Movies

In “La Botera” (“Boat Rower Girl”), which plays at the Malaga Spanish Screenings, Argentine filmmaker Sabrina Blanco tells the story of Tati, a teenage girl growing up in Isla Maciel, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires situated along the banks of a polluted river, where she lives with a neglectful and troubled

London-based Kaleidoscope Film Distribution has scored a flurry of deals on Spaniard Daniel H. Torrado’s horror thriller “COVID 21: Lethal Virus,” which market premieres at the Malaga Festival’s Spanish Screenings online showcase. Recent deals inked by Kaleidoscope, who manages “COVID 21” worldwide rights outside Spain, take in a pan-Asian agreement with The Walt Disney Company,

Making its bow at the Malaga Festival’s Spanish Screenings is “Trains Bound for the Sea,” the feature debut from directorial duo Hugo Obregón and Manuel Álvarez-Diestro. The film tells the story of Lee Fan Bao – firstly through his grandfather’s quest to find him a suitable bride and later through the grandson’s experiences of finding

Mexican distributor Salón De Belleza has picked up Lois Patiño’s second feature, “Red Moon Tide” (“Lúa Vermella”), from the film’s Italy-based sales agent, Lights On. Lights On’s Flavio Armone said that the company is also in talks with distributors in France, Germany and Colombia for theatrical rights and Mubi for SVOD. Felipe Lage, the film’s

George C. Wolfe’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” features the final performance of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who died Aug. 28. In the film, coming to Netflix on Dec. 18, he plays an ambitious jazz trumpeter, Levee, butting heads with Viola Davis’ titular blues singer in 1920s Chicago. Asked about his favorite shot from the

Spike Lee’s Vietnam treasure-hunt adventure drama “Da 5 Bloods” serves not just as a tribute to greats such as “Apocalypse Now” and “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” but as an unexpected memorial to the power of Chadwick Boseman’s presence. So said the Oscar-winning director and his cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Three Kings”),

Veteran Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth”) has revealed thematic details about his Working Title romantic comedy “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” starring Lily James (“Yesterday”) and Emma Thompson (“Last Christmas”). “It’s a story of identities,” Kapur said. “It’s about cultural clashes and it’s a comedy, but it’s about hiding behind an identity and

David Fincher’s keenly anticipated Netflix original “Mank” is a valentine to old Hollywood glamor in the shape of a character study of the larger-than-life screenwriter of Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” Herman J. Mankiewicz, played with gusto by Gary Oldman. Speaking in an online seminar at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (“Mindhunter,” “Gone Girl”)

Eighteen months after “The Climb” debuted at Cannes, the film’s director, writer and star Michael Angelo Covino saw his film in a movie theater. It’s been a long and winding road for the film to ultimately land in theaters, but even amid a pandemic, it’s a big moment for Covino and his filmmaking partner and

Taiwan’s Mandarin Vision has been involved in film development, production and distribution since 2012, with the ambition of creating a solid platform for Mandarin-language directors, producers and investors. Its international sales operation, launched in 2016, has become a go-to destination for good quality, independent film, with recent titles including “A Sun,” “Detention,” “The Great Buddha+”

While making the period war film “Mosquito,” cinematographer Adolpho Veloso found himself at risk of losing more than great shots, he said, recalling the richly atmospheric locations in Mozambique, where the project filmed for five weeks. The true story based on the experiences of director João Nuno Pinto’s grandfather, who was shipped to the Portuguese

CAA asked a federal judge on Tuesday to end the 19-month standoff between the Writers Guild of America and the major agencies, as settlement talks between the guild and the agency have stalled. CAA asked Judge Andre Birotte for an injunction that would require the WGA to drop its boycott of the agency. The move

Disney Plus, which launches Tuesday across Latin America, will see the U.S. streaming giant dive into local production, ramping up its already muscular original production output in the region, Disney Latin American executives said at a MipCancun Online panel on Tuesday. Concurrently, Disney Kids’ young adult and family programming looks set to add slightly edgier

Zachary Levi will lead the cast of the inspirational family drama “The Unbreakable Boy” for Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate. Levi will portray the father of Austin, a boy with both a rare brittle-bone disease and autism. But what makes Austin truly unique is his joyous, funny, life-affirming worldview that transforms and unites everyone around

Everyone’s favorite cat and mouse are taking their antics to New York City. Warner Bros. Pictures has unveiled a trailer for the upcoming “Tom and Jerry” movie, scheduled for a 2021 theatrical premiere. While the titular characters are animated in similar styles as the original television show, the new film diverges from tradition with live

