’ll see every planned theatrical release for the month of August, separated out into films with wide runs and limited ones. (Synopses are provided by festivals and distributors.)

Each week, we’ll give you an update with screening locations for these various titles. In the meantime, be sure to check our calendar page, where we’ll update releases for the rest of the year. Happy watching!

Week of August 5 Wide

Suicide Squad

Director: David Ayer

Cast: Margot Robbie, Cara Delevingne, Jai Courtney, Will Smith, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood

Synopsis: A secret government agency led by Amanda Waller recruits imprisoned...

August can often be thought of as a January-esque dumping ground for Hollywood, and that notion is certainly refuted when looking at this month’s releases. With one of the summer’s best studio offerings, a few more more promising ones, and some of our festival favorites from the last year (and even further back), there is no shortage of promising options. We should also note that Multiple Maniacs, Elevator to the Gallows, and Howards End are all getting substantial theatrical re-releases throughout the month, so seek those restorations if they are coming near you.

Matinees to See: Neither Heaven Nor Earth (8/5), Richard Linklater: Dream is Destiny (8/5), The Tenth Man (8/5), The Lost Arcade (8/12), Anthropoid (8/12), My King (8/12), Florence Foster Jenkins (8/12), Disorder (8/12), When Two Worlds Collide (8/17), Imperium (8/19), A Tale of Love and Darkness (8/19), The People vs. Fritz Bauer (8/19), Spa Night (8/19), War Dogs (8/19), A Complete Unknown (8/26), Don’t Breathe (8/26), Hands of Stone (8/26), and...

The Tenth Man (El rey del Once) Kino Lorber Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: C Director: Daniel Burman Written by: Daniel Burman Cast: Alan Sabbagh, Julieta Zylberberg, Usher Barilka, Elvira Onetto, Andrían Stoppelman Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 7/19/16 Opens: August 5, 2016 There is evidence that writer-director Daniel Burman, who is of Polish-Jewish descent and was born and raised in Buenos Aires, believes that secular Jews are “lost” but can be “saved” if they return to the fold of orthodoxy. His movies lend comparison to Woody Allen’s, who is one of Burman’s heroes, though he denies much stylistic connection to the great American director. Still, “The Tenth Man” [ Read More ]

The post The Tenth Man Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

“The Tenth Man” follows Ariel (Alan Sabbagh), who returns to his hometown of Buenos Aires after years away to reconnect with his father Usher (Usher Barilka). Usher has recently founded a charity foundation in Once, the city’s bustling Jewish district where Ariel spent his youth. As Ariel tries to see his father and gets entangled in his various charitable commitments, he meets Eva (Julieta Zylberberg), an independent spirit who convinces him to come to terms with important traditions that once divided his family. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below.

Read More: Jews in the News: Daniel Burman’s ‘The Tenth Man’ to Screen at Berlinale

The film is written and directed by Daniel Burman, who previously directed “Lost Embrace,” which follows a grandson of Holocaust-era Polish refugees on a complex search for his personal and cultural identity. The film won many awards on the festival circuit, including...

Plus: Kino Lorber moves The Tenth Man; Warner Bros dates three; TWC moves The Founder deep into awards season

The first Third Horizon Caribbean Film Festival launches this September in Miami with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The festival will take place from September 29- October 2 at O Cinema Wynwood and will showcase features and shorts.

The event was founded by Third Horizon, a Miami-based collective of Caribbean creatives whose first short film, Papa Machete, received its world premiere in Toronto 2014.

The festival is being staged in partnership with the Caribbean Film Academy, a Brooklyn-based non-profit whose core mission is to support and distribute the work of Caribbean film-makers.

Sponsorship comes from Caribbean telecoms company Flow and the non-profit Green Family Foundation

Kino Lorber has moved up the Us release of Daniel Burman’s The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once). The Argentinian drama, which opened the Berlinale’s Panorama strand back in...

Plus: Warner Bros dates three and TWC moves The Founder deeper into awards season

Kino Lorber has moved up the Us release of Daniel Burman’s The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once).

The Argentinian drama, which opened the Berlinale’s Panorama strand back in February, has moved into the August 5 slot.

It will open in Los Angeles and New York followed by nationwide roll-out. Alan Sabbagh and Julieta Zylberberg star in the tale of a man who reconnects with his roots in the Jewish neighbourhood of Once in Buenos Aires. FilmSharks handles international sales.

