Juan Ernesto Regalado Morales is celebrating a special honor…
The Mexican filmmaker is this year’s winner of the Jenkins-del Toro Scholarship, which is awarded through an agreement between the Jenkins Foundation; the board of trustees of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, the University of Guadalajara, the University of Guadalajara AC Foundation and Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro.
With the honor, Regalado Morales receives a $60,000 scholarship.
Regalado received the honor in recognition of his first film Nendok entre lagunas, which was featured at Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal’s Ambulante Festival, and was described by the jury as “a work that demonstrates a transformative point of view, visual quality, a decisive capacity and commitment to his community and society.”
The film was selected by a jury that included del Toro, his longtime producer Beth Navarro, Mexican scream queen Issa Lopez, animator Jose Solorzano, film critic Silvestre Lopez Portillo and actor Daniela Schmidt.
The Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences has chosen the Mexican filmmaker’s I’m No Longer Hereas Mexico’s official entry for the International Feature FilmOscar race.
The film centers on the young leader (Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino) of a small Monterrey street gang from the Cholombiano subculture who longs for home after being forced to move to Jackson Heights, Queens, after an altercation with a local cartel. It premiered at the 2019 Morelia Film Festival, where it won Best Feature and was a selection of this year’s truncated Tribeca Film Festival.
The film received 10 Ariel Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and is Mexico’s official submission for Spain’s Goya Awards.
Netflix acquired worldwide rights back in 2018, and it bowed on the streamer on May 27.
“The news took me by surprise, and I am overwhelmed with happiness and excitement,” said Frias. “I am enormously grateful to the Academy and its members and the entire industry that has supported us, such as Netflix and IMCINE, but also to the people. The public has shown us that they are ready to connect with our stories here in Mexico. That fills me with pride.”
Mexico has seen nine film nominated for the Academy Awards’ International Feature race (it was formerly known as Outstanding Foreign-Language Feature) with films from the likes of Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo del Toro. It’s only one the top prize once, however, for Alfonso Cuarón’sRoma, also from Netflix, in 2018.
Jorge Gutierrez has more Netflix projects in his future…
The 45-year-old Mexican animator/writer/director has signed an overall deal with the streaming giant for original content.
Under the pact, the Emmy-winning talent will write, direct, and produce new animated films, series and interactive projects across preschool, kids & family and adult animation via his Mexopolis production company.
Gutierrez is the creator, writer and director of the upcoming Netflix animated limited series Maya and the Three, a Mesoamerican fantasy epic set to premiere globally in 2021. Set in a mythical Mesoamerican inspired world, in Maya and the Three, a warrior princess embarks on a quest to recruit three legendary fighters to help save the world of men and gods.
Gutierrez is the director and co-writer of the Guillermo Del Toro produced animated feature The Book of Lifefor Fox, which earned him a 2014 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Animated feature film. He’s also the writer and director of the Emmy-nominated Son of JaguarVR short for Google.
Along with his wife and muse, Sandra Equihua, they created the multiple Annie and Emmy–winning animated television series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera for Nickelodeon. Born in Mexico City and raised in Tijuana, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, illustrations, and paintings exploring his love with Mexican pop and folk culture.
“Jorge was one of the first creators to join Netflix Animation and has been an incredible partner ever since,” said Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Original Animation, Netflix. “He is committed to authenticity in his work, creating fantastical stories and characters inspired by his culture that are universally resonant and a tireless champion and mentor to the next generation of storytellers. We are honored that he’s chosen Netflix as his home and we can’t wait to share his work with kids and families around the world.”
“Dang! I could not be more thankful to extend my creative love affair with my beloved Netflix!,” said Gutierrez. “Melissa Cobb and the entire Netflix Animation team match my endless passion for diversity and inclusion in front and behind the camera. After all the kindness that has been shown to me, I look forward to mentoring and empowering diverse storytellers from not only North America, but also Central and South America. My mustached heart has a six pack and I can’t wait to create new stories and bold new worlds. What a time to be alive!”
Warner Bros. has announced that its adaptation of the beloved 1973 children’s book Roald Dahl’s The Witches, co-written by the 55-year-old Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker, will premiere on October 22, exclusively on HBO Max.
The film, which stars Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer, was originally scheduled to hit theaters this month but was later postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis reimagines the tale of a young boy who stumbles upon a secret coven of witches and, with the help of his loving grandmother, must try to foil their evil plan to turn all the world’s children into mice.
