Tag Archives: Cannes Film Festival

Guillermo del Toro Taking Part in Tribeca Enterprises & YouTube’s ‘We Are One: A Global Film Festival’

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Guillermo del Toro is taking his talk global…

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. 

Guillermo del Toro

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.

Click herefor the full festival schedule.

Armando Espitia Signs with United Talent Agency (UTA)

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Armando Espitia is ready for Hollywood…

United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed the 29-year-old Mexican actor in all areas. 

Armando Espitia

Espitia most recently starred in Heidi Ewing’s drama I Carry You With Me, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Awardand Grand Jury Awardin the Next!categories.

Espitia first came to prominence with his leading role in Amat Escalante’s Cannes Film Festival title Heli and also starred as the lead in Nuestras Madres, which opened at Cannes in Critics’ Weekwhere it picked up the Caméra d’Or.

Additionally, he has appeared in several features including Ayúdame A Pasar La Noche,and Open Cage. 

On the television side, his credits include Amazon’s Diablo Guardián, Telemundo’s El Recluso as well as History Channel’s Texas Rising. 

He also founded the theater company Conejo Con Prisa.

Paz Vega to Star in & Produce Comedy Series “Tacowood” for MGM International Television

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Paz Vega is ready for tacos…

MGM International Television is developing Tacowood, a comedy series headlined and produced by the 44-year-old Spanish actress.

Paz Vega

Based on an original idea by Spanish writer-producer-director Frank Ariza, Tacowoodis a modern-day comedy that follows Guada (Vega), a 40-year-old single mother who spends her days running her family’s taco truck business in the outskirts of Mexico City as she embarks on the journey of a lifetime with her mother and 10-year-old daughter to pursue her dream of becoming a Hollywood actress.

MGM International Television will produce and distribute the project.

“Good ideas married with good talent knows no borders today,” said Diego Piasek, SVP International Development at MGM International Television. “As a first-generation immigrant myself, I’m so proud that MGM is supporting the new voices of our generation.”

Launched last year, MGM International Television is ramping up in key markets like UK, Europe and Australia. One of the division’s main priorities is developing culturally rich programming with Latinx talent both in front of and behind the camera for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences around the world.

“Making a more inclusive cinema, focusing on minorities and fairly representing the society in which we live is a responsibility of everyone who works in this industry,” Vega said. “That is why I feel extremely excited to join MGMand put my voice at the service of this beautiful initiative that will generate great opportunities for the Latin community.”

Vega is known for her starring role opposite Adam Sandlerin the 2004 James L. Brooksfilm Spanglish. She won multiple awards for the Spanish movie Lucía y el sexo,including a breakthrough award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. 

Vega also starred opposite Morgan Freemanin indie film 10 Items or Less and opposite Sylvester Stallonein Rambo: Last Blood.On the television side, she played Renata in Netflix’s The OA.

Tubi Acquires Streaming Rights to Robert Rodriguez’s Sci-Fi Horror Film”Red 11″ & Companion Docuseries

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Life is but a stream for Robert Rodriguez…

Tubi has scored the exclusive streaming rights to the 51-year-old Mexican American filmmaker and visual effects supervisor’s sci-fi horror film Red 11, as well as his docuseries The Robert Rodriguez Film School.

Robert Rodriguez

Red 11 is based on Rodriguez’s experiences in a medical research facility to finance his first feature El Mariachi. 

The film, which made its world premiere at SXSW and went on to play in the Directors Fortnightsection at the Cannes Film Festival, is set in the dark, twisted world of legal drug research. College kids turn lab rats to make quick money. The film’s protagonist Rob (who is assigned the color and number Red 11), is trying to buy his way out of a huge debt to the tune of $7K. But things get surreal when he’s not sure if the hospital is really trying to kill him, or if it’s side effects from the experimental drugs.

Red 11 will hit the free ad-supported streaming service in the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer.

Robert Rodriguez Film School is the companion piece to Red 11that explains the director’s guerrilla filmmaking process, while speaking to filmmakers and entrepreneurs alike on overcoming the perceived limitations of time, budget and other variables.

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Tubi to deliver Red 11and its accompanying Film School docuseries free of charge and easily accessible to all audiences,” said Rodriguez. “I made both Red 11and the Film School series to celebrate the 25th anniversary of El Mariachi, and this project shows truly actionable methods using my no crew, micro budget filmmaking style that will inspire others to make their own films and have their voices be heard. These are both dream projects of mine, an entertaining culmination of ideas and ruminations on the creative process that also highlight the heightened sense of spirituality that comes from dancing with creativity when there is an absence of the usual financial resources. In other words, ‘low budget fun.’”

“Red 11 and the story of how Robert made this movie is inspirational to up-and-coming filmmakers,” said Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer, Tubi. “We are thrilled to amplify Robert’s message to the next generation of filmmakers as a part of our commitment to helping independent films find a wide audience.”

Tubi counts more than 20K movies and TV series – more than double the size of Netflix. This month it was announced that Tubi will launch in Mexico with TV Azteca, one of the two largest producers of Spanish-language TV programming in the world. 

Tubi is available on Hisensetelevisions, Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, Cox Contour, and on OTT devices like Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, SonyTVs, SamsungTVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, AndroidTV, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego’s “Birds of Passage” Makes Barack Obama’s Year-End List

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Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego have made an extra special list..

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego

Barack Obama has added the 38-year-old Colombian filmmaker and 42-year-old Colombian filmmaker’s latest project, Birds of Passage, to the former American president’s list of Favorite Movies of 2019.

Birds of Passage is the only Spanish language film on Obama’s list this year.

The film explores the rise of a Wayuu man and his family as they enter the drug trade, prosper, and slowly lose their traditions and former way of life. 