Warner Bros head honchos have dated three Untitled WB Event Film slots. The trio are set for June 8, 2018, August 2, 2019, and August 7, 2020.On the hunt for what would be his first best picture Oscar win in five years, Harvey Weinstein has affirmed his faith in The Founder and moved back the story of McDonald’s entrepreneur Ray Kroc starring Michael Keaton from August...

Writer-director Daniel Burman (The Lost Embrace, The Mystery of Happiness) is continuing his combination of drama and comedy with The Tenth Man, a story about a son returning to see his father after years of estrangement. In the process, he reconnects with his Jewish roots and grapples with “notions of identity, home, and the father-son relationship.”

The Argentine drama, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and Kino Lorber picked it up for a release this July. The trailer demonstrates the blending of compositional styles between an almost cinéma vérité approach and more austere, static wide shots that suggests the film will mesh the subjective and objective. See the full trailer below for the film starring Alan Sabbagh and Julieta Zylberberg.

Award-winning director Daniel Burman returns with The Tenth Man, a well-observed comedy that wrestles with notions of identity, home and the intricacies of the father son relationship. After years away,...

Exclusive: FilmSharks has licensed further key territories on Daniel Burman’s recent Berlin Panorama opener The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once).

Jiff has taken all rights for Australia and New Zealand and plans a fourth quarter theatrical release. Cinecolombia has picked up the Buenos Aires-set family story for Colombia.

The Tenth Man, which earned Alan Sabbagh the juried best actor award at the Tribeca Film Festival last month, previously sold to Kino Lorber for the Us.

Buena Vista International holds South American rights and Fox+ acquired pay-tv and Svod for Latin America.

FilmSharks chief Guido Rud said discussions were ongoing for France, Germany, Japan and Spain.

One of the final films that I got to see last week at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival was also ironically the best of the bunch. That film was Dean, the cinematic writing and directorial debut of actor/comedian Demetri Martin. Not only was it absolutely fantastic, it was also declared an award winner at the festival, taking home the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. That’s a big feather in this one’s cap as it begins to plan for a release in theaters, presumably later on this year. I know I can’t wait for you to see it, though I’ll have more on it later. For the moment, this will also be a piece highlighting all of the award winners, so let’s do that now! Quickly though, a bit on the film itself. As mentioned, Martin writes, directs, and stars in this dramedy about grief.

David Byrne is all smiles as Bill Ross lV and Turner Ross' Contemporary Color captures two awards Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Contemporary Color, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne's color guard extravaganza, has scored twice at this year's Tribeca Film Festival awards.

Us Narrative Competition winners

Dean, directed by Demteri Martin; Actor Dominic Rains in Ian Olds' The Fixer; Actress Mackenzie Davis in Sophia Takal's Always Shine; Cinematography - Michael Ragen for Justin Tipping's Kicks; Screenplay - Ingrid Jungermann for her Women Who Kill. The Nora Ephron Prize - Rachel Tunnard for Adult Life Skills; Albert Maysles Award - David Feige for Untouchable. Best New Narrative Director - Priscilla Anany for Children Of The Mountain.

The 15th annual Tribeca Film Festival juried awards ceremony on Thursday evening rewarded a wide roster of selections as organisers honoured separate Us and international narrative competition categories for the first time.

In the Us Narrative Feature Competition, the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Dean (pictured) by Demteri Martin, who receives $20,000, sponsored by At&T, and the art award Waking Up In The Painted World by Stephen Hannock.

Best actress in a Us Narrative Feature Film went to Mackenzie Davis in Always Shine, while Dominic Rains of The Fixer earned the best actor award.

The best cinematography prize went to Michael Ragen for Kicks along with $50,000 in post-production services donated by Company 3. Screenplay honours and $2,500 sponsored by Freixenet Cava were awarded to Ingrid Jungermann for Women Who Kill.

In the International Narrative Feature Competition categories, Udi Aloni’s Junction 48 earned the best international narrative feature prize along with $20,000 sponsored by Netflix, and the...

