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Da kommen zwei kreative Superkräfte zusammen: Javier Bardem wird die Hauptrolle in „El ser querido“ von Rodrigo Sorogoyen spielen, der zuletzt mit „Wie wilde Tiere“ etliche Preise abräumte. Bardem ist gerade bei Netflix in der zweiten „Monster“-Staffel zu sehen.

Javier Bardem beim 72. San Sebastián International Film Festival (Credit: Imago / NurPhoto)

Der spanische Oscarpreisträger Javier Bardem wird die Hauptrolle in „El ser querido“ spielen, dem neuen Werk seines Landsmanns Rodrigo Sorogoyen. Dessen „Wie wilde Tiere“ gewann vergangenes Jahr bei den 37. Goya Awards ganze neun Preise, einschließlich als bester Film. „Wie wilde Tiere“ gewann zahlreiche weitere Preise, darunter den Publikumspreis des San Sebastián International Film Festival als bester europäischer Film sowie einen César und David di Donatello als bester fremdsprachiger Film. Weltpremiere feierte „Wie wilde Tiere“ 2022 beim Festival de Cannes. Nach diesem Sensationshit inszenierte Sorogoyen erst mal je eine Folge der spanischen Fernsehserien „Apagón“ und „Los años nuevos“. Mit letztgenannter war...

¿Te atreves a escuchar el llanto? © Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures ha publicado el tráiler oficial de “El Llanto”, una película hispano-franco-argentina, que tendrá su estreno mundial en el Festival de Cine Internacional de San Sebastián, donde competirá por la Concha de Oro. La película es el retrato de tres mujeres que, en momentos distintos del tiempo y conectadas sin saberlo, se enfrentan a una amenaza que las trasciende.

En “El Llanto”, algo acecha a Andrea, pero nadie, ni siquiera ella misma, puede verlo a simple vista. Hace veinte años, a diez mil kilómetros, la misma presencia aterrorizaba a Marie. Camila fue la única persona que pudo entender lo que le ocurría, pero nadie las creyó. Al enfrentarse a esa amenaza opresiva, las tres escuchan el mismo sonido sobrecogedor. Un llanto.

“El Llanto” está protagonizada por Ester Expósito, Mathilde Ollivier y Malena Villa. Completan el reparto Àlex Monner, Sonia Almarcha y Tomás Del Estal.

¿Te atreves a escuchar el llanto? © Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures ha publicado el primer teaser tráiler y póster oficial de “El Llanto”, una película hispano-franco-argentina. Rodada en Madrid, Buenos Aires y La Plata, la película es el retrato de tres mujeres que, en momentos distintos del tiempo y conectadas sin saberlo, se enfrentan a una amenaza que las trasciende.

En “El Llanto”, algo acecha a Andrea, pero nadie, ni siquiera ella misma, puede verlo a simple vista. Hace veinte años, a diez mil kilómetros, la misma presencia aterrorizaba a Marie. Camila fue la única persona que pudo entender lo que le ocurría, pero nadie las creyó. Al enfrentarse a esa amenaza opresiva, las tres escuchan el mismo sonido sobrecogedor. Un llanto.

“El Llanto” está protagonizada por Ester Expósito, Mathilde Ollivier y Malena Villa. Completan el reparto Àlex Monner, Sonia Almarcha y Tomás Del Estal.

La película marca la ópera prima de Pedro Martín-Calero,...

The growing pantheon of films and TV series inspired by podcasts continues apace with such noteworthy spinoffs as “Homecoming,” “The Dropout” and “WeCrashed” leading the pack.

It doesn’t seem so common in the Spanish language but Spanish podcast producer TrueStory is hoping to change that. The award-winning three-year-old company, operating from the U.S. and Spain, has inked a pact with Spanish production companies Kowalski Films (box office hit “Ocho Apellidos Vascos”) and Feelgood Media (Icíar’s Bollaín’s “Maixabel”) to co-create a podcast of actual events that can later be adapted into audiovisual formats.

To date, titles adapted from Spanish-language podcasts are few, although some have emerged in recent years, led by “El gran apagón” from Podium Podcast, which inspired the Movistar Plus+ series “Offworld” (“Apagón”); “El crimen de la guardia urbana” on Netflix, adapted from Carlos Porta’s podcast “Crims”; and “XRey,” the podcast about former Spanish...

Kendall Jenner’s new boyfriend Bad Bunny divided fans when he poked fun at her ex Harry Styles during his Coachella.

