Goodfellas Handling International Sales for Berenice Bejo’s “Mexico 86”

Posted on February 13, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Berenice Bejo’s latest project is one step closer to hitting theaters around the globe…

Goodfellas has acquired the worldwide sales rights to thriller Mexico 86, starring the 47-year-old French-Argentine Oscar-nominated actress.

The film hails from Belgian-Guatemalan filmmaker César Diaz, who made waves with Guatemalan civil war disappearance drama Our Mothers, which won Cannes’ Caméra d’Or in 2019.

Mexico 86 stars Bejo as a Guatemalan rebel activist fighting against the corrupt military dictatorship, who is forced to flee to Mexico in 1976, leaving her son behind. A decade later, he comes to live with her, forcing her to choose between her duties as a mother and her revolutionary activism.

Diaz has taken inspiration from his own personal story for the drama.

The film is produced by Need Productions with Tripode Productions, Pimienta Films and Menuetto Film.

Bejo earned a Best Supporting Actress nod for her performance in The Artist. Her other credits include The Past, Eternity and Sweet Dreams.

Claudio Miranda Wins Best Cinematography Prize from New York Film Critics Circle for “Top Gun: Maverick”

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Claudio Miranda is the New York critics choice.

The New York Film Critics Circle, the longest-acting film awards voting committee, has announced its 2022 winners, with the 57-year-old Chilean Oscar-winning cinematographer picking up an award.

Miranda claimed the Best Cinematography award for his work on the hit Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.

Miranda previously won the Academy Award in 2012 for his cinematography on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi.

The NYFCC is known for bestowing wins to independent films and the organization can take as long as five hours to deliberate on the day they announce wins. Whatever film the group names as Best Picture doesn’t always translate to an Oscar Best Picture win; the last title to do so was 2011’s The Artist.

“NYFCC winners reflect the broad range of our tastes, as well as what’s exciting audiences at cinemas today,” stated NYFCC Chair Jordan Hoffman. “It’s a stimulating group of movies, and our gala event in January is bound to be a memorable one.”

Founded in 1935, the New York Film Critics Circle is the oldest critics group in the country. The NYFCC’s membership includes critics from daily and weekly newspapers, magazines and the web’s most respected online publications.

The group’s awards gala will be held in early January in New York City.

Here are all the winners of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards:

BEST FILM
Tár

BEST DIRECTOR
S.S. Rajamouli, RRR

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Tár

BEST ACTOR
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin and After Yang

BEST SCREENPLAY
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
EO (Poland)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Keke Palmer, Nope

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

SPECIAL AWARDS
Jake Perlin, curator, distributor and publisher in recognition of his indispensable contributions to film culture.

dGenerate Films for its invaluable work bringing independent films to China.

Jafar Panahi, for “dogged bravery as an artist, and for the humanity and beauty of a body of work created under the most oppressive circumstances.

BEST FIRST FILM
Aftersun

STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS:
Undergraduate, Nico Pedrero-Setzer
Graduate, Greg Nussen

This year’s voting members include: Sam Adams (Slate), Siddhant Adlakha (freelance), Melissa Anderson (4 Columns), Michael Atkinson (freelance), Jason Bailey (Playlist), Richard Brody (New Yorker), Dwight Brown (NNPA Syndication), Kameron Austin Collins (Rolling Stone), Bilge Ebiri (New York), David Ehrlich (IndieWire), Kate Erbland (IndieWire), David Fear (Rolling Stone), Graham Fuller (freelance), Owen Gleiberman (Variety), Ed Gonzalez (Slant), Leah Greenblatt (EW), Steven D. Greydanus (National Catholic Register), Rafer Guzman (Newsday), Caryn James (BBC), Eric Kohn (IndieWire), Tomris Laffly (freelance), Richard Lawson (Vanity Fair), Violet Lucca (freelance), Soraya Nadia McDonald (Andscape), Sheila O’Malley (Rogerebert.com), Rex Reed (New York Observer), David Rooney (Hollywood Reporter), Nick Schager (Daily Beast), David Sims (The Atlantic), Kyle Smith (Wall Street Journal), Dana Stevens (Slate), Amy Taubin (Artforum), Peter Travers (ABC), Keith Uhlich (freelance), Elizabeth Weitzman (The Wrap), Stephen Whitty (freelance), Alissa Wilkinson (Vox), Alison Willmore (New York), Stephanie Zacharek (Time), and Esther Zuckerman (freelance).

Daniel Brühl to Star in Lone Scherfig’s Upcoming Feature “The Movie Teller”

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a tell(er)ing future for Daniel Brühl.

The 43-year-old half-Spanish Golden Globe-nominated actor will star in Lone Scherfig’s upcoming feature The Movie Teller, according to Variety.