For the past week and change or so, I’ve been attending pre screenings for the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. This lead up to the fest is always interesting to me because it represents a small sampling of what I’ll get to see during the few weeks that represents Tribeca. For now, it’s just a few recognizable titles sandwiched between a lot of ones I’d go in blind on, but that’s not a bad thing at all. So far, I’ve gotten to see Equals, Don’t Think Twice, High Rise, and Holidays, to name just a few that I’ve caught at pre screenings, but the real deal is set to begin very soon. In honor of that, I wanted to list all oft the movies that I think are of note at the fest. It’s far from a an all encompassing view of Tribeca,...

Globo’s first production targeted exclusively at the Latin American market will be overseen by acclaimed Argentinian director Burman [pictured].

Supermax, the first original TV series from Globo targeted exclusively at the Latin American and Hispanic markets, will start shooting at the end of April.

The Spanish-language production will be sold at Miptv in Cannes by Globo, Brazil’s largest broadcast network, after debuting at Natpe.

Burman (Lost Embrace), who recently directed Berlin 2016 title The Tenth Man and co-produced San Sebastian hit Truman, will for the first time act as showrunner and director of a TV sereis on Supermax, a 10-part series set in a fictional maximum security prison, where a riot left hundreds dead 20 years ago.

The prison reopens to host a reality show, where eight participants with past criminal charges face brutal experiences in order to compete for a $2m prize. With the disappearance of the host on the first day, they are left...

An exponential surge in the quantity and quality of films is continuing to come out of Latin America. (Hence my urge to write two books on the subject, the next to come out this fall.)

Mexico's output of 140 films, the highest in its glorious if erratic film history, has been accompanied by an explosion of the number of top ranking directors (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón,Guillermo del Toro), DOPs (Emmanuel Lubezki), actors (Eugenio Derbez, Gael García Bernal), producers, below the line, etc; major blockbusters (“Instructions Not Included”, “The Noble Family”), and festivals in every state of The United States of Mexico from Chiapas, Morelia, Cuernavaca, Oaxaca, Baja, Guadalajara, Puerta Vallarta, Acapulco, etc. What a way to see Mexico through its films and film festivals! USA's partnership in the cross-border cultural achievements of Mexico unites our two countries in culture, a great alliance which benefits us perhaps more than it does them...but that is another article.

Argentina continues, in spite of its erratic politics and economy, to keep its production steady as it always has and continues export the largest number of arthouse cinema of Latin America, Daniel Burman’s "The Tenth Man" being its latest, with Kino Lorber picking it up for U.S. and Canada. Argentina's Latam market, Ventana Sur, in partnership with the Cannes Marché, is the strongest and best market of Latin America for Latino films.

Colombia's systematic, steady work at creating a film culture is paying off in a tremendous outflow of award winning arthouse, indigenous (Ciro Guerra's "Embrace of the Serpent" whose Isa Films Boutique sold to Oscilloscope for U.S., Interior 13 Cine for Mexico, Alfa Films for Argentina, Diaphana Films for France, Mfa Filmdistribution for Germany, Magyarhangya for Hungary, Peccadillo Pictures for U.K.,trigon-film for Switzerland, Natlys for Denmark, Diaphana for France, Alambique for Portugal) , Afro-diaspora ("La Playa DC" whose Isa Cineplex sold it for U.S. to Artmattan Productions, Canada to K Films Amerique, Colombia to Cineplex, France to Jour2fete; and "La Sirga" which Cineplex licensed to Film Movement for U.S., for Colombia to Cineplex, France to Zootrope Films ) and genre films.

Tiny Uruguay has strong films by doubly strong producers like Mariana Secco whose strength at carving out a niche equals the work of Wonder Woman. Guatamala, Paraguay, Peru and Cuba are showing the world their undeniable accomplishments as well.

Central America, long denied its own voice -- first because United States and United Fruit created banana republics out of them, then by the trade in drugs and now by exporting gang members to their parents' countries – all of which has resulted in creating nations of violence and poverty -- is now experiencing the thrill of creating sustainable film economies.

Will Costa Rica prevail? To its advantage, it has not been a part of the violent cycle of drugs and gangs) and its stability and economy are able to sustain growth if the government creates cinema laws to help it along. The film writer María Lourdes Cortés from Costa Rica is the most articulate advocate of Central American Cinema and has established Cinergia, Central America's only homemade film promotion, training, dissemination and funding organ. The astoundingly prolific young producer, Marcela Esquivel, whose "Red Princesses" brought Costa Rica to the world's attention as two frontrunners in Costa Rica's race is another promient voice from Costa Rica. Esquivel's Cuban-Costa Rican coproduction “August”/ "Agosto" (Isa: FiGa) was nurtured by Cannes's Fabrique des Cinemas du Monde and was recently in Ficg’s Coproduction Market along with her project “The Ballroom”/ “El Baile y el salon” about to start production.

