Fernando Gago Named New Head Coach of Liga MX’s Chivas

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Fernando Gago is headed to Liga MX…

The Mexican soccer league’s Chivas have hired the 27-year-old Argentine football manager and former player as their new head coach.

Gago replaces Veljko Paunovic (21W-8D-13L), who mutually parted ways with Liga MX’s second-most successful side on December 15 after a disappointing quarterfinal playoff exit in the 2023 Apertura season.

Although Paunovic initially exceeded expectations with a run to the 2023 Clausura final in his first season in charge, this season’s quarterfinal exit, coupled with a failure to qualify for the knockout round of the summer’s inaugural MLS-Liga MX Leagues Cup tournament, ultimately led to his departure.

Gago will now begin his third managerial job — and first outside of his home country — after previously leading Racing Club (2021-23) and Aldosivi (2021).

With Aldosivi, Gago produced inconsistent results and resigned in October 2021 after suffering seven defeats in a row.

Brought on by Racing Club weeks later, Gago closed out the 2021 Liga Profesional de Futbol season with a 3W-0D-5L record.

After mixed performances in 2022’s Copa de la Liga Profesional, Copa Argentina and Copa Sudamericana, Racing Club eventually gained steam with a second place finish in the 2022 league season, a Trofeo de Campeones title and a Supercopa Internacional championship in January 2023.

However, questionable results returned, including a 12th place finish in the regular season, which led to Gago’s exit in early October.

Despite being plagued by injuries as a player, Gago collected 61 caps for Argentina‘s national team, as well as a long list of club titles through Boca Juniors, Real Madrid and Velez Sarsfield.

The midfielder also played abroad for Roma and Valencia.

Chivas return to play in January for the 2024 Clausura season. The Guadalajara side are second in Liga MX’s all-time list for championships with 12, but have only lifted once league trophy since 2007.

On Sunday, historic rivals Club América secured their 14th Liga MX title after defeating Tigres 4-1 on aggregate in the 2023 Apertura final.

Katina Medina Mora to Direct Her First English-Language Film, “Freeland”

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Katina Medina Mora is embracing a freeland…

The 43-year-old Latina film, television and theatre director and Emily in Paris helmer will direct Freeland, her first English-language film.

The film will be co-written with Chilean scribe Julio Rojas, creator of podcast sensation Caso 63 and a co-writer on Pablo Fendrik’s El Refugio.

Nicolas Celis, who earned an Academy Award nod for producing Roma, will serve as the lead producer of Freeland.

The project was put together by producer Nestor Hernández, a former Sony and HBO development executive for Latin America who attended the San Sebastian Film Festival in September to present the project.

MadAvenue PR director Eva Herrero serves as an executive producer on the film.

“We have long been following Katina Medina Mora’s remarkable career and her impressive accomplishments over such a short time span,” remarked Celis who has been attending Iberseries to take part in a panel and to meet with contacts.

“I am also more than thrilled to be working with Rojas and alongside Hernández,” he said. “At Pimienta Films, we are increasingly focused on producing globally appealing films with talented and influential creators like Katina,” he noted.

“Nicolas is not only one of the most recognized producers in Mexico, but for me, is one of the few whose work has both narrative and artistic value.” said Medina Mora, adding: “Collaborating with him is something I have been waiting for a long time. I am certain that his involvement with ‘Freeland’ will bring many strengths to the project.”

In “Freeland,” based on Rojas’ eponymous novel, Nicolas, a 17-year-old living in a seemingly idyllic village, shocks his school when he asserts that the Earth is round in a world where a creationist revolution has rewritten history. He’s sent to a reeducation reformatory called Hotel Roma, where he falls in love with Hipatia, the daughter of political prisoners. Together, they plan to escape to Freeland’s border in a totalitarian dystopia of the mid-2030s.

“It is an honor for me that Pimienta and Nicolas Celis have chosen to lead this project. I have been a great admirer of the work of Julio, Katina and Nicolas himself for years. I feel like I am part of something truly unique,” said Hernandez.

Ana de Armas Has Earned Her First-Ever Oscar Nomination

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Ana de Armas is celebrating her first Academy Awards nomination…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have revealed the nominations for the 95th Oscars, with the 34-year-old Cuban and Spanish actress earning a nod.

de Armas is nominated in the Actress in a Leading Role category for her starring role in Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe film Blonde.

She is the first the Cuban to be nominated for a leading role at the Oscars. Fellow Cuban actor Andy Garcia was nominated for best supporting actor in 1990.

