Movies

Based on the same-titled Spanish best-selling novel, Benito Zambrano’s ‘Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake’ weighs in as a heartwarming second chance in life tale from the Goya and San Sebastian winning writer-director (“The Sleeping Voice”). Telling the tale of two unfulfilled sisters who create a new life together running a bakery in Majorca, it weighs

Spanish director and screenplay writer Mireia Noguera is one of seven female directors teaming up for Barcelona-based production house Corte A Films on the anthology “7 of Hearts.” Corte A Films is in the financing phase of the film, which is the second project by Esteve Rovira and Gerard Quinto, who directed “7 Reasons to

After having won the Silver Biznaga for best documentary director at this June’s Malaga Festival with “El Father Plays Himself,” which screens now at the Spanish Screenings, director-cinematographer Mo Scarpelli is leaping into fiction with her new project, “A Song That Slays.” Following a number of eye-catching doc titles that have always generated festival buzz  whether “El

Buenos Aires-based Bikini Films, led by Edson Sidonie, has boarded “Ofelia,” the sophomore pic of Juan Pablo Felix whose acclaimed feature debut “Karnawal” won best direction at last year’s Guadalajara fest and best Ibero-American film at the Malaga Film Festival in June. France’s Luz Verde has also come on board as a producer. “Ofelia” has been selected

Minderoo Pictures, which pitches itself as “a social impact film enterprise” is being launched by the Minderoo Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the Asia-Pacific. The new company starts life with a commitment of A$10 million ($7.7 million) from the foundation and a mission to develop, produce and assist in the release of

Yomna Khattab’s “Fifty Meters” (Egypt) was the big winner at the CineGouna Platform, the El Gouna Film Festival’s industry arm created to support and empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers and help them find artistic and financial support. This year, the CineGouna Platform disbursed awards worth $300,000 across 13 projects in development and seven films in

“Midas Man,” the biopic about legendary music manager Brian Epstein, has begun shooting in Liverpool, U.K., giving fans the first look at Jacob Fortune-Lloyd’s transformation into the title role (above left). The actor, who has starred in “Medici” and “The Queen’s Gambit,” will portray the always dapper Epstein in the StudioPOW and Trevor Beattie Films

“Dune,” Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi film of epic proportions, opened solidly in China on Friday and is forecast to attain a gross box office of $35 million (RMB224 million) in the country. The forecast was made by Maoyan, one of China’s leading online ticketing agencies, which also reported that the film had grossed RMB23.8 million ($3.7

Jacques-Yves Cousteau had one of those faces that seemed to come from an earlier time — before the world wars, maybe even before the 20th century. It was a face so thin and tapered yet open, so creased with character, so French. The hawkish Gallic nose. The Aznavour eyes. The big wide stretchy geek smile

Six years ago, genre entertainment company Crypt TV launched with the highly-ambitious mission statement of becoming “Marvel for monsters.” While few can fly as high as that superhero engine, the past six months have been fruitful for the creators of indelible, digitally-native horror characters — particularly in proving they can scale original intellectual property across

“The Blue Rose,” a new noir thriller from writer- director George Baron, has rounded out its ensemble cast. Joining the project currently shooting in Los Angeles is Ray Wise (“The Lazarus Effect,” “X-Men: First Class”), Danielle Bisutti (“God of War,” “Insidious: Chapter 2″), Nikko Austen Smith (“Queen Sugar,” “The Birch“), Logan Miller (“Love, Simon,” “Escape

One person died, and a second person was injured in an accidental shooting Thursday on the set of “Rust,” a feature starring Alec Baldwin that was filming in New Mexico. A 42-year-old woman died from the incident, which involved a prop firearm, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. A 42-year-old man

In a move aimed at powering up more content for the massive U.S. Hispanic market and beyond, leading indie production shingle BTF Media has teamed up with L.A.-based American Cinema Inspires (ACI) to develop and produce a slew of Hispanic productions with predominantly U.S. Latino talent. Leading the vanguard is Sandra Martin’s “Finding Love in

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal are not just related by blood anymore. This year, they’re also connected through streaming. The two siblings have both separately become members of the Netflix machine, delivering two very distinct pieces of art this year. As director and producer, Maggie Gyllenhaal takes on the world of a woman, obsessed with

Warner Bros. Pictures’ $160 million sci-fi spectacle “Dune” could be facing a fate worse than giant sandworms: online leakers. As confirmed by Variety, at least three major illegal streaming sites are hosting HD quality streaming copies of “Dune,” complete with bells and whistles such as English, Danish, Spanish and Arabic subtitles. Beyond that, thousands of