Hathaway portrays the sly, menacing Grand High Witch, while Spencer is the tough but tender grandma who will fight her to the end. The film also features Stanley Tucci as the hotel manager who unwittingly hosts the witches’ convention, Kristin Chenoweth in an undisclosed role, and Jahzir Bruno as the heart of the story as the young boy (voiced by Chris Rock as an adult), who becomes the hero striving to stop the witches.
In addition to directing, Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Kenya Barris and del Toro.
The Witches was previously adapted for the screen in 1990 with Anjelica Huston as the Grand High Witch, a version Dahl disavowed because it changed the book’s ending. Zemeckis’ film will reportedly be a more faithful adaptation.
Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu is helping raise money for members of the Mexican film community affected by the COVID-19 lockdown…
The 56-year-old Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker has joined forces with fellow leading Mexican producers to raise financial and medical support for “the most vulnerable” members of the nation’s film and television industry.
During a remotely staged audiovisual presentation featuring all participants chiming in from separate locations, the six prominent figures — Gonzalez-Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toroand Salma Hayekamong them — announced the creation of a relief fund created by the film community that will be managed by the Mexican Film and Arts Academy.
Like the rest of the world, production in Mexico has been at a standstill since mid-March, which has directly affected roughly 30,000 families whose livelihoods depend on industry production. Macquiladoras Mexico are foreign-owned manufacturing facilities that are used by companies in order to export high quality goods from Mexico at a lower cost than they might be obtained elsewhere.
The initiative has been backed by many top producers and other professionals.
Inarritu spoke extensively during the video announcement gathering. Stressing that anyone can donate to the cause, Gonzalez Inarritu believes that, due to the current crisis, “The industry is more united than ever before,” with the relief initiative unified under the banner of Sifonoforo, Fondo de Emergencia Audiovisual.
So far, $450,000 has been raised, but much more will be needed.
“Our mission is to confront the pandemic as a united community,” the director said, “because that where our strength lies. Those who make cinema are a tribe, all with different specialties. It can take years to prepare a film—five years, or 20 years—and they are as fragile as dreams. You always fear that your little tribe could be lost.”
Also participating in the discussion were producers/industry professionals Eamon O’Farrill, Monica Lozano, Leonardo Zimbron, Inna Payan and Julio Chavezmontes.
Contacts can be made through sifonoforomexico9@gmail.com or comunicacion@amacc.org.mx.
The 55-year-old Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist will take part in Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube’s We Are One: A Global Film Festival.
The fest will stream exclusively on YouTubefor free and feature more than 100 films co-curated by 21 of the most renowned festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
The 10-day fest kicked off on Friday, May 29 and will not only provide entertainment but also offer relief to the COVID-19 pandemic via supporting organizations.
The truly global event will feature programming from different cultures all over the world, with films representing more than 35 countries and include 23 narrative and 8 documentary features, 57 narrative and 15 documentary short films, 15 archived talks along with 4 festival exclusives and 5 VR programming pieces.
The fest will include 13 world premieres, 31 online premieres and 5 international online premieres. Each selection was handpicked to give shine and highlight each participating festival.
“We are so excited to share the combined efforts of our festival partners and YouTube with the world this week,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Together, we were able to curate a compelling slate of programming that succinctly reflects the subtle variations in style that make each festival so special. We Are One: A Global Film Festival will offer audiences an opportunity to not only celebrate the art of film, but the unique qualities that make each story we watch so memorable.”
The fest will include the world premiere of Ricky Powell: The Individualist, which spotlights the titular legendary street photographer featuring interviews with Natasha Lyonne and LL Cool J.
Eeb Allay Ooo! will make its online debut and introduce a whole new audience to New Delhi’s professional “monkey repellers”. The satirical film won Mumbai Film Festival’s Golden Gateway Award.
The iconic Joan Chen will present the world premiere of Iron Hammer, a documentary about legendary, trailblazing Chinese Olympic volleyball star Jenny Lang Ping.
There will also be a lineup of specially-curated talks from past festivals as well as new discussions. Talks will feature del Toro, Francis Ford Coppola with Steven Soderbergh, Song Kang-ho and Bong Joon-ho, Jane Campion and Claire Denis.
