Academy Award-winning producer Daniel Dreifuss (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) has boarded “Red Men,” the latest feature from Mexico’s Hari Sama, best known for his lauded autobiographical pic “This is not Berlin,” which world premiered at Sundance in 2019.
Described as an “edgy and provocative coming-of-age story” about the life of Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele, “Red Men” hones in on Schiele’s role in reshaping European aesthetics through his intimate relationship with lover and muse, Dominik Van Osen.
Their bond inspired Schiele’s pioneering Expressionist style while also compelling the young artist to confront his sexually fluid identity amidst repressive laws banning homosexuality in turn-of-the-century Vienna. This romantic saga delves into the emotional complexities of two artistic companions turned lovers, which drove Egon’s artistic vision while he struggled to navigate society’s norms. Schiele, whose provocative art was known for its contorted body shapes and dramatic lines,...
Described as an “edgy and provocative coming-of-age story” about the life of Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele, “Red Men” hones in on Schiele’s role in reshaping European aesthetics through his intimate relationship with lover and muse, Dominik Van Osen.
Their bond inspired Schiele’s pioneering Expressionist style while also compelling the young artist to confront his sexually fluid identity amidst repressive laws banning homosexuality in turn-of-the-century Vienna. This romantic saga delves into the emotional complexities of two artistic companions turned lovers, which drove Egon’s artistic vision while he struggled to navigate society’s norms. Schiele, whose provocative art was known for its contorted body shapes and dramatic lines,...
- 3/12/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper has been transplanted to America in ViX Original Series “El Dentista” (“The Dentist”) (working title) with Oscar-nominated Demián Bichir (“A Better Life”) in the titular role. Behind-the-scenes pics of the series, now shooting in Mexico, have been exclusively shared with Variety.
Based on the novel by prominent Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation “Caso 63” and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio,” the period thriller series is produced by Oscar-winning brothers Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrain and their powerhouse shingle, Fabula, along with the top Spanish pay TV/SVOD service Movistar Plus+, which will also handle international sales.
This is possibly the second time that Fabula handling a mythical figure after Pablo Larrain’s horror satire “The Count,” which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix. However, in “The Count,” Larrain reimagines...
Based on the novel by prominent Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation “Caso 63” and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio,” the period thriller series is produced by Oscar-winning brothers Pablo and Juan de Dios Larrain and their powerhouse shingle, Fabula, along with the top Spanish pay TV/SVOD service Movistar Plus+, which will also handle international sales.
This is possibly the second time that Fabula handling a mythical figure after Pablo Larrain’s horror satire “The Count,” which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is now streaming on Netflix. However, in “The Count,” Larrain reimagines...
- 10/26/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
“Volver a Caer,” a contemporary Spanish-language retelling of the Leo Tolstoy classic Anna Karenina, debuts exclusively on ViX+ on Jan. 20. It stars Kate del Castillo (“Queen of the South”) whose Cholawood Prods. co-produced the series under its development pact with Endemol Shine Boomdog.
“This is our first mainstream TV series for an international audience,” Del Castillo announced at a special screening of its pilot episode in Los Angeles.
She was joined at the post-screening Q & A by ViX+ chief content officer Rodrigo Mazón and the series’ director Hari Sama, best known for his acclaimed feature “This is Not Berlin,” which premiered at Sundance in 2019. Sama, who is also an executive producer, noted that this was the first TV series where he directed all the episodes.
“Hari had the right sensibility for this show, we insisted on him,” said Del Castillo. Indeed, his cinematic background comes through, elevating the six-episode series with more depth and nuance.
“This is our first mainstream TV series for an international audience,” Del Castillo announced at a special screening of its pilot episode in Los Angeles.
She was joined at the post-screening Q & A by ViX+ chief content officer Rodrigo Mazón and the series’ director Hari Sama, best known for his acclaimed feature “This is Not Berlin,” which premiered at Sundance in 2019. Sama, who is also an executive producer, noted that this was the first TV series where he directed all the episodes.
“Hari had the right sensibility for this show, we insisted on him,” said Del Castillo. Indeed, his cinematic background comes through, elevating the six-episode series with more depth and nuance.
- 1/20/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Pantaya has set September 15 as the premiere date for Toda La Sangre, the crime-thriller starring Aarón Díaz and Ana Brenda Contreras.
Based on the best-selling novel by Mexican author Bernardo Esquinca, Toda La Sangre follows Casasola (Díaz), a tabloid reporter who joins forces with police lieutenant Edith Mondragón (Contreras) and Elisa (Yoshira Escárrega), a local anthropologist, who aim to decipher a series of murders that have shocked the country. Together they travel through Mexico City chasing a ritual murderer whose peculiarity is to recreate ancient Aztec sacrifices.
Yoshira Escárrega, Antonio Trejo Sánchez, Clementina Guadarrama, Cinthia Vázquez, Odiseo Bichir, and Julio Casado also star.
Produced by Fremantle Mexico, the 10-episode series is developed and produced by showrunner and executive producer Zasha Robles from Spiral International, the creator of the Emmy-winning series Falco. The series is directed by Luis Prieto and Hari Sama; and written by Rodrigo Ordónez, Santiago Rocagliolo, Natalia Mejia,...
Based on the best-selling novel by Mexican author Bernardo Esquinca, Toda La Sangre follows Casasola (Díaz), a tabloid reporter who joins forces with police lieutenant Edith Mondragón (Contreras) and Elisa (Yoshira Escárrega), a local anthropologist, who aim to decipher a series of murders that have shocked the country. Together they travel through Mexico City chasing a ritual murderer whose peculiarity is to recreate ancient Aztec sacrifices.
Yoshira Escárrega, Antonio Trejo Sánchez, Clementina Guadarrama, Cinthia Vázquez, Odiseo Bichir, and Julio Casado also star.
Produced by Fremantle Mexico, the 10-episode series is developed and produced by showrunner and executive producer Zasha Robles from Spiral International, the creator of the Emmy-winning series Falco. The series is directed by Luis Prieto and Hari Sama; and written by Rodrigo Ordónez, Santiago Rocagliolo, Natalia Mejia,...
- 8/1/2022
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Kate del Castillo is starring and executive producing a new series for Pantaya, the Spanish premium streaming service. The working title, The Beautiful Lie started production on the series in Mexico City starring alongside Maxi Iglesias, and directed by Hari Sama. The six-part drama series is a contemporary love story based on Leo Tolstoy's novel, Anna Karenina. Read the official press release below.
- 3/27/2022
- by luperhaas@cinemovie.tv (Lupe R Haas)
- CineMovie
Exclusive: Aaron Diaz (Quantico) and Ana Brenda Contreras (Dynasty) have been set to star in Mexican crime thriller series Toda La Sangre, for Pantaya, Starzplay, Spiral International and Fremantle Mexico.
Produced by Fremantle Mexico, production is now underway on the genre series which is being directed by Luis Prieto and Hari Sama and is based on the best-selling novels by Mexican author Bernardo Esquinca.
