Actualités

Latido Films, which previously bet on Latin arthouse cinema in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts” and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s breakout, “Lullaby,” have acquired international sales rights to Colombian filmmaker Gala del Sol’s debut feature, “Rains Over Babel” (“Llueve sobre Babel”), ahead of its Sundance world premiere and European bow at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Latido will also celebrate at Rotterdam the international premiere of “The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortes,” one of the standout first features at last September’s San Sebastian Festival, marking the feature debut as a director of Antón Álvarez, better known as C. Tangana, his stage name as a singer-songwriter.

Latido’s Juan Torres brokered the deal on “Rains Over Babel” and told Variety they found the title “a modern, entertaining, fun project that also has a lot of depth and scope in its ideas.” Adding, “It’s a powerful cinematic experience...

Incendiary Spanish director Isabel Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words”) heads to San Sebastian for the international premiere of her latest drama “Un Amor,” a take on devouring love starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and Hovik Keuchkerian (“Money Heist”) that sets Coixet up to compete on the festival’s main stage for the first time.

“Un Amor” is produced by Buenapinta Media’s Marisa Fernández Armenteros (“The Mole Agent”) alongside “Society of the Snow” producers Sandra Hermida and Belén Atienza, here producing out of Perdición Films. World sales are handled by Film Constellation (“Return to Reason”).

The film is based on its namesake novel by Sara Mesa, branded Spain’s 2020 book of the year by Spanish newspaper El País. The script was written by Coixet and Laura Ferrero (“Empty Pools”).

Tormented by occupational hazards and the hustle of city living, protagonist Nat ventures to the countryside town of La Escapa to start fresh.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s latest pic, The Beasts (As bestas), dominated the main prizes, taking home nine gongs, including best film and director at the 37th edition of Spain’s Goya awards Saturday evening.

The pic debuted at Cannes last year and led the Goya award nominations with 17 nods. The film’s story follows a middle-aged French couple who move to a small village, seeking closeness with nature. However, their presence inflames two locals to the point of outright hostility and shocking violence.

The Beasts also picked up wins for best screenplay, leading actor, and supporting actor.

Movistar+’s Modelo77 from Alberto Rodriguez, which trailed The Beasts with 15 nods, picked up five wins, all of them in technical categories. Carla Simón’s Golden Bear winner Alcarràs had 11 nominations but left empty-handed.

In other major wins, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa...

Carlos Saura’s “Walls Can Talk,” Alex de la Iglesia’s “Four’s a Crowd” and Alex Murrull and Dani de la Orden’s “The Final Game” head as market premieres the most major addition to this year’s Cannes-backed Ventana Sur, Spanish Screenings on Tour, Spanish cinema’s biggest international industry platform ever.

Since 2009, when Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur launched, also backed by Argentina’s Incaa institute, no single country has had such a powerful presence at the event. The Screenings also catch Spanish cinema in a magnificent year of multiple standout titles which are impacting at Spain’s domestic box office, where national titles are making much of the running.

Forming part of Spain’s 1.6 billion Spain Avs Hub Plan, and packing 150 titles – from projects to pix in post, theater and online screenings and potential remake properties – the Screenings will also host 20 events, including a panel on Ibero-American co-productions,...

Two Basque movies screen in San Sebastian main competition, multiple others, from ever more notable and noted filmmakers, play other sections or grace Basque showcase Zinemira. A drilldown:

“Blue Files” (“Karpeta Urdinak”, Ander Iriarte, Spain-France)

Iriarte directs a doc investigating his father’s potential torture while in police custody. The investigations take the doc deeper into findings from Basque’s “Research project on torture and ill-treatment in the Basque Country between 1960-2014.” Produced by Gastibeltza, Filmak, and Iriarte’s own Mirokutana.

“Bi Arnas,” (Jon Mikel Fernandez Elorz, Spain)

A debut documentary from Basque journalist and teacher Elorz. Bi Arnas, meaning “two breaths,” features mother Maria Nieves Diaz and her daughter, Iratxe Sorzabal, who was a former head of Eta. It explores the alleged use of torture of Sorzabal by Spanish Police while in custody.

“Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa,” (Fermin Muguruza)

The sequel to Muguruza’s 2018 animated feature, following Ainhoa,...

