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Few companies in the world have had such as impact on their local film industry than Globo Filmes, the feature co-production arm of Brazilian giant Globo, which is Latin America’s biggest communications conglomerate. Over the last 25 years, Globo Filmes has backed more than 500 movies, almost all through co-production.

Those films have collectively sold 260 million cinema theater admissions, an average of over 10 million admissions a year, accounting for more than 70% of Brazilian market share from 1998-2024.

Globo Filmes greenlights more than 20 movies a year, powering up by far the biggest production slate of any company in Brazil, thanks to article 3A of the country’s audiovisual law, which allows it to tap tax incentives for investing in feature films.

Launching in 1998, Globo Filmes helped accelerate the Brazilian film industry’s recovery after President Fernando Collor de Mello shuttered state film agency Embrafilme in 1990, paralyzing production. Twenty-five years later, after a...

Cannes Classics, the festival’s selection for tributes and retrospectives, has announced the rest of its program after the previously-announced opening night film “Napoleon Par Abel Gance.”

Among the highlights are a restoration of Charles Vidor’s 1946 “Gilda” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, with Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, attending. Wim Wenders will be on hand for a 40th anniversary screening of Palme d’Or winner “Paris, Texas,” while Faye Dunaway will be present for the screening of “Faye,” the first documentary about her life.

Ron Howard will present his documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man,” while Nanette Burstein brings the premiere of her documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”

See the full program of Cannes Classics below.

100 years of Columbia Pictures

“Gilda”

Charles Vidor

1946, 1h50, United States

A Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation. Restoration from the original 35mm nitrate negative and a 35mm nitrate internegative.

2019 Foreign Language Film Oscar Submissions Algeria – Until The End Of Time – Yasmine Chouikh Argentina– The Angel (El Angel) – Luis Ortega Austria – The Waldheim Waltz – Ruth Beckermann Belarus – Crystal Swan – Darya Zhuk Belgium – Girl – Lukas Dhont Bolivia – Muralla – Rodrigo Patiño Bosnia – Never Leave Me – Aida Begic Brazil – The Great Mystical Circus – Carlos Diegues Bulgaria – Omnipresent – Ilian Djevelekov Cambodia – Graves Without A Name – Rithy Pan Canada – Watch Dog – Sophie Dupuis Chile – And Suddenly The Dawn – Silvio Caiozzi Colombia– Birds of Passage, Cristina Gallego & Ciro Guerra Croatia – The Eighth Commissioner – Ivan Salaj Czech Republic – Winter Flies – Olmo Omerzu Denmark – The Guilty – Gustav Möller Dominican Republic – Cocote – Nelson Carlo de los Santos Ecuador – A Son Of Man – Jamaicanoproblem and Pablo Agüero Egypt – Yomeddine – Abu Bakr Shawky Estonia – Take It Or Leave It – Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo Finland – Euthanizer – Teemu Nikin France – Memoir Of War – Emmanuel Finkiel Georgia – Namme – Zaza Khalvashi Germany – Never Look Away – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck...

Above: French grande for Long Weekend. Artist Léo Kouper.Update: Sadly, because of coronavirus precautions closing down all of Lincoln Center yesterday, this series has been cancelled. It may only ever exist in poster form.One of the most interesting and eclectic New York repertory series in many a moon starts today at Film at Lincoln Center. Titled “Mapping Bacurau,” the series has been handpicked by filmmakers Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles to highlight the varied cinematic influences behind their current arthouse-meets-grindhouse sensation. The result is a baker’s dozen of eccentric horror movies, spaghetti westerns, revenge saga,s and essential texts of the Cinema Novo movement. Having art directed the U.S. poster for Bacurau with illustrator Tony Stella and designer Midnight Marauder, it was fascinating to see how the posters for these films had echoes in our final design, even if only coincidentally. One of which was...

La Casa de Antiguidades

Brazil’s João Paulo Miranda Maria seems primed for international success with his feature debut La Casa de Antiguidades (Memory House), produced by Didar Domehri and starring Antonio Pitanga, Ana Flavia Cavalcanti and Belgium’s Sam Louwyck. Sebastian Lelio Dp Benjamin Echazarreta (Gloria; A Fantastic Woman), who also worked on Flora Lua’s upcoming Luz, serves as cinematographer. Maria’s 2015 short Command Action premiered at Cannes and his 2016 short The Girl Who Danced with the Devil competed in the Cannes short program, winning a Special Mention.…...

The Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (Ficg), Mexico’s largest film festival, is further expanding its lineup with the addition of a new competitive animation section in its 34th edition, running March 8 -15. Oscar-winning Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro has put his heft behind the new section and will also announce the first winner of his Del Toro-Jenkins film scholarship at the fest. Ficg aptly opens Friday with an animated feature, Carlos Gutierrez’s “Day of the Dead” (“Día de Muertos”).

Actor Peter Fonda (“Easy Rider”) and British helmer Hugh Hudson (“Chariots of Fire”) are receiving Mayahuel International lifetime achievement awards at this edition. Festival will also screen “Easy Rider,” which Fonda co-wrote, co-produced and starred in, to mark its 50th year anniversary.

The festival kicks off with a new female general director at the helm, Estrella Araiza, who has been the festival’s head of industry & markets and has...

Ever since 2009 when two Latin American films, Argentine winner “The Secret in Their Eyes” and Peru’s “The Milk of Sorrow,” were shortlisted for the foreign-language film Oscar, roughly every other year a Latino movie has secured a nom in that category.

However, only three pics since the 1940s have brought home the top prize, as Chile’s “A Fantastic Woman” did earlier this year, preceded by Argentina with “The Secret in Their Eyes” in 2009 and “The Official Story” in 1985.

But the region’s native sons have done better in other categories. In recent years, a Mexican director has won the Academy Award for direction and snagged a best picture win or nomination for his film. Alfonso Cuaron won multiple Oscars for “Gravity” in 2014, followed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, who triumphed in 2015 and 2016 and Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water” in March.

Cuaron’s evocative black-and-white opus “Roma...

Among the 87 entries this year, down five from 2017’s whopping 92, there are more documentaries than ever, plus two African countries submitting for the first time: Malawi and Niger. Here’s a guide to the films, including logline, sales, and production contact.