Diaz will play the role of Eugenio Casasola, a journalist who joins forces with Lieutenant Edith Mondragon, played by Contreras, in a quest to uncover the truth behind a series of visceral murders that resemble Aztec sacrifices in modern-day Mexico City.
Prieto is best known for features such as Kidnap and directing on TV series such as White Lines and Snatch while Sama is best known for movie This Is Not Berlin.
Distributed internationally by Fremantle, the ten-episode series is developed and produced by showrunner and...
Produced by Fremantle Mexico, production is now underway on the genre series which is being directed by Luis Prieto and Hari Sama and is based on the best-selling novels by Mexican author Bernardo Esquinca.
Diaz will play the role of Eugenio Casasola, a journalist who joins forces with Lieutenant Edith Mondragon, played by Contreras, in a quest to uncover the truth behind a series of visceral murders that resemble Aztec sacrifices in modern-day Mexico City.
Prieto is best known for features such as Kidnap and directing on TV series such as White Lines and Snatch while Sama is best known for movie This Is Not Berlin.
Distributed internationally by Fremantle, the ten-episode series is developed and produced by showrunner and...
- 8/3/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Los Angeles-based 1844 Entertainment has acquired international sales rights and U.S. distribution for Jorge Cuchí’s 2020 Venice Critics’ Week player, “50 o Dos Ballenas se Encuentran En la Playa” (“50 (or Two Whales Meet on the Beach)”).
“50” stars young actors José Antonio Toledano as Félix and Karla Coronado as Elisa, two 17-year-olds who together embark on the 2016 social media phenomena Blue Whale Challenge together. In the “game,” players are assigned tasks over a 50-day period which start as trivial or innocuous activities, but eventually mutate into self-harm and, at its conclusion, suicide.
“When people decide to commit suicide it is not because they want to put an end to their lives, but because they want to put an end to their sadness,” explained Chuchí of the spark that ingnited his feature debut.
Describing his protagonists, he remembered that Felix and Elisa started as “two kids who came to life inside my...
“50” stars young actors José Antonio Toledano as Félix and Karla Coronado as Elisa, two 17-year-olds who together embark on the 2016 social media phenomena Blue Whale Challenge together. In the “game,” players are assigned tasks over a 50-day period which start as trivial or innocuous activities, but eventually mutate into self-harm and, at its conclusion, suicide.
“When people decide to commit suicide it is not because they want to put an end to their lives, but because they want to put an end to their sadness,” explained Chuchí of the spark that ingnited his feature debut.
Describing his protagonists, he remembered that Felix and Elisa started as “two kids who came to life inside my...
- 7/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Michel Franco’s Venice winner “New Order” (“Nueva Orden”) has scored over 330,000 admissions and $950,000 in Mexico off an Oct. 22 bow, according to Comscore.
Released by Televisa’s Videocine distrib label, that box office would be notable in any normal circumstance, given that “New Order,” an often shocking dystopian thriller, is by no stretch of the imagination a comedy nor entertainment for all the family, Mexico’s box office staples.
It’s all the more an extraordinary feat for a Mexican movie during Covid-19 when box office is tracking at some 15%-20% of its full-on power before pandemia.
“It is satisfying to see brave releases that are helping the market and attracting audiences to cinemas,” said Comscore’s Luis Vargas.
Topping Mexico’s box office on release, “New Order’s” domestic box office run is also a good way of showing the distributors who have bought the film for release in...
Released by Televisa’s Videocine distrib label, that box office would be notable in any normal circumstance, given that “New Order,” an often shocking dystopian thriller, is by no stretch of the imagination a comedy nor entertainment for all the family, Mexico’s box office staples.
It’s all the more an extraordinary feat for a Mexican movie during Covid-19 when box office is tracking at some 15%-20% of its full-on power before pandemia.
“It is satisfying to see brave releases that are helping the market and attracting audiences to cinemas,” said Comscore’s Luis Vargas.
Topping Mexico’s box office on release, “New Order’s” domestic box office run is also a good way of showing the distributors who have bought the film for release in...
- 11/9/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
For filmmakers, the process of getting the cultural powers that be to submit your film to contend for the Best International Feature Film Oscar varies from country to country. That Oscar can give your movie an enormous boost. Mexico has been participating in the foreign-language Oscar race since 1957, a year after the category was created. Of the 53 films submitted, nine have been nominated, including five from Arturo Ripstein, two from A.G. Iñárritu (“Amores Perros” and “Biutiful”), one from Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), and one from Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”), which was the first Mexican film to win the foreign-language Oscar. Cuarón lobbied the Academy Board of Governors to change the category name to Best International Feature Film.
This year, the selection committee from the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas has picked six finalists: Xavi Sala’s “Guie’dani’s Navel,” “I Carry You with Me” (Sony Pictures Classics...
This year, the selection committee from the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas has picked six finalists: Xavi Sala’s “Guie’dani’s Navel,” “I Carry You with Me” (Sony Pictures Classics...
- 10/30/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Gaumont, the production company behind Netflix’s hit drama Narcos, is lining up its next trip south of the border.
The company, which also produces Amazon original El Presidente, is developing Spanish-language drama series Los Últimos Análogos (w/t). The series comes from Max Zunino and Hari Sama, who were behind Sundance Film Festival feature This Is Not Berlin.
The show, which the pair will co-write chronicles the peak of the Rock en Español movement during the mid 1990s in Mexico City. Sama is attached to direct the series, to be filmed on location in Mexico City.
Los Últimos Análogos follows a foreign record label executive, who arrives in Mexico City to spearhead the A&r Rock division at a record label. What begins as an escape from her past becomes an opportunity to rebuild her life and capitalize on a new musical movement that’s simmering in Mexico City’s underground scene.
The company, which also produces Amazon original El Presidente, is developing Spanish-language drama series Los Últimos Análogos (w/t). The series comes from Max Zunino and Hari Sama, who were behind Sundance Film Festival feature This Is Not Berlin.
The show, which the pair will co-write chronicles the peak of the Rock en Español movement during the mid 1990s in Mexico City. Sama is attached to direct the series, to be filmed on location in Mexico City.
Los Últimos Análogos follows a foreign record label executive, who arrives in Mexico City to spearhead the A&r Rock division at a record label. What begins as an escape from her past becomes an opportunity to rebuild her life and capitalize on a new musical movement that’s simmering in Mexico City’s underground scene.
- 9/24/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Madrid — Having placed Hari Sama’s “This is Not Berlin” at 2019’s Sundance Festival, Mexico’s Catatonia Cine has scored at France’s Toulouse Latin America Film Festival, taking two of the biggest prizes in this year’s online Films in Progress section.
An industry fixture, Toulouse’s Film in Progress grants post-production and distribution awards to up to six pix-in-post from Latin America. A notable number segue from Toulouse to selection at Cannes.
