Movies

As the demand for Spanish content and young talent booms, with a plethora of new opportunities come new uncertainties. Part of ECAM’s Screen industry platform, its Incubator for independent producers is rapidly consolidating as one of the key new development labs in Spain. Eva Saiz’s ‘House of Beasts’ is one of the selected works for

Strand Releasing has unveiled the trailer for Eric Steel’s coming-of-age film “Minyan” which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won a special mention at the Jerusalem fest. The feature debut will have its North American premiere in New York on Oct. 22., followed by a release in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and

Nitehawk Cinema is expanding its programming team. The chain, which has branches in Williamsburg and Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, N.Y., has hired Cristina Cacioppo and Desmond Thorne to augment its programming staff. They will both report to John Woods, Nitehawk’s director of programming and acquisitions. Cacioppo most recently programmed for the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown

Stalwart Marvel Studios executive Victoria Alonso has been promoted to president of physical and post production, visual effects, and animation production. The 15-year veteran will oversee those departments across all Marvel film and series efforts. She was promoted from executive vice president and continues to report to Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito. “Victoria has been

This year’s San Sebastian Film Festival is in mourning as Spanish director Mario Camus, celebrated for his sober but caring adaptations of distinguished Spanish novels such as “La Colmena” – written by Nobel prize winner Camilo José Cela – Ignacio Aldecoa’s “Young Sánchez” and “The Holy Innocents” by Miguel Delibes, died on Saturday in Santander,

Harvey Weinstein again pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault on Monday, as his defense attorney complained that prosecutors are training a “water cannon” of uncharged allegations at him. Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to the same charges in July, shortly after being extradited to Los Angeles from New York. But

Since the launch of its streaming service Disney Plus, Disney has been pulling back the curtain to reveal how the magic is actually made on the studio lot. Giving fans unprecedented access into some of the most intimate creative-process moments, the “Gallery” series revealed the elaborate lengths Marvel went to to keep the comic-book effects

Variety has been granted exclusive access to a trailer of Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s second feature, “El Gran Movimiento,” which is premiering at the Zabatelgi Tabakalera section at San Sebastián, after winning the Venice Horizons Special Jury Prize earlier this month. Sold by Brussels-based Best Friend Forever, it has been acquired for the U.K. and Ireland by Sovereign Film Distribution.

Highland Film Group has pre-sold distribution rights to key international territories on romance “One True Loves,” starring Simu Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”). The film adaption of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel also stars Emmy and Tony-nominated Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”) and Luke Bracey (“Holidate”). Written by Alex J. and Taylor Jenkins

For the past three weekends, Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has dominated the domestic box office with relative ease. The Marvel superhero adventure, which broke ground as the studio’s first comic book adventure to spotlight an Asian star, has been an exciting coda to a mercurial summer, at least, when it

Anthony “A.J.” Johnson, a comedian and actor who appeared in films such as “Friday” and “House Party,” has died, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 55. “The world of comedy has truly been shaken, again. Our BH Talent family is heartbroken about the loss of the iconic legend of stage and screen Mr. Anthony ‘AJ’

Andoni Luis Aduriz, Jon Maya Sein and Pablo Iraburu, leading lights of Basque gastronomy, dance and non-fiction production, are teaming to make a creative documentary which pays homage to a movie classic. The identity of that classic will be revealed in the upcoming months. The link up between different creative worlds is just the latest

Danish “Game of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, his wife Danish-Greenlandic multihyphenate Nukâka Coster-Waldau, who is a former Miss Greenland, and Baltasar Kormákur, the Icelandic filmmaker whose Hollywood credentials include “Everest,” have joined forces to put their promotional muscle behind the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund, established by the International Sámi Film Institute in Norway. The trio

Argentina’s Manuel Abramovich, Ecuador’s Ana Cristina Barragán and the Ukraine-born Oksana Bychkova, all big fest winners, will introduce their latest films to an industry audience at San Sebastian’s pix-in-post strands, WIP Latam and WIP Europa, over Sept. 20-22. The sections promise discoveries. They also underscore a reality. As art film pre-sales have plunged, public-sector equity

Standing tall by the Urumea river, the imposing Tabakalera International Contemporary Cultural Center dominates the skyline of San Sebastian. It is home to the Spanish-speaking world’s most prominent film festival, now celebrating its 69th year, and to other key cultural institutions, including the post-graduate film school Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) and the Filmoteca Vasca

