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Last year proved fairly spectacular for Spanish animation with “Robot Dreams” scoring a best animated feature Oscar nomination, “Sultana’s Dream” winning the Annecy Festival’s Contrechamp, its biggest sidebar, and “Buffalo Kids” proving the third most popular local movie in Spain, grossing €5.2 million ($5.4 million) while breaking out to substantial sales abroad.

“Robot Dreams” and “Buffalo Kids” were produced out of Catalan capital Barcelona. Two of the five producers on “Sultana’s Dream,” however, are based out of the Basque Country: San Sebastian’s Sultana Films, the production label of director Isabel Herguera, and UniKo, behind Alberto Vázquez’s “Unicorn Wars,” a Gkids U.S. pickup, and “Homeless Home,” an Annecy Best Short winner.

In 2025, Basque cinema looks on track to grab more international limelight as it builds as an animation hub. Reasons for that growth also suggests why animation is one of the most exciting futures for international cinema.

Chile’s most bankable stars, Paulina Garcia (“Gloria”), Alfredo Castro (“El Conde”) and Luis Gnecco (“No”), are leading the voice cast in the upcoming animated feature “Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope.” Producer Sebastián Freund (“Dad to the Rescue”), who launched Rizco Content Sales with partner Ángel Zambrano last October at Iberseries, has pounced on the international streaming rights to the toon and boarded as an executive producer.

“Securing the international streaming rights for this vital and emblematic project, which portrays a significant chapter in the shared history of Chile, Spain, and Argentina, marks a major milestone for our agency and the global market for diverse audiences,” said Freund, who is attending Ventana Sur where the project participates in the annual event’s Animation! Wip section.

Co-produced by Spain’s La Ballesta and Dibulitoon Studio, Chile’s El Otro Film, and Argentina’s Malabar Prods, “Winnipeg” unfolds through the reflections of 86-year-old Julia,...

In 2002, “Ogu and Mampato in Rapa Nui” became Chile’s first animated feature since the silent “Vida y milagros de Don Fausto” in 1924. Less than two decades later, five animated Chilean features in various stages of production are pitching at the Cannes Marché du Film.

That kind of growth would be surprising if it weren’t mirroring a larger shift seen in the country’s screen industries as a whole. There are few territories where domestic production and international co-production are more vibrant and exciting than Chile, whether in live action or animation, film or TV. In fact, two years before Sebastián Lelio’s “A Fantastic Woman” won the international feature Oscar, Punkrobot’s “Bear Story” became the first-ever Chilean film to win an Academy Award as 2016’s best animated short.

Last year, “Nahuel and the Magic Book” was the third consecutive Chilean film to play in competition at the Annecy Animation Festival,...

“Shadows,” “Winnipeg,” and “Sheba” feature among 10 nominated in the running for a Eurimages Award at this year’s Cartoon Movie, one of Europe’s principal animated movies forums.

The Eurimages Co-production Development Award will be the only prize granted at 2021’s Cartoon Movie online edition, which will not feature traditional tributes nor a territory spotlight.

Nadia Micault’s first-feature, “Shadows” is based on the same-titled French fantasy graphic novel by Vincent Zabus & Vincent Tavier. One of many projects at Cartoon Movie this year addressing migration, in “Shadows” two children flee a region devastated by blood-thirsty horsemen in order to seek a better life in the Other World. France’s Autour de Minuit and Schmuby produce in co-production with Belgium’s Panique.

Co-produced by Spain’s La Ballesta, Chile’s El Otro Film and France’s Marmitafilms, “Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope” tells the story of the ship that poet and former...

Pitched at Annecy, “Primeras” (Firsts) is a 2D TV project which underscores how the industry is driving ever more into issues of gender and inclusion.

Part of the La Liga Focus, and produced by Chile’s Typpo Creative Lab –co-developed along Bernardita Ojeda’s Pájaro Studio,– the 13-episode anthology series turns on Latin American and all-over-the-world women pioneers in fields of knowledge, sports and culture which had historically been reserved for men. Tatiana Calderón, the first woman tester in Formula One, Japan’s Junko Tabei, the first woman to top the Everest, Prudencia Ayala, a first female presidential candidate and Eloísa Díaz, Chile’s first female doctor, make the cut.

Also included are Gabriela Mistral – all Latin American Nobel Prize winners before her had been men,– Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexico’s ground-breaking 17th century female poet, South African Desiré Wilson, first and only woman to ever win a Formula One race,...

