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Oscar-winning auteur Alejandro Amenábar (The Others, While at War, The Sea Inside) is really worried about World War III.

The Spanish-Chilean filmmaker and composer first made a name for himself with horror thriller Thesis (1996), which won seven Goya Awards in Spain. His psychological thriller Open Your Eyes (1997) was remade by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz, who also featured in the original. The writer-director’s English-language debut, ghost story The Others (2001), starring Nicole Kidman, became a global hit.

As if that weren’t enough, his 2004 drama The Sea Inside, starring Javier Bardem, won the best international feature, which was then known as the best foreign-language film Oscar.

Currently, the filmmaker is attending the 15th edition of the Luxembourg City Film Festival where he was celebrated with a tribute during Thursday’s opening ceremony and was invited to share his thoughts and insights during a masterclass on Friday.

If you have never heard about the Luxembourg City Film Festival before, it may surprise you to know that the biggest annual film event in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which is surrounded by France, Germany and Belgium, is turning 15 this year.

Long considered a hidden gem on the global fest circuit, the event has steadily gained in stature, routinely attracting big industry names to a country with a population of only around 670,000. Just take last year as an example, when the fest set an attendance record with a 10 percent increase to 19,962. For its 2024, LuxFilmFest, it attracted the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Chinese director Wang Bing, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, French director Gaspar Noé — who hosted a retrospective and a masterclass — and a jury that included Luxembourg star Vicky Krieps, German actor Sebastian Koch, and U.S. director Ira Sachs.

For this year’s 15th edition, which kicks off on Thursday,...

The teaser has been debuted for “The Captive,” the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the novel “Don Quixote.” The historical epic is directed by Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Oscar for “The Sea Inside” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Others.” It will be released by Disney in Spain, while Film Constellation is selling other territories.

“The Captive” recently sold to France (Haut et Court), Greece and Cyprus (Filmtrade/Tanweer), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Pro Films), Former Yugoslavia (Discovery), and Cis (Russian World Vision), with buyers circling in North America.

The film, which shot last year on locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production. It has been dated for release in Spanish theaters on Oct. 17 with Disney.

“The Captive” centers on Cervantes when he was 28 years old as he is taken captive by the Moors in Algiers.

The film is set in 1575. Miguel de Cervantes,...

Film Constellation has revealed the first pre-sales on historical epic “The Captive” by director Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Oscar for “The Sea Inside” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Others.”

“The Captive” sold to France (Haut et Court), Greece and Cyprus (Filmtrade/Tanweer), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Pro Films), Former Yugoslavia (Discovery), and Cis (Russian World Vision), with buyers circling in North America.

The film, which shot last year on locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production. It has been dated for release in Spanish theaters on Oct. 17 with Disney. Film Constellation is unveiling the first promo for buyers during the European Film Market.

“The Captive” centers on the origin story of a young Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the novel “Don Quixote,” as he was taken captive at the age of 28 by the Moors in Algiers.

The film is set in 1575. Miguel de Cervantes,...

Nicole Kidman names an "overlooked" horror movie with an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score as the role she would like to revisit the most. The Australian actress is known for her contributions to both film and television across various genres. Kidman's achievements include an Academy Award for The Hours in 2002, two Primetime Emmy Awards for Big Little Lies in 2017, and a whopping six Golden Globe wins for Moulin Rogue! in 2001, Being the Ricardos in 2021, and more.

Known for movies across many genres, Kidman has naturally starred in a few horror films throughout her career. A few of these examples are independent films that often explore dark and tragic themes, such as Lars Van Trier's avant-garde thriller Dogville, Jonathan Glazer's psychological drama Birth, Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and Sofia Coppola's gothic thriller The Beguiled. However, one of Kidman's best horror movies has been "overlooked," according to the actress.

The Others, the modern ghost story masterpiece starring Nicole Kidman, will finally start streaming on Shudder next January, after being unable to stream on any subscription service. In fact, it was only earlier in 2024 that the film became widely available to rent or buy online. The first month of the year is famously known for not having the best offers in horror, but a revisit to one of the best horror films in recent decades may prove otherwise. The Others arrives on the horror-based streaming service on January 1, 2025. As you wake up from partying the night before on New Year's Eve, the film is sure to help wake you up.

Directed by the Chilean-Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, The Others follows Kidman’s Grace Stewart, the mother of two siblings, Anne and Nicholas, as they live in complete isolation in their European manor in the mid-1940s. Grace is awaiting her husband's return from the war,...

Narra la historia real de Enric Marco, un hombre que fingió haber sido prisionero en un campo de concentración nazi. © BTeamPictures

Se ha publicado un nuevo tráiler de Marco, la película de Aitor Arregi y Jon Garaño, que tuvo su estreno mundial en el Festival Internacional de Cine de Venecia, pasó por el Festival de San Sebastián y estuvo entre las tres películas preseleccionadas para representar a España en los Oscars 2025.

