Playtime has closed raft of pre-sales to key territories on a pair of anticipated prestige films, Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85” and Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers,” after unveiling promo reels of both pics at the EFM in Berlin. “Summer of 85” has pre-sold to Israel (Lev Cinema), Turkey (Bir Film), Poland (Against Gravity), Spain (Golem),Belgium
Month: February 2020
Olivier Delbosc’s Paris-based company Curiosa Films is partnering with Wild Bunch Germany on “Charlotte,” a WWII-set film about the short and prolific life of the German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, who died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 26. “Charlotte” will be directed by Gilles Bourdos. His film “Renoir” played in Un Certain Regard
Andrea Štaka, who won a Locarno Golden Leopard in 2006 with “Fraulein,” unveils her latest film “Mare” in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlin Festival. Telling the story of a middle age mom, Marija Škaričić (“The Priest’s Children”) and Goran Navojec (“All the Best”) were cast to tell the story of a family in
Since launching in Serbia in 2018, Belgrade-based Firefly Prods. has not only quickly become a major producer of scripted series, it’s also raising the country’s profile as a film location with its plans to build a major studio complex this year. Headed by former BBC news producer Ivana Mikovic, Firefly has a fast-growing slate of
BERLIN — Germany’s Beta Film is driving into Young Adult scripted, acquiring international distribution rights and co-financing four high-profile fiction series, three set up at top European regional SVOD players: Germany’s Joyn and Telekom and Scandinavia’s Viaplay. Many also involve top European production houses as well. To be unveiled at the Berlinale Series Market’s German
Finland’s top streaming service Elisa Viihde has ordered “Summer of Sorrow,” a high-concept mystery thriller series that’s being produced by Rabbit Films and will be sold by Keshet Intl. around the world. The 10-episode show, created Jani Volanen (“M/S Romantic”) and set in the early 1980s, takes place in an idyllic Finnish suburb of Munkkivuori
Inspired by the victims of violent crackdowns by Chilean police, filmmaker Hernán Caffiero is looking to tell their story. Caffiero is currently developing two series about human rights crimes and the effects of police brutality in Chile, one a four-part documentary, the other a follow-up to his Intl. Emmy-winning “The Suspended Mourning,” a dramatized collection
Inspired by the victims of violent crackdowns by Chilean police, filmmaker Hernán Caffiero is looking to tell their story. Caffiero is currently developing two series about human rights crimes and the effects of police brutality in Chile, one a four-part documentary, the other a follow-up to his Intl. Emmy-winning “The Suspended Mourning,” a dramatized collection
Two of the most critical issues in the SVOD age are production facilities and talent. That’s what Madrid Content City, conceived as an ambitious production hub by Spain’s Secuoya Group, is bringing to the table in Tres Cantos, a dormitory village near the capital, its integration of industry and university aiming to satisfy ever stronger
The Secuoya Group became Netflix’s exclusive production services partner in 2018, a recent milestone for one of the most diversified and growing media companies in Spain. Launched by Raúl Berdonés 10 years earlier, as Spain plunged toward a recession, Secuoya found its market niche in production services and business process outsourcing, sectors in which it
Sexual exploration, indigenous perspectives and refugees of all stripes characterize much of this year’s selections at the Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Series showcase. It’s the first edition under Julia Fidel, who took over as the section’s head from Solmaz Azizi last year, and while she’s not shaking things up, she’s is looking to put her
2007• Raul Berdonés founds the Secuoya Group on Dec. 11. 2008• First outsourcing services deal is with broadcaster Antena 3. 2009• Launches TV content production as part of early diversification. 2011• Debuts on Spain’s MAB Alternative Stock Market on July 28. Strategic expansion plan envisages the development of Ciudad de la Tele, then Secuoya Studios,
For the past decade, Ethiopia has boasted the world’s fastest-growing economy, and its new reform-minded government seems determined to harness that growth to transform an already vibrant creative sector. That was the takeaway from a presentation Sunday morning at the Berlinale Africa Hub, led by producer Mehret Mandefro (“Difret”) and director Abraham Gezahagne, who outlined
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Between Two Fires,” the second episode of “Outlander” Season 5. The latest episode of “Outlander” definitely lived up to its episode title, as several characters found themselves caught “Between Two Fires.” Most notably, Jamie (Sam Heughan) found himself having to make a difficult decision
The titular town in the CW’s “Riverdale” will be getting a little smaller: after the current, fourth season comes to an end this May, Skeet Ulrich and Marisol Nichols will be leaving the Archie Comics-set series, Variety has confirmed. “Part of life in ‘Riverdale’ — and part of growing up — is saying goodbye to people,” said