Afghanistan

“Rona, Azim’s Mother”

Director: Jamshid Mahmoudi

Logline: A touching drama set in the milieu of Afghan immigrants in Iran who lack full citizens’ rights, with laborer Azim struggling to care for his mother.

Key Cast: Mohsen Tanabandeh, Fatemeh Hosseini

Intl. Sales: Noori Pictures

Algeria

“Until the End of Time”

Director: Yasmine Chouikh

Logline: An elderly grave digger and a 60-something widow meet in the cemetery of Sidi Boulekbour and develop feelings for one another.

Key Cast: Djillali Boudjemaa, Djamila Arres

Intl. Sales: MakingOf Film

Argentina

“El Ángel”

Director: Luis Ortega

Logline: A portrait of the infamous teenage serial killer “The Angel of Death,” who took Argentina by...

Yesterday afternoon, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced which movies will be competing to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature. This first long list marks an important benchmark in the season. Yes, we can actually begin narrowing things down. To be fair, this is a category that doesn’t get the attention of Best Picture or Best Actor/Best Actress, but it’s still a big deal. The Academy has narrowed things down to 87 films, just shy of the record set last year. That many countries submitting movies for Oscar consideration is wonderful, especially since I’ve seen a handful of these and they’re largely excellent. The only notable exclusion was that Italy did not choose Happy as Lazarro to be their selection, despite the backing of Martin Scorsese and Netflix. That country opted for Dogman from Matteo Garrone, instead. Aside from that, it...

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed - a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi - which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise - and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

‘Jirga’

Benjamin Gilmour’s Afghanistan-set drama Jirga will carry Australia’s hopes of being nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

The international recognition as Australia’s official submission follows the film’s international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and winning the $100,000 best film prize, Australia’s richest, at CinfestOZ.

Produced and distributed by John Maynard, the film stars Sam Smith as a former Australian soldier who returns to Afghanistan seeking forgiveness and puts his life in the hands of the village justice system – the Jirga.

There are 87 countries vying for the prize, including first-time entrants Malawi and Niger and high-profile contenders such as Mexico’s Roma and Poland’s Cold War, both of which are hoping to break out of the foreign race and earn nominations for best picture, best director and more.

Gilmour said: “We are thrilled about the honour of representing Australia.

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed, a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi, which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise, and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed, a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.

Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi, which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise, and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.

Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...

Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for consideration in the foreign language category for the 91st Academy Awards.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22 and the ceremony will be held on Feb. 24 at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. Malawi and Niger are first-time entrants. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the announcement on Monday.

High-profile titles include Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” the Mexican entry; Denmark’s “The Guilty”; Germany’s “Never Look Away,” from previous Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Shoplifters,” the Japanese entry that won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum,” the Cannes jury prize winner from Lebanon; and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” the Cannes best director prize winner from Poland.

The 2018 submissions are:

Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;

Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director;

Argentina, “El Ángel,...

A whopping 87 countries submitted entries in the Foreign-Language Film race at the 2019 Oscars. That is down by five from last year’s record 92 submissions but up by two from 2017, which had broken the benchmark of 83 set in 2015. The nations represented ranged from A (Afghanistan) to Y (Yemen). Among the contenders is the Mexican entry “Roma” by Oscar winner Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”). This Venice Film Festival winner is a strong contender in both this and the Best Picture race at the Oscars.

Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film is made difficult by the two-step process.

First, the several hundred academy members of the Foreign-Language Film screening committee are required to watch a number of the submissions (upwards of a dozen) over a two-month period that ends in mid December. They will rate them from 6 to 10 and their top six vote-getters make it to the next round, as...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the official list of submissions for the 2019 Oscar for best foreign language film. There are 87 countries vying for the prize this awards season, including first-time entrants Malawi and Niger. Included among the titles are high-profile contenders such as Mexico’s “Roma” and Poland’s “Cold War,” both of which are vying to break out of the foreign race and earn nominations for best picture, best director, and more.

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019. Click here to view predictions for the foreign language Oscar race from IndieWire’s awards editor Anne Thompson.

2018 Foreign Oscar Submissions

Afghanistan, “Rona Azim’s Mother,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director

Algeria, “Until the End of Time,” Yasmine Chouikh, director

Argentina, “El Ángel,” Luis Ortega, director

Armenia, “Spitak,” Alexander Kott, director

Australia, “Jirga,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced today that 87 countries have qualified for this year’s Foreign Language Film competition. With some of the

strongest entries in recent years this is shaping up as one of the richest fields of contenders in memory. Of course one of the Netflix titles, Mexico’s Roma from director Alfonso Cuaron has been widely acclaimed at numerous festivals and already won top prize at Venice which makes it the front runner here. It is also expected to be in contention for a Best Picture nomination as well as other categories and that could enhance its chances. However could an upset be in the offing? I would say there are a number of equally fine movies in the mix here including Japan’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner, Shoplifters; Denmark’s riveting The Guilty; Germany’s epic Never Look Away from previous Oscar winner...

Eighty-seven films have qualified in the 2018 Oscars race for Best Foreign Language Film, the Academy announced on Monday.

The number is five less than last year’s record of 92 entries, but significantly larger than the 60-odd qualifying films that were the norm only a few years ago. The 2018 race is also expected to be one of the most competitive in years, with a number of esteemed international directors and award-winning films competing for only nine spots on the shortlist and five nominations.

Los Angeles-based volunteers from all branches of the Academy will now watch all the eligible films at AMPAS screenings at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills and the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. This year, the Academy has made it easier to qualify to vote, dropping the number of films each voter must see from 17 or 18 down to 12 and eliminating the color-coded groups that made each voter...

Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum,” the winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, has been selected by Lebanon as its candidate for the upcoming foreign-language Oscar race.

“Capernaum,” which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics ahead of its world premiere at Cannes, features mostly non-professional actors and tells the story of a 12-year-old boy, Zein, who takes his parents to court “for giving me life” in a world of pain and suffering.

“Capernaum” was written by Labaki, along with Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Kesrouani, Georges Khabbaz and Labaki’s husband, Khaled Mouzanar, who also produced the film and composed the music. The movie opens in Lebanon on Thursday. Sony Pictures Classics will release it in the U.S. on Dec. 14. Spc had previously handled “Where Do We Go Now?”, Labaki’s 2011 film.

In its review, Variety said “Capernaum” tackled its subject matter “with intelligence and heart,” and called Labaki...