Brühl , who starred in Captain America: Civil War, will star alongside half-Argentine Oscar-nominated actress Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Spanish actor Antonio de la Torre (Marshland) in the film.

Directed by BAFTA nominee Scherfig, The Movie Teller sees Brühl star as Nansen, a European outsider who, via his restraint and diplomacy, earns the respect of the families he encounters at a Chilean mine before embarking on a relationship with a local woman, María Magnolia (played by Bejo).

Embankment is executive producing the film and has launched worlwide sales, co-repping Latin American rights with Latido Films. A Contracorriente Films’ Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”), Selenium Films’ Vincent Juillerat and Andres Mardones of Al Tiro Films are producing.

Brühl, a BAFTA-nominated actor, recently reprised his Marvel role in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and has appeared in the features Rush and Inglourious Basterds.

Bérénice Bejo Named to Berlin International Film Festival Competition Jury

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Bérénice Bejois reporting for jury dury…

The 70th Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled its juries, with the 43-year-old Argentine actress and Oscar nominee earning a spot.

In addition to Bejo, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in The Artist, producer Bettina Brokemper (Germany), director Annemarie Jacir(Palestine), playwright and director Kenneth Lonergan(USA), actor Luca Marinelli (Italy) and film critic and director Kleber Mendonça Filho(Brazil), will join president Jeremy Irons.

They will award prizes including the Goldenand the Silver Bears to the 18 films in this year’s Competition line up.

The festival’s new competitive section Encounters will see Dominga Sotomayor(Chile), Eva Trobisch(Germany) and Shôzô Ichiyama(Japan) award three prizes: Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.

The youth-focused Generations strand has two juries. The Kplus section will be overseen by Abbas Amini (Iran), Jenna Bass (South Africa) and Rima Das. The 14plus competition will be overseen by Marine Atlan (France), María Novaro (Mexico) and Erik Schmitt (Germany).

The international short film jury will feature animation filmmaker Réka Bucsi (Hungary), curator Fatma Çolakoğlu (Turkey) and filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.

The winner of the festival’s documentary prize, which encompasses the Competition, Berlinale Special, Encounters, Panorama, Forum, Generation and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections, will be selected by Gerd Kroske (Germany), Marie Losier (France / USA), and Alanis Obomsawin (Canada).

Finally, the jury for the Best First Feature Award, which also encompasses multiple programs, will be Ognjen Glavonić(Serbia), Hala Lotfy(Egypt) and Gonzalo de Pedro Amatria(Spain).

The festival winners will be announced at the Berlinale Palaston February 29.

Bérénice Bejo to Star in Pablo Trapero’s Thriller “La Quietud”

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Bérénice Bejo is embracing the tranquilty…

The 41-year-old Argentine actress will star in the Argentine thriller La Quietud from Pablo Trapero, who won the 2015 Silver Lion Best Director prize at the Venice Film Festival for El Clan.

The film stars Bejo, Martina Gusmán and Edgar Ramírez and centers on two sisters’ re-encounter and attempt at closure on a common troubled past.

The film is being produced by Trapero’s Matanza Cine and Telefé in coproduction with Sony Pictures International Productions.

Production has begun in Buenos Aires.

Bejo earned an Academy Award nomination for her breakthrough role in The Artist. Her other film credits include A Knight’s Tale, The Past and The Search.

Bejo to Star in the Adventure-Fantasy Film “The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir”

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Berenice Bejo is preparing for an extraordinary journey…

The 40-year-old Argentine actress, an Oscar nominee for her performance in The Artist, will star in The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, an adventure-fantasy film directed by Ken Scott.

One of the most ambitious English-language titles on the slate of the recently rebranded TF1 Studios, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir will also topline Indian star Dhanush, Erin Moriarty, Barkhad Abdi, Laurent Lafitte and Abel Jafri.

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir was initially set to be directed by Persepolis helmer Marjane Satrapi. Scott came on board a few months ago to rework the script and direct the movie, which is scheduled to begin shooting in May in Mumbai, Paris, Brussels, and Rome.

The film is based on Romain Puértolas’ bestselling debut novel, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, which was published in 2014 and has been translated into 35 languages.

“The book was a huge success. It was sold in 36 countries. It’s a bestseller. There’s many aspects that interested me, there’s obviously comedy, a lot of comedy, some very poetic moments. It’s the story of this magician/thief who grew up in this small neighborhood in Mumbai, India, he sets sail on this journey of self-discovery throughout Europe,” said Scott.

“What’s great is I get to work with a great actor, Dhanush, who is a huge star in India, he’s a great actor, but also a great dancer, a great singer, he has a very unique way of dancing and moving, he’s just very charming,” added Scott.

Bejo’s film credits include Asghar Farhadi’s The Past, The Search and After Love.