“Winnipeg, the Seed of Hope,” the Quirino Awards winner of a special call for projects made by La Liga – a joint venture of Argentina’s Animation!, Mexico’s Pixelatl and Spain’s Quirinos – will form part of a La Liga Annecy showcase featuring a bevy of the most anticipated animation titles from Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

One of Annecy’s Mifa market territory focuses, the La Liga spread bows Wednesday, June 17, online for delegates at Annecy, the world’s biggest animation event.

Adapting a graphic novel by Spain’s Laura Martel, “Winnipeg, Neruda’s Ship,” the project was initially created by Toni Marín, an executive producer on Ignacio Ferreras’ Annecy special distinction winner “Wrinkles,” based out of Barcelona’s La Ballesta.

Chile’s El Otro Film, France’s Marmitafilms and Spain’s 3 Doubles Producciones have boarded the project.

“Winnipeg, the Seed of Hope” tells a largely unknown true story — the odyssey of 2,200 Spanish refugees,...

“Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope,” “Bffs! Best Friends Forever Stranded!” and “Sex Symbols” are among five new finalists selected to participate in La Liga, the animation umbrella created to promote the Ibero-American animation sector worldwide between Spain’s Quirino Awards, Argentina’s Animation! and Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival.

The eventual winning project will be chosen at the upcoming edition of the Quirino Awards in April and given the opportunity to pitch at La Liga in Focus at Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival’s Mifa market.

“Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope” is co-produced by Toni Marín at La Ballesta (Spain) and Marianne Mayer-Beckh at El Otro Film (Chile). Based on Laura Martel’s script from her graphic novel, “Winnipeg, Neruda’s Ship,” it tells the story of the ship that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda chartered to save more than 2,000 Spanish refugees in France after the Spanish Civil War. It’s directed by Elio Quiroga (“The Cold Hour”).

“Bffs!

Cartoon Brew has debuted the list of the thirty-three films up for consideration in the Best Animated Short category for the upcoming 2011 Oscars and I have done my very best to find a video for each and every one. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find anything for Rao Heidmets's Inherent Obligations or Don Hertzfeldt's Wisdom Teeth so if anyone out there can help find video for those either let me know in the comments or shoot me an email.

Otherwise, spend some time over the next three pages to preview some really cool videos. I had a chance to preview a few of them while putting this article together, but have yet to check them all out. So let me know which ones are your favorites and which ones don't really do it for you.

Additionally, if any of the people that made these films are reading this...

After a couple of light on horror weeks, we are finally treated to a bumper crop of new releases. Headlining the week is Frozen, which is just what we in Southern California need to stave off our current heat wave. A couple of oldies but goodies are out, too, as Madman celebrates its Happy 30th Birthday and the original King Kong comes to Blu-ray. Fangoria's eight FrightFest titles bow as well.

Frozen

Directed by Adam Green

In Frozen (review), Adam Green has crafted a potent combination of absolute terror and compelling human drama that will stick with you long after you've left the theatre or turned off the DVD. One thing's for sure: The next time your friends invite you on a ski weekend, odds are you'll try to convince them to head to the beach instead. Frozen stars Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell and Kevin Zegers.

Buy the Blu-ray or the regular DVD.

Dark House Poster

The 2010 Fangoria Frightfest film entries are moving to DVD this week through Phase 4. This series released in Canada September 21st and the Us release is scheduled for September 28th. Films included: mysterious thriller The Tomb, the suspenseful The Haunting, the goreific Pig Hunt, the dismal Hunger, the disturbing Grimm Love, the original Road Kill, shocker Fragile and this year's winner of the event Dark House. This film festival competition was successful because of fan support and horror enthusiasts can have a look at the DVD special features for each of the titles listed here inside.

Dark House

Director: Darin Scott.

Producer: Mark Sonoda.

Cast: Jeffrey Combs (House on Haunted Hill), Meghan Ory (John Tucker Must Die), and Diane Salinger .

The synopsis for Dark House:

"A group of hot young drama students are recruited to work in a new 'haunted house' attraction by flamboyant, impresario Walston Rey...

While most European horrors are battling each other for shock value, the Spanish still seem more intrigued by the more classical horror themes. And with success as they've proven numerous times before. After [Rec] and El Orphanato more of the good stuff is coming our way. Quiroga is releasing No-Do (retitled The Haunting) upon us, turning what should have been a rather tedious ghost flick into one lovely chiller of a film.

If the name Elio Quiroga doesn't ring a bell it's not because he's a novice but because his films can't seem to land a decent audience (at least outside of Spain). This is about to change as the Frightfest people picked up No-Do and decided it worthy for distribution. No doubt a great chance for someone like Quiroga to gather himself an international audience and to harvest some praise for his hard work.