The latest production from Catatonia Cine, ruToulousen by Sama, Veronica Valadez and Laura Berrón, “50,” the feature film debut of former commercials director Jorge Cuchi, turns, like “This is Not Berlin,” on the world of adolescence, here two 16-year-olds, Félix and Elisa. They meet playing the Blue Whale Game, fall in love and decide to take on together the game’s final challenge: Suicide.
Written and directed by Cuchi, “50” won the most probably biggest prize on offer...
An industry fixture, Toulouse’s Film in Progress grants post-production and distribution awards to up to six pix-in-post from Latin America. A notable number segue from Toulouse to selection at Cannes.
The latest production from Catatonia Cine, ruToulousen by Sama, Veronica Valadez and Laura Berrón, “50,” the feature film debut of former commercials director Jorge Cuchi, turns, like “This is Not Berlin,” on the world of adolescence, here two 16-year-olds, Félix and Elisa. They meet playing the Blue Whale Game, fall in love and decide to take on together the game’s final challenge: Suicide.
Written and directed by Cuchi, “50” won the most probably biggest prize on offer...
- 4/4/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
América
Their bittersweet music box of a film is enamored with its title character, a 93-year-old Mexican woman caught in an unwilling limbo. Her son has been sent to prison for failing to take care of her, elder neglect, leaving her unprepared adult grandsons to look after her, perhaps in the same way she looked after them when they were children. – Jose S. (full review)
Where to Stream: iTunes
Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra)
It probably says more about Ciro Guerra’s last film than this inimitable new offering (which he co-directed with his long-serving producer Christina Gallego) to suggest that fans of...
América
Their bittersweet music box of a film is enamored with its title character, a 93-year-old Mexican woman caught in an unwilling limbo. Her son has been sent to prison for failing to take care of her, elder neglect, leaving her unprepared adult grandsons to look after her, perhaps in the same way she looked after them when they were children. – Jose S. (full review)
Where to Stream: iTunes
Birds of Passage (Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra)
It probably says more about Ciro Guerra’s last film than this inimitable new offering (which he co-directed with his long-serving producer Christina Gallego) to suggest that fans of...
- 11/15/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Morelia Film Festival’s (Ficm) Impulso sidebar for pix in progress will run Sunday through Tuesday this coming week, having become one of the territories most important launchpads for Latin American feature films in post-production.
Many of the participating films in recent editions have gone on to find festival success the world around.
Last year, Hari Sama’s “This is Not Berlin” was the talk of the day, and since being finished has made major impacts at Sundance, Tribeca and Malaga. From 2017, Andres Kaiser’s cabin in the woods thriller “Feral” went on to win awards at Los Cabos and participate in several major genre fests across Europe and North America. 2016 hosted Joshua Gil’s “Sanctorum” which closed Venice Critics’ Week this year.
Other standout participants include, but are not limited to: “The Chaotic Life of Nada Kadi’c” from Marta Hernaiz (Berlinale 2018); “Devil’s Freedom” from Everardo González (Berlinale...
Many of the participating films in recent editions have gone on to find festival success the world around.
Last year, Hari Sama’s “This is Not Berlin” was the talk of the day, and since being finished has made major impacts at Sundance, Tribeca and Malaga. From 2017, Andres Kaiser’s cabin in the woods thriller “Feral” went on to win awards at Los Cabos and participate in several major genre fests across Europe and North America. 2016 hosted Joshua Gil’s “Sanctorum” which closed Venice Critics’ Week this year.
Other standout participants include, but are not limited to: “The Chaotic Life of Nada Kadi’c” from Marta Hernaiz (Berlinale 2018); “Devil’s Freedom” from Everardo González (Berlinale...
- 10/18/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Mexican Oscar-nominated actress Marina de Tavira (“Roma”) is receiving the Premio Cuervo Tradicional, a career recognition award from Morelia Int’l Film Festival (Ficm) sponsor Jose Cuervo Tradicional. The prize ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The award has been given out for more than 12 years at Ficm to a Mexican actor or actress who has contributed to the national and international film industry. It includes a cash award of over $6,000 towards the completion of any future project.
De Tavira, who stars in competing Mexican film “This is Not Berlin” by Hari Sama, is also among the jurors of the 17th Morelia Int’l Film Festival, which runs October 18-27.
Prior to the award ceremony at the Teatro Ruben Ramiro in Morelia, Jose Cuervo Traditional tequila will be screening its inaugural mini-documentary about the lakeside town of Patzcuaro, which kicks off its docu series on Mexico’s Day of the Dead tradition.
The award has been given out for more than 12 years at Ficm to a Mexican actor or actress who has contributed to the national and international film industry. It includes a cash award of over $6,000 towards the completion of any future project.
De Tavira, who stars in competing Mexican film “This is Not Berlin” by Hari Sama, is also among the jurors of the 17th Morelia Int’l Film Festival, which runs October 18-27.
Prior to the award ceremony at the Teatro Ruben Ramiro in Morelia, Jose Cuervo Traditional tequila will be screening its inaugural mini-documentary about the lakeside town of Patzcuaro, which kicks off its docu series on Mexico’s Day of the Dead tradition.
- 10/18/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
For the first time in its history, the Morelia Film Festival will open with a European film, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s drama “Le Jeune Ahmed” (“Young Ahmed”), which garnered a best director prize for the Belgian siblings at Cannes last May. Luc Dardenne will be on hand to present the drama, described by Variety critic Peter Debruge as an “instantly recognizable” Dardenne film for having a “deceptively ‘rough’ quality as the directors’ earlier work, a carryover from their documentary background.”
Helmer-scribe James Ivory, who won a best adapted screenplay Oscar last year for his first-love gay drama “Call Me By Your Name” is also making his first visit to Morelia, which will honor him with a retrospective of his films.
“Five continents will be represented in Morelia this year, but most important are the 100-plus Mexican filmmakers participating in this edition,” said Morelia artistic director Daniela Michel.
The festival,...
Helmer-scribe James Ivory, who won a best adapted screenplay Oscar last year for his first-love gay drama “Call Me By Your Name” is also making his first visit to Morelia, which will honor him with a retrospective of his films.
“Five continents will be represented in Morelia this year, but most important are the 100-plus Mexican filmmakers participating in this edition,” said Morelia artistic director Daniela Michel.
The festival,...
- 9/30/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Latido Films has acquired world sales rights outside Spain to “Historias Lamentables,” the new feature from Javier Fesser, writer-director of “Champions,” an extraordinary sleeper blockbuster in Spain, which earned $23.1 million box office last year at Spanish theaters for Universal Pictures International (Upi).
“Champions” also went on to be selected by Spanish Academy members as Spain’s submission to the International Oscar race and this January to win the Spanish Academy’s best picture Goya Award.
Co-written by Fesser and Claro García, a scribe on Fesser’s “Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible,” “Historias Lamentables” unites near all the team behind “Campeones,” including production houses Películas Pendleton and Morena Films, sales agent Latido and Spanish public broadcaster Rtve, which has acquired free-to-air rights to Spain.