In recent years, Spain’s Basque Country has emerged as a hub for fresh talent, something that directors Mikel Gurrea (“Suro”), Estibaliz Urresola (“Cuerdas”) and Irati Gorostidi (“Contadores”) credit to robust mentorship programs, governmental financing campaigns and ever-maturing production and distribution initiatives as well as a tight-knit network of professionals woven into the fabric of the local industry.

It’s an enthusiastic approach that fervently boosts new talent by firmly betting on strong local stories with universal appeal. Short films by up-and-coming helmers have gained traction, “Cuerdas” winning a Rails d’Or at Cannes Critics Week this year, while feature-length Ecam Incubator Selection “Lullaby,” directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, swept this year’s Malaga Film Festival, garnering rave reviews from critics and industry heavyweights.

Public-sector development initiatives such as the Ikusmira Berriak residency are integral to rise, create vast opportunities by providing mentorship, resources and space to fine-tune budding concepts.

Carla Simòn’s drama won the Golden Bear in Berlin.

Carla Simon’s Catalan drama Alcarràs will be Spain’s entry to the best international feature award at the 2023 Oscars.

The film was selected by Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, from a three-strong shortlist ahead of Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s Lullaby and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts.

Alcarràs will be a leading contender to reach the nomination stage, having won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in February.

Mk2 handles international sales on the film, s it did for Spain’s entry last year, Fernando Leon de Aranoa...

The San Sebastian Festival opens on Sept. 16 with a bang: Alberto Rodriguez’s “Prison 77,” most probably the biggest Spanish film of 2022, the latest title from one of the Spain’s most preeminent auteurs and a foretaste of one possible future face of Spanish cinema, thanks to Movistar+.

“Prison 77” begins as a fish-out-of-water jail survival thriller. Manuel, in 1977, a young accountant, played by Miguel Herrán, is sent to Barcelona’s legendary Modelo penitentiary pending trial for embezzlement.

It grows, however, for all of its length, as a character-driven tale of psychological observance, as Miguel gradually befriends Pino, his seen-it-all cell mate, who just wants a quiet life.

Charting “the evolving relationship between two completely different people, a young accountant with his whole life before him, and Pino, who’s lived nearly his whole life behind bars,” “Prison 77” is a story of friendship and solidarity, says José Antonio Félez...

Jabi Elortegi latest film Dear Grandma will open the Basque film strand.

Jabi Elortegi’s Dear Grandma will open the Zinemira strand of the 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival, which honours cinema produced in the Basque country.

Elortegi’s follow-up to his debut Perfect Happiness, which competed in Sab Sebastian’s 2009 New Directors selection, will have its world premiere at the festival. Barcelona-based Filmax acquired international rights to the comedy, which follows a man who moves to Argentina upon his uncle’s request and gets caught up in the village’s antics.

Scroll down for Zinemira line-up

The line-up...

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” was described by Pedro Almodóvar as “undoubtedly the best debut in Spanish cinema for years.” Chema García Ibarra’s “The Sacred Spirit” was hailed by Variety as “one of the standouts of the 2021 Locarno Film Festival.” David Pérez Sañudo’s “Ane is Missing” won three Spanish Academy Goya Awards last year.

What these three Spanish movies, all first features, have in common is that they have passed through the Ecam Madrid Film School’s Incubator, a six-month producer mentorship initiative.

As its fifth edition rounds a final bend, Variety analyzes what its projects say about the state of cutting-edge young Spanish cinema and what the talent behind it says about the state of contemporary filmmaking.

Filmmakers With Attitude

On the face of it, the five projects developed this year could not be more different, in genre, tone and issues tackled. Gabriel Azorín’s “Last...

A new cinematography sidebar has also been unveiled.

Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (Emiff) is to honour Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig and Spanish actor Laia Costa with the Evolution Vision and Evolution New Talent awards respectively, at the festival’s 11th edition, taking place on the Spanish island of Mallorca from October 26 to November 1.

Scherfig’s international breakthrough came in 2000 with Italian For Beginners, which won the Silver Bear jury grand prix award at Berlin. Her credits include features One Day, An Education and upcoming Spanish-language The Movie Teller, that stars Daniel Brühl and Bérénice Bejo, and is being sold by UK sales agent Embankment.