No-Do is essentially just another haunted house flick.

Choosing the big-screen fate of the eight Fangoria FrightFest movies begins next Monday, June 21, and one of the films yearning for your votes to win a theatrical release in the on-line sweepstakes (go here for more details) is the atmospheric Spanish spookfest The Haunting, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Elio Quiroga. See the exclusive trailer below the jump and in the homepage rotator.

Fangoria will show The Haunting aka No-Do at Frightfest if the film garners enough votes from horror fans and the trailer below shows supernatural spirits coming out of the walls and in to your imagination below. Also to release on DVD August 6th, The Haunting is a ghost story taken from "newsreels about unexplainable phenomena" (Fangoria). So, step inside director Eli Quiroga dark vision of "eerie specters" and then cast your vote for the film at Fangoria's Frighfest contest, with a link found below (begins June 21st).

The synopsis for The Haunting:

"The Haunting aka No-Do and The Beckoning, follows new parent Francesca (Ana Torrent), who’s consumed by motherhood, postpartum depression and a bevy of shadowy figures and eerie specters, all threatening to drive her mad. "The Haunting is a ghost story about people who can see invisible things,” Quiroga says, “and also the story of the people...

Fangoria’s FrightFest (see previous item here and go to www.fangoriafrightfest.com for more details) is nearing its summer debut, and one of the films yearning for your votes to win a theatrical release in the on-line sweepstakes is the atmospheric Spanish spookfest The Haunting, written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Elio Quiroga. See the exclusive DVD art below the jump!

Cool news from the cool people over at Fangoria: this summer they will be distributing eight horror films in a multi-platform program with the label "FrightFest". Through partnering with Lightning Media these films will be made available on DVD, Video-On-Demand and Digital Download.

 

Even more cool: on the FrightFest website readers can vote which of these films should get a theatrical release in July. Right now the site just shows the selected titles but trailers, clips and featurettes should follow soon.

 

And the titles are not to be sneezed at: James Isaac's "Pig Hunt", Jaume Balagueró's "Fragile", Steven Hentges' "Hunger", Dean Francis' "Road Train", Darin Scott's "Dark House", Martin Weisz' "Grimm Love", Elio Quiroga's "No-Do: The Beckoning", and finally Michael Staininger's "Ligeia".

 

Something for everyone I'm sure you'll agree. Granted, some of these titles are quite old and well known already from the festival circuit (wow,...

http://latinhorror.com/frightfest/

Long-time horror staple Fangoria announced today that it has teamed up with multi-faceted distributor Lightning Media to launch a new film distribution entity named "Fangoria FrightFest," and plans to release eight horror feature films under the banner via a wide-ranging DVD, VOD and digital download deal, with fans additionally choosing one of the selected films for a theatrical distribution run.

Listed among the eight releases are two Latin horror titles: Fragile (finally!) from Rec and Rec 2 helmer Jaume Balagueró (word is there will be a third in that series - 'Rec Apocalypse,' but I digress), and 'The Haunting,' which is fronted by Elio Quiroga. Both directors hail from Spain, a treasure trove of great horror films the last decade.

A similar deal was announced recently between After Dark Films, Lionsgate, and Syfy under the 'After Dark Originals' moniker (read 'Adf Ties Not With Lionsgate & Syfy'). Unfortunately,...

The Dark Hour, or La Hora Fria is a Spanish language horror film that was completed in 2006, sent to several film festivals, and is likely moving towards a N. American release date through Lightning Entertainment (a prediction). Definitely in the sci-fi realm, The Dark Hour envisions a world in the future where mankind is on the brink of extinction. Facing starvation the few survivors, of an underground complex, make their way to the surface to find hope for a tomorrow. Already shown at The Austin Fantastic Fest, and the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, The Dark Hour has been released on DVD in Japan and Spain, but not N. America. Likely to be available shortly, a low quality trailer can be found inside, with a higher quality trailer provided from the film's homepage. Have a read of the synopsis, which predicts a bleak future of warfare and insecurity.

The synopsis...

It's time to see if your shorts and features made the cut - Shriekfest 2009, which runs October 1st-4th, 2009, has released the titles of those films that have made its 2009 Finalists list.

The judges must be busy with the long list of titles that have made it thus far. Included among them is a short film from some of our very own, "Thirsty", directed by Andrew Kasch, written by Joe Knetter, screenplay by David Rosiak, shot by Buz Wallick, and starring Joe Lynch and Tiffany Shepis. I've seen the film and it's a riot; let's hope the judges agree!