Películas Pendleton’s Luis Mansó and Morena’s Alvaro Longoria will produce “Historias Lamentables,” repeating their credits on “Champions.”
In a departure from “Champions,” Amazon Prime...
“Champions” also went on to be selected by Spanish Academy members as Spain’s submission to the International Oscar race and this January to win the Spanish Academy’s best picture Goya Award.
Co-written by Fesser and Claro García, a scribe on Fesser’s “Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible,” “Historias Lamentables” unites near all the team behind “Campeones,” including production houses Películas Pendleton and Morena Films, sales agent Latido and Spanish public broadcaster Rtve, which has acquired free-to-air rights to Spain.
Películas Pendleton’s Luis Mansó and Morena’s Alvaro Longoria will produce “Historias Lamentables,” repeating their credits on “Champions.”
In a departure from “Champions,” Amazon Prime...
- 8/30/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Opening your film with a quote from Marcel Proust is certainly a choice, and “This Is Not Berlin” does its best to back the bold move. In his fourth narrative feature, Mexican filmmaker Hari Sama paints a vivid, if dizzying, portrait of his hometown, Mexico City circa 1986: There’s a steady stream of music, art, and literary references; broadly painted caricatures of youth searching for identity; hypnotic montages of political performance art; and full-frontal male nudity.
Using the underground avant-garde art scene as its backdrop and a wayward teenage boy as its protagonist, “This Is Not Berlin” renders the follies of youth through a kaleidoscopic phantasma of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Despite all the compelling decoration, however, there are few surprises.
The story follows Carlos (Xabiani Ponce De León), a fatherless teen who watches his little brother as his mother (“Roma” star Marina de Tavira) stays in bed hungover all day.
Using the underground avant-garde art scene as its backdrop and a wayward teenage boy as its protagonist, “This Is Not Berlin” renders the follies of youth through a kaleidoscopic phantasma of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. Despite all the compelling decoration, however, there are few surprises.
The story follows Carlos (Xabiani Ponce De León), a fatherless teen who watches his little brother as his mother (“Roma” star Marina de Tavira) stays in bed hungover all day.
- 8/10/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Let’s be very clear—“This Is Not Berlin” is very much a coming-of-age movie. If you have somehow escaped the seemingly never-ending onslaught of films that explore interchangeable stories about self-discovery, consider yourself lucky. However, if you too have been swept up in this tiresome trend, knowing that Hari Sama’s newest feature fits perfectly within the overstuffed subgenre gives you a clear indication of what to expect.
Set in Mexico City in the late-’80s, “This Is Not Berlin” depicts a landscape buzzing with post-punk rebellion and high schoolers itching for adult excitement.
Continue reading ‘This Is Not Berlin’: Countercultural Coming-Of-Age Tale Sadly Falls In Line With The Genre’s Status Quo [Review] at The Playlist.
Set in Mexico City in the late-’80s, “This Is Not Berlin” depicts a landscape buzzing with post-punk rebellion and high schoolers itching for adult excitement.
Continue reading ‘This Is Not Berlin’: Countercultural Coming-Of-Age Tale Sadly Falls In Line With The Genre’s Status Quo [Review] at The Playlist.
- 8/9/2019
- by Jonathan Christian
- The Playlist
Hari Sama’s “This Is Not Berlin” is a memory movie set in the art world and punk scene of Mexico City circa 1986, a world that is packed with visual detail and moments that are trapped in time by the camera.
The film moves very fast and takes in as much of this world as possible for us, offering it up both lovingly and satirically. There are many characters, but somehow what stands out are shots of Tabasco sauce poured on eggs, a cartoon program playing on a television set and smoke drifting in the air from cigarettes.
In one charged and lyrical scene here, best friends Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de León) and Gera (José Antonio Toledano) are seen from above smoking cigarettes together, with a paper cup framed in back of them so that we can see the cigarette butts that have been discarded. Their faces are open to the pleasure of the moment,...
The film moves very fast and takes in as much of this world as possible for us, offering it up both lovingly and satirically. There are many characters, but somehow what stands out are shots of Tabasco sauce poured on eggs, a cartoon program playing on a television set and smoke drifting in the air from cigarettes.
In one charged and lyrical scene here, best friends Carlos (Xabiani Ponce de León) and Gera (José Antonio Toledano) are seen from above smoking cigarettes together, with a paper cup framed in back of them so that we can see the cigarette butts that have been discarded. Their faces are open to the pleasure of the moment,...
- 8/8/2019
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
The summer movie season is now winding down and, in a reversal of prevailing expectations, August brings one of the best slates of the entire year. From stellar documentaries to heartfelt stories of romance to a 14-hour epic, it’s an eclectic lineup before the busy fall season begins.
15. Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (Francis Ford Coppola; August 15)
This monthly rundown is usually reserved for new films, and Francis Ford Coppola’s latest project is no mere restoration, but rather a new “final cut” of Apocalypse Now–one that is getting an IMAX release. Nick Newman was at the world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, where he said, “More a reigned-in second stab than radical reworking, it suggests where he’d turned right or wrong, shows an affable stubbornness in the retention of lesser-liked pieces, and at day’s end maybe breeds further ambiguity as to what really shapes a masterpiece.
15. Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (Francis Ford Coppola; August 15)
This monthly rundown is usually reserved for new films, and Francis Ford Coppola’s latest project is no mere restoration, but rather a new “final cut” of Apocalypse Now–one that is getting an IMAX release. Nick Newman was at the world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, where he said, “More a reigned-in second stab than radical reworking, it suggests where he’d turned right or wrong, shows an affable stubbornness in the retention of lesser-liked pieces, and at day’s end maybe breeds further ambiguity as to what really shapes a masterpiece.
- 7/29/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In the midst of Roma mania last awards season, a little film emerged at the Sundance Film Festival, also starring Marina de Tavira as a stalwart single mother: Hari Sama’s This Is Not Berlin. Led by newcomers Xabiani Ponce de León and José Antonio Toledano as Carlos and Gera, they play two high schoolers growing up in Mexico City. Bored with his high school’s machismo soccer culture, Carlos joins the small but radical queer and leftist community, participating in public displays of nudity to protest FIFA officials. Gera wants to join but his personality doesn’t click with the group, so the boys grow apart as they stumble through class exploration and settling on their identities. The surprising fate of Sama’s characters makes the viewer reconsider everything they’ve seen. What seems like a natural telos for Carlos and Gera is worth closer examination.
We sat down...
We sat down...
- 7/22/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Coming-of-age movies are a peso a dozen, but Hari Sama makes something special out of This Is Not Berlin, wrapping his protagonist's story in an impeccably rendered portrait of mid-'80s underground culture in Mexico City that makes it about far more than just the boy. Smart, good-looking and buzzing with edginess, Sama's fourth feature has been made with a love and care that's palpable in every frame, allowing us to forgive its occasional, inevitable brushes with cliche.