The 29-year-old performed his two-hour show which included surprise cameos from Post Malone and Jhayco, reports Mirror.co.uk.

When the Puerto Rican rapper sang El Apagon from his most recent album, he couldn’t resist taking a pot shot at Kendall’s former lover.

A tweet was displayed on the screen behind him which implied that Bad Bunny is a better singer than Harry.

It read: “Goodnight Benito could do As It Was but Harry could never do El Apagon.”

Some fans agreed with him on Twitter, with one writing: “Lmao bad bunny throwing shade at Harry styles! But did he lie??? Not one bit (sic).”

As per Mirror.co.uk, others weren’t so impressed, one said: “Not bad bunny going to a Harry styles concert as...

Spanish super-indie production-sales companies are stepping back in time with vigor, building on opportunities opened up by streamers’ growing market flexibility to retain IP and sell territory-by-territory.

Prioritizing bottom lines over market share, global platforms are ever more splitting rights and investing less in single titles. As budgets reduce, projects’ producers are forced to court ever more partners.

That often means partnering on productions. “We accustomed customers to enjoying high-quality series with large budgets. In the new context, it is increasingly difficult to continue in this vein if you don’t partner,” says Onza’s Carlos Garde.

Aiding this, Spain’s TV drama sector is still living a Golden Age. “Spanish TV fiction presence is on the rise, both on platforms and on international pay TV and free-to-air channels,” argues Atresmedia’s José Antonio Salso, who is moving buzz title “Nights in Tefía” at MipTV.

“There’s a large demand for Spanish-language content,...

Series Mania has always been about discovery: Of drama series as an art form, in its early days from launch in 2009; then of key players on a burgeoning international premium TV scene.

Series Mania’s International Panorama now catches a new wave of creatives transitioning from film to scripted TV – Israel’s Yaron Shani with “Innermost,” Spain’s Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo with episodes of “Apagón”; and highlights notable emerging auteurs: Denmark’s Kasper Møller Rask, Canada’s Alexis Durand-Brault, Spain’s Fran Araujo, Pakistan’s Assim Abassi and Germany’s Jakob and Jonas Weydemann.

But for having already bowed at national festivals, some of the 12 titles below could well have been in the running for a Competition berth.

Below, the Series Mania’s rich 2023 International Panorama:

“Apagón,” (“Offworld,” Spain)

One of Variety’s Best International TV Shows of 2022, a realistic, sophisticated disaster thriller from Movistar+ and Buendía Estudios...

With an International Panorama spangled by gems – think Spain’s “Apagón,” Sweden’s “Blackwater,” and Canada’s “Disobey” and “Little Bird” – Series Mania also weighs in this year with one, if not the, strongest and most mouthwatering of international competitions in its history.

Including the opening and closing series, Amazon’s “Greek Salad” and Netflix’s “Transatlantic,” nearly all the global streamers have titles in the lineup, from Apple TV+’s “Drops of God” and Paramount+’s “Fleeting Lies.” The lineup also features some A-List international writing talents, such as the U.K.’s Jack Thorne and Israel’s Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen, whose “The Virtues” and “No Man’s Land” rank among the most memorable of recent Series Mania competition titles, and closing the festival, out of competition, “Unorthodox’s” Anna Wenger.”Fleeting Lies” also represents one of the first series from Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar’s El Deseo label in Madrid,...

Prolific Andalusian production company La Claqueta has tapped award-winning screenwriter-producer Alberto Marini to direct rural thriller “Últimos días de caza” (“Last Days of Hunting.”)

Penned by José Cabeza, co-scribe on 2016’s “7 Years,” Netflix first Spanish original movie, “Last Days of Hunting” has a completed screenplay and has initiated financing.

The aim is to close the financing phase during this year and begin shooting second quarter 2024, probably in northern Spain.

“Last Days of Hunting” leads a growth-period for Seville-based La Claqueta, which is raising the ante in terms of film production ambitions.

“This is a noir that revolves around torpid masculinity; it is the story of volcanoes that don’t know how to release lava when they should and that explode inwards,” said Marini, who debuted as a helmer with 2015 horror feature “Summer Camp.”

“The story takes place in a very localized universe and is grounded in the territory but...

Madrid-based Zeta Studios, the producer behind worldwide hit series “Élite,” HBO Max’s “García!,” Movistar Plus’ “Reyes de la noche” and Prime Video’s “Días Mejores,” has teamed with double San Sebastián Golden Shell winner director Isaki Lacuesta for TV drama project “El hijo del chófer” (“The Chauffeur’s Son”).