Here's the rundown of the features that are Finalists:

"Dark House"

directed by Darin Scott

"Dawning"

directed by Gregg Holtgrewe

"Evil Angel"

directed by Richard Dutcher

"Evilution"

directed by Chris Conlee

"How to be a Serial Killer"

directed by Luke Ricci

"Hurt"

directed by Barbara Stepansky

"Lo"

directed by Travis Betz...

The Dark Hour Directed by Elio Quiroga Any attempt to unearth hidden meaning behind Spain's Sci-Fi thriller The Dark Hour would simply give it too much credit. While watching this film, it becomes glaringly obvious that writer-director Elio Quiroga heavily borrows visuals and themes from the Alien franchise, but fails miserably to evoke the same tension. After an apocalyptic war forces a group of eight people to live in an underground installation, they must not only contend with each other, but a diseased community known as the Strangers and their ominous cousins, called the Invisibles. Like the Alien movies, Quiroga's protagonists barricade themselves in claustrophobic hangers, run down dark narrow hallways with lights affixed to their weapons, use the creatures to off their human adversaries and involve themselves in a cat and mouse chase at the end.  The similarities are astounding.  Even the cold tones of Ángel Luis Fernández's...

The 2009 edition of the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival - Pifan for short - has just announced the lineup for the 2009 edition and, as always, it is stellar. The live action adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Mw occupies the opening night slot with Indonesian martial arts film Merantau as the closing night film. In between? Indonesian slasher Macabre, Mamoru Oshii written and produced anime Musashi, Jonathan King’s Under The Mountain, Sion Sono’s Love Exposure, Elio Quiroga’s No Do, Kyle Rankin’s giant bug flick Infestation, and, of course, the traditional ‘so much more’. I’m on the short film jury at Pifan this year so expect a steady stream of updates.

Find the trailers for Mw and Merantau below the break!

We are great fans of Spanish film maker Elio Quiroga in these parts, in no small part due to his genre-mashing tour de force La Hora Fria - or The Dark Hour - a film that didn’t find nearly the audience it deserved with its ambitious blend of post-apocalyptic scifi horror. Since La Hora Fria, Quiroga has been hard at work on his next film, No Do, a picture which once again fuses genres into a unique and compelling blend. Is it a haunted house story? Religious conspiracy theory? A loss-driven drama? Yes to all, and it’s a wee bit more, besides. Here’s how the sales agent describes it:

The film tells the story of Francesca, a young pediatrician who has been traumatized by the loss of a child through crib death. When the family moves to a new home in the country, supposedly to help her recover from the experience,...

Year: 2006

Directors: Elio Quiroga

Writers: Elio Quiroga

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Amazon link: link (R2 DVD)

Review by: Ben Austwick

Rating: 7 out of 10

Spanish post-apocalyptic thriller “The Dark Hour” is an understated piece of cinema that resists the temptation to indulge in distracting set pieces in favour of a dark and moody atmosphere. Why then director Elio Quioga felt the need to spoil the good work with an overblown final twist that would have been rejected by M Night Shyamalan is anyone’s guess.

Jesus is a boy on the cusp of adolescence living in a claustrophobic network of underground bunkers following a nuclear and biological holocaust, a surrogate family consisting of a handful of young adults and a slightly older teenage girl his only companions. This claustrophobic world is presented ambiguously, with cordoned-off areas of the bunker hinting at lurking danger, and strange black-and-white propaganda programmes about nuclear, biological...

In the final part of my 2009 American Film Market report and review roundup, I tackle another 11 movies that I caught during my annual Santa Monica moviegoing orgy. For an overview of the trip, see here; the first batch of reviews can be found here. And for more information on the Afm, held each November in Los Angeles, go here.

Not Quite Hollywood: Fans of “Ozploitation” will jump over the barbie for Mark Hartley’s winning documentary on exploitation films produced in Australia since the ’70s, tackling everything from Patrick to Wolf Creek. Just about anyone ever associated with an Australian genre film is interviewed here, including actors (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach on Road Games; Dennis Hopper on Mad Dog Morgan), directors (George Miller, Brian Trenchard-Smith, the late Richard Franklin), screenwriters (Everett De Roche, who wrote almost every Aussie fright flick) and producers (Antony Ginnane, who wrangled financing for...

Yes, I realize that I’m using the Spanish poster for this film to accompany the English language trailer which calls the film by a different title and, yes, I realize this might be confusing for some but I’ve got a particular fondness for this poster so that’s just how it’s going to be.

