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When Spanish multi-hyphenate Elena Martín Gimeno first got a call to say she would be this year’s recipient of the Málaga Talent Award at the prestigious Malaga Film Festival, she felt it was a “full circle moment.” Having premiered her feature debut “Júlia Ist” at the festival almost a decade ago, the director credits the launchpad as having “made her career possible,” catapulting her to premiere her sophomore effort “Creatura” to great acclaim at Directors’ Fortnight in 2023.

Gimeno directed, wrote and starred in “Creatura,” which went on to win Best European Film at Directors’ Fortnight, six Gaudí Awards, and three nominations for the Goya Awards.

As a director and screenwriter, on top of her two feature films, Gimeno has worked on fiction projects such as Canneseries double winner “Vida Perfecta” by Leticia Dolera and “Veneno” by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, their first big international breakout. The creative also...

Con Arantxa Echevarría, David Trueba, Estel Díaz, Icíar Bollaín y Marcel Barrena. © Atresmedia

El Festival de Málaga ha sido el escenario de una mesa redonda organizada por Atresmedia Cine centrada en analizar la situación presente y futura del cine español. Con un debate que reunió a cinco cineastas clave en el panorama español actual como lo son Arantxa Echevarría (La infiltrada), David Trueba (Saben aquell), Ester Díaz (Red Flags), Iciar Bollaín (Soy Nevenka) y Marcel Barrena (El 47), en la conversación se abordaron temas como la crisis del cine, la evolución del público joven y la importancia de las narrativas por las que se apuestan en la industria audiovisual contemporánea.

Y es que, uno de los pilares sobre los que se ha sustentado esta mesa redonda realizada en el marco del 28 Festival de Málaga ha sido la recurrencia con la que el cine sufre periodos de crisis. En este contexto, Marcel...

Screenwriter Paul Laverty has made a name for himself with social realist movies with long-term friend and creative partner Ken Loach, such as Cannes Palme D’Or winners I, Daniel Blake and The Wind That Shakes the Barley.

Born in Calcutta, India to an Irish mother and a Scottish father, he earned a philosophy degree in Rome and worked, in the mid-1980s, for a human rights organization in Nicaragua. Nowadays, he lives in Edinburgh. Currently, the creative is attending the 15th edition of the Luxembourg City Film Festival where he is a member of the jury led by Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and attended by such stars as Tim Roth.

There, Laverty talked to THR about the role of film amid the current state of the world, hopes to work with his partner, Spanish filmmaker Icíar Bollaín (I Am Nevenka) and whether The Old Oak was really Loach’s final feature film.

The excitement and cosplay fun of San Diego Comic-Con is coming to Europe. Under an agreement managed by Img Licensing, “Sdcc is setting roots outside the United States for the first time in its history, making its European debut in Málaga,” the Andalucía region of Spain, this September, organizers said on Monday.

For four days from Sept. 25-28, 2025, the city will host the first official San Diego Comic Convention-licensed event outside the U.S. “This historic milestone would not have been possible without the institutional support of the Junta de Andalucía and the Málaga City Council, who have firmly committed to making Málaga the European capital of popular arts,” Sdcc said.

The international expansion was unveiled during an event at the Gran Hotel Miramar in Málaga, hosted by director, and screenwriter Santiago Segura, and including Junta de Andalucía president Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, Mayor of Málaga Francisco de la Torre Prados,...

‘Segundo Premio’ también triunfó en la gran noche del cine español.

© Getty Images

Anoche se celebró la gala de los Premios Goya 2025, la que es la gran noche del cine español y una de las ediciones más abiertas de los últimos años donde todo podía pasar. Y es que, por un momento, parecía que íbamos a tener nuestro momento Moonlight–La La Land español, pero no, por primera vez en la historia de los Goya el premio a la Mejor Película se repartió ex aequo a El 47 y La infiltrada. Otra de las grandes triunfadoras de la noche fue Segundo premio, que logró tres galardones, incluido el de Mejor Dirección. Aquí os dejamos con la lista completa de nominados y ganadores de los Goya 2025:

Mejor PELÍCULA (Ex Aequo) Casa en flames

El 47

La estrella azul

La infiltrada

Segundo premio © A Contracorriente Films © Beta Films Mejor DIRECCIÓN Pedro Almodóvar...

‘La Habitación de al Lado’ no logra la nominación a Mejor Película y sorprende la ausencia de Najwa Nimri como Mejor Actriz. © Goya |A Contracorriente Films | Beta Films| BTeamPictures | El Deseo

Hoy ha tenido lugar la lectura de nominados a los Premios Goya 2025, en la que las películas El 47, La Infiltrada y Segundo Premio han conseguido el mayor número de nominaciones. Los ganadores se conocerán el 8 de febrero en Granada. Aquí os dejamos con la lista completa de nominados:

Mejor PELÍCULA

Casa en flames

El 47

La estrella azul

La infiltrada

Segundo premio

Mejor DIRECCIÓN

Pedro almodóvar (La habitación de al lado)

Arantxa Echavarría (La infiltrada)

Paula Ortiz (La virgen roja)

Aitor Arregi y Jon Garaño (Marco)

Isaki Lacuesta y Pol Rodríguez (Segundo premio)

Mejor DIRECCIÓN Novel

Miguel Faus (Calladita)

Pedro Martín-Calero (El llanto)

Javier Macipe (La estrella azul)

Sandra Romero (Por donde pasa el silencio)

Paz Vega (Rita...