Or will Panama prevail? Its Canal has just doubled in size and is a center for international trade to such a degree that China itself is challenging it by tearing up the rain forest of Nicaragua in order to build its own canal.

Panama, with its eye on taking a lead as the internet hub for Latin America, Panama whose Canal creates a Cuba-u.S.-China triangle for trade, Panama whose close history with U.S., its same time zone location with U.S., its direct flights to U.S., its central position for Israeli businesses fleeing the instability of the Mid East, Panama may well come out ahead of Costa Rica. Yes, well there are also the "Panama Papers" whose discovery has come since I first wrote this article. But I don't think this latest revelation of the wealthiest and greediest 1% will put a stop to Panama's growth. These are the two horses I am putting my money on.

I am now at the 5th Panama Film Festival, long headed by the much acclaimed Pituka Ortega-Heilbron and headed on the programming and industry fronts by the Toronto Ff vet Diana Sanchez. Covering it in all its diversity to see if it furthers the odds against the Costa Rica International Film Festival has not been disappointing. Also here is the longtime Costa Rica advisor, 20-year Sundance Film Festival industry vet, Nicole Guillemet. Criff is now, reportedly finally being stabilized by the installation of a permanent producer also attending Iff Panama.

Panama is also premiering six of its own films. Comprised of three documentaries and three fiction films, this year’s Panamanian pictures portray the constant struggle of minorities, problematic life in the city, the search for one’s identity, and unresolved past events, exploring numerous socio-cultural issues living in the isthmus of Panama. Comedy will not be missed.

“Salsipuedes”, co-directed by Ricardo Aguilar and Manolito Rodríguez is about Andrés Pimienta, a young neighborhood boy from Panama who is sent to the United States to remain as far away as possible from his troubled homeland and his father Boby, a boxing ex-champion now serving time in prison. Andrés returns to Panama ten years later to attend his grandfather’s burial, where he meets again with Boby-- a reunion that transforms Andres’ destiny.

“Time to Love, A Backstage Tale”/ "Es la hora de enamorarse", a documentary directed by Guido Bilbao, is the true story of a group of young actors with Down Syndrome who courageously mount the classic Panamanian play La Cucarachita Mandinga, without any previous experience on stage. Many thought it unlikely that they would manage to memorize lines, learn choreography or capture the attention of the public. The artistic process is unveiled as Bilbao shows the intimate world of these young aspiring actors, along with their fears, hopes, and daily struggles.

“Drifting Away”/ "A la deriva", a documentary film directed by Miguel I. González is an expose of the healthcare system in Panama in 2006 when it mistakenly created and distributed over 200,000 jars of a common flu remedy, made of a substance named diethylene glycol used in the automotive industry. This caused the mass poisoning of patients, mostly resulting in permanent illness or even death. This notorious case involved companies in China, Spain and Panama. Highlighted are the lives of Iris, Milagros, and Briseida, three women who were severely affected by the poison, both physically and emotionally telling stories of their inner conflicts, as well as their patience, desperation, solitude, and their yearning to be healthy again.

“The Route”/ "La ruta" is Pituka Ortega-Heilbron’s new documentary.

Every morning from Monday to Saturday Severino González, a construction worker, wakes up at 3:30 A.M. to take the bus to work. For most Panamanians, buses are their only option to get to work and sustain a city that grows so recklessly. Yet these buses are like time bombs, its passengers well-aware of its danger but ignorant of its countdown. Every month people die or get hurt, and Severino knows this, but he has no other choice as he will show us through his everyday bus route and his life. This is the portrait of a nation that claims it is becoming a first world country but lacks the basic resources to live up to it.

“The Check”/ "El cheque" is Arturo Montenegro’s first feature film. It is a Panamanian comedy taking place in the midst of the chaos that haunts the Vinda household. A wild and vigilant vegetarian spirit with massive eyes carrying the name of Dominga changes their lives in unimaginable ways. In her stay with the Vindas, Dominga’s fuss and madness becomes the joy and fervor of the family, except with the household’s spoiled dog, Claudia, who’s the only one aware of Dominga’s secret. Everything seems to work fine until a check raises a debate about identity, happiness, trust and the great beyond.

