Almudena Amor to Star in the Thriller “Turn Up The Sun!”

Almudena Amor is turning things up…

The 29-year-old Spanish actress is starring opposite James McAvoy, Lucas Bravo and Aisling Franciosi in the thriller Turn Up The Sun! 

Almudena Amor,The film has begun production in the UK under an Equity PACT agreement.

Written and directed by Welsh filmmaker Jamie Adams, BAFTA-winner McAvoy leads cast in the ensemble about two couples that accidentally book the same countryside mansion for a weekend of work and pleasure but discover things may not be as they seem.

Sales outfit The Syndicate is handling worldwide sales and will introduce the project at AFM.

Shaun Sanghani is financing through his credit facility SSS Film Capital and will be producing through SSS Entertainment alongside Cara Shine Ballarini and Rebecca Miller and their Good Pals production shingle. The trio produced the 2021 SXSW Grand Jury winner The Fallout starring Jenna Ortega, which was acquired by Warner Bros. This is their third feature together.

Sanghani told us: “James McAvoy is one of the most talented actors in the business and having him and the rest of our amazing cast collaborate with Jamie Adams, who we are lucky to be reteaming with for a second feature, is exciting on every level.”

Amor previously starred in the films The Good Boss and The Grandmother.

Almudena Amor Named to Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021 List

Almudena Amor has had a break-out year… And, she’s being recognized for it.

The 27-year-old Spanish actress has been named to Variety’s International Breakout Stars of 2021 list.

Almudena AmorVariety’s international writers picked out a handful of global talents who had an incredible year, including Amor.

Amor had only appeared in a couple of shorts before this year, but 2021 saw the PR-grad-turned-actor cast by Spanish horror legend Paco Plaza as the lead in his San Sebastian competition film La Abuela.

Next, she was picked by Fernando León in what has proved to be her international break-out role, as a foil to Javier Bardem’s lead in the Spanish Oscar submission The Good Boss.

The role earned her a best new actress nomination at the Spanish Academy’s Goya Awards.

In November, she also starred in an entry of Amazon’s acclaimed Spanish horror anthology series reboot Stories to Stay Awake.

But Amor isn’t the only Latina to make the list…

Milena Smit is being celebrated for remarkable run the last two years.

The 35-year-old Spanish actress’ debut feature performance came just last year when she starred alongside Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most marketable leading men, in the award-winning thriller Cross the Line.

She was quickly picked out with a Goya nomination for best new actress. This year, Smit’s talents went global as she starred with Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, earning her another Goya nomination, this time for best supporting actress.

In 2022, she will feature in Netflix’s sci-fi horror series The Girl in the Mirror before returning to the big screen in Tin & Tina, one of Spain’s most promising indies of the coming year.

Here’s the complete list of global artists recognized:

Toheeb Jimoh (U.K.)
Keung To (Hong Kong)
Swamy Rotolo (Italy)
Ondina Quadri (Italy)
Almudena Amor (Spain)
Milena Smit (Spain)
Benjamin Voisin (France)
Don Lee (South Korea-U.S.)
Jung Ho Yeon (South Korea)
Adarsh Gourav (India)
Azmeri Haque Badhon (Bangladesh)

Fernando León de Aranoa’s “Good Boss” Earns Record 20 Goya Award Nominations

Fernando León de Aranoa’s livin’ the Good (Boss) life…

The nominations have been announced for the Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars, with the 53-year-old Spanish screenwriter and film director’s comedy-drama The Good Boss racking up an all-time record of 20 nominations across 17 categories.

Fernando León de Aranoa, Javier Bardem

The film, starring Javier Bardem, is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the acting categories, it also set another record by racking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.

Finally, the film is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume Design (Fernando García), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Almudena Fonseca), Best Sound (Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri) and Best Special Effects (Raúl Romanillos and Miriam Piquer).

Javier Bardem, Good Boss

Produced by The Reposado P.C. and The Mediapro StudioThe Good Boss sees Bardem play a scheming factory boss whose plans to control his workforce begin to backfire. It is representing Spain in this year’s Oscar race.

Elsewhere at the Goyas, Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers will also compete for Best Film, alongside Clara Roquet’s Libertad, Iciar Bollain’s Maixabel and Marcel Barrena’s Mediterráneo.

León de Aranoa, Almodóvar and Bollain will compete alongside The Daughter helmer Manuel Martín Cuenca for Best Director.

Penelope Cruz, who has already struck gold with her performance in Parallel Mothers by winning Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, is nominated for the same prize at this year’s Goyas.

The 2022 Goya Awards will be held on February 12, 2022 at Les Arts de València.

Here’s a look at the 2022 Spanish Academy Goya nominations:

BEST PICTURE
“The Good Boss,” (Fernando León de Aranoa)
“Libertad,” (Clara Roquet)
“Parallel Mothers,” (Pedro Almodóvar)
“Maixabel,” (Iciar Bollain)
“Mediterráneo,” (Marcel Barrena)

DIRECTOR
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Manuel Martín Cuenca, (“The Daughter”)
Pedro Almodóvar, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Iciar Bollain, (“Maixabel”)

ACTOR
Javier Bardem, (“The Good Boss”)
Javier Gutiérrez, (“The Daughter”)
Luis Tosar, (“Maixabel”)
Eduard Fernández, (“Mediterráneo”)

ACTRESS
Emma Suárez, (“Josefina”)
Petra Martínez, (“La vida era eso”)
Penélope Cruz, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Blanca Portillo, (“Maixabel”)