Spain’s Academia de Cine has unveiled its list of nominations for the 39th Goya Awards, the country’s equivalent to the Oscar. Leading the field is Marcel Barrena’s biographical drama El 47, with 14 mentions. It’s followed by thriller La Infiltrada (Undercover) at 13.

Also in the mix is Segundo Premio (Saturn Return) with 11 nods. The movie about real-life rock band Los Planetas was Spain’s submission for the International Feature Oscar, though it did not make AMPAS’ shortlist cut which was revealed yesterday.

Meanwhile, Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, The Room Next Door, scored 10 nominations including Best Director and a pair of Best Actress nods for Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. It did not surface in the Goyas’ Best Picture race, despite taking the top prize Golden Lion in Venice earlier this year, his first ever top A-list festival prize.

The Goyas will be handed out on February 8 in Granada.

The Spanish film academy gave a surprise snub to its best-known director when Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door was not nominated for best film for the Goya Film Awards, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars.

The Room Next Door picked up 13 Goya nominations, including best director for Almodóvar and best acting nominations for both of the film’s leads, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, but the film was left out of the best picture category. Perhaps the language barrier — it’s Almodóvar’s first English-language feature — counted against it among Spanish academy voters.

Instead, the Goya’s best picture race will include five Spanish-language features: Casa en flames from director Dani de la Orden, Marcel Barrena’s El 47, La estrella azul from Javier Macipe, Arantxa Echevarría’s La infiltrada, and Segundo premio from director Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez, which was Spain’s official Oscar submission this year.

Spain’s Latido Films has acquired Eva Libertad’s upcoming feature “Sorda,” adapted from her 2023 Spanish Academy Goya Award-nominated short of the same name.

“Sorda,” which translates to “deaf” in English, tells the story of Angela, a pregnant deaf woman, and Hector, her hearing partner. Pregnancy brings to the surface her fears about motherhood and how she will be able to communicate with her daughter. The arrival of the girl generates a crisis in the couple and leads Angela to face the upbringing of her daughter in a world that is not made for her.

Libertad wrote and is directing the film, a continuation of her 2023 short of the same name that starred her sister, Miriam Garlo. In addition to a Spanish Academy Goya nomination, the film was selected by more than 110 festivals and won more than 60 awards.

“A few years ago, my sister began to consider becoming a mother,...

Some of the highest-profile Spanish films of 2024 – from Málaga Festival winner and now Spain’s Oscar entry “Saturn Return” to San Sebastián laureates “I Am Nevenka” and “Glimmers” – feature in Mass, a Spanish film showcase which will unspool in Buenos Aires over Nov. 28-30 and Montevideo during Dec. 2-4, running parallel with the Uruguayan capital’s Ventana Sur market.

The film season represents the latest collaboration between Spain’s San Sebastián and Málaga Festival, here in partnership of Spain’s Icaa film agency and Argentina’s Orca Films, as Spain’s seeks to capitalize on its predominant presence on global streamers among E.U. film powers to consolidate production and co-financing relations in Uruguay, a building film-tv hub, and with regions of Argentina.

During their stay in Argentina, the San Sebastian and Malaga Festivals will meet representatives of the Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos and Santiago del Estero provinces to work...

The 55th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) has unveiled its main competition lineup, with 15 features vying for the Golden Peacock award carrying an INR4 million prize purse, notably featuring nine films directed by women.

Among the world premieres are Manijeh Hekmat and Faeze Azizkhani’s Iranian drama “Fear & Trembling,” exploring an older woman’s struggles with isolation, and Nikhil Mahajan’s “Raavsaheb,” an Indian crime thriller examining man-animal conflict in tribal lands.

The slate includes festival circuit standouts like Louise Courvoisier’s “Holy Cow” (France), which nabbed the Un Certain Regard Youth Prize at Cannes 2024, and Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic” (Lithuania), winner of the Golden Leopard at Locarno 2024. Bogdan Mureșanu’s Romanian revolution drama “The New Year That Never Came” arrives fresh from winning Venice’s Horizons and Fipresci awards.

The lineup also includes Belkis Bayrak’s “Gulizar” (Turkey), which played at Toronto and San Sebastian, and George Sikharulidze’s “Panopticon” (Georgia-u.

Valladolid’s Seminci International Film Festival will host its 69th edition from October 18-26 and, along with it, the second edition of its new industry sidebar.

Below, we highlight three key events hosted under this year’s Valladolid Industry banner.

Merci Valladolid

Among the myriad of activities aimed at filmmakers, producers, buyers and sellers, this year’s industry strand will host the Merci Valladolid (Mercado de Cine Independiente Valladolid).

For three days, Oct. 23-25, Merci will serve as a meeting point for 140 screen industry business professionals, including programmers, exhibitors and distributors. Valladolid will invite the accredited professionals to screenings of 22 of the most highly anticipated releases scheduled to hit cinemas through the end of 2024 and all of 2025.