“Kenke”, directed by Enrique Pérez Him, concerns a professional and successful young man, Josué who accepts the family challenge to help his cousin Kenny get away from marijuana. Unbeknownst to the rest of his family, he too shares this vice. Together Josué and Kenny face a society ruled by double standards and other addictions.

Even if only one of these films is directed by a woman, and that woman is the festival’s own director, it is still noticeable that in all this exciting activity of festivals and countries growing culturally, that women are in the majority taking the lead in innovating and establishing these cultural outposts in counties that have been brought to their knees formerly by the macho impositions of capitalism in its ugliest forms of colonialism and imperialism.

As a side remark here, we are witnessing similar activitiy in Mena's (Middle East and North Africa) Gulf State of Qatar with the Doha Film Institute’s CEO Fatma Al Remaihi and in the Emirate State of Dubai with its long standing Dubai Film Festival led by Managing Director, Shivani Pandya.

Culture, always the first to go when the men get going using armaments to build wealth, is now finding that with the potential strength of 51% of the world’s population behind it, it just might get the upper hand for the first time in "civilized" society. Also we are witnessing the Lgbt community's creative might also being exercised on the side of culture. This always original, innovative segment of world society helps enormously in crossing the lines drawn in the sand by the white male establishment.

So we will put our eye upon Panama, the next possible contender for The Latin American Prize for Excellence in Cinematic Experience.

The distributor has picked up Us rights from FilmSharks to Daniel Burman’s recent Panorama opening night selection in Berlin.

The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once) stars as a man who returns to his Jewish childhood neighbourhood of Once in Buenos Aires and reconnects with his roots.

Alan Sabbagh and Julieta Zylberberg star in the film, which receives its Us premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival set to run in New York from April 13-24.

Kino Lorber plans an autumn theatrical release after key festival appearances.

“We fell in love with Daniel Burman’s warm, funny, crowd-pleasing The Tenth Man at Berlinale,” said Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber. “The Tenth Man’s bustling Buenos Aires Jewish community is a rich frame filled with delectable details as one man pursues a return to his roots – a sweetly poignant universal tale.”...

Daniel Crooke here, salivating over today’s first wave of films from the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival’s line-up. While the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections programs won’t drop until March 8, the Us Narrative, International Narrative, and World Documentary Competitions, and Viewpoints showcase hit the internet today and there’s plenty to buzz about. Scanning the films, you’ll find an embarrassment of riches hiding in the programming, plot details, and cast lists. Here are some personal points of interest:

Us Narrative Competition

Ingrid Jungermann’s webseries F to 7th was an astutely, hysterically observed slice of queer life in New York, giving voice to a uniquely cutting female perspective in the process, so her feature debut Women Who Kill shoots straight to the top of the list. The Fixer sounds intriguing in a small-town-with-secrets kind way, James Franco as an “eccentric local” a little less so. Queens of charting...

Top brass at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival presented by At&T have announced selections in the Us Narrative, International Narrative and Documentary Competition strands.

The films comprise 55 out of 110 features that will play during the 15th edition of the New York festival from April 13-24. The festival will present features films in the Spotlight, Midnight, and Special Sections on March 8.

Also included in Wednesday’s announcement are the out-of-competition Viewpoints titles.

The world premiere of Bill Ross and Turner Ross’ Contemporary Color will open the World Documentary competition on April 14, while the world premiere of Kicks by Justin Tipping will open the Us Narrative competition.

The world premiere of Madly directed by Gael García Bernal, Mia Wasikowska, Sebastian Silva, Anurag Kashyap, Sion Sono, and Natasha Khan will open the International Narrative Competition. Viewpoints will open with the world premiere of Nerdland directed by Chris Prynoski.

One third of the festival’s feature films are directed by women...

Plus: Participant Media promotes Sam Neswick to COO; FilmRise acquires Holy Hell; and more

The San Francisco Film Society will present the Mel Novikoff Award on April 30 to international art house cinema sister companies Janus Films and the Criterion Collection at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, set to run from April 21–May 5.

Peter Becker and Jonathan Turell of Janus Films and the Criterion Collection will take part in an on-stage conversation followed by a screening of Criterion’s most recent restoration, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Blood Simple. The Coen brothers are expected to participate in the presentation.