Fabrice du Welz, whose latest film “Inexorable” (pictured) played at Toronto, is reteaming with his Belgian producer Jean-Yves Roubin at Frakas Production on his next project, “Maldoror.” Inspired by a true story, “Maldoror” follows Paul Chartier, a young policeman who became obsessed with a case involving a notorious child abuser after coming close to catching

This year’s crop of young outstanding talent has been nurtured at the Tabakalera’s various areas, including the post-graduate film school Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola (EQZE) and the Ikusmira Berriak Residency Program. Marina Palacio (San Sebastian) The San Sebastian native is a Fine Arts graduate whose short film “Ya no Duermo” was created at the Elías

“Free Guy” has retained enough charm to stay at second in China in its fourth weekend in theaters, but it slid in just a mere hair ahead of Chinese titles setting themselves up for box office success over the current Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. The 20th Century Studios film starring Ryan Reynolds grossed $4.8 million in

Films Boutique (“Embrace of the Serpent,””Charlatan”) has closed several key European territories on “Mi Iubita, Mon Amour,” the feature debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Noémie Merlant which is playing at San Sebastian in the Zabaltegi Tabakalera section. “Mi Iubita, Mon Amour” world premiered at Cannes in Special Screenings. It stars Merlant as Jeanne, a young woman who

Spanish producer Piluca Baquero (“Lo que sé de Lola”) is teaming with former BTF Media executive Miguel Bueno to launch Ramen Story & Content Studio, a new – and ambitious – TV-film production venture. Also on board areMiguel Arnas, José Antonio Bosch and Jesus Gómez, Baquero will serve as an executive producer on titles, Bueno,

Executive producer Nuria Landete and Spanish production-distribution company Elamedia are teaming to co-produce the feature debut of Ainhoa Menéndez, “In the Flesh,” a romantic drama with dashes of terror. The project is being developed at Spain’s Incubator platform, a six-month producer mentorship initiative, which is part of The Screen industry program at the Madrid Film

Seville-based La Claqueta and Basque label Irusion, co-producers of last year’s Spanish Best International Feature Film Oscar submission “The Endless Trench,” have acquired the rights to adapt Txani Rodríguez’s hit Basque novel “Los últimos románticos” and, sweetening the deal even further, have recruited one of Spain’s most exciting up-and-coming filmmakers to direct in David Pérez

Mexico’s Sin Sitio Cine is joining forces with Brazilian company Desvia Produções and Canada’s Notable Content to co-produce Johnny Ma’s project “Chin-Gone.” A major up and coming Chinese-Canadian helmer, Ma’s directorial debut, “Old Stone,” world-premiered at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival and won the Canadian First Feature Award at the Toronto Film Festival. His most

Projects Selected in Drama Series Lab 2deo Serieak: “Su Hotza,” Angel Aldarondo “Su Hotza” follows an intrepid journalist who enters the hermetic world of haute cuisine to investigate the accidental death of a mysterious diner in a high-end restaurant and soon discovers the seamy side of San Sebastian. For two decades, Aldarondo has forged a multidisciplinary

New titles arrived in Korean theaters in time for the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday period, headed by locally-made thriller “On The Line,” which took top place from “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” But box office over the weekend preceding the big break remained subdued, totaling just $6.16 million. “On The Line” earned

Last September, a cautiously recalibrated Venice Film Festival represented one of the few bright spots in world cinema, taking advantage of a brief window between COVID waves to host in-person premieres for such future Oscar nominees as “Nomadland” and “One Night in Miami.” Telluride and Toronto — such vital platforms for auteurs and awards contenders

“Dune,” the dazzling big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel, ignited the international box office in its debut, collecting $35.8 million from 24 overseas markets. It’s a promising start given the hobbled state of moviegoing in many foreign territories amid the pandemic. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and Oscar Isaac,

Somewhere in the land of worn-out metaphors, there’s a drawer overflowing with love letters from all the filmmakers who ever thought to make cinema of the making of cinema. But it feels inadequate to file Zhang Yimou’s “One Second” alongside those when it is the most direct and heartfelt valentine to the medium the revered

In multiple interviews over the years, British filmmaker Terence Davies has baldly stated that being gay has ruined his life: “I hate it, I’ll go to my grave hating it … it has killed part of my soul,” he said in 2011, adding that his sexuality is the reason he remains single and celibate. Davies’

Actor-comedian Chris Rock tweeted Sunday that he has COVID-19. “Trust me, you don’t want this. Get vaccinated,” he urged. Rock told Jimmy Fallon in May that he had gotten the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, meaning his current case would be a breakthrough instance of coronavirus. He joked to Fallon, “You know, I skipped the