Basada en una historia real, Marco sigue a Enric Marco, un deportado que nunca existió. Un hombre que durante años fue capaz de mantener, ante la opinión pública y su propia familia, una mentira difícil de imaginar: que había sido prisionero en un campo de concentración nazi. Carismático y convincente, Marco ascendió a la presidencia de la Asociación Española de Víctimas del Holocausto, donde se convirtió en una figura destacada y admirada por su supuesta valentía y sufrimiento. Hasta...

Javier Bardem has worked on several projects showcasing his dynamic range as an actor. From leading roles to chilling antagonists, he has participated in each and every genre of the industry. Currently, the actor is enjoying his moment in the limelight, all thanks to his portrayal of José Menendez in Monsters Season 2.

Javier Bardem in Monsters season 2 | Credits: Netflix

However, in his career spanning several decades, there are also several movies that every Bardem fan must know. In this article, let’s dive deeper into the actor’s top 5 roles and movies that perfectly showcase his versatility.

5. No Country for Old Men (2007) Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men | Credits: Miramax

Directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, in this critically acclaimed thriller, Javier Bardem delivers a chilling portrayal of Anton Chigurh. He’s a remorseful and methodical hitman who’s a master when it comes to creating fear and unease in the atmosphere.

Over June 10-14, Madrid is welcoming 300-plus industry delegates for the inaugural Ecam Forum, which is shaping up as the next go-to market for Spanish projects and co-productions, considering the stellar list of projects and attendees lined up.

Hosting the event is not a private company nor the industry arm of an A-list festival, but a film and audiovisual school-Madrid’s prestigious Ecam.

Founded in 1994, the school, which offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses to more than 300 students a year, is Spain’s leading breeding ground for some of the country’s biggest names in film, television and advertising such as filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen and regular writing partner Isabel Peña or cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe.

The reasons for Ecam being so industry-facing comes down to the school’s status and founding principles, as explained by Rafa Alberola, head of Ecam Industria (formerly known as ‘The Screen’), the umbrella regrouping the school’s...

Principal photography has begun on “The Captive,” a historical epic from “The Others’” Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña (“Berlin”) as “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes, a prisoner of Ottoman corsairs, seen in a very first still from the film, alongside Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), playing his captor, which has been shared in exclusivity with Variety.

Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales. Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture is on board to release the film in Spain in 2025.

If Peña look spruce but worse for wear, little wonder. An origins story of the early flowering of literary genius in Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote” and slice of mean street life “Rinconete and Cortadillo,” this story is wrapped in a historical thriller.

“The Captive,” no ordinary bio, turns on an episode in Cervantes life which was to shape not only his gift for storytelling...

It’s a star-studded Marbella of the 1980s, and the glam Andalusian backdrop frames an opulent narrative that fuses suspense, betrayal and slow-simmering vengeance in the Atresmedia original series “Eva & Nicole,” teased by its producers – Spain’s Atresmedia TV (“Veneno”) alongside Good Mood (“Cristo y Rey”) – at the MipDrama showcase on April 7, a precursor to the broader MipTV international series market in Cannes, running April 8-10.

Handling global distribution, Atresmedia TV International Sales will attend MipTV.

One of only 10 international series selected by the MipDrama jury, the eight-episode affair is directed by David Molina, Antonio Hernández and Álvaro Vicario and structured around a fast-paced script written by Daniel Écija, Patricia Trueba, Andrés Martín Soto, Iñaki San Román, Paula López Cuervo and César Mendizábal.

The series opens with gusto at Nicole’s, the social club named after its owner who is framed from the back as she fiercely pulls open...

Orson Welles famously started but never finished an adaptation in Spain of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes’ beloved 17th-century novel. Terry Gilliam’s first attempt to shoot his take on Quixote fell apart so spectacularly in 2000 that it resulted in a widely viewed “unmaking-of” documentary titled, grimly, Lost in La Mancha.

But they weren’t just tilting at windmills. Gilliam completed The Man Who Killed Don Quixote nearly two decades later, making it one of literally dozens of screen adaptations from around the world based on the widely published novel. In April, Oscar-winning director Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside)will start shooting on The Captive, an origin tale about a young, storytelling Cervantes in an Algiers prison in 1575.

Spanish literature — and its literary figures — have been inspiring filmmakers since the dawn of cinema. According to a now-defunct Cervantes Virtual Library database, considered incomplete by some accounts, in Spain almost 1,200 literary...

