John Leguizamo’s “Dark Blood” Hitting American Theaters in September

John Leguizamo’s blood is boiling…

The 56-year-old Colombian actor/comedian’s crime movie Dark Blood has been picked up for distribution in North and South America by FilmRise.

John Leguizamo

The Spanish-language film, directed by Colombian filmmaker Harold Trompetero, follows a father imprisoned after committing a brutal revenge crime. During his confinement he must adapt to a new life of abuse, including injury and humiliation by guards and other prisoners. You can check out the film’s first trailer above.

The pact was negotiated by Katie Carroll, Manager, Independent Film Acquisition at FilmRise and Priscilla Ross Smith, CEO of recently-launched France-based sales firm The Coven. The deal gives FilmRise theatrical, digital and broadcast rights in North and Sound America.

The film will have its North American premiere this September coinciding with National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Danny Fisher, President and CEO at FilmRise, stated: “John Leguizamo’s performance in Dark Blood is a tour de force. The power, fear and compassion that Trompetero evokes through Leguizamo’s performance is a testament to his impressive directing skills. Dark Blood is an exceptional addition to FilmRise’s growing Spanish-language film collection.”

Rondón’s “Pelo Malo” Chosen as Part of the Global Lens Films Series

Mariana Rondón is having a good (bad) hair day…

The Venezuelan cinema director, screenwriter and producer’s latest film.

Pero Malo

Pelo Malo (Bad Hair) has been chosen as one of the Global Film Initiative’s 10 films from around the world for its 2014 Global Lens Films Series, which is distributed by the New York-based FilmRise.

Rondón’s Pelo Malo, which she wrote and directed, is one of 10 titles being added to the 96-title GFI library, whose exclusive distribution rights FilmRise, headed by CEO Danny Fisher, acquired last year.

The dramatic film, which won the Golden Shell award at the 61st San Sebastian Film Festival, centers on a nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair, eliciting a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother.

In addition to Pelo Malo, the lineup that includes Turkey’s 11’e 10 kala (10 to 11) and Babamin sesi (Voice of My Father), India’s Chitra Sutram (The Image Threads), Armenia’s Yerku ashkharhic i hishatak (From Two Worlds as a Keepsake), Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Halimin put (Halima’s Path), Rwanda’s Imbabazi (The Pardon), Morocco’s Wadaan Carmen (Adios Carmen), Cameroon’s Ninah’s Dowry and Egypt’s La Moakhza (Excuse My French).

Over the past 10 years, the Global Film Initiative has provided grants and distribution support for the Global Lens series, which supports filmmakers in the developing world by providing programming for festivals, libraries, cultural institutions, schools and art house cinemas throughout North America.

“We are excited to leverage our partnership with FilmRise as we continue our work to present the very best of world cinema as a means of promoting cross-cultural understanding,” Susan Weeks Coulter, founder and board chair of the Global Film Initiative, said