The Beckoning - or No Do in the Spanish speaking world - is the latest film from La Hora Fria (The Cold Hours) writer / director / producer / effects whiz Elio Quiroga and was one of my more anticipated screenings at this year’s edition of Afm. Why? Because La Hora Fria is pretty much a textbook example of how to make a solid genre film on a tight budget and is one solid, solid picture that hasn’t generated near the love that it deserves and my hope was that Quiroga would finally turn some heads with this one.

**Please Note: This will be at the top for a while; be sure to scroll down for updated news stories!** Horror may currently be in a slump, but the 2008 American Film Market has shown a huge light at the end of the tunnel. This year showcased a record number of horror titles and Dread Central was on hand to catch a great deal of them. Some were good, some were bad but all showed that this genre still has plenty of lifeblood left. Many exhibitors were also kind enough to show us movie promos, while others coldly showed us the door (Lesbian Vampire Killers, I’m looking at you). The most promising show previews were easily Night of the Demons and Clive Barker’s Dread, with plenty of new projects being announced. Check out our full Afm '08 coverage here.

So without further ado, we present you with our yearly...

The trailer for Elio Quiroga's next just dropped, and while it looks like your simple haunted house with a past story I have very high expectations. I really hope this is as good as La Hora Fría.

"The film tells the story of Francesca, a young pediatrician who has been traumatized by the loss of a child through crib death. When the family moves to a new home in the country, supposedly to help her recover from the experience, she begins seeing completely inexplicable things. Even worse she gradually faces the possibility of going completely mad because of the visions and apparitions she continuously witnesses. The answer to Francesca’s problem is hidden in some “secret No-do’s”, news programmer made in the forties to inform Church leaders about miraculous happenings in Spain, and which are thought to have disappeared."

Check it out after the break. Special thanks to...

My final full day at the American Film Market pretty much confirmed what I’ve suspected all along here - that most distributors are holding their big titles back for Berlin - which made the pickings pretty slim in the screening rooms. This isn’t to say I didn’t see anything I liked - Happy Flight was more than solid and we can expect a review from James Hadfield out of Tokyo soon, and Elio Quiroga’s No Do proved once again that he is Spain’s master of high concepts and stunning effects executed on zero budget, though the film is not without some flaws - but most of the best stuff existed in promo-reel format only. And the top three?

Bronson. Yes, we’ve talked about Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson rather a lot here and, yes, we’re still in love with the trailer. We’re...

It was just yesterday that we posted the international sales poster for No Do - known as The Beckoning outside of Spain - the latest project from La Hora Fria (The Cold Hours) director Elio Quiroga. We’re still waiting for a trailer on this one - and expecting rather a lot from it since La Hora Fria was pretty much a textbook example of what talent can accomplish on a budget - but in the meantime we’ve just stumbled across the official - and much superior, in my opinion - Spanish poster for the film. Very nice.

Shot in Spanish with substantial high-tech effects, “No-do” is a horror story in which a woman sees ghosts. The explanation to their appearance lies in an old No-do newsreel (i.e., one of the state-sanctioned documentaries made during Franco’s regime).

The film speculates around the little known “Secret No-DOs”, made...

The sales agent for Elio's next was kind enough to pass us the one sheet and a lengthy synopsis for his latest film which we've been waiting on what seems like forever. For those who don't know Quioroga, he did the fantastic post apocalyptic film La Hora Fria (or The Dark Hour), and while it Still hasn't seen a R1 DVD release, you can get it from Brazil with English subs.

"There is a belief that when something horrible happens in a house, something evil, the souls of the victims remain behind, unable to move on, reaching out to the living, seeking justice for the horrors they have suffered...

Francesca and Pedro are the parents of a new baby, one that they hope will mend their tense relationship. But a tragedy from Francesca's past continues to weigh upon her and test her fragile emotional state of mind. The couple seek peace and quiet,...

Spanish director Elio Quiroga made a lot of fans in these parts with his film La Hora Fria (The Cold Hours), a stunning little post apocalyptic genre bender revolving around a small band of humans trying to survive in an underground bunker after a catastrophic event unleashed both aliens and zombie-like hordes upon the earth. La Hora Fria is a perfect example of what talent can accomplish on a budget and we’ve been awaiting the next from Quiroga ever since.

Well, announced back in December of 2006 - we have the first stills here - that film is No Do, a ghost story that has been held up in post production for over a year but is now complete and about to take a bow at the upcoming American Film Market under it’s new international title The Beckoning. Here’s what we know:

Shot in Spanish with substantial high-tech effects,...