In the run-up to February’s Berlin Film Festival, Madrid-based Latido Films has pounced on “Sica,” the fiction feature debut of Carla Subirana, one of a hard-to-miss vibrant new generation of Barcelona-based women directors and producers now galvanizing the Catalan film scene.
In a frequent alignment between the two companies, Spanish distribution will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top indie distributors.
Also written by Subirana, the film is produced by another new Catalan generation leading-light: Director-producer Alba Sotorra whose latest outing behind the cameras, “The Return: Life After Isis,” which world premiered at Sxsx, was nominated for a 2022 Intl. Emmy Award and was described by Variety as a “compassionate, essential glimpse into the aftermath of radicalization.”
A triple winner at 2022’s Malaga Festival work in progress,
“Sica” encapsulates many of the currents now coursing through cutting-edge fiction in Spain: a redolent sense...
In a frequent alignment between the two companies, Spanish distribution will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films, one of Spain’s top indie distributors.
Also written by Subirana, the film is produced by another new Catalan generation leading-light: Director-producer Alba Sotorra whose latest outing behind the cameras, “The Return: Life After Isis,” which world premiered at Sxsx, was nominated for a 2022 Intl. Emmy Award and was described by Variety as a “compassionate, essential glimpse into the aftermath of radicalization.”
A triple winner at 2022’s Malaga Festival work in progress,
“Sica” encapsulates many of the currents now coursing through cutting-edge fiction in Spain: a redolent sense...
- 1/27/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Set to film in 2023, the thriller will be presented at San Sebastian’s Creative Investors’ Conference.
Leading Spanish distribution and production company A Contracorriente has boarded Whalemen – At the Ends of Earth (Baleazaleak), which is to be directed by veteran Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur.
The project is at an advanced stage of development and will be presented to potential co-producers and international distributors at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s inaugural Creative Investors’ Conference, which runs on September 19 and 20 as part of the Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech strand.
A Contracorriente has boarded as a co-producer and will distribute the title in Spain.
Leading Spanish distribution and production company A Contracorriente has boarded Whalemen – At the Ends of Earth (Baleazaleak), which is to be directed by veteran Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur.
The project is at an advanced stage of development and will be presented to potential co-producers and international distributors at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s inaugural Creative Investors’ Conference, which runs on September 19 and 20 as part of the Spanish Screenings: Financing & Tech strand.
A Contracorriente has boarded as a co-producer and will distribute the title in Spain.
- 9/15/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
The Spanish-language film is in production in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
UK sales outfit Embankment has unveiled a first look at Lone Scherfig’s The Movie Teller.
Screen can exclusively reveal the image, which features newcomer Alondra Valenzuela with Bérénice Bejo and Antonio de la Torre.
The Spanish-language film is set in a 1960s mining community in Chile’s Atacama Desert, where it is in production. It is based on a novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier, La Contadora De Películas, about a woman who inspires a passion for cinema in her daughter. In a town where families are unable to afford tickets to the cinema,...
UK sales outfit Embankment has unveiled a first look at Lone Scherfig’s The Movie Teller.
Screen can exclusively reveal the image, which features newcomer Alondra Valenzuela with Bérénice Bejo and Antonio de la Torre.
The Spanish-language film is set in a 1960s mining community in Chile’s Atacama Desert, where it is in production. It is based on a novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier, La Contadora De Películas, about a woman who inspires a passion for cinema in her daughter. In a town where families are unable to afford tickets to the cinema,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The fllm will shoot in Chile from March.
Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl has joined Bérénice Bejo in the cast of Lone Scherfig’s The Movie Teller, which is set to commence production in Chile’s Atacama Desert on March 21. Embankment Films is handling worldwide sales.
The Spanish-language film is based on Hernán Rivera Letelier’s autobiographical novel about the life of a mining community of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Brühl will play the European administer of the mine on which the community depends. Antonio de la Torre will also star.
The film is produced by Adolfo Blanco of Spain’s A Contracorriente Films,...