Lacuesta will direct and write the series alongside writer-director Isa Campo, and “Días mejores” creator and “Fariña” scribe Cristóbal Garrido.

The project is currently in a development and looking for financing.

Left of field filmmaker Lacuesta, San Sebastian’s top prize winner with “The Double Steps” (2011) and “Between Two Waters” (2018), both co-written by Campo, has recently dipped his toe into TV fiction creation with Movistar Plus anthology series “Apagón” (“Offworld”), five stories written and directed by top movie Spanish directors, which also included Campo.

Zeta Studios CEO Antonio Asensio and “Élite” producer Paloma Molina will produce “The Chauffeur’s Son,...

At September’s San Sebastian Festival, Movistar+, Spain’s biggest content investor, hosted a press conference for the world premiere of its newest original, “Offworld” (“Apagón”), featuring five stories, all set in a Spain without electricity, the result of a massive solar storm.

On-stage, fielding questions, were not “Offworld’s” actors, however, though they included Goya actress winner Patricia López Arnaiz, but the series’ screenwriters and directors. These took in Oscar nominee Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“Madre”), Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo, whose “The Double Steps” and “Between Two Waters” both won San Sebastian Golden Shells, and Alberto Rodríguez, director of Goya best picture winner “Marshland.”

In a new global TV scene, the stars are its signature creators; the battle for success is a battle for this top talent. How did Movistar+ back the biggest array of creative talent in Spanish TV history?

“Modestly speaking, we’ve tried to create a culture at Movistar+ that attracts talent.

Packing its first full-on onsite edition since the pandemic, Spain’s San Sebastian Festival has never been busier or bigger. 10 Takes on what is shaping up as a vibrant edition:

Playing Off Powerful Market Forces

Nine of Netflix’s 20 Top 10 non-English-language films and TV series are sourced from Spain or Latin America. Platforms are battling to tie down talent.

This year, eight movies from Spain and Latin America play in competition alone at San Sebastian, the most important film event in the Spanish-speaking world. The fest’s main sidebar is its New Directors strand. San Sebastian’s focus on the Spanish-speaking world and new talent now aligns with powerful market forces. That fact plays out over the 2022 edition.

San Sebastian’s New Creative Investors’ Conference

CAA Media Finance is teaming with San Sebastian to organize the festival’s first Creative Investors’ Conference, running Sept. 19-20. Attendees take in international film...

The San Sebastian festival director reflects on the innovations for the 70th anniversary

José Luis Rebordinos has been the director of the San Sebastian International Film Festival since 2011.

He talks to Screen about this year’s 70th anniversary edition which will celebrate San Sebastian’s history as well as the exciting present moment for Spanish cinema and host an expanded industry section.

The festival opens today, Friday September 16, and runs until September 24.

San Sebastian prides itself as a festival that showcases both new and established Spanish filmmakers. How would you describe the Spanish productions selected this year?

There’s a...

In the first shot of “OffWorld” (“Apagon”), the camera focuses on Ernesto – balding, serious, tired, lost in thought. It then pulls back to reveal the whole of his office, a computer-screen packed rom at an emergency intervention unit.

The shot says much about the latest series from Movistar+, “Off world,” which world premieres in Official Selection at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival and in turn speaks volumes of the ambitions and priorities of Telefonica-owned Movistar+, Southern Europe’s biggest national pay-tv/SVOD service.

Produced with Buendía Estudios, “OffWorld” presents five stories which place very different individuals in the same context, a world where there’s no electricity thanks to a massive power outage; things taken for granted like phones and the internet don’t work.

Opening close-ups in each episode underscore the protagonists’ initial identities. In Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “Denial,” workaholic Ernesto is defined by his job as...

Image Source: Sony Pictures

In the coming days, Bad Bunny is set to appear opposite Brad Pitt in the summer blockbuster "Bullet Train," but don't call it a crossover. We're talking about a Puerto Rican reggaetonero who is undeniably the biggest pop music artist in the world right now and is still committed to only putting out music in Spanish.

"I never made a song thinking, Man, this is for the world. This is to capture the gringo audience. Never. On the contrary, I make songs as if only Puerto Ricans were going to listen to them. I still think I'm there making music, and it's for Puerto Ricans. I forget the entire world listens to me," he said in an interview with GQ earlier this year. Benito expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with El País last year. "Hay que romper eso de que los gringos son dioses . . . No,...