Guillermo del Toro has picked up a nod in a new category…

The 58-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker is nominated in the Animated Feature Film category for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

del Toro previously won Best Picture and Best Direction Oscars for The Shape of Water.

Santiago Mitre, who recently won his first Golden Globe, has earned his first Oscar nod.

The 42-year-old Argentine film director and screenwriter is nominated in the International Feature Film category for directing the Argentine Spanish-language film Argentina, 1985.

Alfonso Cuarón has picked up another Academy Award nod.

The 61-year-old Mexican four-time Oscar winner is up for Live Action Short Film for producing Walt Disney’s Le Pupille.

Cuarón previously won Oscars for Best Director for Gravity and Roma, Best Film Editing for Gravity, and Best Cinematography for Roma. He is the first Mexican filmmaker to win the Best Director award and one of the two persons to have been nominated for Academy Awards in seven different categories

The Academy’s final voting runs March 2-7, with the Oscars set58 for Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theater in a ceremony airing live on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Here’s the full list of 2023 Oscar nominees:

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
A Netflix/Amusement Park Film in co-production with Gunpowder Films in association with Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment/Anima Pictures Production
Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Walt Disney)
A 20th Century Studios Production
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight)
A Blueprint Pictures/Film4/TSG Entertainment Production
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
A Bazmark Production
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
A Hot Dog Hands Production
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans” (Universal/Amblin Partners)
An Amblin Partners Production
Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár” (Focus Features)
A Standard Film Company/EMJAG Production
Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)
A Paramount Pictures/Skydance/Jerry Bruckheimer Films Production
Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)
A Plattform Production
Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking” (Orion Pictures/United Artists Releasing)
A Plan B Entertainment / hear/say Production
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Austin Butler in “Elvis”
(Warner Bros.)

Colin Farrell in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
(Searchlight)

Brendan Fraser in “The Whale”
(A24)

Paul Mescal in “Aftersun”
(A24)

Bill Nighy in “Living”
(Sony Pictures Classics)

Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett in “Tár”
(Focus Features)

Ana de Armas in “Blonde”
(Netflix)

Andrea Riseborough in “To Leslie”
(Momentum Pictures)

Michelle Williams in “The Fabelmans”
(Universal/Amblin Partners)

Michelle Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
(A24)

Directing

Martin McDonagh
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Steven Spielberg
“The Fabelmans” (Universal/Amblin Partners)

Todd Field
“Tár” (Focus Features)

Ruben Östlund
“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Brendan Gleeson in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
(Searchlight)

Brian Tyree Henry in “Causeway”
(Apple)

Judd Hirsch in “The Fabelmans”
(Universal/Amblin Partners)

Barry Keoghan in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
(Searchlight)

Ke Huy Quan in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
(A24)

Actress in a Supporting Role

Angela Bassett in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
(Walt Disney)

Hong Chau in “The Whale”
(A24)

Kerry Condon in “The Banshees of Inisherin”
(Searchlight)

Jamie Lee Curtis in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
(A24)

Stephanie Hsu in “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
(A24)

Animated Feature Film

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
(Netflix)
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
(A24)
Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
(Universal)
Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast”
(Netflix)
Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red” (Walt Disney)
Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Documentary Feature Film

“All That Breathes” (Submarine Deluxe and Sideshow in association with HBO Documentary Films)
A Kiterabbit Films and Rise Films in collaboration with HHMI Tangled Bank Studios Production
Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” (Neon)
A Participant Production
Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love” (National Geographic)
A National Geographic Documentary Films/Sandbox Films/Intuitive Pictures & Cottage M Production
Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters”
“A House Made of Splinters” A Final Cut For Real Production
Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny” (Warner Bros./CNN Films/HBO Max)
A Fishbowl Films/RaeFilm Studios/Cottage M Production
Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

International Feature Film

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
A Netflix/Amusement Park Film in co-production with Gunpowder Films in association with Sliding Down Rainbows Entertainment/Anima Pictures Production

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
A La Unión de los Ríos Production

“Close” (Belgium)
A Menuet Production

“EO” (Poland)
A Skopia Film Production

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)
An Inscéal Production

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Screenplay – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)
Written by Rian Johnson

“Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)
Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking” (Orion Pictures/United Artists Releasing)
Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight)
Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans” (Universal/Amblin Partners)
Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár” (Focus Features)
Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)
Written by Ruben Östlund

Cinematography

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)
Darius Khondji

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light” (Searchlight)
Roger Deakins

“Tár” (Focus Features)
Florian Hoffmeister

Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight)
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Paul Rogers