Cuarón Named Best Director at the 2014 BAFTA Awards; “Gravity” Takes Home Six Awards

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Another awards ceremony, another big prize for Alfonso Cuarón…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who already has a Golden Globe, DGA Award and Critics’ Choice Movie Award, has picked up his latest Best Director trophy this awards season at the 2014 BAFTA Awards.

Cuarón, the heavy favorite to win Best Director at this year’s Oscars, won the award for helming his critically acclaimed 3D space disaster thriller Gravity.

But that wasn’t Cuarón’s only trophy of the night…

The filmmaker, one of Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainers of the Year in 2013, also took home the prize for Best British Film as one of Gravity’s producers.

Meanwhile, Cuarón’s cinematographer-of-choice Emmanuel Lubezki took home the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for the Mexican Oscar nominee’s work on Gravity, his sixth career BAFTA Award.

In all, Gravity won an impressive six awards — just one award shy of The Artist in 2012 and The King’s Speech.

The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Bejo Earns César Award for Her Performance in Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past”

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a blast from the past for Bérénice Bejo…

The 37-year-old Argentine actress has earned a César Award nomination for Best Actress for her critically acclaimed performance in Asghar Farhadi’s The Past.

The film’s twisting plot involves secrets, lies, deceit, divorce, affairs, comas, pregnancy and other traumatic situations.

“This is a film that is so far removed from my life, from my everyday,” says Bejo. “But at the same time, it’s really interesting to play someone who is your total opposite.”

It’s Bejo’s second Best Actress nomination for the César Award, France’s equivalent to the Oscars. She previously won the prize in 2011 for her star-making performance in The Artist, a role that also earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Even though Bejo failed to earn an Oscar nomination this time around for her performance in the French-language drama The Past, she did win the Best Actress prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Meanwhile, Pablo Berger‘s Blancanieves and Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity are both nominated in the Best Foreign Film category.

The César Awards ceremony will take place on February 28 in Paris.

Here’s a look at this year’s Latino nominees:

BEST ACTRESS
Fanny Ardant, Les Beaux Jours
Bérénice Bejo, The Past
Catherine Deneuve, Elle S’En Va
Sara Forestier, Suzanne
Sandrine Kiberlain, 9 Mois Ferme
Emmanuelle Seigner, Venus In Fur
Léa Seydoux, Blue Is The Warmest Color

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Blancanieves
Blue Jasmine
Dead Man Talking
Django Unchained
The Great Beauty
Gravity

Bejo to Star in Michel Hazanavicius’ Drama “The Search”

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Bérénice Bejo is reuniting with her husband for another film project…

The 37-year-old Argentine actress, who earned an Oscar nod for her performance in The Artist, will star opposite Annette Bening in her husband Michel Hazanavicius’ drama The Search, which the Oscar-winning director also wrote.

The film will reunite Hazanavicius with producer Thomas Langmann and his award-winning production team from The Artist.

The Search tells the story of an NGO worker who forms a special relationship with a young boy in war-torn Chechnya.

It’s based on Fred Zinnemann’s Oscar-winning 1948 film, which is set in post-World War II Berlin.

Shooting is currently underway in the country of Georgia, then will move on to France.

Bejo Earns Best Actress Honors at the Cannes Film Festival

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Following her critically acclaimed performance in 2011’s The Artist, Bérénice Bejo is back in the hunt for Oscar.

The 36-year-old Argentine Oscar-nominated actress earned best actress honors at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Bejo fought back emotion as she picked up her award on Sunday for her starring role in Asghar Farhadi‘s French-language film The Past.

Bejo, who rose to international acclaim with the Best Picture-winning silent film The Artist, plays a wife who asks her estranged husband to return from Iran to finalize their divorce.

After the awards ceremony, Bejo said she was touched by the honor but felt uncomfortable with the idea of taking credit for Oscar winner Farhadi’s Paris-set family drama.

“It is special to get a best performance prize; it is for me and I cannot imagine getting something just for me,” said Bejo. “I would be nothing if there weren’t other actors, the director, photography, and all the members of the crew.”

“It is as if the film is being reduced just to me and I can’t envision that,” she added, speaking in French.

Bejo — who was born in Argentina and speaks fluent Spanish as well as English — is married to Michel Hazanavicius, director of The Artist, which swept the 2012 Oscars with five awards including Best Picture.

Speaking earlier in the festival, she said she received offers from Hollywood after the success of The Artist.

But she said the chance to keep working in Paris with “one of the world’s best directors” was more tempting.

She said the shifting perceptions in Farhadi’s films, where things are never quite what they seem, had drawn her to the character of Marie.

“For an actress it was quite an extraordinary experience — things appear true and then turn out to be completely different,” she said.

Sony Picture Classics is set to distribute The Past in the United States in the near future.

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