Screen’s regularly updated list of foreign language Oscar submissions.

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards are not until Tuesday January 22, but the first submissions for best foreign-language film are now being announced.

Last year saw a record 92 submissions for the award, which were narrowed down to a shortlist of nine. This was cut to five nominees, with Sebastián Lelio’s transgender drama A Fantastic Woman ultimately taking home the gold statue.

Screen’s interview with Mark Johnson, chair of the Academy’s foreign-language film committee, explains the shortlisting process from submission to voting.

Submitted films must be released theatrically...

by Nathaniel R

We're now up to 36 entries for Best Foreign Language Film, so  over one-third of the way to the full list. Of the six latest announcements The Heiresses has had the arguably highest profile at festivals but the Russian entry is the most "typically Oscar-like" in subject matter, though that thankfully matters less than it once did, even in the foreign category. 

The Great Mystical Circus Brazil

A century in the life of a family of circus owners. This is the 7th time Brazil has submitted a film by Carlos Diegues. He's their most frequently submitted director but none of his submitted films have been nominated.  Graves Without a Name Cambodia

Rithy Panh created Cambodia's only Oscar nominee (the brilliant documentary The Missing Picture). This is another doc on the same topic: the Kmer Rouge and genocide Polyxeni Greece 

The plot sounds intriguing. A young Greek orphan with a lust for life,...

As the surprise box-office success story of the last six months or so, Michael Gracey’s “The Greatest Showman” indicated that contrary to the film’s sniffy critical reception, there is indeed an audience for glitzy, period-inflected, fanfare-filled stories of life beneath the Big Top. But its word-of-mouth slow build to moneymaking, cult-spawning juggernaut status is unlikely to be replicated by Brazilian veteran Carlos Diegues’ return to the directing fray with “The Great Mystical Circus.”

After a decade spent nurturing other talents from the region (including an associate producer credit on Kleber Mendonça Filho’s superb “Aquarius”) Diegues, a Cinema Novo pioneer with such titles as “Bye Bye Brazil,” “Ganga Zumba,” and “Quilombo” under his belt, essays his own take on circus maximalism, but delivers a magical realist misfire; an uncomfortably soapy high-wire act that stumbles right out the gate and never stops tumbling.

Based on a poem by celebrated Brazilian polymath Jorge de Lima,...

Cannes, France — Carlos (Cacá) Diegues presented his latest directorial feature at a Special Screening in Cannes. A celebration of magic, entertainment and cinema,”The Great Mystical Circus” is inspired by a poem from Brazilian poet Jorge de Lima. It follows a family of circus entertainers through five generations, told in a series of intertwining tales, all set to a soundtrack by Chico Buarque, who originally adapted the poem for the stage in the 1980s.

Starring Vincent Cassel, Jesuíta Barbosa, Bruna Linzmeyer and Mariana Ximenes, the film is produced by Brazil’s Luz Magica Produçoes and Globo Filmes, Portugal’s Fado Filmes and France’s Milonga Productions. Spain’s Latido Films is selling international sales rights.

Though still very much a filmmaking force, director-producer Diegues’ career spans more than fifty years; his first feature film involvement coming in 1962 when he directed part of the groundbreaking neo-realist “Cinco Vezes Favela.” He was...

On May 14, Acid Trip #2, an initiative of the Association for Independent Film Distribution, is dedicated to Portuguese cinema. It will screen three films selected by the Portuguese Directors’ Association (Apr) – Pedro Cabeleira’s “Damned Summer”, Teresa Villaverde’s “Colo” and Leonor Teles’ “Terra Franca.”

The Apr’s note accompanying the selection stated that Portugal’s cinema is “persistent and resilient, and despite production difficulties, it invents its own conditions to continue to exist and create.”

Portuguese films in at Cannes this year include Un Certain Regard-player “The Dead and the Others” by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, acquired for sales by Paris-based Luxbox; Carlos Diegues’ “The Great Mystical Circus”, sold by Latido Films; soccer-themed “Diamantino”, by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, which could be a break out in Critics’ Week; and short film “Amor, Avenidas Novas”, by Duarte Coimbra, again playing in Critics’ Week; and Terry Gilliam’s closing pic,...

Veteran director Carlos Diegues (Ganga Zumba, Bye Bye Brazil), one of Brazil's influential Cinema Novo filmmakers, returns behind the camera after more than a decade of producing with an ambitious but failed attempt at magical realism. The Great Mystical Circus (O Grande Circo Mistico) spans five generations of a family of circus owners, tracing them from heyday to mayday, when the big top is in shreds and the last owner is reduced to prostituting her daughters. The disjointed storytelling and barely-there characters make it hard to enjoy these tall tales or the small, nasty role played by a dastardly Vincent...

Veteran director Carlos Diegues (Ganga Zumba, Bye Bye Brazil), one of Brazil's influential Cinema Novo filmmakers, returns behind the camera after more than a decade of producing with an ambitious but failed attempt at magical realism. The Great Mystical Circus (O Grande Circo Mistico) spans five generations of a family of circus owners, tracing them from heyday to Mayday, when the big top is in shreds and the last owner is reduced to prostituting her daughters. The disjointed storytelling and barely there characters make it hard to enjoy these tall tales or the small, nasty role played by a ...

Cannes — Carlos Diegues’ “The Great Mystical Circus,” which unspools in a special screenings slot at Cannes, has been acquired by Madrid-based sales agent Latido Films, which will introduce it to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.

“The Great Mystical Circus,” co-starring Vincent Cassel, traces the adventures, loves and shows of five generations of Knieps, a Brazilian circus owner dynasty, beginning in 1910. The saga is narrated by Celavi, a freed slave and the Circus’ never-aging master of ceremonies. Cassel plays Jean-Paul, an unscrupulous spendthrift who tries to sell the circus.

“‘The Great Mystical Circus’ is a summation of everything I’ve made before in my films, maybe the result of what I think about movie making,” Diegues said.

The Brazilian filmmaker’s 1962 directorial debut, “Cinco Veces Favela,” turned him into a Cinema Novo star. Determined to make a cinema which had a large impact in Brazil and beyond, he went on...