It may not match last year’s sheer quantity in competition strands, but Spain still boasts a high quality presence at the Berlinale. Following, highlights the festival and EFM:

“Every You Every Me,” (Michael Fetter Nathansky)

A factory worker strives to reconnect with her distant husband, exploring the rediscovery of love within the complexities of relationships. From Contando Films, Studio Zentral, Network Movie and Nephilim, a German-Spanish production.

“Cura Sana,” (Lucía G. Romero)

Produced by Escac Films, this Generation 14plus premiere delves into sisters’ lives shaped by ancestral violence, exploring deep familial bonds and lasting impact of abuse.

“Deprisa, Deprisa,” (Carlos Saura)

A classic: Set to a memorable flamenco-pop score, four young Madrid delinquents pull robberies, snort heroin, steal cars the film capturing the raw energy youth and their vague, but visceral sense of ‘liberty.’ A restoration of a seminal work.

“The Human Hibernation,” (Anna Cornudella)

A sci-fi exploration of siblings undergoing hibernation,...

A new film industry superclass is emerging in Spain: movies powered or co-backed by its streaming giants.

Perhaps the biggest example, Netflix Spain’s Andes flight disaster “Society of the Snow,” scored two Academy Award nominations last month.

Now, in the run-up to Berlin, London-based Film Constellation has acquired most world sales rights to “The Captive,” from Oscar winner Alejandro Amenábar (“The Sea Inside”) and Mod Producciones, a $15 million period adventure epic on the literary makings of “Quixote”author Miguel de Cervantes, held to ransom in a Moorish corsair jail.

Film Factory Ent. will take to market Iciar Bollain’s “I Am Nevenka,” about a feminist pioneer in Spain, and an untitled project from “Prison 77’s” Alberto Rodriguez, two fruit of the first movie slate from Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD player, announced in January.

Spanish movies overperform on Netflix and Movistar Plus+. As of Feb.

Principal photography is set to begin in April on “The Captive” (“El Cautivo”), the period adventure epic from Alejandro Amenábar, whose “The Sea Inside” won an Oscar for best foreign language film. Film Constellation has boarded worldwide sales, and will introduce the project to buyers at the European Film Market.

The film centers on the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the iconic novel “Don Quixote.” At the age of 28, Cervantes was taken captive by the Moors in Algiers, leading to his creative birth.

The $15 million production will shoot at locations in Spain including Valencia, Alicante and Seville.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is on board to release the film in Spain next year.

The film is set in Algiers in 1575 when Cervantes, a wounded 28-year-old Spanish Navy soldier, is held prisoner by Ottoman corsairs. Faced with a ticking clock, a cruel death awaits him should his...

Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny have joined “Monster” Season 2 at Netflix, Variety has learned.

The two A-listers join previously announced stars Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez in the upcoming season of the anthology series, which will focus on the Menéndez brothers. The season is officially titled “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story” and is slated to debut later in 2024.

Erik (Koch) and Lyle Menéndez (Chavez) were convicted of the murders of their parents, José (Bardem) and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez (Sevigny), in 1996. Authorities argued the brothers committed the murders to inherit their father’s fortune, while the brothers maintained that they killed their parents after years of mental and physical abuse.

“Monster” was co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Both serve as executive producers along with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore, and Carl Franklin. The first season focused on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Bardem's versatility shines through in his roles, from villains like Raoul Silva in Skyfall to heroes like Ramon Sampedro in The Sea Inside. Bardem's charm and magnetic charisma keep audiences engaged even in movies like Mondays in the Sun that could feel directionless. Bardem's exceptional performances and distinctive voice make him a standout in films like Before Night Falls, where he portrays the struggles of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas.

Javier Bardem has enjoyed a remarkable career in both Spanish and English-language films, and his best movies showcase many sides to his talent as an actor. Bardem is well-known as a villain in several movies. Bardem plays the villain in Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, Collateral, and many more movies. He is able to tap into a distinctly menacing presence in these roles, and his intimidating stare and deep voice are great advantages for him. But he is far more than just a villain-type,...

New Amazon Prime Video series “Los Farad,” released Dec. 12, takes a look at the Cold War from one of its strangest geo-political hubs, 1980s Málaga. The action-packed show follows a family that is normal in many ways, despite earning a luxurious living as arms traffickers.

Part of a determinedly diverse and burgeoning lineup at Spain’s Prime Video, “Los Farad” is a high-profile prestige package starring Miguel Herrán – who plays Rio in “Money Heist” and Cristián in “Elite” – and the on-the-rise Susana Abaitúa, who delivered a tearaway performance in Netflix rom-com “Crazy About Her.”

Co-created by Alejandro Aménabar co-scribe Alejandro Hernández, “Los Farad” is directed by Mariano Barroso in his fifth collaboration with Hernández.