Dawn Porter didn’t set out to become a documentary filmmaker. She was as an attorney before she hit the scene with her directorial debut, “Gideon’s Army,” in 2013. In fact, Porter wouldn’t even call herself a “director” until that film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Seven year later, Porter’s prolific contributions to the medium

Netflix’s sci-fi drama “The Midnight Sky,” set for release next month, will see George Clooney as a scientist in the Arctic trying to protect a little girl, and prevent a group of astronauts from coming back home after a global catastrophe. “It’s two different worlds; we were basically saying we were going to shoot ‘The

“The Breadwinner” director Nora Twomey will join “The Willoughbys” director Kris Pearn for a free “Meet the Masters” virtual conversation presented by the VIEW Conference on Tuesday, Nov. 24, beginning at 10 a.m. PT. Twomey, who is co-founder and creative director of Ireland’s animation studio Cartoon Saloon, produced the studio’s current film, “Wolfwalkers,” was head

The label of a character actor tends to be interpreted as general audiences calling someone “that guy” in a movie. Stanley Tucci seems slightly above that description, bringing memorable and popular performances to the mainstream. From the purple-haired host Caesar Flickerman to Nigel, the lovable confidant of Miranda Priestly that gets stabbed in the back,

Jack McBrayer, known to legions of “30 Rock” enthusiasts as Kenneth the Page, has joined the cast of the upcoming comedy “Songs for a Sloth.” The independent film will be directed by frequent commercial and music video director Bradley Hasse in his feature directorial debut. He also wrote the script with actor Richard Hollman. McBrayer

Spike Lee’s next project will be a movie musical about the origin story of Viagra, Pfizer’s erectile dysfunction drug. The Entertainment One film is based on David Kushner’s Esquire article titled “All Rise: The Untold Story of the Guys Who Launched Viagra.” Lee is directing the untitled musical from a screenplay he wrote with Kwame

AGC International has sold most major territories on “Universe’s Most Wanted,” a sci-fi fantasy about a small town’s fight to save the world, starring Dave Bautista and directed by Brad Peyton. Deals have been closed with Entertainment Film Distribution in the U.K. and Ireland; Constantin Film in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; Metropolitan in France; Vertice

Nyle DiMarco is now an awards show host. The actor — and winner of “America’s Next Top Model” and “Dancing With the Stars” — is hosting the Media Access Awards on Nov. 19. The annual event celebrates and honors the accurate portrayal and employment of people with disabilities across all forms of media. The virtual

Erik Barmack’s Wild Sheep Content, the new L.A.-based company of the former Netflix VP, has boarded steamy romantic comedy “Sweet Paprika,” the first animation project from internationally renowned comic book artist Mirka Andolfo (“Unnatural” “Mercy”). Directed by Gabriele Pennacchiolo (“Love Death + Robots”), “Sweet Paprika,” which was originally announced last July, will be produced by

Movie theater executives don’t usually quote Winston Churchill on earnings calls. But during his company’s most recent quarterly report to analysts, AMC chief Adam Aron dusted off one of the prime minister’s most famous speeches to describe the financial cataclysm engulfing the exhibition industry and the resilient spirit he hopes will rise up to meet

Director Quentin Tarantino will turn his Oscar-nominated film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” into a novel under a new book deal he signed with publisher HarperCollins, the company announced on Tuesday. Tarantino’s deal with Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, is for two books. The “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” novelization will mark

ITV orders detective series; WarnerMedia, Blue Ant Media and Rogo Productions strengthen teams; Comedy Central orders Rhod Gilbert show; “Frankenstein” adaptation in the works; and Netflix looks for African writers. U.K. broadcaster ITV has commissioned four-part crime drama “The Long Call” from ITV Studios label Silverprint Pictures. The drama is inspired by the best-selling novel

“Pieces of a Woman,” starring Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf in critically lauded leading performances, debuted its first heart-wrenching trailer on Tuesday. Directed by Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó, the film is a resonant drama about a Boston couple devastated by the loss of their baby after birth. Kirby portrays an upper-middle class young woman named

Director Ruben Ostlund, who won the 2017 Palme d’Or and was Oscar-nominated for “The Square,” finished filming his followup, dark comedy “Triangle of Sadness,” on Saturday after a 73-day shoot. Shooting started on Feb. 4, but repeated delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic turned an already lengthy schedule into a marathon. He speaks to Variety

Launched in 1998 to promote Spanish cinema, the Malaga Festival once promised a fantastic shot of Spring sunshine, a competition whose winners were maybe unlucky not to get to Cannes, an annual state of the business pronouncement from Spain’s producer association Fapae, and screaming fans around the red carpet, proving Spain had a new, TV-based