Update: Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux presented the Official Selection lineup for next month’s 71st running this morning in Paris. There were no major bombshells in the mix, although it’s yet to be completed. Frémaux often reserves the weeks following the press conference and ahead of the fest to sprinkle in other titles. One highly expected film missing this morning was Lars von Trier’s The House That Jack Built, and Frémaux hinted that could change in a few days.

Among the U.S. filmmakers mentioned today, Spike Lee is in with Blackkklansman and David Robert Mitchell moves up to the competition with Under The Silver Lake, something we expected would come to pass after his previous two films ran in Directors’ Fortnight.

Other well-known names on the competition roster include Jean-Luc Godard (Le Livre D’Image), Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War) and Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Shoplifters). Also notable,...

22nd Mar del Plata Film Festival Awards - 2007 The 22nd Mar del Plata Film Festival Award was held between Mar-8-18, 2007. The 22nd Mar del Plata Film Festival Award winners were announced on Mar. 18, 2007. Directed by Cesc Gay, Fiction tells the story of a film director who, while resting at a friends home in a small mountain village, meets a violin player with whom he develops a delusional relationship. Gay and Tomás Aragay penned the screenplay. In the cast: Eduard Fernández, Javier Cámara, Montse Germán, Carmen Pla, Ágata Roca Official Competition Golden Astor for Best feature FICCIÓ (Spain, directed by Cesc Gay) Special Mention Jardins En Automne (France-Italy-Russia, directed by Otar Iosseliani) Silver Astor for Best Director (tie) Marina Spada (Come l´ombra, Italy) Hong Sang-soo (Woman on the Beach, South Korea) Silver Astor for Best Actress Sandra HÜLLER (Madonnas, Germany-Switzerland-Belgium, directed by María Speth) Silver Astor for Best Actor Carlos Resta (La Peli,...

Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.

With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.

Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.

Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.

Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...

The Untamed and Toni Erdmann will screen at the 18th edition of the Brazilian event next month alongside tributes to the late David Bowie and Prince.

All in all 250 films from more than 60 countries in 15 sections will screen in 20 venues, including the new Olympic Boulevard unveiled for the recent summer Olympics.

Three new sections debut at this festival, which runs from set to run from October 6-16.

Cinema Marginal explores two critical Brazilian film movements, while Universal Monsters features seven restored Universal classics, and Wanderer Artists includes a tribute to Brazilian plastic artist Tunga.

Programmes include World Panorama, Première Brasil, Première Latina, Expectations, Generation, Midnight Movies & Docs, Frontiers, Threatened Environment and Unique Itineraries.

World Panorama selections include Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake and Mare Ade’s Toni Erdmann and Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada.

Premiere Latina includes Venice selections The Blind Christ (Chile-France) by Christopher Murray’s and Amat Escalante’s The Untamed (pictured), as well as...

It’s become a great breaking in the new year traditional here at Ioncinema.com. We begin our countdown to the our most anticipated foreign films (anything outside the U.S.) with our own Nicholas Bell curating the best bets for 2016. Here are the titles and filmmakers that didn’t make our final Top 100 cut, but are nonetheless “radar” worthy.

101. El Rey del Once – Daniel Burman

102. The Dancer – Stephanie Di Giusto

103. Le Cancre – Paul Vecchiali

104. While the Women are Sleeping – Wayne Wang

105. Tomorrow – Martha Pinson

106. Spring Again – Gael Morel

107. Crowhurst – Simon Rumley

108. Le Garcon – Philippe Lioret *

109. Marie and the Misfits – Sebastien Betbeder

110. Le Caravage – Alain Chevalier

111. Night Song – Raphael Nadjari

112. Réparer les vivants – Katell Quillevere *

113. Project Lazarus – Mateo Gil

114. Afterimages – Andrzej Wajda

115. Don’t Knock Twice – Caradog James

116. Detour – Christopher Smith

117. The Bride of Rip Van Winkle – Shunji Iwai

118. Three on the Road – Johnnie To

119. Le Vin et le Vent...

In brief... made in 1963, "Ganga Zumba" wasn't released until 1972 because there was a military coup in Brazil in 1963, and films about revolutions, even those taking place in the 17th century, were considered politically dangerous.  From the beginning of European involvement, until today, there have been innumerable slave and peasant revolts. Usually they were short-lived, brutally suppressed affairs.  This *forgotten* film recounts the story of one such revolt, in 1641, in which the slaves formed their own nation (or "quilombo") and ran it for over 50 years.  The film was directed by Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Diegues, who, by the way, also directed the...

Sabine Azéma, president of Camera d’Or jury for best first film in Cannes French actress Sabine Azéma will preside over the Caméra d’or Jury this year, to select the best first film presented in Cannes.

The star - who admits to a long-running love affair with Britain like her late mentor and companion Alain Resnais - is the latest to hold the role after previous prsidents Bong Joon-Ho, Gael García Bernal, Carlos Diegues and Nicole Garcia. The prize is dedicated to first-time directors.

Her jury will comprise director Delphine Gleize, actor Melvil Poupaud, Claude Garnier representing the Afc (French Association for Cinematographers), Didier Huck, representing the Ficam (Federation of Cinema, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries), Yann Gonzalez, representing the Srf (Society of Film Directors) and Bernard Payen, representing the Sfcc (French Union of Cinema Critics).

Azéma is not afraid of subjecting herself to ridicule or indignity in the cause of her art.

French actress and long-time Alain Resnais collaborator to preside over jury to select the best first film presented at the 68th Cannes Film Festival.

Sabine Azema has been named president of the Caméra d’or Jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).

The jury selects the best directorial debut presented in Official Selection (In Competition, Out of Competition and Un Certain Regard), Critics’ Week or Directors’ Fortnight, which this year represents 26 films.

French actress Azema, who won her first César in 1985 for Bertrand Tavernier’s Cannes Competition title A Sunday in the Country, follows in the footsteps of Bong Joon-Ho, Gael García Bernal, Carlos Diegues and Nicole Garcia.

Azema is known for her nearly three-decade collaboration with director Alain Resnais for whom she has performed as the tragic heroine in Love Unto Death (1984), then in Mélo (1986) for which she was awarded her second César.

Other Resnais films in which she has performed include Smoking...