Emerging as one of Spain’s most notable drama series directors in an age of premium fiction, Barroso has extracted terrific, nuanced performances in series set in Spain’s recent past, such as “The Invisible Line” and “What the Future Holds.

Three titles received €500,000.

Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend is among 29 projects to receive a share of €8.1m in Eurimages’ latest round of co-production funding.

The new feature from Hungarian filmmaker Enyedi, who won Berlin’s Golden Bear for On Body And Soul in 2017, is a co-production between Germany, France and Hungary, and received €500,000 – the largest amount awarded in this round of funding. The film focuses on an ancient tree in the Botanical Gardens of the university town of Marburg to explore the relationship between man and nature.

Scroll down for full list of titles

Two more titles received €500,000: The Captive...

Director J.A Bayona’s real-life-disaster Spanish film ‘Society of the Snow’, has been chosen as the Spanish pick for the 2024 Oscars for Best International Film. The decision comes less than two weeks after the film had its world premiere as the closing feature of the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The director is best known for directing films such as ‘The Orphanage’ as well as the ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’; and his most recent outing is about the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster based on Pablo Vierci’s book.

This marks the second time that Bayona’s film has been selected by Spain for Oscar submission after this 2007 gothic horror film ‘The Orphanage’ which was also his last Spanish film. The film also marks the first time that a Netflix film has been selected by Spain.

Spain has a solid track record in the Oscars international feature race,...

Director J.A Bayona’s real-life-disaster Spanish film ‘Society of the Snow’, has been chosen as the Spanish pick for the 2024 Oscars for Best International Film. The decision comes less than two weeks after the film had its world premiere as the closing feature of the Venice Film Festival, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The director is best known for directing films such as ‘The Orphanage’ as well as the ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’; and his most recent outing is about the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster based on Pablo Vierci’s book.

This marks the second time that Bayona’s film has been selected by Spain for Oscar submission after this 2007 gothic horror film ‘The Orphanage’ which was also his last Spanish film. The film also marks the first time that a Netflix film has been selected by Spain.

Spain has a solid track record in the Oscars international feature race,...

J.A. Bayona’s real-life disaster thriller Society of the Snow has been selected by Spain as it submission for the best international feature category at the 2024 Oscars.

The decision comes less than two weeks after the Netflix film had its world premiere as the closing feature of the Venice Film Festival.

Society of the Snow — about the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster and based on Pablo Vierci’s book — becomes Bayona’s second time representing him home country for international feature award after his 2007 breakout The Orphanage, which was also his last film in Spanish.

It also becomes the first Netflix film selected by Spain.

Spain has a solid track record in the Oscars international feature race, with four wins — most recently in 2004 for The Sea Inside — from 20 nominations. Its last appearance in the category was in 2019, when Pedro Almodovar — who won in 1999 for All About My Mother — was nominated for Pain and Glory.

The Netflix film closed this year’s Venice Film Festival.

Ja Bayona’s Society Of The Snow will represent Spain as its submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Netflix’s Spanish-language drama closed Venice earlier this month and will also screen at San Sebastian and Sitges festivals.

Based on the real-life plane crash of a Uruguayan rugby team in 1972, Society Of The Snow follows the remaining passenrs as they try to survive in the middle of the Andes. It is produced by Misión de Audaces,

Netflix title All Quiet On The Western Front. won the...

King Triton's role in the 2023 version of The Little Mermaid is different from the original, with more background and motivation provided for his ban on merpeople meeting humans. Javier Bardem perfectly embodies King Triton's complexities, making him one of the few improvements in the live-action remake. The remake also establishes a more direct connection between King Triton and the villain Ursula, adding personal stakes to their conflict.

King Triton is a central part of The Little Mermaid’s story, leading Disney's live-action version to cast an established and well-known actor in the role. While Ariel’s interest in humans and the world beyond the oceans always existed, leading her to build an impressive collection of trinkets over the years in both the original The Little Mermaid and the longer live-action remake, it becomes a point of contention once King Triton discovers it, as he always forbade humans and merpeople from fraternizing with each other.

Inspired by the simmering one-man rebellion that kicked off a tremendous tide-change in Barcelona, writer-director Marcel Barrena (“Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea”) and Spain’s The Mediapro Studio have begun filming “The 47.”

Tms has released first look images. The premise centers on social activist bus driver Manolo Vital, played by three-time Goya Award winner Eduardo Fernández (“Smoke & Mirrors”), as he grows increasingly outraged at the abject neglect faced by immigrant communities outside the city’s center, whose neighborhoods, peeled by immigrants from Extremadura and Andalusia, had only just achieved running water.