“Tár” (Focus Features)
Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)
Eddie Hamilton

Music (Original Score)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon” (Paramount)
Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight)
Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Son Lux

“The Fabelmans” (Universal/Amblin Partners)
John Williams

Music (Original Song)

“Applause” from “Tell It like a Woman”
(Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”
(Paramount)
Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
(Walt Disney)
Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”
(Variance Films/Sarigama Cinemas)
Music by M.M. Keeravaani Lyric by Chandrabose

“This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
(A24)
Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Production Design

“All Quiet on the Western Front”
(Netflix)
Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck
Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water”
(Walt Disney)
Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter
Set Decorator: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon”
(Paramount)
Production Design: Florencia Martin
Set Decorator: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis”
(Warner Bros.)
Production Design: Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy
Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans”
(Universal/Amblin Partners)
Production Design: Rick Carter
Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Costume Design

“Babylon” (Paramount)
Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Walt Disney)
Ruth Carter

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (Focus Features)
Jenny Beavan

Makeup and Hairstyling

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Walt Disney)
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale” (A24)
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Live Action Short Film

“An Irish Goodbye” (Network Ireland Television)
A Floodlight Pictures Production
Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu”
An M&M Production
Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille” (Walt Disney)
An Esperanto Filmoj and Tempesta Production
Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride” (The New Yorker Studios)
A Cylinder Production
Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase”
A Cynefilms Production
Cyrus Neshvad

Documentary Short Film

“The Elephant Whisperers” (Netflix)
A Netflix Documentary/Sikhya Entertainment Production
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout” (The New Yorker Studios)
An Albireo Films Production
Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?”
A Jay Rosenblatt Films Production
Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” (Netflix)
An Outspoken Films Production
Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate” (The New Yorker Studios)
A Smartypants Pictures Production
Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” (BBC and Apple Original Films)
A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production
Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor”
A National Film Board of Canada Production
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants”
A COLA Animation Production
João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks”
An FX, Wonder Killer and Cat’s Pajamas Production
Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”
A Griffith Film School Production
Lachlan Pendragon

Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Walt Disney)
Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)
Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Walt Disney)
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Walt Disney)
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount)
Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Mexico Enters Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Bardo” Into Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film Race

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Alejandro G. Iñárritu is back in the Oscar race…

Mexico has selected the 59-year-old Mexican five-time Academy Award winner’s Bardo as its official entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.

The immersive work stars Daniel Giménez Cacho as a renowned Los Angeles-based Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who, after being named the recipient of a prestigious international award, is compelled to return to his native country, unaware that this simple trip will push him to an existential limit.

The film had its world premiere in its three-hour original version in competition at the Venice Film Festival in early September.

Netflix recently dropped a trailer for the film, which opens theatrically in Mexico on October 27, followed by a limited theatrical release in the U.S., Spain and Argentina on November 4 before rolling out in a global expansion on November 18.

The film will debut December 1 on Netflix.

The work reunites Iñárritu with a number of his longtime collaborators including co-writer Nicolás Giacobone, who also took credits on Birdman and Biutiful.

Bardo — whose full title is Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths — marks Iñárritu’s first film to be shot in Mexico since Amores Perros, which also represented Mexico at the Academy Awards and was nominated in 2000.

The film also features production design by the designer Eugenio Caballero, who previously won an Academy Award for his work on Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, and costume design by Anna Terrazas (The Deuce, Roma).

Outside of the best international film category and its foreign language predecessor, Iñárritu previously won Oscars for Carne y Arena (2018), The Revenant (2016) and Birdman (2015) and was nominated for Babel (2007).

Mexico has garnered eight nominations to date with Roberto Gavaldón’s Macario (1960), Ismael Rodriguez’s The Important Man (1961), Luis Alcoriza’s The Pearl Of Tiayucan (1963), Miguel Litten’s Letters Of Marusia (1975), Iñárritu’s Amores Perros (2000), Carlos Carrera’s El Crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and Iñárritu’s Biutiful (2010).

Cuaron won the country its only Oscar in the category with Roma in 2018.

Yalitza Aparicio to Star in the Horror-Suspense Film “Presencias”

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Yalitza Aparicio embracing the suspense…

The 28-year-old Mexican actress, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, will star in the horror-suspense film Presencias.

The Videocine project, also starring Alberto Ammann, will stream via TelevisaUnivsion’s Vix+ Streaming Service.

Aparicio described the project during the streamer’s launch announcement this week.