According to organizers, the screenings will help “maximize the titles’ circulation and promote a better exploitation in the run-up to their release.”

In addition to the screenings, Merci will hold a series of...

Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl took home the Special Jury Prize at the 2024 San Sebastián Film Festival, held in Spain’s Basque Country from Sept. 20 through 28.

“For the high quality of its acting, packed with truth and nuances, which with great subtlety and restraint, brings us closer to the feelings of a group of people who must confront a disappearing profession, a world that is coming to an end,” the jury’s verdict read, per the fete’s press release.

About a veteran Las Vegas showgirl who must switch up her life’s routine following the unexpected closure of her three-decade-long show, the drama features a star-studded cast in Pamela Anderson, Kiernan Shipka, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, Dave Bautista and Jamie Lee Curtis. As Deadline exclusively reported yesterday, The Last Showgirl was just acquired by Roadside Attractions for its North American release.

The Golden Shell for Best Film was...

Spanish director and actress Icíar Bollaín’s I Am Nevenka (Soy Nevenka), which premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival that runs through Saturday, tells the story of Nevenka Fernández (portrayed by Mireia Oriol), the first Spanish woman to obtain a sexual harassment conviction of a politician.

The case that made Spanish headlines in 2001, long before #MeToo, focused on Ismael Álvarez (played in the movie by Urko Olazabal), the popular and powerful mayor of Ponferrada who brought the young Fernández into his team as councilor of finance.

Soon, she ends up being “relentlessly hounded by the mayor, a man used to getting his way both politically and personally,” notes a synopsis on the San Sebastian festival’s website. “Nevenka decides to report him, knowing that it will cost her dearly. A story based on true events turning its lead character into a forerunner of the #metoo movement due to being...

San Sebastian — At this year’s San Sebastian Festival, Basque cinema brings arguably its strong slate ever, fruits from its fast growing scene.

Among the throng of titles is Andrea Jaurrieta’s “Nina” offering a contemporary, feminist twist on the classic Western, featuring Patricia López Arnaiz as a woman seeking revenge in her coastal hometown. David Pérez Sañudo’s “The Last Romantics” presents a tale of second chances, starring Miren Gaztañaga as a woman confronting her mortality.

The documentary lineup is equally compelling, with Raúl de la Fuente’s “Los Williams” exploring race and identity through Basque soccer stars Iñaki and Nico Williams, and Carmen Chaplin’s “Charlie Chaplin, A Man of the World” providing an unprecedented look at the legendary filmmaker’s Romani heritage.

Here’s the rundown:

Main Competition

“I’m Nevenka,”

Co-written with Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín dramatizes the harrowing true story of Nevenka Fernández, the first...

“I went to bed in one of the [hotel room] and he lay down beside me,” Nevenka Fernández, a former member of Ponferrada Municipal Council, recounts how she was raped in 2000 by her boss, Ismael Álvarez, then the all-powerful major of the city.

“Why didn’t you leave?” asks Álvarez’s defence attorney in the trial sparked by Fernández when she took Álvarez to court for sexual harassment.

“He was at my side. I couldn’t move,” Fernández replies.

Sold by Film Factory Ent. and playing in main Competition at this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival, Iciar Bollain’s “I’m Nevenka ” – written with Isa Campo (“Offworld”), her co-scribe on box office hit “Maixabel” – is inspired by true events which led to Álvarez becoming the first politician to be convicted of sexual harassment in Spain, in a landmark judicial sentence 15 years before the #Me Too movement,

The film is not just...

No company has a more powerful spread of productions at this year’s San Sebastian Festival than Telefónica’s domestic platform and super-producer Movistar Plus+. The group brings a festival competition movie, “I’m Nevenka,” a premium drama series, “Querer,” a broad audience thriller series, “Celeste” and “Mugaritz,” a documentary feature about Spain’s most cerebral restaurant.

The diverse projects underscore Movistar Plus+’s muscular new content initiatives as the company drives ever more into nonfiction, emerging as Spain’s leader, and launching its first movie slate in January. Spain’s biggest national investor isn’t pulling out of content; in fact, it’s diving into deeper.

For nearly a decade, Movistar Plus+ has both increased the amount of content it produces and diversified the kinds of productions it backs. During the early days of streaming, Movistar Plus+ was a pioneer of local production by investing larger-than- ever budgets in its TV productions.

The list of countries that have had “Me too” moments and subsequent movies about them continues to grow with the latest drama from Icíar Bollaín, which considers the case of Nevenka Fernández, who was harassed by a mayor and subsequently took him to court.

With elements that are sadly all too recognisable, the familiar story is elevated by the strength of the performances and the decent pace and no-nonsense approach adopted by Bollaín, who co-wrote the screenplay with Isa Campo.

Mireia Oriol plays Nevenka, who we meet towards the end of the story as she suffers a panic attack accompanied by the Nokia ringtone Dom Joly made famous and which becomes a nightmare refrain through the course of a film. As she unburdens herself to a lawyer - a framing device that is elegantly employed - we can immediately see one of the many ways that stories such as hers become suppressed,...

Rodrigo Sorogoyen has secured Javier Bardem to star in his upcoming feature El Ser Querida, which will start shooting in January 2025.