A new cinematography sidebar has also been unveiled.

Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (Emiff) is to honour Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig and Spanish actor Laia Costa with the Evolution Vision and Evolution New Talent awards respectively, at the festival’s 11th edition, taking place on the Spanish island of Mallorca from October 26 to November 1.

Scherfig’s international breakthrough came in 2000 with Italian For Beginners, which won the Silver Bear jury grand prix award at Berlin. Her credits include features One Day, An Education and upcoming Spanish-language The Movie Teller, that stars Daniel Brühl and Bérénice Bejo, and is being sold by UK sales agent Embankment.

Pedro Almodóvar has put his considerable weight behind Spaniard Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s first feature, ”Lullaby” (“Cinco Lobitos”) as it has initiated a spirited run at Spain’s box office.

“It is undoubtedly the best debut in Spanish cinema for years,” Almodóvar announced in a statement, describing the mother-daughter relationship drama as “a portrait of the role of women within the family, which is truthful, devoid of sentimentality and that does not exclude humor.”

“Life could offer another destiny for women other than caring for the whole family. [The film offers] very accurate interpretations, where Laia Costa stands out and I suppose will sweep all this year’s awards. You have to see it before the heat wave takes it away. Summer is the worst enemy of the theaters.”

Almodóvar’s advocacy is highly necessary as an exciting new generation of cineastes, often female, galvanizes Spain’s arthouse scene led by Carla Simón...

“El agua,” (Elena López Riera)

A Directors’ Fortnight title, the feature debut of Locarno winning López Riera (“Los Que Desean”), a fantasy-laced village-set critique of gender violence. S.A. Elle Driver

“Alcarràs,” (Carla Simón)

The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, Simón’s follow-up to “Summer 1993” and the flagship title for Catalonia and Spain’s newest filmmaking generation. S.A. MK2 Films

“Amazing Elisa,” (Sádrac González-Perellón)

The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González-Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, plans revenge after her mother’s tragic death. S.A. Filmax

“The Beasts,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

One of 2022’s most awaited Spanish titles, playing Cannes Premiere, a Galicia-set thriller from Oscar-nominee Sorogoyen (“Mother”), produced by Arcadia, Caballo Films and Le Pacte. S.A. Latido Films

“The Communion Girl,” (Víctor García)

A revenge thriller involving an urban legend about a girl in a communion dress. S.

In February, Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs” walked off with Spain’s first Berlin Golden Bear in nearly 40 years as Spain notched up its biggest main competition presence at the Berlinale since 1997.

This May, Spain has four movies selected for Cannes – Albert Serra’s Competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; Elena López Riera’s Directors’ Fortnight bow “The Water”; and José Luis López Linares’ “Goya, Carrière and the Ghost of Buñuel,” a Cannes Classics doc feature. That reps a Cannes presence roughly on par with recent standout years such as 2018 and 2019.

With Netflix launching “Through My Window” in February, three of the streaming giant’s five most-watched non-English language movies are from Spain.

The big money is now in TV. Meanwhile Spanish cinema, a darling of arthouse crowds during Spain’s 1975-1982 transition to democracy, is once more back on the international radar, though faced by huge...

Spanish director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who swept the board at March’s Málaga Film Festival, has wrapped shooting on her sophomore feature, “Eres Tú,” a Netflix’ romantic comedy produced by Antonio Asensio and Paloma Molina at Zeta Studios ­­– the Madrid-based company behind phenomenon “Elite.” Miriam Rodríguez executive produces.

After distributing Almodovar and signing up J.A. Bayona for real-life disaster drama “Society of the Snow,” Ruiz de Azúa’s attachment to “Eres tú” marks another association with a prestige director by Netflix in Spain.

Netflix Spain already accounts for three of the five most watched non-English Netflix movies ever: “The Platform,” “Below Zero” and “Through My Window.” It is, however, progressively diversifying its slate of series, movies, documentaries and TV shows by incorporating different creators profiles to create potential crowd-pleasers.

“Eres tú” follows Javier who, when 16 and kissing a girl for the first time, discovers that he had a gift of romantic clairvoyance.