“This is a story about a man who, after his wife’s murder, launches his own investigation to find her killer,” she said. “His investigation takes place at the scene of the crime: a cabin in the woods where he spent a large part of his childhood. Before long, he notices many strange occurrences taking place and is forced with facing a terrifying reality.”

She continued, “Part of the film was shot in Tlalpujahua, known as the magical village where it’s always Christmas, located in Central Mexico in Michoacan. Where the architecture and the local traditions are a point of pride for my country.”

The Dream Assignment production is directed and produced by Luis Mandoki.

Alfonso Cuarón to Adapt Renee Knight’s Novel “Disclaimer” as an Apple TV+ Series

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is releasing a disclaimer…

The 60-year-old Mexican Oscar-winning filmmaker will adapt Renee Knight’s novel Disclaimer as a series for Apple TV+ with Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline starring.

The project marks the first series from the Roma filmmaker since he signed an overall deal with the streamer in 2019. It also marks a series debut for Sophie’s Choice and A Fish Called Wanda star Kline.

Cuarón will write, direct and executive produce all episodes of the series, marking the first time that he has written and directed all episodes of an original series. Blanchett will also executive produce.

Blanchett plays Catherine Ravenscroft, a successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions. When an intriguing novel written by a widower, played by Kline, appears on her bedside table, she is horrified to realize she is a key character in a story that she had hoped was long buried in the past. A story that reveals her darkest secret. A secret she thought was hers alone.

Disclaimer is produced by Cuarón’s Esperanto Filmoj and Anonymous Content. Academy Award-winner Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity) and Academy Award nominee Bruno Delbonnel (The Tragedy of Macbeth) will serve as directors of photography on the project. Cuarón serves as executive producer alongside Esperanto Filmoj’s Gabriela Rodriguez and Anonymous Content’s David Levine, Dawn Olmstead and the late Steve Golin. Renee Knight serves as co-executive producer.

Mariana Lima to Star in Walter Salles-Directed Film “I’m Still Here”

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Mariana Lima is still here…

The 48-year-old Brazilian actress will star in I’m Still Here, which will be directed by Walter Salles.

The film is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s best-selling memoir about his mother Eunice Paiva, a housewife forced to reinvent herself as an activist when her husband fell victim to the military regime that took control of Brazil in 1964. Her husband became among many who were tortured and disappeared with no due process.

Lima, one of Brazil’s most acclaimed actresses with credits that include Dark Days and Father’s Chair, will play Paiva.

Murilo Hauser scripted the 2019 Un Certain Regard winning-Invisible Life, adapted the screenplay, with Salles overseeing the development process.

The film is set to begin production in Brazil early next year, with Library Pictures International providing financing. CAA Media Finance will broker domestic distribution while Wild Bunch is handling international sales, excluding Brazil.

The author was 11 when his father, leftist congressman Rubens Paiva, was dragged off for interrogation by the military, this after he returned from exile. He was never seen again. His wife campaigned relentlessly to find his whereabouts, at a very dangerous time when Brazilian was controlled by military dictatorship. Eunice Paiva was arrested along with her husband and held in a dark cell for 12 days before taking on her new role, which would become a race against Alzheimer’s Disease. While she was still able, she got to the bottom of her husband’s disappearance and made sure the records of events were recorded to be shared with future generations. It was concluded by the National Truth Commission that her husband had been tortured to death for receiving letters from leftist organizations. The tragic history of torture in Brazil came to light recently when Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro waxed nostalgic for the days when the military dictatorship was in place, much to the outrage of many.

“Most of my personal projects required very long development processes, back to Central Station, which was five years, and Motorcycle Diaries was four,” Salles said. “None took as much time as this one that I in part was a witness to when I was 13 years old,”

Salles said he prepped I’m Still Here in relative secrecy, he knew from moment one that he wanted Lima for his protagonist.

“Mariana is an extraordinary theater actress, and one of the most sensitive film actresses of her generation in Brazil,” Salles said. “We’ve talked about collaborating, but I waited to find the role that could truly benefit from her extraordinary talent to give birth to this character. I thought of her since the very beginning, because of her unique talent and the economy she has in transmitting the emotional core of a character and a story. [Eunice Paiva] had to build an internal fortress to survive, but you could sense the trauma she went through. Marina is the actress to best portray this role. I most like movies where the arc of the main character somehow reflects the arc of the country itself as it goes through a specific period of time and tries to determine what it wants to be,” he said. “We had that in Central Station, and we have it here.

“Having known Eunice, her husband and her children, makes this is a very unique project to me,” Salles said. “I never came so close to my own life experience in a movie than this. In that sense, it feels a little like my Roma, in terms of the personal nature of Alfonso Cuaron’s film which I love so much.”