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to “Official Competition,” Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat’s colorful film with Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. Represented in international markets by Protagonist, the film world premiered at Venice in competition and earned unanimous praise. Written by Cohn and Duprat, the movie stars José Luis Gómez as an octogenarian millionaire

Paramount Players has hired newcomer Jamila C. Gray to star in “On the Come Up,” the upcoming film adaptation of Angie Thomas’ New York Times bestselling follow-up book to “The Hate U Give.” Leading an all-Black cast, Gray stars in the Paramount Players movie as Bri, a 16-year-old who wants to become one of the

For composer Hans Zimmer, scoring “Dune” was a dream come true. He read Frank Herbert’s massive sci-fi novel when he was 18 and has revisited it often, imagining the sounds of the desert planet Arrakis, the sandworms and the invaluable spice that makes interstellar travel possible. “The first person I talked to was Hans,” director

With Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” picking up steam after playing nearly the entirety of the fall festival circuit, Netflix has confirmed to Variety exclusively that Kirsten Dunst, one of the standout sensations from the Western, will campaign for supporting actress for the awards season. This decision doesn’t surprise those who have seen

LaCima Producciones, the company behind Luis López Carrasco multi-prize winner doc “The Year of the Discovery,” is joining forces with Colombia’s Sandelion on archive film project “Elena Gave Birth to a Beautiful Child.” Madrid-based Begin Again Films handles international sales and has also taken Spanish distribution rights. Co-directed by Chiara Marañón, head of content at streaming

The lives and epic love story of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and manager and personality Sharon Osbourne will be the subject of an upcoming feature film. The untitled project comes from Polygram Entertainment, and will follow a biopic format centering on their decades-long bond — one that exploded to the heights of pop culture with the

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 17 winners of the 48th Student Academy Awards competition. This year’s winners were voted on from a group of 1,404 submissions from 210 domestic and 126 international colleges and universities. Previous Student Academy Award winners include Patricia Cardoso, Cary Fukunaga, Spike Lee, Patricia Riggen

In Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” Rebecca Ferguson plays Lady Jessica, lover of the world ruler portrayed by Oscar Isaac and matriarch to Timothée Chalamet’s messiah-in-waiting. She is a doting mother who is distracted by the pressures of a royal household, but more importantly, she is  brimming over with a supernatural power that could bring about revolution.

Beyonce has been keeping a low musical profile over the past few months, but she’s breaking cover with a new song, “Be Alive,” featured in the new trailer for “King Richard,” the Will Smith-starring biopic on the rise of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams from the perspective of their father, Richard (played by Smith).

The U.K. and Spain have signed a memorandum of understanding in respect of film and high-end TV production as both countries experience a production boom. With projects including “Eternals,” “Wonder Woman: 1984” and “The Crown” shooting across both Spain and the U.K., Film Commissions for both territories have come together to enhance collaboration, for example,

A new film about the development, regulation and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines from “How to Survive a Plague” director David France has scored a raft of international sales. Documentary specialists Dogwoof have sold the film — which will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2022 — into Sky in the U.K., Germany and Italy;

Bowing at June’s Malaga Film Festival in Spain, where it swept three prizes in its edgier Zonacine sidebar – best film, actor (Jorge Motos) and its Audience Award – Spaniard Alex Montoya’s second feature “Lucas” has been picked up by Spain’s Filmin SVOD service, the country’s biggest streaming platform for art pics and upscale TV

“A Dead Man Cannot Live” begins with Tano, played by the lanky, weathered, deep-voiced Antonio Dechent, one of the finest actors of his around-60 Spanish generation, sitting at a bar rail, and thinking back on better times. Even the Costa de Sol narco business is going to ruin. Tano’s boss, Manuel, is senile, his son

WarnerMedia’s U.S. direct-to-consumer business took a hit in the third quarter, as it lost a net 1.8 million HBO and HBO Max customers after its deal with Amazon to carry HBO expired in mid-September. But an uptick in Latin America markets more than made up the difference: Worldwide, there were 69.4 million global HBO Max

Rebecca Hall’s deft directorial debut “Passing,” which competed for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and was acquired by Netflix, and Julia Ducournau’s sophomore feature “Titane,” winner of Cannes’ Palme d’Or and France’s entry in the International Feature Film Oscar race, have been selected to compete in a section devoted to up-and-coming directors at the 29th edition