NEW DIRECTOR
Carol Rodríguez Colás, (“Chavalas”)
Javier Marco Rico, (“Josefina”)
David Martín de los Santos, (“La vida era eso”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)
Iciar Bollain, Isa Campo, (“Maixabel”)
Juanjo Giménez Peña, Pere Altimira, (“Tres”)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Júlia de Paz Solvas, Núria Dunjó López (“Ama”)
Agustí Villaronga (“El vientre del mar”)
Daniel Monzón, Jorge Guerricaechevarría (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Benito Zambrano, Cristina Campos (“Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake”)

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Zeltia Montes, (“The Good Boss”)
Fatima Al Qadiri, (“La abuela”)
Alberto Iglesias, (“Maixabel”)
Arnau Bataller, (“Mediterráneo”)

ORIGINAL SONG
Àngel Leiro, Jean-Paul Dupeyron, Xavier Capellas, (“Álbum de posguerra”)
Antonio Orozco, Jordi Colell Pinillos, (“El cover”)
Alejandro García Rodríguez, Antonio Molinero León, Daniel Escortell Blandino, José Manuel Cabrera Escot, Miguel García Cantero, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Maria José Llergo, (“Mediterráneo”)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Celso Bugallo. (“The Good Boss”)
Fernando Albizu, (“The Good Boss”)
Manolo Solo, (“The Good Boss,”)
Urko Olazabal, (“Maixabel”)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sonia Almarcha, (“The Good Boss”)
Nora Navas, (“Libertad”)
Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Parallel Mothers”)
Milena Smit, (“Parallel Mothers”)

NEW ACTOR
Óscar de la Fuente, (“The Good Boss”)
Tarik Rmili, (“The Good Boss,”)
Chechu Salgado (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Jorge Motos (“Lucas”)

NEW ACTRESS
Ángela Cervantes, (“Chavalas”)
Almudena Amor, (“The Good Boss”)
Nicolle García, (“Libertad”)
María Cerezuela, (“Maixabel”)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Óscar Vigiola, (“Love Gets a Room”)
Luis Gutiérrez, (“The Good Boss”)
Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, (“Maixabel”)
Albert Espel, Kostas Seakianakis, (“Mediterráneo”)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Pau Esteve Birba, (“The Good Boss”)
Gris Jordana, (“Libertad”)
José Luis Alcaine, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Kiko de la Rica, (“Mediterráneo”)

EDITING
Antonio Frutos, (“Bajocero”)
Vanessa L. Marimbert, (“The Good Boss”)
Miguel Doblado, (“Josefina”)
Nacho Ruiz Capillas, (“Maixabel”)

ART DIRECTION
César Macarrón, (“The Good Boss”)
Balter Gallart, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Antxón Gómez, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Mikel Serrano, (“Maixabel”)

COSTUME DESIGN
Alberto Valcárcel, (“Love gets a room”)
Fernando García, (“The Good Boss”)
Vinyet Escobar, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Clara Bilbao, (“Maixabel”)

MAKEUP
Almudena Fonseca, Manolo García, (“The Good Boss”)
Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Eli Adánez, Sergio Pérez Berbel, Nacho Díaz, (“Libertad”)
Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel, (“Maixabel”)

SOUND DESIGN
Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri, (“The Good Boss”)
Sergio Bürmann, Laia Casanovas, Marc Orts, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia, (“Maixabel”)
Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts, (“Tres”)

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Raúl Romanillos, Míriam Piquer, (“The Good Boss”)
Raúl Romanillos, Ferran Piquer, (“La abuela”)
Àlex Villagrasa, (“Mediterráneo”)
Pau Costa, Laura Pedro, (“Way Down”)

ANIMATED FEATURE
“Gora automatikoa,” (Esaú Dharma, David Galán Galindo, Pablo Vara)
“Mironins,” (Álex Cervantes, Ángel Coronado, Anton Roebben, Eric Goossens, Iván Agenjo, Mikel Mas)
“Salvar el árbol (Zutik!)” (Carmelo Vivanco, Egoitz Rodríguez, Fernando Alonso, Jonatan Guzmán, Nelson Botter)
“Valentina,” (Brandán de Brano, Chelo Loureiro, Luís da Matta, Mariano Baratech, Noa García)

IBEROAMERICAN FEATURE
“Canción sin nombre,” (Melina León, Peru)
“La cordillera de los sueños,” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)
“Las siamesas,” (Paula Hernández, Argentina)
“Los lobos,” (Samuel Kishi, Mexico)

EUROPEAN FEATURE
“Bye Bye Morons,” (Albert Dupontel, France)
“I’m Your Man,” (Maria Schrader, Germany)
“Another Round,” (Thomas Vinterberg, Dinamarca)
“Promising Young Woman” (Emerald Fennell, United Kingdom)

FICTION SHORT
“Farrucas,” (Ian de la Rosa)
“Mindanao,” (Borja Soler)
“Tótem loba,” (Verónica Echegui)
“Votamos,” (Santiago Requejo)
“Yalla,” (Carlo D’Ursi)

DOCUMENTARY
“The Return: Life After ISIS,” (Alba Sotorra)
“Heroes. Silence and Rock and Roll,” (Alexis Morante)
“Quién lo impide,” (Jonás Trueba)
“Tehran Blues,” (Javier Tolentino)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Dajla: cine y olvido,” (Arturo Dueñas Herrero)
“Figurante,” (Nacho Fernández)
“Mamá,” (Pablo de la Chica)
“Ulisses,” (Joan Bover)

ANIMATED SHORT
“Nacer,” (Roberto Valle)
“Proceso de selección,” (Carla Pereira)
“The Monkey,” (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)
“Umbrellas,” (José Prats)