Vicky Luengo, whose credits include Riot Police and The Room Next Door, will co-star in the film about the relationship between an acclaimed film director and his daughter, a struggling actress. They share a difficult past that neither wants to discuss. Until they shoot a film together after years of estrangement.

El Ser Querido is being produced by Spain’s Caballo Films and France’s Le Pacte, with backing from Movistar Plus+. A Contracorriente Films will release the film...

In terms of stars — Cate Blanchett, Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton, Pamela Anderson — and auteur power — Pedro Almodóvar, Sean Baker, Costa Gavras, Edward Berger, Mike Leigh, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Joshua Oppenheimer, François Ozon, Lupita Nyong’o, Mohammad Rasoulof, Walter Salles, Maite Alberdi — this year’s San Sebastián Festival promises one of its biggest editions ever.

Yet it’s the Spanish festival’s wealth of new talent and rising names in its industry competitions sets it apart. Here are 10 things to expect from the fest, which runs Sept. 20-28 at the stunning Basque seaside resort:

Blanchett, Almodóvar, Bardem, Depp, Swinton, Anderson

Blanchett, Almodóvar and Bardem will collect career achievement Donostia Awards, with Blanchett talking up Guy Maddin’s Cannes hit “Rumours,” set for U.S. theatrical release via Bleecker Street on Oct. 18; Almodóvar and Swinton will present Venice success “The Room Next Door.” Depp will unveil “Modi,” his second film as a...

La Termita Films, the production label of double San Sebastian Golden Shell winners Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo, has struck a production alliance with Accidental Films, the newly formed label founded by Sara Gonzalo, managing director over 2011-24 of production powerhouse Bambu Producciones.

The alliance catches Lacuesta and Campo at new career highs, Lacuesta having directed Berlin competition player “One Year, One Night” and “Saturn Return,” a Spanish Film and Direction winner at March’s Malaga Festival; Campo co-wrote Iciar Bollain’s anticipated “I’m Nevenka,” which world premieres in San Sebastian main competition this weekend.

Gonzalo served as general manager at Bambú when it moved into ever larger industrial propositions from 2011-13’s “Grand Hotel” to “Velvet” (2013-15), “Cable Girls” (2017-20) and “Fariña” (2018), driving an acceptance in international of original Spanish series without the need to be dubbed into neutral Spanish in Latin America.

She is joined at Accidental,...

This year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival will feature the most eye-catching list of international superstars it has ever hosted, including A-list actors such as Cate Blanchett and Javier Bardem – who will both receive Donostia career achievement awards, Andrew Garfield, Pamela Anderson, Tilda Swinton and Lupita Nyong’o and filmmakers like local legend Pedro Almodovar – another Donostia award recipient, Adam Elliot, Gia Coppola, Mike Leigh and Walter Salles.

Other international actors who have confirmed they will attend this year’s festival include Monica Bellucci, Jamie Campbell Bower, Johnny Depp, Isabelle Huppert, Noémie Merlant, Ángela Molina, Franco Nero, Charlotte Rampling and Will Sharpe, among others.

Normally, many directors attend San Sebastian with their latest films, but the number of titles from consecrated directors at this year’s festival has increased noticeably. Filmmakers bringing their latest to this year’s festival include Jacques Audiard, Sean Baker, Edward Berger, Leos Carax, Costa-Gavras, Audrey Diwan,...

Zurich Film Festival (October 3-13) has added 11 titles to its line-up of gala premieres, including world premieres of Der Spitzname and Landesverräter.

Der Spitzname is a German comedy directed by Sönke Wortmann, who has previously premiered at Zurich with Family Affairs, Contra and How About Adolf? Janina Uhse and Florian David Fitz play a couple who invite their family to the Alps ahead of their impending wedding, only for familial bonds to quickly unravel.

Michael Krummenacher’s Swiss-German co-production Landesverräter will also world premiere. Set during the Second World War and based on a true story, a wannabe singer sells...

New films from Steve McQueen, Sean Baker, Edward Berger and Gia Coppola will get the red carpet treatment at the 20th Zurich Film Festival as part of Zff’s gala lineup.

Steve McQueen‘s Blitz, starring Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson, which will open 2024’s BFI London Film Festival (Lff), will have its international premiere in Zurich. Berger’s hotly anticipated Conclave, a Vatican conspiracy thriller featuring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, and the follow-up to the German director’s multi-Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front, will screen at Zff following bows at Toronto and San Sebastian. And Baker’s Palme d’Or Winner Anora starring Mikey Madison in a star-making performance as a Brighton Beach sex worker who gets romantically entangled with the son of a Russian oligarch, will touch down at the Swiss festival after screening at TIFF.

Sönke Wortmann’s Der Spitzname, the...

The Zurich Film Festival has revealed the first titles in their Gala section, which includes several films that will bring star power to the red carpet and directors with award-winning credentials.

Among the first 11 titles to be announced are “Conclave,” by the director of Oscar winner “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Edward Berger, with Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow heading the cast.

Also selected is Tim Fehlbaum’s “September 5,” starring Peter Sarsgaard, and Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl,” which is toplined by Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Steve McQueen, an Oscar winner with “12 Years a Slave,” delivers “Blitz,” starring Saoirse Ronan and rock star Paul Weller, and Nick Hamm presents “William Tell,” starring Claes Bang and Ben Kingsley.

Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, also joins the selection, as does Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” featuring...

Mireia Oriol y Urko Olazabal protagonizan esta historia inspirada en el caso real de Nevenka Fernández. © Buena Vista Internacional

Ya se ha publicado el tráiler de Soy Nevenka, una película dirigida por Iciar Bollain, que tendrá su estreno mundial en el Festival de San Sebastián, donde competirá por la Concha de Oro.

Basada en una historia real e inspirada en el libro Hay algo que no es como me dicen, de Juan José Millás, Soy Nevenka se sitúa en el año 2000, cuando Nevenka Fernández, de 24 años, concejala de Hacienda en el Ayuntamiento de Ponferrada, sufre una persecución implacable, tanto sentimental como profesional, por parte del alcalde, un hombre acostumbrado a salirse con la suya tanto en el ámbito político como en el personal. Nevenka decide denunciar, aunque sabe que deberá pagar un precio muy alto: su entorno no la apoya, la sociedad de Ponferrada le da la espalda y los...

La sección oficial a competición del Ssiff se llena de grandes nombres. © 72Ssiff

Hace unas semanas se dieron a conocer los títulos españoles que competirán por la Concha de Oro en la 72ª edición del Festival de Cine de San Sebastián, que se celebrará del 20 al 28 de septiembre. Éstos son Soy Nevenka, de Icíar Bollaín, El llanto de Pedro Martín-Calero, Los destellos, de Pilar Palomero, y Tardes de soledad, de Albert Serra.

Hoy se han anunciado títulos restantes de la sección oficial a competición del festival, los cuales acompañarán a Bollaín, Martín-Calero, Palomero y Serra en la contienda por el prestigioso galardón. Entre los títulos más destacados encontramos Cónclave, The End, Hard Truths y The Last Showgirl.

Cónclave, de Edward Berger, director de Sin novedad en el frente, se presenta como un fuerte contendiente a la Concha de Oro. Este film tendrá su premiere mundial en el Festival de Cine...

Edward Berger, Mike Leigh and Joshua Oppenheimer titles have joined the competition line-up at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Berger heads to San Sebastian with Toronto premiere Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, about a cardinal who is tasked following the Pope’s sudden death with supervising the conclave from which his successor will be chosen.

Mike Leigh is appearing in official selection for the first time, with UK-Spain co-production Hard Truths, another Toronto world premiere, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin. Leigh portrays the everyday life of a London family, addressing such issues as family relations, mourning and mental health.

Two Netflix Originals and new movies from Mike Leigh, Joshua Oppenheimer, Gia Coppola and Edward Berger will vie for San Sebastian’s top Golden Shell this September.

The festival features a main competition that is stronger than usual on both bigger-name directors and ‘A’ list stars, such as Tilda Swinton in Oppenheimer’s “The End,” Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson in Gia Coppola’s “The Last Showgirl” and the ensemble cast of Berger’s “Conclave” that includes Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini.

Bound for Toronto and Telluride before San Sebastián, Oppenheimer’s “The End” stars Swinton, George MacKay and Michael Shannon in what is described as a post-apocalyptic “Golden Age” musical.

“Conclave,” from “All Quiet on the Western Front director Edward Berger,” is a psychological thriller written by Peter Straughan, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Robert Harris and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow.

The San Sebastián Film Festival has revealed a bumper Official Selection for its latest edition, which will unfold from September 20 — 28.

The festival, which is celebrating its 72nd edition, will screen new films from established filmmakers such as Edward Berger, Gia Coppola, Costa-Gavras, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Mike Leigh, Diego Lerman, Joshua Oppenheimer, and François Ozon alongside works from new filmmakers including Laura Carreira and Xin Huo.

Coppola’s The Last Showgirl heads to San Sebastián following a debut in Toronto. The film stars Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Dave Bautista. The film’s plot follows a seasoned showgirl who must plan for her future when her show closes after a 30-year run. Also heading to Spain from The Six is Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin. The British-Spanish production is said to portray the everyday life of a London family, addressing such issues as family relations,...

One of the most awaited of Spanish films in this year’s San Sebastian main competition, Iciar Bollain’s “I Am Nevenka,” has a trailer, shared in exclusivity with Variety.

Written with Isa Campo, a co-scribe on two San Sebastian Golden Shell winners, 2011’s “The Double Steps” and 2018’s “Between Two Waters,” and sold by Film Factory Entertainment, “I Am Nevenka” is inspired by true events: the case of Nevenka Fernández, a member of the Ponferrada City Council who in 2001 became the first woman in Spain to win a court case for sexual harassment against a high-ranking politician – her ex boyfriend and all-powerful Ponferrada mayor Ismael Alvárez.

She won, however, at a price, fighting her case almost on her own, in the face of the opposition of most of her colleagues and branded a social climber by the media, or a whore. She ended up leaving Ponferrada for London.

Much...

Sony has withdrawn from the chase for Paramount Global and will not make a competing bid against Skydance, Screen understands.

Under the structure of the sale process the Paramount Global special committee can invite and consider rival bids for the media conglomerate during a 45-day “go-shop” period.