A sensitive insider view of what it was like to be there, Berlin is both educational to those who weren't ...
A sensitive insider view of what it was like to be there, Berlin is both educational to those who weren't ...
- 6/29/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Coming-of-age movies are a peso a dozen, but Hari Sama makes something special out of This Is Not Berlin, wrapping his protagonist's story in an impeccably rendered portrait of mid-'80s underground culture in Mexico City that makes it about far more than just the boy. Smart, good-looking and buzzing with edginess, Sama's fourth feature has been made with a love and care that's palpable in every frame, allowing us to forgive its occasional, inevitable brushes with cliche.
A sensitive insider view of what it was like to be there, Berlin is both educational to those who weren't ...
A sensitive insider view of what it was like to be there, Berlin is both educational to those who weren't ...
- 6/29/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
"I'm more of a spiritual guide." Samuel Goldwyn Films has debuted an official trailer for an indie film from Mexico titled This Is Not Berlin, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also won a number of major awards, including a Special Jury Award and Best Cinematography, at the Málaga Spanish Film Festival this year. From Mexican filmmaker Hari Sama, This Is Not Berlin is described as a "thrilling and sexy clash of art, drugs, and punk music". Seventeen-year-old Carlos doesn't fit in anywhere, not in his family nor with the friends he has chosen in school. But everything changes when he is invited to a mythical nightclub where he discovers the underground nightlife scene: punk, sexual liberty and drugs. This stars Xabiani Ponce de León, José Antonio Toledano, Mauro Sanchez Navarro, Klaudia Garcia, Ximena Romo, Américo Hollander, and Marina de Tavira (seen in Roma). Looks vibrant & sincere.
- 6/21/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Outfest has unveiled its programming lineup, including appearances by Kathy Griffin, Trixie Mattel, Angelica Ross and Robert Englund, for its 37th version on July 18-28.
Officially titled the 2019 Outfest Los Angeles Lgbtq Film Festival, the event opens at the Orpheum Theatre with the “Circus of Books” documentary and closes at The Theater at the Ace Hotel with family comedy “Before You Know It” from Hannah Pearl Utt (who also co-wrote and stars), featuring Judith Light alongside Alec Baldwin and Mandy Patinkin.
Films are from 33 countries and in 26 languages, and more than two-thirds of the titles are directed by women, people of color and trans filmmakers.
“As my tenure comes to an end I am most proud of Outfest’s increased visibility in Hollywood and our ever-growing stature within the industry,” said executive director Christopher Racster. “Outfest Los Angeles continues to shine a spotlight on those stories we must see and...
Officially titled the 2019 Outfest Los Angeles Lgbtq Film Festival, the event opens at the Orpheum Theatre with the “Circus of Books” documentary and closes at The Theater at the Ace Hotel with family comedy “Before You Know It” from Hannah Pearl Utt (who also co-wrote and stars), featuring Judith Light alongside Alec Baldwin and Mandy Patinkin.
Films are from 33 countries and in 26 languages, and more than two-thirds of the titles are directed by women, people of color and trans filmmakers.
“As my tenure comes to an end I am most proud of Outfest’s increased visibility in Hollywood and our ever-growing stature within the industry,” said executive director Christopher Racster. “Outfest Los Angeles continues to shine a spotlight on those stories we must see and...
- 6/12/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Now in its 37th year, Outfest serves up an inclusive and intersectional slate of programming, two-thirds of which includes content directed by women, people of color and trans filmmakers. The fest, which will be held July 18-28 in Los Angeles, will open with Rachel Mason’s documentary Circus of Books which spotlights L.A.’s iconic brick-and-mortar gay erotica emporium and bookstore. Sundance favorite Before You Know It directed, co-written and starring Hannah Pearl Utt, as well as Judith Light, Alec Baldwin and Mandy Patinkin, will serve as the festival’s closing night film.
The fest will have films from 33 countries and in 26 languages and will include appearances from Kathy Griffin, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Trixie Mattel, Pose actress Angelica Ross, horror icon Robert Englund, musician and actor Sam Harris and others.
“As my tenure comes to an end I am most proud of Outfest’s increased...
The fest will have films from 33 countries and in 26 languages and will include appearances from Kathy Griffin, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Trixie Mattel, Pose actress Angelica Ross, horror icon Robert Englund, musician and actor Sam Harris and others.
“As my tenure comes to an end I am most proud of Outfest’s increased...
- 6/12/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Madrid — Madrid’s Latido Films, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s top sales companies for arthouse and crossover films, acquired world sales rights to Dominican director José María Cabral’s in progress “Hotel Coppelia.”
The news comes as Latido has revealed a slew of sales on top titles. Their number suggests a larger depth to this year’s Cannes Film Market, allowing the company to push out two dozen or more deals in largely major territories.
“The Realm,” the latest feature from Oscar nominated Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“The Mother”) and Spanish Academy Award submission “Champions” lead many of the sales with “The Realm” going to Somos in the U.S., Impacto in Argentina, Vision in China, A-z Films in Canada and Cineplex in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Cabral’s “Hotel Coppelia” is based on the true stories of five women who, during the 1965 Dominican Civil War, made tremendous personal sacrifice to protect their own liberties.
The news comes as Latido has revealed a slew of sales on top titles. Their number suggests a larger depth to this year’s Cannes Film Market, allowing the company to push out two dozen or more deals in largely major territories.
“The Realm,” the latest feature from Oscar nominated Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“The Mother”) and Spanish Academy Award submission “Champions” lead many of the sales with “The Realm” going to Somos in the U.S., Impacto in Argentina, Vision in China, A-z Films in Canada and Cineplex in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Cabral’s “Hotel Coppelia” is based on the true stories of five women who, during the 1965 Dominican Civil War, made tremendous personal sacrifice to protect their own liberties.
- 5/28/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Announced at the Cannes Film Market, L.A.’s Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired the North America rights to Hari Sama’s semi-autobiographical “This is Not Berlin.”
The deal was negotiated between Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Meg Longo, and Jason Ishikawa and Shane Riley from Cinetic Media on behalf of Madrid’s Latido films, which handles international sales.
Sama co-wrote the film with Rodrigo Ordóñez and Max Zunino, and co-produced with Ale García, Antonio Urdapilleta and Verónica Valadez P.
Having participated at a number of Latin American works in progress events, the film premiered to critical praise in Sundance, where Variety’s Dennis Harvey acknowledged it as “something special.”
Set in the politically contentious Mexico City of 1986, the film follows 17-year-old Carlos through a year of turmoil as he distances himself from his mother and childhood friends whose interests no longer align with his own.
Using his punk front-woman sister and acumen for fixing electronic equipment,...
The deal was negotiated between Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Meg Longo, and Jason Ishikawa and Shane Riley from Cinetic Media on behalf of Madrid’s Latido films, which handles international sales.
Sama co-wrote the film with Rodrigo Ordóñez and Max Zunino, and co-produced with Ale García, Antonio Urdapilleta and Verónica Valadez P.