Participant Media has promoted Sam Neswick to COO. Neswick joined in 2014 as svp of strategic planning and was promoted last year to chief strategy officer. He recently drove Participant’s investment in Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. Neswick will report to CEO David Linde.FilmRise has acquired Us rights from Donaldson Califf and Andrew Herwitz to [link...

Exclusive: Argentina sales outfit recruits executive from Primer Plano Film Group.

Former Primer Plano Film Group international sales executive Valeria Fanego has returned to Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks.

Fanego will serve as senior vice-president of international sales at the company and flies into Berlin with Guido Rud and his team to talk up a slate that includes Daniel Burman’s Panorama opener The Tenth Man (El Rey Del Once).

Fanego brings more than a decade of experience in the industry and worked at FilmSharks until 2012 as a sales executive. Her previous posts include acquisitions executive at SnapTV-MarVista.

“Coming back to my place of birth in this industry, gives me the opportunity to continue working with a great catalogue of worldwide pearls, alongside a wonderful group of people,” said Fanego.

Argentine director Daniel Burman will premiere his latest work "The Tenth Man" (El rey del Once) as part of the Berlinale's Panorama section on February 12, 2016. Burman's previous directorial effort "The Mystery of Happiness" became a local box-office success when it opened in Argentina back in 2014 and was distributed in the U.S. by Strand Releasing.

"The Tenth Man" stars Julieta Zylberberg and Alan Sabbagh. International sales are being handled by FilmSharks International. U.S. Rights are still available. 

The official synopsis reads as follows:

Ari, who has built a successful career in New York, thinks he has left his past behind. But his distant father Usher who runs a Jewish aid foundation in El Once, the close-knit old Jewish neighborhood of Buenos Aires, summons him back to his native city. What ensues is a comedy of errors, of missed and found people and connections, and a rumination on the extent to which we can ever really leave our past behind.

Here is the list of "The Tenth Man" screenings during this year's Berlinale

12.02Fri19:00Zoo Palast 1 (Premiere)13.02Sat10:00CinemaxX 713.02Sat15:00market screening - Cinestar 214.02Sun14:30Cubix 919.02Fri19:00Zoo Palast 1...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...

Former Focus Features CEO James Schamus' directorial debut, "Indignation"—which premieres at Sundance later this month—is among the new additions to the Berlinale's Panorama section. Also heading from to Berlin after bowing in Park City are Ira Sachs' "Little Men," with Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle, and Andrew Neel and David Gordon Green's Sundance competition title "Goat," starring Nick Jonas. Read More: "Sundance Adds New Films by Werner Herzog, Kenneth Lonergan, Kelly Reichardt, and Others to 2016 Slate" Flying under the radar is the documentary "Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures," from Fenton Bailey and Michael Barbato ("Inside Deep Throat," "Party Monster"), as well as Argentine director Daniel Burman's "The Tenth Man" and Aaron Brookner's archival portrait of his late uncle, Howard Brookner, whose own filmmaking career was cut short by AIDS in 1989. As part of the 30th anniversary...

Plus… Carol producer Christine Vachon to receive special Teddy Award.Scroll down for full list of new additions

Berlin Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has announced that its Panorama Special strand will open on Feb 12 with Daniel Burman’s The Tenth Man (El rey del once) and the previously announced War on Everyone by John Michael McDonagh.

Argentinian director Burman opened the main programme of Panorama in 1988 with his debut A Chrysanthemum Bursts in Cinco Esquinas (Un crisantemo estalla en cinco esquinas). After presenting further works in Panorama and Competition, including Lost Embrace (El abrazo partido) which won two Silver Bears in 2004, Burman is to return with a portrait of multi-layered life in Once, the Jewish quarter of Buenos Aires.

Another Argentinian film in the Panorama is Maximiliano Schonfeld’s The Black Frost (La helada negra). In his second film, Schonfeld uses elegiac images to explore a world disconnected from time, where ancestors...

The Berlin Film Festival is now less than a month away and more of the sections are coming into focus. The Panorama sidebar has now confirmed 30 titles including six documentaries in the Panorama Dokumente category. The Panorama Special will open on February 12, at the recently renovated Zoo Palast with Daniel Burman's El Rey Del Once (The Tenth Man) from Argentina and the previously announced War On Everyone by John Michael McDonagh. Also in the lineup is the…...

