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MADRID — A new order of global streamers is powering the biggest revolution in film-TV business models in the last 100 years. COVID-19 merely accelerated that seismic change, which cannot but wreak a disruptive effect on sales agents’ traditional business. Spain’s top sales companies are adapting their strategies to a more competitive and complex market,

Amidst a global pandemic that presented governments with a clear ethical dilemma between protecting their citizens’ well-being and the heartbeat of the economy, Spain’s government announced last May a robust hike in tax incentives that converted its tourism-driven economy into eye candy for big shoots and international productions. Now, Spain’s film and TV industries are

Berlinale Talents is in itself one of the biggest, if temporary hubs, for burgeoning creatives in film and TV. Here, Variety spreads the net slightly wider to spotlight 10 on the rise writers or directors. Miguel Ángel Blanca writer-director  Director of two features to date, including sci-fi thriller “I Want the Eternal,” Blanca’s films skew

MADRID — Flushed by Netflix success with “Below Zero,” Spain brings an extraordinary gamut of movie titles to Berlin. Some highlights: “All the Moons,” (Igor Legarreta) A France-Spain co-production, “All the Moons” tracks two vampires in the northern Spain during the last Carlist war. S.A. Filmax “Ane is Missing,” (David Pérez Sañudo) A 2021 best picture Goya

With big-budget blockbusters like “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Mulan” launching simultaneously online and in theaters, streaming has “pushed into its own white space” and is unlikely to vacate that space any time soon, according to Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson. Speaking during a European Film Market opening session at Berlinale, Bisson outlined some of the major

A high school teacher and her husband make a sex tape, which finds its way onto the internet, sparking outrage among her pupils’ parents, in Romanian director Radu Jude’s irreverent contemporary satire, “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn.” Jude pitched the project, then simply known as “Sleepwalkers,” at Berlin’s European Film Market in February 2020,

Cannes’ Marché du Film is exploring the possibility of hosting virtual screenings for buyers and sellers in May or June, Variety has confirmed. This would take place ahead of the film festival, which was pushed by two months into early July. The Marché will then also run alongside the festival as a physical event from

In the black comedy thriller “Next Door,” the directorial debut of actor Daniel Brühl, the main character, Daniel, is a successful actor living in an old quarter of Berlin. His day is about to be ruined, and his life too. Variety spoke to Brühl – whose upcoming acting credits include “The Falcon and the Winter

MK2 Films has come on board to handle world sales on “House Arrest,” a satirical drama directed by critically acclaimed Russian helmer Aleksey German Jr. (“Dovlatov”) that tackles Russia’s judicial system. “House Arrest” follows David, a Russian university professor who takes to social media to criticize his city’s administration and the Mayor’s dodgy dealings. But

A Normandy-set cop movie with far more on its mind than simply solving the case, Xavier Beauvois’ Berlinale competition entry “Drift Away” examines the toll that law enforcement takes on an earnest sergeant (Jérémie Renier), and also how the locals react to intrusions by authority figures. Though not necessarily intended as such, it’s a nuanced

Berlin has been wrought a shadow of its former bustling self by the ongoing pandemic, and while locals can still be seen on the streets, its once thriving nightlife, packed restaurants, crowded bars and 24-hour dance parties seem like a distant memory. The Berlinale was one of the few major industry events that managed to

In his latest work, “Fabian — Going to the Dogs,” Dominik Graf adapts a work that defines the tragic, hedonistic and dysfunctional era of the Weimar Republic from a writer widely known for his children’s books. Set in 1931 Berlin, the story, based on Erich Kästner’s novel of the same name, is seen through the

After Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to ever win the Golden Globe for best director, Chinese social media was abuzz about everything related to Zhao—except the film itself. Although most Chinese viewers have yet to see the film, many cheered the Golden Globe win. Scores of posts praised Zhao’s heartfelt acceptance speech about

Ten years ago, German director Tim Fehlbaum’s decent little post-apocalyptic sci-fi debut “Hell,” made two category errors that impacted its reach and longevity, both of which are corrected in his decent, slightly larger post-apocalyptic sci-fi follow-up, “Tides.” First, somewhat forgivably, “Hell” was in German, and so although a perfectly serviceable survivalist riff on “Mad Max,”

When directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige uncovered a trove of photographs, journals and audio recordings they had made while growing up in Beirut of the 1980s, they knew these personal archives would fuel their next film. Acclaimed artists and documentarians, the creative duo opted to develop these archives into a narrative feature that tells

Voltage Pictures is launching international sales at the EFM on Italian romantic comedy “Per Tutta La Vita” (“For All Life”), from the writer-director team behind global hit “Perfect Strangers.” “Strangers,” a dramedy involving cellphones and personal secrets, grossed over $31 million domestically and spawned remakes in a dozen territories including France, Germany, Spain, Greece and

When Ketie Danelia was approached a few years ago with the script for “And Then We Danced,” Levan Akin’s gay romantic drama about a young man’s sexual awakening in the masculine world of Georgian dance, the producer knew the risks. “Everyone was telling me not to take this project, because it’s very dangerous. Which turned

Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales continues its pre-sales of “The Peasants,” the hotly anticipated follow-up from Oscar-nominated “Loving Vincent” director Dorota Kobiela, selling rights for Germany and Austria to Koch Media. As reported earlier, New Europe brokered a deal with The Jokers for distribution in France of the buzzy animated feature. “The Peasants”

TrustNordisk has closed key territory sales on “Riders of Justice,” Anders Thomas Jensen’s dark comedy starring Mads Mikkelsen. “Riders of Justice” revolves around a military man Markus (Mikkelsen), who returns home to his teenage daughter after his wife dies in a tragic train accident. When a passenger on the wrecked train surfaces with claims of