They didn’t make our final Top 100 cut, but here is a list of foreign film titles that are on our radar for 2015. We being with…

200. Remember – Dir. Atom Egoyan

199. Suffragette – Dir. Sarah Gavron

198. Kills on Wheels – Dir. Attila Till

197. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend – Dir. Yuen Woo-ping

196. The Go-Between – Dir. Pete Travis

195. Peur de Rien Dir. Danielle Arbid

194. Regular Boy – Dir. Michele Civetta

193. Flaskepost – Dir. Nikolaj Arcel

192. The Lady in the Van – Dir. Nicolas Hytner

191. Zoom – Dir. Pedro Morelli

190. Away from the Sea – Dir. Imanol Uribe

189. Tulip Fever – Dir. Justin Chadwick

188. Ulrike’s Brain – Dir. Bruce La Bruce

187. Tsunami – Dir. Jacques Deschamps

186. And Your Sister? – Dir. Marion Vernoux

185. There Was Las Vegas – Dir. Alexandre Castas

184. Prejudice – Dir. Antoine Cuypers

183. Stepne – Dir. Maryna Vroda

182. Irreplaceable – Dir. Olivier Masset-Depasse

181. Histoire de Judas Iscariot – Dir. Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche

180. The First, the Last – Dir. Bouli Lanners

179. Selection Officielle – Dir. Jacques Richard

178. Desierto – Dir.

Exclusive: The Brazil-Portugal-France road movie The Great Mystical Circus is set to commence shooting in Lisbon, Portugal, on January 6, 2015.

Carlos Diegues (pictured) directs the story from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Moura based on Jorge de Lima’s poem O Grande Circo Mistico.

Margarita Gauchet and Herszage have joined Vincent Cassel, Jesuita Barbosa, Catherine Mouchet and Lazaro Ramos on the cast.

The Great Mystical Circus centres on a century in the lives of the Knieps, an Austrian family of circus owners.

Renata Almeida Magalhães is producing.

Brazil’s Luz Mägica Produçaoes, Portugal’s Fado Films and France’s Milonga Films are the production companies.

An earlier version of this article stated that Films Distribution had acquired international sales rights to the project. This is not the case and we are happy to correct the article.

Exclusive: The sales agent has come on handle sales on the Brazil-Portugal-France road movie The Great Mystical Circus, set to commence shooting in Portugal in September.

Carlos Diegues (pictured) directs the story from George Moura’s adaptation of Jorge de Lima’s poem O Grande Circo Mistico.

Gauchet and Herszage have joined Vincent Cassel, Jesuita Barbosa, Catherine Mouchet and Lazaro Ramos on the cast.

The Great Mystical Circus centres on a century in the lives of the Knieps, an Austrian family of circus owners.

Luis Galvap Telles and Renata Almeoda Magalhães are producing and the executive producers are Alex Silva and Sarah Lum.

Brazil’s Luz Mägica Produçaoes, Portugal’s Fado Films and France’s Milonga films are the production companies.

Made in 1963, "Ganga Zumba" wasn't released until 1972 because there was a military coup in Brazil in 1963, and films about revolutions, even those taking place in the 17th century, were considered politically dangerous.  From the beginning of European involvement, until today, there have been innumerable slave and peasant revolts. Usually they were short-lived, brutally suppressed affairs.  This film recounts the story of one revolt, in 1641, in which the slaves formed their own nation (or "quilombo") and ran it for over 50 years.  The film was directed by Brazilian Carlos Diegues, who, by the way, also directed the more well-known "Quilombo," 20 years after he made "Ganga...

In a couple weeks soccer fans will set their sights on the South American country. Just before the ball starts rolling, there is an opportunity to see a different form of Brazilian expression off the field. The 12th Brazilian Film Festival of New York will screen a varied selection of features and shorts, which provide a concise but powerful look at the state of the country’s cinema and the issues that intrigue its filmmakers. Being Brazil a country in constant transition, the films also bear the array of concerns and experiences that define the current Brazilian society. Revisiting the years of the dictatorship, touching on environmental problems, or simply focusing on the lives of regular citizens, this selection of films continues to present unique Brazilian visions that transcend their local contexts to offer engaging stories to international audiences. Presented Inffinito Festival Circuit the festival runs June 1 -7 at Tribeca Cinemas. These are some of the highlights

A Wolf at the Door

Dir. Fernando Coimbra

A marvelously calculated mystery ignited by a woman’s disenchanted with her unlawful romantic relationship. Passion that evolves into maniacal obsession is rarely compelling on its own, but in this slow-burning drama the subtle exposition hides a shocking conclusion. When a young girl is kidnapped from her school, the investigation to find her reveals the terrifying shades of evil that hide under benevolent actions. Astutely written to drag the viewer through the story several times until the gruesome truth is unveiled, this is one of the best Brazilian films to reach American shores in recent years. Leandra Leal’s performance as Rosa is chillingly nuanced, definitely a highlight of this extraordinary debut by writer/director Fernando Coimbra. If you only see one film at the festival, this is the one to choose. Full review coming soon.

Tattoo

Dir. Hilton Lacerda

Sexual liberation and political rebellion went hand in hand in Brazil during the late 70s. Opposing a repressive dictatorship that tried to further marginalize them, a group of Lgbt theater artists known as “Start-Spangled Floor” performs satirical and sexually explicit numbers that mock the government in a sophisticated fashion. At the center of the irreverent songs and extravagant costumes is the romance between the group’s leader Clécio (Irandhir Santos) and a young soldier, Fininho ( Jesuita Barbosa) who struggles with his sexuality. Interestingly arranged to serve both as a coming-of-age story and an experimental quest for justice, Tattoo is a visually inventive work that capitalizes on its vibrant ensemble cast. They give life to a group of misfits who advocate for love, pleasure, and the abolishment of ownership – even that of a monogamous relationship.

The invisible Collection

Dir. Bernard Attal

After serendipitously escaping an accident that kills all of his friends, Beto (Vladimir Brichta), a young womanizing DJ, is faced with an insufferable guilt that pushes him to change his life. Needing to make money by new means, he decides to go in a quest to find several rare art works sold by his father – an art dealer – to an eccentric collector in the countryside many years ago. Underneath the utterly familiar premise of a fish-out-of-water trying to rediscover himself, there are interesting ideas about class and environmental devastation. In his relentless mission to obtain these valuable items for his personal gain, Beto will be faced with an unexpected twist that will test his ability to feel compassion for others.