In addition to features, audiences will be able to access over 50 narrative and documentary shorts such as the world premiere of Japanese narrative short Yalta Conference Online (wt), which was created exclusively for the fest by director Koji Fukada. The fest will also include the global premiere of the Third Eye Blind documentary short Motorcycle Drive By, as well as shorts from Dreamworks Animation, Bilby, Marooned and Bird Karma.
360 VR selections will feature Emmy-nominated documentary Traveling While Black and Alteration, a sci-fi narrative starring Bill Skarsgard, as well as titles featuring John Legend, Oprah Winfrey and Lupita Nyong’o. On top of the film goodness, Questlove from the legendary Roots crew will perform a DJ set for your listening and dancing pleasure.
On the episodic side, We Are One will host the world premiere of Losing Alice, an Israeli female-fronted neo-noir psychological TV thriller as well as the two-part docuseries She Could Be Next which chronicles the experiences of women of color running for office, including Stacey Abrams and Rashida Tlaib.
In addition to Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and Tribeca, participating festival also include Annecy International Animation Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival,International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Jerusalem Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival,Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.
The fest will provide COVID-19 relief through donations to the World Health Organization( WHO), UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Leket Israel, GO Foundation and Give2Asia, among others. Audiences will be able to donate via a link on every film page.
Guillermo del Toro is a star… And he has the hardware to prove it!
The 54-year-old Oscar-winning filmmaker saw his star unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fameon Tuesday.
The ceremony took place just a few days before the release of the latest film he’s written and produced, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
At the ceremony del Toro told the large crowd of fans to always celebrate their “weirdness.” He remembered coming to Hollywood as a young man and admiring the stars of Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney and Alfred Hitchcock.
“What I felt with those stars is there were people who were as weird as me and they were here. And it gave me hope,” said del Toro. “This star is for you, all of you who that feel weird.”
Fellow filmmaker and longtime friend J.J. Abrams celebrated del Toro at the unveiling.
“You are a mind-bendingly, brilliant creator, a curator of the most remarkable collection of art, a man who tells stories of unlikely heroes with hearts almost as large as his own,” said Abrams.
sel Toro also spoke about being an immigrant from Mexico, and encouraged everyone to believe in the possibilities in life, not the obstacles.
“Do not believe the lies they tell about us,” said del Toro. “Believe in the stories you have inside and believe that we all can make a difference.”
del Toro is known for a number of well-known films, including Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Waterand Hellboy, among many others. Shape of Water earned the filmmaker two Academy Awards for best picture and best director.
de Toro’s star is the 2,669th awarded on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 54-year-old Mexican filmmaker is attached to write and direct the action movie Zanbato for Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.
The logline is under wraps. Zanbatocenters on a young girl with lethal fighting skills. del Toro posted the news on his Twitter account that the project has been in development for the past six years without leaking, adding, “We are still developing steadily.”
del Toro also said Friday that he’s in pre-production on Pinocchiofor Netflix, on which he’ll make his animated feature film directing debut in a stop-motion musical version of the classic children’s tale about a puppet who wants to be a real live boy. Netflix and del Toro announced in October that he would write and produce the film, set in Italy during the 1930s, when fascism was on the rise.
The 39-year-old Argentine filmmaker will helm Terrified, Fox Searchlight’s English-language remake of Aterrados.
Rugna wrote and directed the original 2017 Argentinian genre film.
When strange events occur in a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, a doctor specializing in the paranormal, her colleague, and an ex police officer investigate further. The results are horrifying and the evil must be stopped before it spreads.
The film will be produced by Guillermo del Toro, extending his relationship with Fox Searchlight that was capped last year by Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water. Del Toro followed by making an overall Fox Searchlight deal last April.
CBS Films/eOne’s feature take on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, starring the 18-year-old Latino actor, will open on August 9 next year.
From Oscarwinner Guillermo del Toro, who is co-writing and producing, the film is being directed by André Øvredal.
The movie centers on a group of young teens who must solve the mystery surrounding sudden and macabre deaths in a small town. The film is based on Alvin Schwartz’s young adult novel series, which del Toro has long been a fan of and owns ten of the books’ original illustrations by Stephen Gammell.
del Toro wrote with Daniel Hageman & Kevin Hageman, and the Shape of Water filmmaker is producing with Sean Daniel, Elizabeth Grave, Jason F. Brown, and J. Miles Dale.
In addition to Garza, who starred in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and Wayward Pines, the film also stars Zoe Colletti, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, Austin Zajur and Natalie Ganzhorn.