The period expires on August 21. However it can be extended to September 5 were Paramount Global to remain engaged in talks with another company or consortium that could deliver a “superior proposal”.

In that eventuality Skydance and its bid backer RedBird Capital would receive a $400m termination fee.

However at time of writing, Skydance...

The European Film Academy (Efa) has called for the release from prison in Serbia of Belarusian filmmaker and activist Andrei Gnyot, saying he risks being extradited to Belarus where he is facing imprisonment, torture and even the possibility of the death penalty.

Efa was alerted to Gnyot’s case by the Belarusian Independent Film Academy, which has also issued a statement demanding his release.

Gnyot is known for making documentary footage during the Belarus 2020 protests and recording athletes’ appeals for free and fair elections.

“He is being prosecuted by the Belarusian regime for these activities. Andrei was arrested in Serbia...

Projects from Albert Serra and Iciar Bollain are among the 12 Spanish features selected for the 2024 San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff), taking place from September 20-28.

Serra will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s official section with bullfighting documentary Tardes De Soledad. His previous films include Locarno winner The Story Of My Death and 2022 Cannes premiere Pacifiction.

Competing in the main section for the fifth time is Iciar Bollain with I’m Nevenka, about a town councillor who reports abuse by the major. Mireia Oriol and Urko Olazabal star.

Also selected are Pedro Martín-Calero’s directorial debut The Wailing,...

Danis Tanović’s ‘My Late Summer’ To Open Sarajevo

Bosnian director Danis Tanović’s My Late Summer will open the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival this August. The film is billed as a comedy-drama about a young woman Maja who comes to a remote island to solve an issue of family inheritance. In a whirlwind of new emotions and through a series of unpredictable situations, she will finally face questions from her past. The search for inheritance becomes a search for her own identity, but also for forgiveness. Tanovic is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina most acclaimed directors. He broke out internationally with his Bosnia War inspired No Man’s Land which clinched the Oscar and Golden Globe for best foreign language film in 2002. He has also won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013) and Death in Sarajevo (2016). My Late Summer is produced...

Cuatro películas españolas en la competición.

Hoy se han dado a conocer las películas españolas que formarán parte de la programación de la 72ª edición del Festival de Cine de San Sebastián, que se celebrará del 20 al 28 de septiembre.

Cuatro películas españolas formarán parte de la competición por la Concha de Oro del Festival: “Soy Nevenka”, “El Llanto”, “Los Destellos” y “Tardes de Soledad”.

© 72Ssiff

Icíar Bollaín, conocida por su película “Maixabel”, presentará “Soy Nevenka”, que será su quinta participación en la Sección Oficial. Protagonizada por Mireia Oriol y Urko Olazabal, se basa en la historia real de Nevenka Fernández, una concejala que pagó un alto precio por atreverse a denunciar el acoso del alcalde de Ponferrada. Una historia que convirtió a su protagonista en una pionera del movimiento #metoo al llevar por primera vez a un político influyente ante los tribunales por acoso sexual y laboral.

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En su ópera prima,...

The San Sebastian Film Festival, the biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world, has unveiled a packed lineup of Spanish titles that is strong on women auteurs, led by Iciar Bollaín, Pilar Palomero, Paula Ortiz and Alauda Ruiz de Azua, who are now stepping up in scale or industry backing as big SVOD players – Movistar Plus+, Prime Video – move into the production of Spanish movies aimed at theatrical release or back their original series.

Vying in main competition, Bollaín’s “I Am Nevenka” looks like the first film to see the light of day from six auteur event movies co-produced by Movistar Plus+ and directed by leading cinematographic talent such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Alberto Fernández.

Also selected are two leading lights of a younger generation of women directors which have galvanised Spanish arthouse but are now looking for broader audiences.

Goya and San Sebastian winner Pilar Palomero competes in main competition with “Glimmers,...

In what remains the Spanish film industry’s biggest event of 2024, last January, pay TV Movistar Plus+, behind premium series like “A Perfect Life” and “The Plague,” summoned local press to unveil its biggest strategic move for the last few years.

Accompanying Movistar Plus execs Domingo Corral and Guillermo Farré were five of the coolest, most successful and relatively young filmmakers in Spain today: Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Alberto Rodríguez, Iciar Bolláin, Oliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. Together they outlined plans to make event auteur movies backed for commercial release in Spanish theaters by the promotional muscle of Movistar Plus+.

Six months later, Rodríguez, director of Goya Award winner “Marshland” and 1580s Seville thriller series “The Plague,” is caught on set by Variety on Spain’s southern seaboard, on a boat just off Huelva, home to huge smoke-belching refineries and stunning natural parks.

That setting provides “Los Tigres” a bigger canvas. However,...

Movistar Plus+, Spain’s most-viewed pay TV operator, is partnering on “Los domingos,” a new film from “Lullaby” director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa and the producers of that critically acclaimed film.

A Movistar Plus+ Original, “Los Domingos” is set in and will shoot in Ruiz de Azúa’s native Basque country, said Nahikari Ipiña at Sayaka Producciones (“Colossal”).