Stonewalled by the City Council, Vital seizes a bus used on Barcelona’s #47 line and extends its route to Torre Baró in an attempt to prove that the vehicle can safely service the outlying communities in need.

“What the film shows is that this good man tried to convince everyone that it was feasible. The contempt of...

El 47, the latest feature from Spanish production powerhouse Mediapro Studio, is kicking into gear with cameras set to roll on the pic in Barcelona in the coming days.

Directed by Marcel Barrena (Mediterraneo: The Law of the Sea), the pic is billed as a “tribute to the working class and to the men and women who built our cities, not only physically but also culturally.” The pic tells the story of Manolo Vital, a bus driver who helped create modern Barcelona during the city’s 1970s boom. Barrena co-wrote the pic with Alberto Marini (El desconocido).

Synopsis reads: In the 1960s and 70s Spain, rural Barcelona was built, for the most part, by immigrants from Extremadura and Andalusia who, although they had built the neighborhoods with their bare hands, were still not considered part of the city. Their homes didn’t even have running water or electricity. Tired of hearing...

Five years after the original "Bird Box" became an absolute sensation on Netflix, we're finally getting a follow-up. While it's not a proper sequel, it is more of a spin-off taking place elsewhere in the world. In this case, Spain, which is why the forthcoming movie is aptly titled "Bird Box Barcelona." That also has a nice alliterative ring to it. But that's about the only thing about this movie that looks nice, as it seems absolutely chaotic and tense.

This appears to be going with a very similar conceit as the original film, with survivors trying to avoid eye contact with the mysterious beings at the center of this disaster at all costs. It's a new group of people in an entirely new location. What will those new elements bring to the table? Let's have a look-see.

Bird Box Barcelona Trailer Brings Back The Blindfolds

This trailer offers up...

Belén Rueda stars in drama about demanding national gymnastics coach.

Spanish sales company Film Factory has boarded Laura Jou’s Free Falling, which is being produced by Juan Antonio Bayona and stars Belén Rueda.

Bayona, who directed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Impossible, is producing Free Fall alongside his regular producers Sandra Hermida and Belén Atienza at Suspense Entertainment, who are both behind Bayona’s upcoming The Society of Snow for Netflix. Free Fall is also co-produced by Oriol Maymó Corte at Confección de Películas.

Free Falling is Jou’s second feature after Life Without Sara Amat, which won plaudits from local reviewers.

Belén Rueda stars in drama about demanding national gymnastics coach.

Spanish sales company Film Factory has boarded Laura Jou’s Free Fall, which is being produced by Juan Antonio Bayona and stars Belén Rueda.

Bayona, who directed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Impossible, is producing Free Fall alongside his regular producers Sandra Hermida and Belén Atienza at Suspense Entertainment, who are both behind Bayona’s upcoming The Society of Snow for Netflix. Free Fall is also co-produced by Oriol Maymó Corte at Confección de Películas.

Free Fall is Jou’s second feature after Life Without Sara Amat, which won plaudits from local reviewers.

Spain’s The Mediapro Studio is teaming with writer-director Marcel Barrena and Spanish star Eduard Fernández on real-life inspired social film “The 47.”

Scheduled to shoot in Catalan and Spanish June-July in Barcelona, “The 47” is based on the true story of Manolo Vital, a bus driver who, during the city’s expansion in the 1970s, help shape the Barcelona of today.

Produced by Jaume Roures and executive produced by Laura Fernández Espeso, Javier Méndez and Eva Garrido, the film is one of the projects The Mediapro Studio Distribution is presenting for international sales at the current Cannes’ Marché du Film.

Award-winning screenwriter-producer Alberto Marini co-wrote the script alongside Barrena.

Winner of three Goya Awards and a San Sebastian Silver Shell, Fernández plays the central character in the film.

The cast also takes in Clara Segura (“The Sea Inside”), Zoe Bonafonte, Salva Reina (“Con quién viajas”), Aimar Vega (“Prison 77”), Carlos Cuevas...

Coming Next from Spain, a showcase of five series, unspooled at Series Mania on March 21 just after a Spanish series, “Wrong Side of the Tracks” from Mediaset España and Alea Media, had scored 149.6 million watching hours in three weeks on Netflix for Seasons 1 and 2.

That platform connection and power of Spanish series threaded most of the series and much of the commentary at Tuesday’s Next from Spain, supported by Audiiovisual from Spain.

At least in terms of titles now ready to hit the market, there’s little sign as yet of platform pullback in Spain. Rather, it remains a ground zero in the streamer wars.

2023 will see the release of 70 new Spanish scripted series and 27 returning seasons of titles such as “Elite” “Rapa” “30 Coins” and “Veneno,” presenter Irene Jiménez, at Audiovisual 451, told a Next From Spain audience.