At dawn in an orderly, middle-class suburb in regional Germany, three young people — a girl and two guys — stagger home from a night out. Two of them are siblings, two of them friends and two of them are falling in love. One of them is very drunk and tripping over the long blond
Amazon Prime’s new series “Hunters” has come under fire from the Auschwitz Memorial for being historically inaccurate. The memorial’s Twitter account called a violent scene featuring a human chess game “dangerous foolishness” and a “caricature.” In the scene, which is depicted in the opening credits of all 10 episodes and plays out in the first
There are a host of important, even vital ideas behind “All the Dead Ones,” a hybrid period piece addressing Brazil’s unresolved legacy of slavery and the imprint it’s had on an all-too-often downplayed contemporary racism of malignant toxicity. Set largely in 1899, 11 years after the abolition of slavery but designed so modern São Paulo
Christian Petzold’s “Undine” begins with a breakup. Framed tightly on the face of lead actor Paula Beer, we absorb the news as she does. But this is no ordinary separation, and as jilted lovers go, Undine’s far from typical. Her name betrays what sets her apart, although in the vast realm of mythological entities, undines
February 23, 2020 12:30PM PT Covering a violent chapter of colonial history, Stephen Maxwell Johnson’s Australian western excavates ugly truths beneath lush lensing. There’s a hint of John Ford to “High Ground,” a sinewy, sun-baked faceoff between indigenous and invading armies in the Arnhem Land wilderness of Australia, though by now we probably need a
Searchlight Pictures has emerged as the frontrunner for the Olivia Wilde-directed gymnastics movie “Perfect,” amid a days-long bidding war out of Berlin’s EFM. Variety understands that the studio is ‘heavily pursuing’ world rights to the hot title — one of a crop of female-led projects at the market — with A24 and Warner Bros. also
“The Call of the Wild” is a cozy, square, kind-of-synthetic, kind-of-touching canine adventure movie that a lot of critics were probably too harsh about, all because it has a CG dog. Don’t get me wrong; I’d have preferred a flesh-and-blood dog as well. But critics have developed a line-in-the-sand attitude about this technology, at least
Focus Features’ “Emma,” an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, had a solid opening at the specialty box office this weekend. Director Autumn de Wilde’s feature film debut earned $230,000 in its debut outing across five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, ranking No. 1 in each location. That success translated to a $46,000
Pablo Guisa, founder-CEO of the Morbido Group, Latin America’s largest horror conglomerate, based out of Mexico City, and Gabriela Sandoval, founder-director of Sanfic Industria, the Santiago Intl. Film Festival sidebar for projects and works in progress, met in Berlin to finalize details for the inaugural Factoría Mórbido-Sanfic, a joint initiative intended to strengthen the genre
In an unexpected move, Prada named Raf Simons as co-creative director joining Miuccia Prada. The powerhouse duo will share “equal responsibilities for creative input and decision-making.” The decision was announced on Sunday at a surprise press conference held on the last day of Milan Fashion Week. Prada joined her family’s namesake label in 1978, premiered
In a rare moment of light, everyday pleasure in the otherwise perma-brooding “Funny Face,” two young Brooklyn lovers build sandwiches from international deli ingredients, accompanied by Serbian butter and sour watermelon pickle, and eat their creations with relish on a bench overlooking the shore. Whether intended or not as a reference to an almost century-old
Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” were feted Saturday night at a party held by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg at Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Co-hosting the evening were Kirsten Niehuus and Helge Jürgens, managing directors of Medienboard, the regional film, TV and digital-media funding body. Pictured above are U.K. filmmaker and rapper Andrew Onwubolu, known by his alias Rapman
As the first South Korean band to attain superstar status in the United States, BTS have done an remarkable job of maintaining it. Each album has topped its predecessor, and the group’s fourth full studio outing, “Map of the Soul: 7,” looks to be no exception, with all 20 of its titles landed in the
B. Smith, a former TV host, restaurateur and author, died of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease on Saturday night in her home in Long Island, New York. Her husband announced the news in a Facebook post on Sunday morning. She was 70. “Thank you to Dr. Sam Gandy, East End Hospice and additional caregivers who helped us
As the Democratic presidential race heats up with each passing moment, the writers’ room at Showtime’s “Our Cartoon President” is constantly on its toes to keep up with the news cycle. “Bernie had his heart attack, and Mike [Leech, writer/producer] says, ‘At “The Simpsons” they never walk into work and say “Mr. Burns had a
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