Now in development, “Los Domingos” is produced by Movistar Plus+ and Sayaka and Marisa Fernández Armenteros’ Buenapinta Media (“The Mole Agent”), Sandra Hermida at Think Studio and Colosé Producciones (“Society of the Snow”) and Manu Calvo (“Wounded”).

“‘Los domingos’ is a co-production between Movistar Plus+ and four producers and as independent producers for us that’s important,” Fernández Armenteros said at Cannes.

“Domingos,” which shoots in the first half of 2025, is a drama, although plot details are under wraps.

“It is such luck to accompany Alauda in ‘Los domingos’ after ‘Lullaby’ success with audiences and critics.

Spanish sales agents are on some kind of roll. The European Film Market during the Berlinale proved robust, and Malaga Film Festival better still.

“Malaga was great for our movies,” Latido Films’ Antonio Saura reported at its conclusion. “We have one of the best lineups in our history covering all genres and all very marketable.”

That lineup includes Jim Sheridan’s drama “Recreation,” starring Vicky Krieps, and “La Casa” and “Saturn Return,” both Malaga standouts that together won seven awards.

With the market more receptive to Spanish projects, it’s important to pick the right genre mix. “Definitely for thrillers, for animated films, things are good. Spanish thrillers are prestigious now. They’ve performed well theatrically in many countries,” says Filmax’s head of international Iván Diaz. But for comedies, dramas or romantic comedies, it’s a bit more arduous. “If you’re trying to sell Spanish romantic comedies, however,...

Spanish cinema is expanding, opening up attractive film avenues to reach the worldwide market, driven by upscale commercial projects, blending of genres and a new generation of emerging female directors.

The country’s filmmakers landed three Oscar nominations: Juan A. Bayona with “Society of the Snow” (inter- national feature and makeup and hair styling); and Pablo Berger with “Robot Dreams” (animated feature). Also, four of Netflix’s top five most-popular non-English films ever are from Spain.

“The boom in talent is making for a unique and very diverse cinema,” says Guillermo Farré, Movistar Plus+ head of original films and Spanish cinema.

“The great foreign perception of Spanish cinema is driven by the productions’ quality and their international diffusion,” says Elástica Films’ María Zamora, producer of Carla Simón’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner “Alcarrás.”

“Spanish cinema is evolving with the appearance of new voices especially female and new ways of narrating,...

The Match Factory is set to handle international sales on a new film by “Fire Will Come” director Oliver Laxe, headlined by Sergi López, star of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Having begun production, shooting in Spain and then Morocco, the untitled Oliver Laxe project is a Movistar Plus+ original film produced with Pedro and Agustín Almodovar’s El Deseo, Laxe’s Galicia-based label Filmes da Ermida, Oriol Maymó’s Uri Films in Barcelona, and Paris’s 4 A 4 Productions.

The latest from Laxe follows Cannes wins for all his first three features. 2010’s “You Are All Captains,” Laxe’s debut feature, walked off with a Directors’ Fortnight Fipresci Award; 2016’s “Mimosas” scooped the Critics’ Week top Grand Prize, “Fire Will Come” a 2019 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

Co-written with “Matadero” director Santiago Fillol, also a co-scribe on “Fire Will Come,” Laxe’s next turns on a man...

Top Spanish Titles brought to market at MipTV:

“Dating in Barcelona,” (Filmax)

Produced by Filmax’s Arca, Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat and Prime Video in Spain, a first season of “Dating in Barcelona” bowed last year in Spain to big ratings, both on its first-window debut on 3Cat and on Prime Video, where it became one of the streaming service’s most-watched debuts. A modern take on romance and sex in an online age, “Dating in Barcelona” also reflects a swing in TV towards a lighter, more episodic fare, whether in crime thrillers or other categories. Each episode features two dates which, as Variety has observed, play off each other. Powered in creative terms by Pau Freixas, behind iconic series from “Red Band Society” To “I Know Who You Are” And “Todos Mienten,” All Produced By Filmax, “Dating In Barcelona” features a top-tier cast, this time round in Season...

“I’m Nevenka,” a Movistar Plus+ original film and the awaited next feature from Spain’s Iciar Bollaín, has closed its earliest pre-sales, struck by Film Factory Entertainment, including a bellwether deal in France.

The deals come as “I’m Nevenka” has wrapped production, shooting in the Basque city of Bilbao before transferring to rural Zamora, western Spain.

Daniel Chabannes’ Epicentre Films, a classic 30-year-old distributor and producer of non-English language art pics, especially from Europe and Latin America, whose recent acquisitions take in San Sebastian Gold Shell winner “The Rye Horn” and Amos Gitai’s “It’s Not Over,” has acquired French rights.

A distributor of both big Cannes winners – “Triangle of Sadness,” “Rosetta,” “The Child” – and slightly more out-there propositions, such as Pablo Berger’s silent movie “Blancanieves,” Xenix Film Distribution has clinched rights to Switzerland.

Iciar Bollaín: A Broader Audience Auteur

The early pre-sales are hardly surprising. Since her big breakout,...