Having participated at a number of Latin American works in progress events, the film premiered to critical praise in Sundance, where Variety’s Dennis Harvey acknowledged it as “something special.”
Set in the politically contentious Mexico City of 1986, the film follows 17-year-old Carlos through a year of turmoil as he distances himself from his mother and childhood friends whose interests no longer align with his own.
Using his punk front-woman sister and acumen for fixing electronic equipment,...
- 5/18/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Team Experience reporting from Tribeca 2019. Here's Jason...
Most of us never have the benefit of being at the right cool place at the right cool time. Or even if we do we don't really get to realize that while its happening. It's only in hindsight that we can shape that experience into a start and finish; that our lives can be packaged for proper consumption. It's always too messy to start with --the hair's gotta come down and the high's gotta wear off before you can see anything straight.
That whole tale's right there in the title of This Is Not Berlin. Hari Sama's fierce new coming-of-age film does indeed not take place in Berlin, but rather astride the post-punk burgeoning New Wave art-scene of Mexico City in the mid-80s...
Most of us never have the benefit of being at the right cool place at the right cool time. Or even if we do we don't really get to realize that while its happening. It's only in hindsight that we can shape that experience into a start and finish; that our lives can be packaged for proper consumption. It's always too messy to start with --the hair's gotta come down and the high's gotta wear off before you can see anything straight.
That whole tale's right there in the title of This Is Not Berlin. Hari Sama's fierce new coming-of-age film does indeed not take place in Berlin, but rather astride the post-punk burgeoning New Wave art-scene of Mexico City in the mid-80s...
- 4/29/2019
- by JA
- FilmExperience
A supporting actress Oscar nominee for playing Alfonso Cuaron’s fictional mother in “Roma,” Marina de Tavira has played pivotal roles in Mexican adaptations of plays by Bertolt Brecht, Harold Pinter and David Mamet, appeared in TV series such as Amazon’s “Falco,” and films including Hari Sama’s Sundance entry, “This Is Not Berlin.”
How do you feel about your Oscar nomination?
It was such a huge surprise. I was expecting “Roma” to get nominations in various categories, but I wasn’t expecting a supporting actress nomination. I never imagined I would reach this point in my life.
Where did you get your inspiration for your character?
Firstly, Alfonso’s memories of his mother, then my own memories of my mother. I grew up in the mid-to-late ’70s, early ’80s. The character Sofia in “Roma” represents a whole generation of women who were in the same situation during that time,...
How do you feel about your Oscar nomination?
It was such a huge surprise. I was expecting “Roma” to get nominations in various categories, but I wasn’t expecting a supporting actress nomination. I never imagined I would reach this point in my life.
Where did you get your inspiration for your character?
Firstly, Alfonso’s memories of his mother, then my own memories of my mother. I grew up in the mid-to-late ’70s, early ’80s. The character Sofia in “Roma” represents a whole generation of women who were in the same situation during that time,...
- 2/15/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
There have been a lot of coming-of-age-in-the-punk-scene movies, not least because indie cinema really took off in the years immediately following the heyday of punk and New Wave, when the kids raised on that music were fresh out of film school. Still, Hari Sama’s fourth feature as writer-director is something special, and one of the best of its particular subgenre.
“This Is Not Berlin” deploys the wisdom of the director’s now-middle-aged perspective to provide what’s not just a portrait of adolescent liberation, but a snapshot of a moment in middle-class Mexican life whose larger sociopolitical context is both present yet mostly kept in the background (as in Alfonso Cuarón’s recent “Roma”). In the foreground is a vivid, often giddy, but also perilous world of hedonism for art’s sake in which the emerging threat of AIDS is seldom openly addressed yet omnipresent. With a coolness factor off the charts,...
“This Is Not Berlin” deploys the wisdom of the director’s now-middle-aged perspective to provide what’s not just a portrait of adolescent liberation, but a snapshot of a moment in middle-class Mexican life whose larger sociopolitical context is both present yet mostly kept in the background (as in Alfonso Cuarón’s recent “Roma”). In the foreground is a vivid, often giddy, but also perilous world of hedonism for art’s sake in which the emerging threat of AIDS is seldom openly addressed yet omnipresent. With a coolness factor off the charts,...
- 2/3/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
It opens in slow motion with teenage bodies wrestling and punching inside chaotic dust swirls, one boy (Xabiani Ponce de León’s Carlos) caught isolated in the middle of the frame. He’s not looking to hit any of the others. In fact he’s barely dodging out of the way when they come too close. It’s almost as though Carlos isn’t even there, his mind and body separated as two halves of the same conflicted whole. He knows he should be present with his friends to show his machismo and do Mexico proud like the soccer team soon to hit the 1986 World Cup pitch, but something is calling him in the distance that he can’t quite see. It’s punk metal versus new wave blues, hetero-normative conformity versus queer counter-culture.
Director Hari Sama’s opening scene to This Is Not Berlin is the perfect prologue for its rebellious themes.
Director Hari Sama’s opening scene to This Is Not Berlin is the perfect prologue for its rebellious themes.
- 1/30/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Starting this week, the 2019 Sundance Film Festival gives us a first glimpse at the year in cinema, but even if you won’t be at Park City, we’re rounding up an initial glimpse at the premieres. After highlighting our 20 most-anticipated films, bookmark this page for a continually-updated round-up of trailers and clips, kicking off with Velvet Buzzsaw, Apollo 11, Mope, We Are Little Zombies, The Hole in the Ground, and more.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Abe (Fernando Grostein Andrade)
Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller)
Ask Dr. Ruth (Ryan White)
Bedlam (Kenneth Paul Rosenberg)
Dirty God (Sacha Polak)
Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)
Gaza (Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell)
The Hole in the Ground (Lee Cronin)
The Last Tree (Shola Amoo)
Maiden (Alex Holmes)
Mope (Lucas Heyne)
Queen...
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Abe (Fernando Grostein Andrade)
Apollo 11 (Todd Douglas Miller)
Ask Dr. Ruth (Ryan White)
Bedlam (Kenneth Paul Rosenberg)
Dirty God (Sacha Polak)
Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)
Gaza (Garry Keane and Andrew McConnell)
The Hole in the Ground (Lee Cronin)
The Last Tree (Shola Amoo)
Maiden (Alex Holmes)
Mope (Lucas Heyne)
Queen...
- 1/21/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Writer-director Hari Sama’s fifth feature, “This is Not Berlin,” is set to world premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival. New York-based Cinema Tropical, a leading presenter of Latin American cinema in the U.S., has granted Variety exclusive access to the first trailer for the coming-of-age drama set in 1986 Mexico City.
Sama wrote, directed and his company Catatonia produced the semi-autobiographical feature, which impressed in works in progress sections at Impulso Morelia in October – where it scooped the Cinepolis Distribución Award and a special mention from the Jury – and Ventana Sur’s Copia Final in December.