Of these new titles, 36% will be produced by linear TV broadcasters,...

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...

Quad Cinema has announced that “Boundless Bardem,” a retrospective on Javier Bardem’s acting career tied to the release of his upcoming film “The Good Boss,” will run at The Quad in New York City from August 19th – 25th.

The films in the retrospective are Julian Schnabel’s “Before Night Falls“ (35mm); Bigas Luna’s “Golden Balls” (35mm) and “Jamón Jamón” (35mm); Pedro Almodóvar’s “Live Flesh” (35mm); Bond film “Skyfall” (4K); Asghar Farhadi’s “Everybody Knows”; Ethan and Joel Coen’s “No Country for Old Men,” Fernando León de Aranoa’s “Loving Pablo” and “Mondays in the Sun”; Álex de la Iglesia’s “Perdita Durango”, Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!”; and Alejandro Amenábar’s “The Sea Inside.”

The screening series will be co-produced with the Consulate General of Spain in New York.

“One of the most exciting moments of my work as a Cultural Consul are the times when we...

Oscar winner Javier Bardem is enjoying a strong awards season run with a Best Actor nomination for Being The Ricardos and is also coming off his first Spanish-language movie in nearly two decades, Goya laureate The Good Boss. Below, we talk about balance — both at home and at work, as well as what the future holds. On the day Bardem and I were initially due to speak, Russia invaded Ukraine and the actor made a beeline to protest at the Russian embassy in Madrid. When we did hook up, we discussed why that was so important to him.

Deadline: You are having quite the awards season, between the record number of Goya nominations for The Good Boss — and six wins — along with yet another Oscar nomination for Being The Ricardos…

Javier Bardem: It was a helluva week. I mean there was a week with the Oscar nominations and the Goyas and you’re like,...

The international-film category was once littered with feel-good stories about the relationship between an older person and a child, such as “Madame Rosa,” “Pelle the Conqueror,” “Burnt by the Sun” and “Kolya” that took home the statuette. Given the Oscars bestowed on the likes of “Cinema Paradiso” and “Life Is Beautiful,” individual nations could be forgiven for skewing their annual submissions in a crowd-pleasing direction.

However, the global film establishment had to take notice as the Academy started honoring tough-minded stories about “The Lives of Others,” as the title of 2006’s examination of post-Cold War suspicion puts it. A heartbreaking Balkan standoff fuels “No Man’s Land.” Assisted suicide is central to “The Sea Inside” and “Amour.” Bullying and xenophobia animate “In a Better World.”

The 2021 Oscars feature five nominees that reflect the sometimes-bleak world but there is always a strong note of hope. The five contenders are “Drive My Car,...

La Fortuna has its premiere date! AMC+ has set a January launch date for the six-episode limited series. Starring Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters, the thriller follows a man trying to take back a stolen sunken treasure. Álvaro Mel, Ana Polvorosa, T'Nia Miller, Karra Elejalde, Manolo Solo, Alfonso Lara, Blanca Portillo, and Pedro Casablanc also star in the show.

revealed more about the new series in a press release.

“AMC Networks announced today that the adventure thriller La Fortuna, starring two-time Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci and acclaimed actor Clarke Peters, will premiere on Thursday, January 20 on AMC+ with two episodes, followed by new episodes streaming weekly, every Thursday. The international production from AMC and Movistar+ is the first television series from acclaimed film director and Academy Award(R)-winner Alejandro Amenábar.

In addition to...

Netflix’s Spanish adaptation of its hit original movie “Bird Box” is coming together.

Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”

Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.

Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...

Few high-end series say as much about their producers’ ambitions as Movistar Plus’ “La Fortuna,” starring Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters, one of nine market screenings at this year’s Mipcom trade fair.

“La Fortuna” weighs in as the single biggest U.S.-Spain co-production in history, teaming Spain’s Movistar Plus, the pay TV-svod unit of giant European telecom Telefonica, and AMC Studios.

It has the Spanish media company’s biggest stars to date. Tucci, a 2021 Emmy winner for “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” plays Frank Wild, owner of Atlantis Underwater Searching, the world’s biggest American deep-sea discovery company. Peters (“The Wire”) takes on the role of Jonas Pierce, the world’s best maritime rights lawyer.

The AMC deal delivers, moreover, the most far-reaching distribution deal for any Movistar series to date with AMC Plus releasing the series in the U.S. and Canada this winter and Latin...

Shortlist also inclued Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers and Marcel Barrena’s Mediterraneo: The Law Of The Sea.

Fernando León de Aranoa’s black comedy The Good Boss, starring Javier Bardem, will represent Spain in the upcoming best international feature film Oscar race.

