Algerian director Merzak Allouache received the Variety International Vanguard Director Award at the Red Sea Film Festival over the weekend, prior to the premiere of his social comedy, “Front Row,” about a feud between matriarchs vying for the best spot at the beach. Allouache is Algeria’s best-known director, with a career spanning six decades and […]

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — “As a meeting place, Ventana Sur was fantastic, the sales agent presence was good, focused on companies which really do buy, and the organization was impecable, run by highly dedicated and nice people,” said Antonio Saura, at Madrid-based sales agency Latido Films.  Most other attendees would buy into that.  Transferred for the […]

With a heady dose of ‘80s nostalgia and the gravity that only a script full of fierce intergenerational matriarchs can bring to the table, Mexico’s Mayra Hermosillo revealed a cut of her nuanced and buzzy coming-of-age title “Vainilla,” among the players selected for Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte. The film is produced by Stacy Perskie, Karla […]

One of the most active of sales agents at this week’s Ventana Sur, Madrid-based Latido Films has closed international rights on adventure-comedy “Small Town” (“Pueblo Chico”) a parable of greed and instance of the building scale and ambition of Latin American animation co-production whether regional or reaching out to Spain.  The subject of a Ventana […]

Argentina’s newly created Fondosa Foundation, launched by lawyer-producer Virginia Juárez, is teaming with Brazilian philanthropic org Projeto Paradiso, a mover and shaker on Brazil’s young talent scene, to launch a new program aimed at providing world-class mentorship to women screenwriters.  The program will back the development of one screenplay from Brazil and another from Argentina. […]

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Anticipating the shape of things to come in Latin America, with cross-border collaboration a burgeoning mantra, the cities of São Paulo and Montevideo has signed a wide-ranging framework accord, facilitating collaboration across a broad front of channels. The pact was announced Tuesday at this week’s Ventana Sur, Latin America’s highest-profile film-TV market […]

“Emilia Pérez” star Adriana Paz, a Cannes 2024 best actress winner alongside the rest of the film’s female key cast, is headlining “The Huntress” (“La Cazadora”), where she plays a Ciudad Juárez factory worker turned vigilante who attains the status of a legend. “The Huntress” marks the first feature from U.S.-Mexican filmmaker Suzanne Andrews Correa […]

Seen from the 14th floor of its Radisson Hotel, Montevideo’s skyline, bristling with white marble high-rises and monuments, looks like a very different scenario for Ventana Sur, Latin America’s foremost film-TV co-pro forum and market, relocated from its chic Buenos Aires setting for the first time since 2009.  Yet in many ways, this is the […]

Anonymous Content España, backed by Anonymous Content and Spain’s Morena Films (“Piggy,” “Below Zero”), is teaming with Alea Media to produce a series based on Spain’s 1981 Toxic Oil Syndrome, one of – if not the – deadliest case of food poisoning in modern-day Europe. The still-to-be-titled series is the first project announced by Anonymous […]

Jô Serfaty’s “Beyond the Edge,” Jorge Cadena’s “Tropical Malady,” and María Paz Barragán’s “The Tenants” look like potential standouts at the 7th Proyecta project platform at next week’s Ventana Sur. Supported by two powerful partners, Cannes Marché du Film and the San Sebastian Film Festival, Proyecta, will take place place Dec. 4 in Montevideo’s Teatro […]

As “Game of Thrones’” foreign unit line producer and then producer, Duncan Muggoch leveraged some of Spain’s staggering landscapes and historical heritage sites into iconic settings for “Game of Thrones.” He returned to Spain as co-executive producer of “3 Body Problem” to create crucial early scenes in China for the Netflix banner show.  Steve Squillante, […]

“Honour of Persia,” the directorial debut of Cannes best actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider”), is one of five features at financing stage to be pitched at the Göteborg Film Festival’s first-ever Nordic Gateway curated program. The five international titles – hailing from Germany, Macedonia, Canada and Kosovo – will vie for the Tint […]

Two Brazilian titles, Marcelo Gomes’ “Portrait of a Certain Orient” and Marianne Brennand’s “Manas,” swept the three biggest awards at Spain’s Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival, which wrapped Saturday night in the Southern Spanish city. With Brazil’s Marcelo Caetano scooping a fourth trophy of a total seven on offer for competition titles, Huelva served to confirm […]

Having made a splash with tense and brutal petty crime caper short “No Key,” an Indie Short Fest winner that also screened at Fantastic Fest, Casablanca-born director Walid Messnaoui and fast-building Moroccan production house Caestus Films are preparing Messnaoiu’s first feature, “The Last Beast of Atlas,” described as a twilight Western and drama.  “The Last […]

The 28th Black Nights Film Festival, known as PÖFF, wrapped Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony in Tallinn where filmmakers took centre stage to ask for the end of war in the Middle East, solidarity with Georgia under Russian influence and the defence of culture. Oscar-nominated British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi – whose debut feature “The Teacher” […]

TALLINN, Estonia — Industry @ Tallinn & Baltic Event, one of the leading industry events in Northern Europe, closed Nov. 22 with an awards ceremony where the focus country Germany dominated the list of 15 winning projects at various stages of development or post-production, on top of two accolades to promising producers.  For the first time, […]

Lina Soualem’s Spain-set family tale “Alicante,” Walid Messnaoui’s gangster Western “The Last Beast of Atlas” and Linda Lô’s search-for-identity drama “Lucky Girl” rank as buzz titles at the 7th Atlas Workshops, running Dec. 1-5 at the Marrakech Festival.  “Mud” director Jeff Nichols has already been announced as this year’s Workshops tutor.  They will also unveil […]

Alseni Barthily, who headed Cannes 2020 main competition breakout “Gagarine” is set to star in “Lucky Girl,” the feature debut of Linda Lö set up at France’s Maneki Films, which is shaping up as one of the buzz titles at the Marrakech Festival’s 2024 Atlas Workshops. Selected in the Workshops’ Projects in Development showcase, “Lucky […]