Meeting Sebastião Salgado

Dir. Betse De Paula

Part activist, part photographer, but 100% globe trekker, Brazilian economist turned artist Sebastiao Salgado revisits his adventurous career via the images he captured. In this extensive conversation, the lover of the light discusses subjects that range from the tyrannical government that ruled Brazil in the past, adapting to extreme weather around the world, and how the new digital technology has affected his creative process. More than a comprehensive documentary about his life, the film is simply crafted as a conversation with Salgado intercutting some of his most memorable photographs. Although not incredibly revelatory, the film does a great job at showcasing his work and highlighting his unique journey.

Rio of Faith

Dir. Carlos Diegues

This docu-diary encapsulates the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. The event brought thousands of Catholic teens from every corner of the planet eager to receive a message of hope from Pope Francis. Following the pilgrimage of these devoted young men and women, one learns of the diverse motivations and perspectives all of which connect in one place. A crucial element is the fact that the filmmaker includes the voice of the Lgbt and atheist community in the conversation. Their conflicted relationship with a religious institution that has often exclude them is important to understand the place of Catholicism in today's world. Surprisingly, the film is less about the Pope as an omnipotent figure, and more about the youth that still considers religion as the best path to navigate their complex modern lives.

French actress-director Nicole Garcia has been chosen to the lead the jury for the Caméra d'Or award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The award is given out to the best debut film at Cannes. Nicole Garcia first received acclaim in the 1980s French comedy "Practice Makes Perfect," which won her a Cesar Award. Her efforts as a director have also brought her much praise, especially her 1990 film "Every Other Weekend" and the 1994 "The Favorite Son." Her most recent picture, "Going Away" came out earlier this year. “Presiding over the Caméra d’or is an honour, a joy and a mission,” announced Garcia. “I hope to be worthy of the honour, bask in the joy and do my best to deliver on the mission.” Previous Jury Presidents for the Caméra d'Or award include Bong Joon-Ho, Gabriel Garcia Bernal, Carlos Diegues and Agnes Varda. Garcia will announce the Caméra d'Or winner at...

Actress-director-screenwriter Nicole Garcia will preside over the jury for this year’s Caméra d’Or award, given to the best debut film at the Cannes Film Festival. In this opportunity to champion an up-and-coming director she joins the ranks of previous jury presidents Bong Joon-ho, Gael García Bernal, Carlos Diegues and Agnès Varda, who have all in the past contributed their experience and passion for cinema to the deliberations. “Presiding over the Caméra d’Or is an honour, a joy and a mission,” she said. “I hope to be worthy of the honour, bask in the joy and do my best to deliver on the mission.” Since 1978, the Caméra d’Or has awarded the best debut film presented in the Official Selection (Competition, Out of Competition, or Un Certain Regard), Critics’ Week or Directors’ Fortnight.

Brazil’s promotional film body will showcase nine productions and a promo at the fifth Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires.

Brazil’s promotional film body will showcase nine productions and a promo at the fifth Ventana Sur in Buenos Aires.

The films taking part in this year’s edition include Thierry Ragobert, French-Brazilian Amazonia, Fernando Coimbra’s Rio Festival 2013 Redentor winner A Wolf At The Door, Hilton Lacerda’s Tattoo and The Boy And The World from Alê Abreu.

Cinema do Brasil’s line-up includes Caito Ortiz’s Freedom Station, Carlos Diegues’ Twenty, Lúcia Murat’s Memories They Told Me, Luis Otávio de Santi’s The Ship – A Trip With São Paulo Jazz Symphonic Orchestra and Joana Nin’s Captive Hearts.

“This event is a real opportunity to show the world the best productions of Latin American cinema,” said Cinema do Brasil CEO André Sturm.

Ventana Sur is set to run from December 3-6.

Made in 1963, Ganga Zumba wasn't released until 1972 because there was a military coup in Brazil in 1963, and films about revolutions, even those taking place in the 17th century, were considered politically dangerous.  From the beginning of European involvement until today, there have been innumerable slave and peasant revolts. Usually they were short-lived, brutally suppressed affairs.  This film recounts the story of one revolt, in 1641, in which the slaves formed their own nation or "quilombo" and ran it for over 50 years.  The film was directed by Brazilian Carlos Diegues, who, by the way, also directed the more well-known Quilombo, 20 years after he made Ganga Zumba -...

1998 Best Actress Academy Award nominee stages a political protest -- a 'lesbian kiss' -- at an awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro Forget Madonna and Britney Spears, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep, Bullock and Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Veteran Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro, best known around the world for her performance as a bitter old hag in Walter Salles' 1998 drama Central Station, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nod, kissed fellow veteran performer Camila Amado in the mouth at Rio de Janeiro's Theater Producers Association Awards ceremony, which took place in that Brazilian city this past Monday, March 25. (Pictured above: Montenegro kissing Amado.) The mouth-to-mouth kiss between the 83-year-old Montenegro and the 77-year-old Amado, followed a previous "gay kiss" also staged at the awards show -- that one between performers Ricardo Blat and Tonico Pereira. All that kissing wasn't intended to merely liven up...

It’s Cuba! Where else would The Havana International Film Festival’s Opening and Closing Night take place except in The Karl Marx Theater? Opening with music by Cuba’s greatest salsa group, Los Van Van, the 34th edition is still headed by its founder and Fidel Castro’s teacher in Communism, Alfredo Guevara, who dedicated this edition to the new generation of filmmakers which represents the future of cinema. The 10 day festival showcased a broad range of new and not-so-new films from Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Peru and fellow Caribbean nations, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Curacao and others whose cinema is being aided by their governments and whose youth is creating a new international cinema with the support of Europe and even, sometimes, Asia.

While this edition paid homage to the youth, also present and recalled were the members of the generations from the ‘60s like Aldo Francia, Chileans Miguel Littin, Patricio Guzman, Jorge Sanjines, Fernado Birri, Fernando Solano, Cacho Pallero, Santiago Alvarez, Glauber Roch, Carlos Diegues, Leon Hizsman, Juaquim Pedro, Tomas Guierrez Alea, Mario Handler, Walter Achugar and many others who in the years ‘67 and ‘68 were themselves inspired by such luminaries as Joris Ivens. Together they were the originators of the phenomenon El Cine de America Latina or New Latin American Cinema influenced mainly by Italian neorealism and other movements of social cinema. Its function was to go against U.S. models and to illuminate the troubled realities of Latin America in the hope of restoring cinema of the continent. Its key moment was the meeting of Latin American Cinema 1967 , which had its impetus in the Chilean Aldo Francia , the Cinema Club of Viña del Mar , the Cuban Alfredo Guevara, the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Film (Icaic) and the Argentine Edgardo Pallero.