Wrapping March 26, the 25th Malaga Festival and its Spanish Screenings delivered another confirmation of Spain’s build as a fiction force in a new platform era.

Following, nine final takes on what may prove a historic edition.

A Vibrant Spanish Screenings

Málaga’s plus-size 2022 Spanish Screenings fairly rocked. Extra funding from Spain’s Avs Hub Plan, covering far more buyers’ flights, meant attendance skyrocketed. Screenings delegate numbers shot up to 609 by early week, overall industry attendees to over 1,100 . It showed. “They were highly successful,” said Latido Films’ head Antonio Saura said of the event. “Buyers were able to see movies which at other festivals they often just can’t catch,” he added. “There was a lot more dynamism to trading, taking the Screenings to a new level,” agreed Ivan Díaz, Filmax head of international.

’Lullaby,’ ‘Utama’ Sweep Awards

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s finely observed mother-daughter relationship drama “Lullaby” and Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s “Utama,...

Two hotly-favored competition frontrunners, Spain’s motherhood-focused “Lullaby” and “Utama,” shot on an awe-inspiring Bolivian Altiplano, swept the board at a historic, 25th Málaga Film Festival which said a lot about the current state of the Spanish film industry.

Running March 18-26, the Festival proved a vibrant affair, galvanised by renewed interest in the Spanish cinema after a buoyant reception for its major movies at Berlin, as well as the joy of proving the first time many industry attendees had seen each other in person in two years and backing from Spain’s Avs Hub plan for a vastly larger industry presence.

In Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby,” coming after Sundance hit “Piggy” and Carla Simón’s Berlin Golden Bear triumph “Alcarrás,” Spain would look to have a third art pic breakout in just the first three months of 2022, all driven by a young generation of women cineastes, directors and producers.

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s debutt feature premiered in the Berlin Panorama.

Madrid-based Latido Films has scored a slew of deals on Berlin Panorama title Lullaby at the Spanish Screenings in Malaga this week.

The film has been bought for China (Huanxi Media), Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia (Film Stop), Scandinavia (Lucky Dogs) and Latido said it is in talks for Germany, Poland, the former Yugoslavia and Greece.

A first feature by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, Lullaby is screening in competition at the Málaga Film Festival. Laia Costa stars a woman struggling with the roles of both mother and daughter as she visits her parents’ house.

Launched in 1998, the Malaga Film Festival first grabbed attention as a Spanish movie showcase and birthplace of a Spanish star system, TV actors walking a red carpet to acclaim from milling throngs.

Under Juan Antonio Vigar, director from 2013, it has consolidated as a platform for a new generation of Spanish filmmakers while adding ever increasing industry heft – co-pro forums, WIPs, a Hack digital forum initiative – and also opening up to TV.

In 2021, however, Malaga Festival and Spanish Screenings have exploded in scale, impact and attendance. The narrative of this year’s event is largely one of that growth. Eight takes on this and other Malaga highlights:

Malaga Lifts Off

Little wonder Malaga forms part of what’s now the Spanish Screenings Xxl. In its first full edition since 2019 with festival and industry onsite and aligned, Malaga has truly taken off. It received almost 2,000 film and TV submissions, says Vigar. Attendance has skyrocketed to over 1,100 delegates,...

Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck co-directed Colombia-set documentary.

Madrid’s Latido Films has come on board to represent international sales on Berlin Generation 14plus selection Alis and has released a first-look trailer.

Clare Weiskopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck co-directed the Colombia-set documentary that takes place at a public boarding school in Bogota where 10 teenagers from the street take part in an exercise to invent a narrative around an imaginary classmate called Alis.

The children’s initial forays into their imaginations allow them to express their dreams and give way to something darker as Alis becomes a vessel for reflecting on hardship and trauma.

Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck co-directed Colombia-set documentary.

Madrid’s Latido Films has come on board to represent international sales on Berlin Generation 14plus selection Alis and has released a first-look trailer.

Clare Weiskopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck co-directed the Colombia-set documentary that takes place at a public boarding school in Bogota where 10 teenagers from the street take part in an exercise to invent a narrative around an imaginary classmate called Alis.

The children’s initial forays into their imaginations allow them to express their dreams and give way to something darker as Alis becomes a vessel for reflecting on hardship and trauma.