The Spanish Film Academy selected the film from a shortlist that also included Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers and Marcel Barrena’s Mediterraneo: The Law Of The Sea.

Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado P.C., The Good Boss premiered last month at the San Sebastián Film Festival, reuniting director Aranoa with Bardem 19 years after Mondays In The Sun,...

Few big European telecoms have driven into original high-end drama series production at the scale of Movistar Plus.

When it world-premiered at the San Sebastian festival in 2017, “The Plague,” a re-creation of 1580 Seville in its dazzling glory and poverty, was most probably the biggest-budget Spanish series ever made.

Yet, even by such measures, Alejandro Amenábar’s “La Fortuna,” which world-premieres at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival, sets a new bar for Movistar Plus’ ambitions.

The six-part series also says much about how Movistar Plus, the pay TV-svod unit of giant European telecom Telefonica, is setting out to consolidate audiences in Spain and secure even more of a global viewership.

“La Fortuna” weighs in as the single biggest single U.S.-Spain co-production in history, teaming AMC Studios, Movistar Plus and Spain’s Mod Producciones. It has the Spanish media company’s biggest stars to date: Stanley Tucci, who plays Frank Wild,...

Production on AMC-Movistar Plus high-end original “La Fortuna,” starring “Supernova’s” Stanley Tucci, wrapped Tuesday in Spain, ending principal photography on one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most ambitious upcoming drama series.

Scheduled to bow this fall, “La Fortuna” also marks the first TV show from Oscar winner Amenábar, who directed “The Others” and “The Sea Inside.”

Both that ambition and authorship shone through on Monday’s last full day of shooting, which took place in Pasajes de San Pedro, a Bay of Biscay fishing village and shipyard on the northern Spanish coast, a half-hour drive from France.

Produced by Movistar Plus, AMC Studios and Mod Pictures, with AMC bowing the series in the U.S., Canada and Latin America and Beta Film selling the rest of international, the six-hour adventure thriller casts Tucci as Frank Wild, a modern-day, business-driven treasure hunter.

Wild retrieves the biggest sunken booty in...

AMC has released the first stills from Oscar-winner Alejandro Amenábar’s first TV series La Fortuna, which is in the final stages of production in Spain and the U.S.

Based on Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral’s graphic novel El Tesoro del Cisne Negro (The Treasure Of The Black Swan), the story centers on young diplomat Alex Ventura who teams with a combative public official and a brilliant American lawyer to recover treasure stolen by Frank Wild, who travels the world plundering historic items from the ocean.

Stanley Tucci plays Wild, while Spanish actor Álvaro Mel features as Ventura. Spain’s Ana Polvorosa stars as Ventura’s colleague in work and adventure, Lucia. Rounding out the cast are Clarke Peters as attorney Jonas Pierce, and British actress T’Nia Miller, who plays attorney Susan McLean. Karra Elejalde, Manolo Solo, Blanca Portillo and Pedro Casablanc also feature.

The six-part Mod Pictures...

Gearing up for its final-phase filming on locations in northern Spain and North America, Movistar Plus-AMC’s high-end original “La Fortuna,” starring Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters (“The Wire”), has shared a behind-the-scenes featurette with Variety.

The on-set first-look comes as Germany’s Beta Film has acquired international rights to “La Fortuna,” which marks the first incursion into drama series direction by Oscar winning director Alejandro Amenabar.

An adventure series, based on the true-to-life discovery of the biggest sunken treasure of all time in 2007, “La Fortuna’s” two-minute making of video marks the first footage of any sort from the six-hour series, one of the most-anticipated TV shows from the Spanish-speaking world.

The teaser forefronts the cast, taking in high-caliber character actors such as T’Nia Miller (“Years & Years”) and Peters, as well as Tucci, who’s gaining heat for his performance in “Supernova.” The video also features...

Palme d’Or winning producer Luis Miñarro (“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”) is set to direct his fifth feature, ”Impalpable” (a working title), produced by Miñarro’s label, Barcelona-based Eddie Saeta, one of Spain’s most prominent arthouse shingles.

Written by Miñarro, “Impalpable” follows a series of characters who take a bus to an unspecified destination. The situation becomes gradually

stranger as the bus make no stops. Nor can the passengers descend.

“Impalpable”‘s cast will include Naomi Kawase, Geraldine Chaplin and Spain’s Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”) and Francesc Orella (“Julia’s Eyes”), among others.

By chance, though with foresight, ”I first thought of this project before the pandemic. It’s a homage to Luis Buñuel’s ‘The Exterminating Angel,’” Miñarro told Variety. Over three days and two nights, its characters get to know one another, as the audience enters the minds of main characters, unleashing...

