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A Malaga competition contender, Antonio Chavarrías returns to the festival with “Holy Mother,” (“La abadesa”). His latest venture, sold by Film Constellation, transports us to the 9th century where Emma, a newly appointed abbess, is tasked with the formidable challenge of repopulating and revitalizing frontier lands on the edge of Muslim territorie,s at the bequest of her powerful family.

The film was set up at Chavarrias’ Barcelona-based Oberon Cinematográfica with Wanda Visión, Icono 2020 Aie, and Saga Film.

At the story’s center is Daniela Brown’s portrayal of Emma, a young abbess whose divine conviction is matched only by her unyielding resolve. “Emma always thinks that her power emanates directly from God; in that conviction there is a certain naivety,” reflects Chavarrías.

The portrayal illuminates Emma’s journey, as she navigates a maze of societal expectations and political intrigue, her every action surrounded by doubters.

“Ignorance preserves innocence,...

Malaga — Opening last Friday with “Dragonkeeper,” also in competition, Spain’s Malaga Festival, its biggest dedicated event for movies from Spain and Latin America, is studded by latest films by Isaki Lacuesta – “Saturn Return,” reportedly fun, broad audience and radical – David Trueba – “The Good Man,” small scale but almost certainly ingratiating – and Antonio Chavarrías’ “Holy Mother,” about an extraordinary real life female figure in Spain’s 9th century Reconquista.

Also in the running is “Rest in Peace,” from notable Argentine writer-director Sebastián Borensztein (“Chinese Takeaway”).

All are front-runners for some kind of award next Saturday. Prominent also is a bevy of first or second features, featuring from Spain three titles from women directors – gender abuse drama “The Snows,” “Nina,” reportedly a Western set in a northern Spanish town, and tragi-comedy “We Treat Women Too Well” – plus a clutch of debuts from Latin America.

This year’s Competition may, in the final analysis,...

PBS International has unveiled the trailer for “Casa Susanna,” Sébastien Lifshitz’s follow up to “Little Girl,” which is having its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in the Giornate degli Autori section. Produced by Agat Films, Arte France and American Experience Films, in association with BBC Storyville, the documentary film will have its North American premiere at Toronto on Sept. 9.

“Susanna” delivers a look at the underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men who found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills region of New York during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place for them to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed—dressed as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalized for their self-expression.

Lushly lensed by Paul Guilhaume, the documentary is told through the memories of those...

In the tireless drive toward progress, it’s easy to forget the past. When it comes to queer history, discrimination and fear of persecution discouraged, if not actively erased, the documenting of queer life. Queer historians have had to fight tooth and nail to reclaim countless writers, artists, and musicians, even if they lived quite openly during their lifetimes. After all, if Emily Dickinson could write her “hot and feverish” letters to Susan without academia recognizing her queerness until recently, what chance was there for everyday queer people of yore?

Brilliantly, a nearly lost chapter of queer history has been delicately excavated in “Casa Susanna,” a sumptuous documentary about an oasis where trans women and crossdressing men found community throughout the 1950s and ’60s. Prolific French filmmaker Sebastien Lifshitz vividly brings the past to life through crackling archival footage, incredible photographs, and the golden memories of those who first found themselves there.

Maggie Grace has booked her next major TV role, joining CBS’ medical drama pilot Code Black, our sister site Deadline reports.

RelatedPilot Season ’15: Scoop on This Fall’s (Possible) New Shows, Who’s In Them

Based on the festival award-winning Ryan McGarry documentary, Code Black is set in the busiest and most notorious ER in the nation — L.A. County Hospital — where the extraordinary staff confronts a broken system in order to protect their ideals and the patients who need them the most.

Grace is playing ER residency director Leanne, described as “a force of nature and a force to be reckoned with.

It pays to be friends with Anna Paquin. The new mother and star of HBO's "True Blood" says her close relationship to Jon Avnet paved the way to her starring in the web series, "Susanna." "He and my husband [Stephen Moyer] have worked together a bunch of times and known each other for many, many years," Paquin told TheWrap. "Our families are all really close," she continued. "He and I had been talking about wanting to work together at some point. He wrote the first episode of what is now 'Susanna' and...

Fans can get a double dose of Anna Paquin this week as HBO's True Blood returns for its sixth season the same time the actress makes her debut in Wigs' new webseries Susanna.

In Susanna,  which debuts Friday on the Wigs YouTube channel, Paquin takes a break from True Blood's fantastical elements for a story set in the real world.  She plays Katie, a new mother who is...

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