Illuminaries such as Annette Benning whose film The Kids are All Right was screening there and Hawk Koch, president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, wrote fan letters to Fidel and Raoul and then mixed and caught up with the top critics and journalists of Latin America and festival participants in the gardens of the Hotel Nacional. Miguel Litten and spouse, the parents of Chile’s Christina Littin, one of Chile’s current top producer/ distributors, were often seen there. Their presence reminded me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book Clandestine in Chile about the time when Miguel disguised himself to reenter Pinochet’s Chile from whence he had been exiled. So many stories of exile and return mark the modern history of Latin America.

The first day of the Havana festival was devoted to Eictv, the international film school that Gabriel Garcia Marquez founded in 1986 with his Nobel Prize money on land donated by Cuba. Today it is headed by Rafael Rosal who in his own country, Guatemala, set up the first infrastructure for a film industry – a film school, a film festival and production facilities.

Eictv has a student body from everywhere in Latin America, Europe and even from North America. Last year as the emissary for Woodbury University in Burbank CA, I brought them their first agreement with a U.S. institution and exchanges between students and staff have already begun, bringing TV documentary filmmaker Rolando Almirante for a second time to teach documentaries.

Eictv’s event at the Festival de Cine Nuevo en Habana is Nuevas Miradas, 12 chosen projects whose producers and directors present themselves to the industry and compete for three awards.

Coincidently with the lateness of this blog which I wrote from the Palm Springs International Film Festival -- some of Eictv’s staff’s and students’ films were among Psff’s 22 Latino projects vying for the Cine Latino Prize being offered by Festival Internacional de Cine en Guadalajara. This fact along shows a new unity of purpose among the Latino countries and their festivals (Cuba, Guadalajara and Palm Springs, which as part of the Coachella Valley, has the largest Latino population in the United States.) Among the 22 candidates for Psff’s Best Iberoamerican film were Clandestine Childhood (Argentina/ Brazil/Spain) by Benjamín Ávila, who was the coordinator of Fiction at Eictv and screenwriter Marcelo Muller also participated in Eictv; La Voz Dormida (España) of the emerging filmmaker Benito Zambrano, and 7 Boxes (Paraguay) co-directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia, a student in many of the workshops of Eictv. Eictv considers this exchange of ideas and talents as globally important.

The winners of Nuevas Miradas should be watched as one or several reach fruition. Last year The Visitor (Chile) won and has since raised the budget for a feature length film debut.

The projects, Un Viejo Traje, Moora Moora directed by Australian Rhiannon Stevens and produced by Chilean Esme Joffre, Tus padres volverán directed by Uruguayan Pablo Martínez and produced by Virginia Hinze, Cocodrilos tomando el sol, Cuerpos Celestes by Mexican director Lorena Padilla and producer Liliana Bravo, Revolución de las polleras by Bolivian director Sergio Estrada and producer Valeria Ponce received recognition and free software from Assimilate.

The documentary, Un Viejo Traje (aka The Old Suit), by Cuban director Damián Saínz (a student of Eictv) and producer Viana González received a $2,000 prize.

Fiction project, Cocodrilos tomando el sol, directed by Colombian Carlos Rojas and the Venezuelan producer Carolina Graterol, received a $1,000 prize and a course in directing at Eictv.

A film package for those interested in Cuban film programming

Ann Cross, a Scottish woman married to a Trinidadian is always in Havana. She programs the best selection of current Cuban features for U.K. distribution. This year she gave me this list of her favorites and many people concurred with her.

Y sin embargo (aka Nevertheless) by Rudy Mora also won the Beijing Film Festival prize which is surprising in that it is about school children challenging the school system, and challenging any systems in China (and perhaps in Cuba as well) is highly problematic. The child actors are exceptional. The type of burlesque comedy is typical of Cuba. Produced and Isa (international sales agent) is the Cuban government film group Icaic.

Irredemediablemente Juntos (aka Irredeemably Together) by Jorge Luis Sanchez Gonzalez is brave and challenging. Purportedly about classical music and Cuban music and the conflict between the two, it is really about race and the synthesis between black and white, Cuban and European Classical is reached in the story.

Cresciendo en la musica is about teaching music to children.

El sangre en la casa, en la escuela y en la calle (aka Blood in the House, in the School and in the Street) is a British-Cuban coproduction about Matanza, a town just outside of Havana where Cuban music roots are.

La piscine (aka The Swimming Pool) by Calvo Machado might not stand alone in the U.S. but would be good in a package.

Binchi by Eduardo Galano is about the 2 classes clashing in prison.

At the top of Ann’s list and on top of many others’ lists is Melaza.

What I saw and liked

It was also a time for me to catch up of Latin American cinema I have missed. My favorite was Chilean film Jueves a Domingo (aka from Thursday to Sunday) by Dominga Sotomayer. This road trip by a young couple and their 7 year old son and 11 year old daughter tells a story through the daughter’s eye of a loving family’s vacation and their father’s decision to move from Santiago to the countryside. We never know what he is getting away from (Pinochet?) but we see what is supposed to be a vacation transforms the family’s wholeness. The loving light touch of Sotomayer reminds me of Eric Rohmer’s four films of the seasons.

Lucie Malloy’s Una Noche was mobbed by the Cuban public wanting to see this film about two young defectors from Cuba; the police were called to break up the crowd and the overflow had a special screening set up. We hear that the young woman star who defected with her costar on the way to the Tribeca Film Festival and who landed up in Las Vegas is now in “exile mode” bewailing how she misses her family. La probrecita!! Yet another exile story. Had she waited a month, travel from Cuba would be legal. Una Noche is now here in Palm Springs as well, competitng for the Cine Latino Prize.

Other films I saw and liked

El Limpiador and Ombras were both without subtitles (as was Pablo Lorrain’s closing night film No) and so I could only watch a part of them. However I did see El Limpiador here in Palm Springs and was impressed with its simplicity and its authenticity and loving heart. A low tech take on a mysterious illness killing people in the Peruvian city of Lima, the film was simple, sometimes funny and in the end very satisfying.