The Hunger Games and Fortitude actor Stanley Tucci is to star in Oscar-winner Alejandro Amenábar’s first TV series La Fortuna, which is a co-production between AMC and Spain’s pay-tv broadcaster Movistar+.

Based on Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral’s graphic novel El Tesoro del Cisne Negro (The Treasure Of The Black Swan), the story centers on young diplomat Alex Ventura who teams with a combative public official and a brilliant American lawyer to recover treasure stolen by Frank Wild, who travels the world plundering historic items from the ocean.

Tucci will play Wild, while Spanish actor Álvaro Mel features as Ventura. Spain’s Ana Polvorosa stars as Ventura’s colleague in work and adventure, Lucia. Rounding out the cast are Clarke Peters as attorney Jonas Pierce, and British actress T’Nia Miller, who plays attorney Susan McLean. Karra Elejalde, Manolo Solo, Blanca Portillo and Pedro Casablanc also feature.

Amenábar...

Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci is set to star as a buccaneering treasure hunter in “La Fortuna,” a modern-day six-part adventure thriller from AMC Studios and Spain’s Movistar Plus, representing one of the most ambitious drama series to come out of Spain to date.

Linking AMC Studios to Spain’s biggest content investor, Movistar Plus, the pay TV division of telecom Telefonica, “La Fortuna” also marks the drama series directorial debut of “The Others” helmer Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Academy Award for “The Sea Inside.”

Now sporting an official title, and produced in collaboration with Mod Pictures, the thriller also stars Spanish actors Álvaro Mel, who has appeared in several TV series such as Spanish public broadcaster Rtve’s “A Different View,” and Ana Polvorosa, star of Netflix Spanish hit “Cable Girls,” where she plays cross dresser Sara Millán.

“La Fortuna” will see Tucci take on the role of adventurer Frank Wild,...

The creatures who survived their time with the Tiger King will be the focus of the Animal Planet documentary Surviving Joe Exotic, airing Saturday, July 25 at 10/9c.

“Viewers will follow the emotional stories of animals that made it out of the zoo for a second chance at life, and hear from ex-employees, including Saff Saffery — who lost an arm to one of Joe’s tigers — rescue leaders, exotic animal experts, and others with firsthand knowledge of the animal trafficking and breeding that fueled Joe Exotic’s empire,” reads the official release. “Paired with never-before-seen footage of Joe filmed for Animal Planet...

Alejandro Amenábar, the Oscar-winning director behind The Others and The Sea Inside, is to make his first-ever television drama for AMC and Spain’s pay-tv broadcaster Movistar+.

AMC Studios and Movistar+ will work with Amenábar and Mod Pictures to adapt Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral’s graphic novel El Tesoro del Cisne Negro (The Treasure Of The Black Swan).

The story centers on young diplomat Alex Ventura who teams with a combative public official and a brilliant American lawyer to recover treasure stolen by Frank Wild, who travels the world plundering historic items from the ocean.

The yet-to-be-titled six-part series goes into production this summer and will premiere in 2021 on AMC in the United States, Canada, UK, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Movistar+ in Spain.

Ed Carroll, COO at AMC Networks, said: “This project is uniquely a Spanish/American story inspired by real life events that at...

Signaling one of the biggest deals ever struck by a U.S. company on a single Spanish drama series, AMC Studios and Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator Movistar Plus are partnering on the production and distribution of a sunken treasure adventure series from Academy Award winner Alejandro Amenábar.

Inspired by the Spanish graphic novel “The Treasure of the Black Swan,” the as-yet-untitled series will premiere in 2021 on AMC in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Latin America and the Caribbean as well as on Movistar Plus in Spain.

The six-part thriller is produced in collaboration with independent production house Mod Producciones, whose head, Fernando Bovaira, has produced all of Amenábar’s movies from his second feature, 1997’s “Open Your Eyes.”

Featuring an international cast, set on both sides of the Atlantic, and in the near-present day but with flashbacks to 1804, the series also weighs in as one of the most...

"This is really hard for me... and I need your support." 1091 Media has unveiled the official trailer for an indie drama titled Here Awhile, which is arriving on VOD in June after originally premiering last fall. The film stars actress Anna Camp as Anna, a terminally ill woman who returns to Oregon to reconnect with her estranged brother while simultaneously making the heart-wrenching choice to end her life – putting to use the unique "Death with Dignity Act" in Oregon. The cast includes Steven Strait as her brother, along with Joe Lo Truglio, Chloe Mason, Kristin Taylor, Reza Leal-Smartt, and Dana Millican. This isn't the first film about assisted suicide - there's Million Dollar Baby and The Sea Inside, along with Me Before You and the doc How to Die in Oregon. It's a tough topic to even talk about, not to mention make a film about, that always brings out intense emotions from everyone.