Two Spanish female stars who have broken out to huge global audiences in Netflix hits – “Nowhere” and “A Perfect Story” lead Anna Castillo and Ester Expósito, highly prominent in “Elite” in early seasons – are set to star in dramedic vampire thriller “Death to Love,” (“Que muera el amor”), the first series created by “Piggy” director Carlota Pereda, who will also serve as its showrunner.

“If there are two actresses you can believe are immortals, with their out-of-this-world allure and talent, it’s Anna and Ester. I can’t wait to explore this world of darkness, joy and Eternal Love with them,” Pereda told Variety.

With that talent package, and the backing of two Spanish powerhouse producers, Morena Films and Buendía Estudios, “Death to Love” is shaping up as one of the hottest packages to come to market from Spain after it emerged from February’s Berlinale Series Market as one...

Malaga — Antonio Chavarrías’ “Holy Mother,” Celia Rico’s “Little Loves” and Diogo Viegas’s “Alice’s Diary” play at this year’s 3rd Spanish Screenings Content, the Malaga Festival’s part of the Spanish Screenings Xxl, Spain’s biggest international industry platform in its history, featuring over March 4-7 and – when it comes to Málaga – the monumental number of 222 titles.

In production volume, Spain has never had it so good. The market screenings at Malaga’s Rosaleda Multiplex range across over 80 Spanish movie titles, taking in recent past gems such as “The Girls Are All Right, “Something Is About to Happen,” “Jokes & Cigarettes and “The Chapel,” just to mention titles on Monday’s program.

Also on offer are 11 Works in Progress, 62 Film Library titles and 65 shorts.

The Screenings come at a propitious time in many ways for Spanish cinema. Two Spanish movies – J.A. Bayona’s Andean air crash disaster...

Series from Atresmedia TV, Rtve, Movistar Plus+, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (“La Mesías”), Zeta Studios (“Elite”) and director Carlota Pereda and Morena Films (behind Sundance hit “Piggy”) will unspool or be unveiled at the Berlinale. They underscore the breadth and depth of Spanish TV output:

“Death to Love,”

Carlota Pereda dazzled at Sundance with first feature, “Piggy.” Now, Pereda’s at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series on Feb. 20 with her debut series, “Death to Love,” in which afemale vampire struggles over centuries to end a toxic relationship with her vampire female lover and culminates in a modern-day climax. “A visceral and romantic proposition,” Pereda says.

“Dressed in Blue: Veneno Season 2,”

The Sundance world premiere “La Mesías” sealed the standing of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi as most probably the coolest creative duo in Spain. This time around, they produce, with Mikel Rueda, a director on “Veneno,” and Claudia Costafreda and Ian de la Rosa,...

Jean Labadie’s Le Pacte and sales agency Film Factory have joined Spanish pay giant Movistar Plus on the next film from Alberto Rodríguez (“Marshland”), which is shaping up fast with as one of the biggest packages from Spain this year at the Berlinale’s European Film Market.

Le Pacte will co-produce the thriller out of France and handle French distribution rights. Film Factory is launching international sales at Berlin. Movistar Plus, co-producing out of Spain with Kowalski Films and Feelgood Media, will bring the deepest pocket of any production powerhouse in Spain, backing what looks like a potentially big-budgeted movie.

Currently in pre-production, Rodríguez’s latest is scheduled for release in Spanish theaters via Buena Vista Intl. in 2025.

The film is also the latest from one of the most prominent Spanish directors of his generation, co-writer-director of both “The Plague,” still one of Movistar Plus+ biggest series, and “Prison 77,...

It may not match last year’s sheer quantity in competition strands, but Spain still boasts a high quality presence at the Berlinale. Following, highlights the festival and EFM:

“Every You Every Me,” (Michael Fetter Nathansky)

A factory worker strives to reconnect with her distant husband, exploring the rediscovery of love within the complexities of relationships. From Contando Films, Studio Zentral, Network Movie and Nephilim, a German-Spanish production.

“Cura Sana,” (Lucía G. Romero)

Produced by Escac Films, this Generation 14plus premiere delves into sisters’ lives shaped by ancestral violence, exploring deep familial bonds and lasting impact of abuse.

“Deprisa, Deprisa,” (Carlos Saura)

A classic: Set to a memorable flamenco-pop score, four young Madrid delinquents pull robberies, snort heroin, steal cars the film capturing the raw energy youth and their vague, but visceral sense of ‘liberty.’ A restoration of a seminal work.

“The Human Hibernation,” (Anna Cornudella)

A sci-fi exploration of siblings undergoing hibernation,...

Going into Berlin’s European Film Market, Spain’s biggest sales agents are under no illusion just how tough international markets have become.

“Paradoxically, in one of the best moments for Spanish productions, we are finding that some of our top dramas are getting hard to sell unless selected in Cannes, Venice or Berlin,” says Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura.

Also, “If American productions dominate at least 80% of markets, and local productions claim about half what remains. You’re left with just 10% of markets for many wonderful films to try to find audience opportunities. Competition is fiercer than ever,” he says.

“Many newer platforms are insisting on revenue shares. This rarely works for us,” observes Feel Sales’ Yennifer Fasciani.

Yet companies are fighting back. “Either a film works very well or not at all. Our strategy is increasingly focusing on major titles, leaving no middle ground,” states Film Factory Entertainment’s Vicente Canales,...