The film boasts an ensemble cast led by two newcomers Xabiani Ponce de León and José Antonio Toledano, along with “Roma” star Marina de Tavira and popular Mexican TV actress Ximena Romo. Sama himself makes an appearance as well.
In the trailer, we see the drug and art-fueled world of political...
Sama wrote, directed and his company Catatonia produced the semi-autobiographical feature, which impressed in works in progress sections at Impulso Morelia in October – where it scooped the Cinepolis Distribución Award and a special mention from the Jury – and Ventana Sur’s Copia Final in December.
The film boasts an ensemble cast led by two newcomers Xabiani Ponce de León and José Antonio Toledano, along with “Roma” star Marina de Tavira and popular Mexican TV actress Ximena Romo. Sama himself makes an appearance as well.
In the trailer, we see the drug and art-fueled world of political...
- 1/21/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Buenos Aires — Ugc Distribution has beaten out all other suitors to clinch what had became by Friday morning the most anticipated deal of this year’s Ventana Sur market: All rights to France on Argentine Mariano Cohn’s “4 x 4,” sold by Latido Films and distributed throughout Argentina by Disney.
After mounting speculation about which distributor would finally win out on France, the deal was closed by Ugc’s Thierry Decourcelle and Latido Films Juan Torres.
The sale vindicates Latido and the producers’ decision to bring “4 x 4” onto the market at a private screening at Ventana Sur, attended this year by more than 100 French executives.
Stoking the drama of Thursday’s screening, it took place in torrential rain, but top-class screening conditions.
One of the biggest new titles at Ventana Sur, sitting in the mid-ground between arthouse and mainstream – it’s a thriller but makes caustic social comment about the vindictiveness...
After mounting speculation about which distributor would finally win out on France, the deal was closed by Ugc’s Thierry Decourcelle and Latido Films Juan Torres.
The sale vindicates Latido and the producers’ decision to bring “4 x 4” onto the market at a private screening at Ventana Sur, attended this year by more than 100 French executives.
Stoking the drama of Thursday’s screening, it took place in torrential rain, but top-class screening conditions.
One of the biggest new titles at Ventana Sur, sitting in the mid-ground between arthouse and mainstream – it’s a thriller but makes caustic social comment about the vindictiveness...
- 12/15/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Buenos Aires — In the first deal to be announced on a title in Ventana Sur’s three live-action feature competitions, Madrid-based Latido Films, headed by Antonio Saura, has acquired world rights outside Mexico on Hari Sama’s Copia Final contender “This Is Not Berlin.”
Latido’s buy, celebrated with a handshake at Ventana Sur, effectively re-calibrates the film’s commercial status, taking it off there market for other sales agents but giving “This Is Not Berlin” the prestige of a blue-chip sales agent, one of the biggest specialists in Spanish-language titles, before Sama’s new feature screens Tuesday in Copia Final.
Some sort of deal was always on the cards for Sama’s fifth feature. It won two prizes at Impulso Morelia and has been selected for Sundance’s World Dramatic Competition.
The deal also says much about one way the independent market is going – ever more towards accessible but singular titles with entertainment appeal.
Latido’s buy, celebrated with a handshake at Ventana Sur, effectively re-calibrates the film’s commercial status, taking it off there market for other sales agents but giving “This Is Not Berlin” the prestige of a blue-chip sales agent, one of the biggest specialists in Spanish-language titles, before Sama’s new feature screens Tuesday in Copia Final.
Some sort of deal was always on the cards for Sama’s fifth feature. It won two prizes at Impulso Morelia and has been selected for Sundance’s World Dramatic Competition.
The deal also says much about one way the independent market is going – ever more towards accessible but singular titles with entertainment appeal.
- 12/11/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Buenos Aires — 11 takes on the biggest Ventana Sur yet, in initiatives and initial business announcements:
1.Cannes’ Most Daring Move?
Over the last decade, film festivals two biggest growth roadmaps have run through strengthening their industry heft, aiding an ever more challenged independent film business, and to morph into all-year-round structures. The Cannes Festival and Film Market made its biggest move on both counts in 2009, launching Ventana Sur, a market for Latin American films, hand-in-hand with Argentina’s Incaa film-tv agency. For Cannes, it was a leap in the dark. The result? Last decade saw governments in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Chile step up hugely government film funding. Ventana Sur helped school these burgeoning production industries in the tools for international market reach. Even in a contracting overseas arthouse market, sales on Latin American movies rose exponentially.
2.Co-production: One Way Forward For The Independent Business
That market is especially challenged.
1.Cannes’ Most Daring Move?
Over the last decade, film festivals two biggest growth roadmaps have run through strengthening their industry heft, aiding an ever more challenged independent film business, and to morph into all-year-round structures. The Cannes Festival and Film Market made its biggest move on both counts in 2009, launching Ventana Sur, a market for Latin American films, hand-in-hand with Argentina’s Incaa film-tv agency. For Cannes, it was a leap in the dark. The result? Last decade saw governments in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Chile step up hugely government film funding. Ventana Sur helped school these burgeoning production industries in the tools for international market reach. Even in a contracting overseas arthouse market, sales on Latin American movies rose exponentially.
2.Co-production: One Way Forward For The Independent Business
That market is especially challenged.
- 12/10/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Hari Sama’s “This Is Not Berlin,” a buzzed-up contender in next week’s Copia Final, charts a teen’s rebellion at the social stupor of Mexico in 1986, sunk in repressive conservatism, World Cup herd fervor, and the frat-boy sexism of his classmates.
Carted off to a night-club as payback for mending a synthesizer, he discovers a dazzling anti-system nightlife of death post-punk, drugs, avant-garde art and, for Mexico of that time, avant-garde sex, single sex or hetero, but with the women making the moves.
Sama’s heartfelt retro but vital and very autobiographical tribute to the 1980s, “This Is Not Berlin,” portrays a Mexico where outrage at Mexico’s ruling elite was a badge-of-honor of the outrageous minority.
30 years later that sentiment has gone mainstream. The victory of Amlo in Mexico was a vote for radical change in a country beset by corruption and narco civil war. Few films...
Carted off to a night-club as payback for mending a synthesizer, he discovers a dazzling anti-system nightlife of death post-punk, drugs, avant-garde art and, for Mexico of that time, avant-garde sex, single sex or hetero, but with the women making the moves.
Sama’s heartfelt retro but vital and very autobiographical tribute to the 1980s, “This Is Not Berlin,” portrays a Mexico where outrage at Mexico’s ruling elite was a badge-of-honor of the outrageous minority.
30 years later that sentiment has gone mainstream. The victory of Amlo in Mexico was a vote for radical change in a country beset by corruption and narco civil war. Few films...
- 12/6/2018
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Women fighting back. Three of the six titles in Ventana Sur’s Copia Final this year picture women confronting outrage or tragedy – gender violence (“Do You Like Me?”), the abduction of a new born baby (“Song Without a Name”) or the death of a husband (“Venezia”) – and reacting, in multifarious fashions.