It was selected to open the 50th edition of the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, making the December shortlist.

Fernanda Montenegro’s “Invisible Life” to Open in December via Amazon Studios

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Fernanda Montenegro’s latest project is getting a new lease on Life…

The 90-year-old Brazilian actress’ Invisible Life, Brazil’s official Oscar entry in the Foreign Film race, will open December 20 via Amazon Studios. 

Fernanda Montenegro

The tropical melodrama stars Montenegro, Carol Duarte and Julia Stockler and is set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950. 

Eurídice and Guida are two inseparable sisters living at home with their conservative parents. Although immersed in a traditional life, each one nourishes a dream: Eurídice of becoming a renowned pianist, Guida of finding true love. In a dramatic turn, they are separated by their father and forced to live apart. They take control of their separate destinies, while never giving up hope of finding each other.

The RT Features production made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival back in May where it won Un Certain Regard, then continued on to numerous awards fall festivals, including Toronto, Mill Valley, London and Hamptons. 

Cinematographer Hélène Louvart also won the Golden Camera award at the International Cinematographers’ Film Festival Manaka Brothers.

Earlier this year, Amazon’s foreign film Oscar entry from Poland, Cold War, was nominated in three categories: best foreign film, cinematography and for Pawel Pawlikowski’s directing. 

Amazon Studio’s The Salesman, from Iran, won the Academy Awardfor best foreign film in 2017.

Rodrigo Garcia to Direct the Drama “Four Good Days”

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There are good days in store for Rodrigo Garcia.

The 60-year-old Colombian television and film director is set to direct the drama Four Good Days, about a mother helping her daughter work through four crucial days on the road to recovery from substance abuse.

Rodrigo Garcia

The film will star Glenn Close, Mila Kunisand Stephen Root. 

Launched at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the project is due to begin shooting next week in Los Angeles. 

Root will play the role of Chris, a man worn down by the emotional stress caused by his stepdaughter’s (Kunis) addiction and his wife’s (Close) attempts to save her.

Garcia directs from his own script, co-written by Washington Post 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Saslow, based on Saslow’s article.

Garcia’s credits include the films Nine Lives, Mother and Child, Albert Nobbs, Last Days in the Desert, as well as the HBO drama series In Treatment.

Christopher von Uckermann to Star in the Film Adaptation of Paul Auster’s Novel “The Country of Last Things”

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Christopher von Uckermann is one of the last thingsstanding…

The 32-year-old Mexican singer/actor is set to star in the Spanish-language film adaptation of Paul Auster’s novel The Country of Last Things.

Christopher von Uckermann

von Uckermann will star opposite Argentine newcomer Jazmín Dizand Maria de Medeiros in the film which will be directed byArgentine filmmaker Alejandro Chomski.

Set in a devastated city that was once a thriving metropolis, the dystopian story follows Anna (Diz) as she searches for her brother, a missing journalist. In her quest to find him, she meets and falls in love with Sam (von Uckermann), another journalist. 

Chomski adapted Auster’s novel, which has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Shooting is underway at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studioson the feature.

von Uckermann shot to fame in his homeland after starring in local soap opera Rebelde. He was a member of RBDbefore launching a solo career.

Chomski’s debut Today and Tomorrow premiered at Cannes Film Festivalin 2003. His other credits include the Jennifer Lopez-produced reggaeton film Feel The Noise, A Beautiful Life, starring Dana Delanyand Bai Ling, and Asleep In The Sun, based on the novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares.

Altitude Releases Trailer for Diego Maradona-Themed Documentary

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Diego Maradonais kickin’ it old school… so to speak.

Altitude has released the first footage from its Cannes Film Festival-bound documentary Diego Maradona, which centers on the 58-year-old Argentine retired professional footballer and current manager of Mexican second division club Dorados.

Diego Maradona

Directed by Asif Kapadia, the documentary was constructed from more than 500 hours of rare footage. It centers on the career of the celebrated soccer star during his time at Italian club Napoli in the 1980s.

The film will chart the iconic sporting story of how the genius soccer star arrived at the ailing Italian side Napoli and turned them into a force, winning their first ever national championship. 

The glory also came with a price, however, as Maradona became almost a prisoner in the city. His inner demons were never far away.

The film will play Out Of Competition and Maradona will attend the Cannes Film Festival. 

The film will roll out in cinemas from this summer.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu to Become First Mexican to Serve as President of Cannes Film Festival Jury

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Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is representing Mexico in France in a big way…

The 55-year-old Mexican filmmaker, a four-time Academy Award winner, has been selected as the president of the Cannes Film Festival jury. 

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

He will head the Official Selection competition at the 72nd edition of the highly regarded festival, and will be the first Mexican artist to sit in the position.

Inarritu’s relationship with the fest goes back to when his film Amores Perros won the Critics’ Week sidebar back in 2000. From there, he would be a mainstay, winning director honors for Babel in 2006. 

In 2010, Biutiful screened at the fest while his VR project installation Carne y Arenawas an official selection in 2017.

“Cannes is a festival that has been important to me since the beginning of my career,” said Inarritu in a statement. “I am humbled and thrilled to return this year with the immense honor of presiding over the Jury. Cinema runs through the veins of the planet and this festival has been its heart. We on the jury will have the privilege to witness the new and excellent work of fellow filmmakers from all over the planet. This is a true delight and a responsibility, that we will assume with passion and devotion.”

Pierre Lescure, Cannes President, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, are “delighted” that Inarritu accepted the invitation. “Not only is he a daring filmmaker and a director who is full of surprises, Alejandro is also a man of conviction, an artist of his time,” they said in a joint statement.

The Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14-25.