A film which divided the audience neatly between men and women was the Brazilian feature Brecha Silencia (aka Breaching the Silence) about domestic violence from which 3 siblings barely escape. The subject of violence toward women was also the subject of a short which showed in every public screening. Called Ya No, this short Latin American backed PSA brings public awareness to the unacceptable violent behavior of men toward women often found in schools, in dating, and in homes.

Desde de Lucia playing in Palm Springs also takes on the subject of bullying, this time in a bourgeois Mexican school and centering on a teenage girl who has recently lost her mother.

Taken by Storm

The next segment of the festival was taken up with Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival (t+tff). Emilie Upszak, Artistic Director of t+tff, whom I had met in Havana last year through Icaic’s Luis Notario, and Bruce Paddington the founder and exec director of t+tff were in Havana with a delegation of filmmakers and their films. Since I had missed them all during the extraordinary experience I had at t+tff, I got to see Storm Saulter’s Better Mus Come which has been picked up by the new African Diaspora film distributor for U.S. Affrm (African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement).

Storm is Jamaican and took film courses at L.A. Film School, that large private film school on Sunset near Vine, across from the Arclight Theater, where many foreign students go and where many vets go seeking to learn filmmaking. Storm, however, had been making films since he was a kid using super 8mm and at the ripe old age of 27, he has since formed a collective in Jamaica called, the New Caribbean Cinema. His new fiction feature Better Mus Come screened at Trinidad + Tobago film festival and showed here in Havana as well. He will be announcing an international sales agent and a U.S. distributor very soon.

What fun and interesting days and evenings and nights I had with the t+tff folks.

We heard live music, I danced salsa with a Puerto Rican Actor/ Director who dances salsa and has a short in the festival.

Salsa in Havana seems to be losing steam. Reggaeton closes every dance event as the drunken, monotonous final act before going home. However in Jamaica it is transforming itself into Dancehall (what could be more sexual than that except for sex itself?). There is also Rumba, the traditional dance of Afro-Cubans. It is now taking new forms as the newest generation of Cuba takes the stage. Woodbury faculty, in Havana on a hosted tour with the Jose Marti Cultural Institute, led by my friend Cookie Fischer were invited to the top of the Lincoln Hotel on the night the world was to end (remember the Mayan calendar prediction?) and we danced the night away to the live music of Septeto Nacional a 70 year old group. Son was my dance of choice there. For those of you who want to see Cuba before the transition is over, now is the time. You can travel legally from L.A. and Miami, Mexico or anywhere else in the world with a general license. Take advantage of it Now as it is going to get more crowded with tourists. For us film folk, we get a privileged perch, so plan on next December taking in a week of films plus another week or two to see a country whose land and people are unique in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Oscar 2013: The Clown is Brazil’s submission Selton Mello’s The Clown / O Palhaço is Brazil’s entry for the 2013 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Actor Mello’s second feature film as a director, following Merry Christmas / Feliz Natal (2008), The Clown apparently follows a similar path to that of Carlos Diegues’ road movie Bye Bye Brasil. (Photo: Teuda Bara [I'm assuming that's an homage to Theda Bara] and Selton Mello The Clown.) [See Portuguese-language trailer below.] In Mello’s comedy-drama released in Brazil in November 2011 (local gross $6.72m), father and son Valdemar (veteran Paulo José) and Benjamin (Mello), better known as the [...]...

While in the press room after the Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony, Official Competition jury president Nanni Moretti (photo) recognized Emmanuelle Riva’s and Jean-Louis Trintignant’s contributions to Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner Amour / Love. Moretti explained that whichever movie gets the Palme d’Or cannot receive any other award. As a result, neither Riva nor Trintignant could have won as Best Actress / Best Actor. [List of Cannes 2012 winners; Amour, Reality, Cristian Mungiu: Cannes Winners; Mads Mikkelsen, Carlos Reygadas: Cannes Winners.] The information above comes from Accréds’ Twitter account. Another tweet remarked on jury member Andrea Arnold’s admiration for Best Director Carlos Reygadas’ controversial Post Tenebras Lux, which was loudly booed at its press screening. Both Arnold and fellow jury member Raoul Peck were likely ardent supporters of the (for some) surprising Best Director choice. Back to Nanni Moretti: the Italian filmmaker told the assembled journalists that he is "not against glamour, but it must be found in movies that please me.

Carlos Reygadas‘ Post Tenebras Lux Cannes 2012 Winners Pt.1: Michael Haneke’s Amour, Matteo Garrone’s Reality, Cristian Mungiu’s Beyond The Hills The Best Actor was Mads Mikkelsen, who late last year received the European Film Award for European Achievement in World Cinema. (Among Mikkelsen’s future World Cinema "achievements" may be one of the villainous roles in Thor 2.) Mikkelsen’s Cannes victory was for his performance as a man (falsely) accused of sexually molesting a child — and the inevitable hysteria that ensues — in Thomas Vinterberg’s Danish psychological drama The Hunt. Carlos Reygadas cosmically surrealist family drama, Post Tenebras Lux ("Light After Darkness") earned the Mexican filmmaker the Best Director Award. In 2007, Reygadas’ Silent Night tied with Persepolis for the Jury Prize. And just a few days ago, Post Tenebras Lux was greeted by loud boos. And finally, the socially conscious British filmmaker Ken Loach won the...

Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg‘s The Hunt Palme d’Or: Amour, Michael Haneke Grand Prix: Reality, Matteo Garrone Jury Prize: The Angels’ Share, Ken Loach Best Director: Carlos Reygadas, Post Tenebras Lux Best Actress: Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, Beyond the Hills Best Actor: Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt Best Screenplay: Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu Caméra d’Or: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin Best Short Film: Sessiz-Be Deng / Silent, L. Rezan Yesilbas Official Competition Jury: President Nanni Moretti, Emmanuelle Devos, Diane Kruger, Ewan McGregor, Andrea Arnold, Hiam Abbass, Jean-Paul Gautier, Alexander Payne, Raoul Peck. Caméra d’Or jury: President Carlos Diegues, Gloria Satta, Rémy Chevrin, Hervé Icovic. Mads Mikkelsen / The Hunt picture: Cannes Film Festival.