“Do You Like Me?” has a thriller edge. Three more, underscoring Latin American cinema’s current broad range, show Latin American filmmakers enrolling mainstream beats to appeal beyond traditional arthouse audiences in more accessible titles, whether in an unusual immigration drama (“Marionette”), or via empathy with a challenged protagonist (“The Friendly Man”) or a straight-up coming of age tale (“This Is Not Berlin”).
Set in Buenos Aires’ housing projects, “Do You Like Me?” starts as a crime thriller, then bucks generic commonplaces as it delivers a numbing gender violence and revenge drama. Authentic in setting, observance of daily...
“Do You Like Me?” has a thriller edge. Three more, underscoring Latin American cinema’s current broad range, show Latin American filmmakers enrolling mainstream beats to appeal beyond traditional arthouse audiences in more accessible titles, whether in an unusual immigration drama (“Marionette”), or via empathy with a challenged protagonist (“The Friendly Man”) or a straight-up coming of age tale (“This Is Not Berlin”).
Set in Buenos Aires’ housing projects, “Do You Like Me?” starts as a crime thriller, then bucks generic commonplaces as it delivers a numbing gender violence and revenge drama. Authentic in setting, observance of daily...
- 11/26/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Morelia — At Friday night’s closing ceremony for the Morelia Film festival, winners of this year’s Impulso Morelia, the Works in Progress section of the fest, handed out awards to a handful of projects screened from Wednesday through Friday.
This year’s Impulso Morelia jury consisted of Bafta Nominee and César winning filmmaker Nicolas Philibert (“To Be and to Have”); multi-award-winning writer-director Josué Méndez (“Días de Santiago”); and Mirsad Purivatra, founder and director of the Sarajevo Festival.
That jury selected the winner of the Morelia International Film Festival award, Gian Cassini’s autobiographical documentary “Comala.” The prize comes with a $200,000 pesos, a cash prize to be used in the post-production of the film.
An industry audience was impressed by the film, especially its story – Cassini’s hunt to learn the truth about his family, particularly his father and half-brother who were victims of incredibly violent assassinations. The consensus seemed...
This year’s Impulso Morelia jury consisted of Bafta Nominee and César winning filmmaker Nicolas Philibert (“To Be and to Have”); multi-award-winning writer-director Josué Méndez (“Días de Santiago”); and Mirsad Purivatra, founder and director of the Sarajevo Festival.
That jury selected the winner of the Morelia International Film Festival award, Gian Cassini’s autobiographical documentary “Comala.” The prize comes with a $200,000 pesos, a cash prize to be used in the post-production of the film.
An industry audience was impressed by the film, especially its story – Cassini’s hunt to learn the truth about his family, particularly his father and half-brother who were victims of incredibly violent assassinations. The consensus seemed...
- 10/27/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Lila Avilés snagged the top prize at Friday night’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival closing ceremony with her debut feature, “The Chambermaid” (“La Camarista”), which world premiered at Toronto. It also took the Warrior of the Press award.
“Llegamos! Llegamos!” (“We made it! We made it!”), screamed Avilés all the way from her seat to the stage, before breathlessly explaining her excitement. “I used up all of my savings to make this film.”
Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “Museo,” starring Mexico’s most marketable actor Gael García Bernal, had the biggest impact on the public, scoring the Audience Award for best Mexican film. Best director also went to Ruizpalacios.
This year’s festival jury boasted a lineup as impressive as the competition itself. Led by writer-director Lynne Ramsay, the jury included filmmaker Patrice Leconte (“Monsieur Hire”), actor-director-producer Diego Luna, Efm founder Beki Probst and Academy Award-winning producer Adele Romanski.
The festival doled out...
“Llegamos! Llegamos!” (“We made it! We made it!”), screamed Avilés all the way from her seat to the stage, before breathlessly explaining her excitement. “I used up all of my savings to make this film.”
Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “Museo,” starring Mexico’s most marketable actor Gael García Bernal, had the biggest impact on the public, scoring the Audience Award for best Mexican film. Best director also went to Ruizpalacios.
This year’s festival jury boasted a lineup as impressive as the competition itself. Led by writer-director Lynne Ramsay, the jury included filmmaker Patrice Leconte (“Monsieur Hire”), actor-director-producer Diego Luna, Efm founder Beki Probst and Academy Award-winning producer Adele Romanski.
The festival doled out...
- 10/27/2018
- by Jamie Lang and Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Morelia — This year’s Impulso Morelia, the festival’s works in progress section for Mexican films, runs Wednesday to Friday, and ends with writer-director – and in this case supporting actor – Hari Sama’s semi-autobiographical coming of age film “This is Not Berlin.”
Set in the art-filled, politically charged world of 1986 Mexico City, the film turns on two best friends and neighbors bored with their lives in the suburbs. Carlos and Gera do everything together, from fighting to school projects, sneaking out at night and selling Gera’s dad’s porn collection to horny classmates.
Gera’s older sister is a punk rock poet who fully embraces the massive social changes of the era, and thanks to her the boys are able to make their way into the very heart of the alternative art scene. More and more frequently the pair escape to the drug-fueled world of barely-legal night clubs and become overwhelmed by the sex,...
Set in the art-filled, politically charged world of 1986 Mexico City, the film turns on two best friends and neighbors bored with their lives in the suburbs. Carlos and Gera do everything together, from fighting to school projects, sneaking out at night and selling Gera’s dad’s porn collection to horny classmates.
Gera’s older sister is a punk rock poet who fully embraces the massive social changes of the era, and thanks to her the boys are able to make their way into the very heart of the alternative art scene. More and more frequently the pair escape to the drug-fueled world of barely-legal night clubs and become overwhelmed by the sex,...
- 10/24/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
More than 60 films were submitted to form part of the 4th Impulso Morelia, the works in progress section of the Morelia Film Festival taking place this week in the pre-Colombian Mexican city.
This year’s crop of projects, as much if not more than ever before, demonstrates the reflective capabilities of Mexican filmmakers in regards to their country. Most of the films take a long and critical look at the Mexican government, the country’s culture and its people in a time when that’s not always the safest thing to do. In March of last year three film students in Guadalajara were kidnapped, killed and their bodies dissolved in acid only days after the Guadalajara Film Festival. Their only crime: Filming in a house they didn’t know belonged to a drug cartel.
“One thing that always strikes me in Mexico is the ability of its cinema to have...
This year’s crop of projects, as much if not more than ever before, demonstrates the reflective capabilities of Mexican filmmakers in regards to their country. Most of the films take a long and critical look at the Mexican government, the country’s culture and its people in a time when that’s not always the safest thing to do. In March of last year three film students in Guadalajara were kidnapped, killed and their bodies dissolved in acid only days after the Guadalajara Film Festival. Their only crime: Filming in a house they didn’t know belonged to a drug cartel.
“One thing that always strikes me in Mexico is the ability of its cinema to have...
- 10/19/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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