Rosie Perez to Star in Apple TV+’s Bilingual Thriller Drama Series “Now and Then”

Posted on May 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez is ready to thrill…

The 56-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-nominated actress and activist has been cast in Apple TV+’s bilingual thriller Now and Then, a drama series that’ll be shot in Spanish and English.

In addition to Perez, who most recently appeared in The Flight Attendant and Birds of Prey, the stellar ensemble cast also includes Marina de Tavira (Roma), José María Yazpik (Narcos: Mexico), Maribel Verdú (Y tu mamá también, Pan’s Labyrinth), Manolo Cardona (Who Killed Sara?), Soledad Villamil (The Secret in their Eyes) and Željko Ivanek.

The series that hails from Bambú Producciones and creators Ramón Campos, Teresa Fernández-Valdés and Gema R. Neira, the team behind the Spanish series Velvet, Cable Girls and Gran Hotel. Gideon Raff will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.

Set in Miami, Now and Then explores the differences between youthful aspirations and the reality of adulthood, when the lives of a group of college best friends are forever changed after a celebratory weekend ends up with one of them dead. Now, 20 years later, the remaining five are reluctantly reunited by a threat that puts their seemingly perfect worlds at risk.

De Tavira will play Ana, a smart and ambitious woman who put her political career on hold to support her husband’s.

Perez is Flora, a talented detective obsessed with an unresolved case from 20 years ago, who will stop at nothing to discover the truth.

Yazpik portrays Pedro, a complex politician married to Ana, he feels entangled in a life that doesn’t belong to him.

Verdu plays Sofia, a strong self-made lawyer who’s life took an unexpected turn 20 years ago and is now hiding too many secrets.

Cardona portrays Marcos, a passionate surgeon who sacrificed his dreams for his family and friends.

Villamil is Daniela, an introspective artist who constantly struggles to overcome a traumatic event from her past.

Ivanek plays Sullivan, seasoned detective who keeps his partner Flora from getting into too much trouble, always operates based on evidence and logic.

The series will be written by Neira and Campos with their team. Campos and Fernández-Valdés will serve as showrunners. Bambú Producciones will produce for Apple TV+.

Marina de Tavira to Star in Spanish-Language Crime Drama Series “Kolonie”

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Marina de Tavira is heading to the scene of the crime…

The 46-year-old Mexican actress, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her work in Alfonso Cuaron’s Netflix Spanish-language film Roma, will star in the Spanish-language crime drama series Kolonie.

The project is in development between Narcos producer Gaumont and Redrum, which has worked on series including Narcos: Mexico and Amazon’s international drug thriller Zerozerozero.

Written by Carlos Rincones, who wrote on Netflix’s Mexican drama Tijuana, the series centers around an emotionally complex seasoned special agent, Adriana, played by de Tavira, who is tasked with investigating the brutal murder of a Mennonite boy in rural Chihuaua, Mexico. Once there, she partners with a rookie local policeman who recently abandoned the Mennonite community to join the police force. As they inch closer to solving the crime, they slowly uncover the justice they pursue is mired in a dark web of corruption and mysticism that extends beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

The series will be shot in Mexico with Redrum’s Stacy Perskie executive producing and Christian Gabela serving as head creative executive.

“Led by Gaumont’s Christian Gabela and his team, we are proud to develop Kolonie with our valued partner, Redrum, and are honored to have Marina de Tavira, one of the most talented actresses of today, star in the series,” said Nicolas Atlan, President, Gaumont U.S. “At Gaumont we take pride in producing important, local stories that resonate on a global scale, and we can’t wait to bring this riveting story to life.”

Perskie added, “We feel the Mennonite communities in Northern Mexico are a fascinating and unexplored part of our culture and telling a great story with a powerful female lead in that world is something that we are very excited about. We feel very lucky about having Marina de Tavira, one of the most emblematic Mexican actresses of our time, play that role and spearhead this project, which will shed light upon one of Mexico’s hidden corners.”

de Tavira earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod for playing Sofia in Roma and is also set to star in Lisa Joy’s Reminiscence alongside Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandie Newton.

Mexico Enters Fernando Frías de la Parra’s “I’m No Longer Here” into International Feature Film Oscar Race

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Fernando Frías de la Parra is representing…

The Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences has chosen the Mexican filmmaker’s I’m No Longer Here as Mexico’s official entry for the International Feature Film Oscar 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’s Roma, also from Netflix, in 2018.

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