FilmSharks heads into Ventana Sur with a couple of key deals under its belt on the Argentinian director’s upcoming dramatic comedy El Rey del Once (The Tenth Man).

Guido Rud has closed deals with Buena Vista International for South American theatrical rights and Fox+ for premium Pay TV and Svod.

Burman, one of Argentina’s most renowned directors who won the 2004 Silver Bear in Berlin for Lost Embrace, is in post on the film.

El Rey del Once is styled as a dramatic comedy about a man who returns from New York to the Buenos Aires suburb of his youth to take over his family’s charitable foundation.

Alan Sabbagh and Julieta Zylberberg star. Burman’s credits include Family Law and The Mystery Of Happiness.

“This is a brand new Burman that will travel to festivals and play well for distributors because it is in the best tradition of his crossover films like Lost Embrace,” said...

The New Issue of Murania Press’ Blood ‘N’ Thunder issue #38 will be available Labor Day Weekend. A few highlights from the upcoming issue:

This issue’s outstanding feature is a lengthy excerpt from Nathan Madison’s recently published book, Anti-Foreign Imagery in American Pulps and Comic Books, 1920-1960. In this richly detailed, extensively illustrated piece Nathan explores “Yellow Peril” fiction from the pulps. His exhaustive study complements Bill Maynard’s celebration of Fu Manchu’s centennial from our last issue.

Another book published earlier this year, Will Murray’s Skull Island, pitted Doc Savage against King Kong and aroused much interest not only among the Bronze Man’s fans in general but devotees of Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Universe in particular. BnT contributor and Wold Newton adherent Rick Lai examines Skull Island and catalogs its deviations from the Universe in an unusually absorbing work of scholarship. In a...

Following a first place finish at the box office, chatter has already begun on whether The Possession will garner an order for a sequel. This is hardly surprising, at this point. In an interview with MTV, Sam Raimi, the producer of the film, chatted about sequel possibilities:

”There are so many tales of the original Dybbuk box that never made it to the screen in this version. It’s really out there, that thing. People do have so many stories. Ghost House Pictures has gone ahead and purchased the rights to their stories to make into a film so [a sequel is] possible. But I think it will all depend on if Ole Bornedal was interested and if a very meaningful screenplay could be written from the remaining materials…I had read Paddy Chayefsky’s The Tenth Man. It was really scary. That was the only piece I had read about a Dybbuk,...

With The Possession winning this weekend's box office, its producer, Sam Raimi, was asked about the possibility of further stories to be told in the universe of the film's antagonistic Dybbuk box, and it seems Ghost House Pictures is ready to proceed if all the right pieces come together.

Chatting with MTV, Raimi said, "There are so many tales of the original Dybbuk box that never made it to the screen in this version. It's really out there, that thing. People do have so many stories. Ghost House Pictures has gone ahead and purchased the rights to their stories to make into a film so [a sequel is] possible. But I think it will all depend on if Ole Bornedal was interested and if a very meaningful screenplay could be written from the remaining materials."

As for why he was interested in the Dybbuk myth in the first place, Raimi explained, "I had...

Character actor and comedian who specialised in Jewish roles

Portly, balding, twinkly-eyed and sporting a moustache, Lou Jacobi, who has died aged 95, believed that he "had the look of everybody's favourite Uncle Max". Although Jacobi had been acting since he was 12, he was the sort of character actor that one could never imagine being young. He was born in the Jewish section of Toronto, Canada, and started performing as a child in the Yiddish theatre in a play called The Rabbi and the Priest, in which he was a violin prodigy. He went on to specialise in Jewish roles, both comic and dramatic, lending them that particular intonation and body language of which he was a master.

In the 1940s, Jacobi worked as a stand- up comic at holiday resorts in Muskoka, north of Toronto, a vacation spot popular with Jewish holidaymakers. He was also cast in Spring Thaw (1949), which...

Anthony Hopkins will receive the 2006 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 63rd annual Golden Globes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced Wednesday. Unlike other Golden Globe honors, the DeMille Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the entertainment field, is voted on only by the HFPA's board of directors. Hopkins is a six-time Golden Globe nominee. He was nominated four times in the best actor (drama) category for Nixon, The Remains of the Day, Silence of the Lambs and Magic. He received a best supporting actor nomination for Amistad and a nomination as best actor in a mini-series or motion picture made-for-television for The Tenth Man (1988).