Spanish-German actor Daniel Brühl has joined Bérénice Bejo in the cast of Lone Scherfig’s The Movie Teller, which is set to commence production in Chile’s Atacama Desert on March 21. Embankment Films is handling worldwide sales.
The Spanish-language film is based on Hernán Rivera Letelier’s autobiographical novel about the life of a mining community of Chile’s Atacama Desert. Brühl will play the European administer of the mine on which the community depends. Antonio de la Torre will also star.
The film is produced by Adolfo Blanco of Spain’s A Contracorriente Films,...
- 1/18/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
“Captain America: Civil War” star Daniel Brühl has boarded Lone Scherfig’s upcoming feature “The Movie Teller,” Variety can reveal.
The BAFTA-nominated actor, who recently reprised his Marvel role in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and has appeared in features including “Rush” and “Inglourious Basterds,” will star alongside Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”) and Antonio de la Torre (“Marshland”) in the film.
Embankment are executive producing the film and have launched worlwide sales, co-repping Latin American rights with Latido Films. A Contracorriente Films’ Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”), Selenium Films’ Vincent Juillerat and Andres Mardones of Al Tiro Films are producing.
Directed by BAFTA nominee Scherfig (“An Education”), “The Movie Teller” sees Brühl star as Nansen, a European outsider who, via his restraint and diplomacy, earns the respect of the families he encounters at a Chilean mine before embarking on a relationship with a local woman, María Magnolia (played by Bejo).
In particular,...
The BAFTA-nominated actor, who recently reprised his Marvel role in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and has appeared in features including “Rush” and “Inglourious Basterds,” will star alongside Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”) and Antonio de la Torre (“Marshland”) in the film.
Embankment are executive producing the film and have launched worlwide sales, co-repping Latin American rights with Latido Films. A Contracorriente Films’ Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”), Selenium Films’ Vincent Juillerat and Andres Mardones of Al Tiro Films are producing.
Directed by BAFTA nominee Scherfig (“An Education”), “The Movie Teller” sees Brühl star as Nansen, a European outsider who, via his restraint and diplomacy, earns the respect of the families he encounters at a Chilean mine before embarking on a relationship with a local woman, María Magnolia (played by Bejo).
In particular,...
- 1/17/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Bérénice Bejo, Oscar nominated for “The Artist,” and two-time Goya winner Antonio de la Torre are to star in “The Movie Teller,” which is to be directed by Lone Scherfig, a BAFTA nominee with “An Education.” Embankment is launching worldwide sales on the Spanish-language film at the virtual AFM.
Walter Salles, a BAFTA winner with “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Central Station,” and Rafa Russo have adapted Hernán Rivera Letelier’s novel, which is the story of life in a mining town in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and a tribute to the inspirational power of cinema, reminiscent of “Cinema Paradiso.”
The film is produced by Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”) of A Contracorriente Films and Vincent Juillerat of Selenium Films and Al Tiro Films. Embankment is an executive producer, and co-represents Latin American rights with Latido Films. It shoots in the Atacama Desert in the first quarter of next year.
Bejo stars as María Magnolia,...
Walter Salles, a BAFTA winner with “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Central Station,” and Rafa Russo have adapted Hernán Rivera Letelier’s novel, which is the story of life in a mining town in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and a tribute to the inspirational power of cinema, reminiscent of “Cinema Paradiso.”
The film is produced by Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”) of A Contracorriente Films and Vincent Juillerat of Selenium Films and Al Tiro Films. Embankment is an executive producer, and co-represents Latin American rights with Latido Films. It shoots in the Atacama Desert in the first quarter of next year.
Bejo stars as María Magnolia,...
- 11/1/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
In a bid to up their game in the Spanish and international arena, Barcelona-based companies Mediacrest and A Contracorriente Films have forged a strategic alliance that will have the latter distribute Mediacrest films and series as well as co-produce a selection of titles with the fast-growing producer.
Said Adolfo Blanco, CEO of A Contracorriente Films: “For A Contracorriente, the deal is an opportunity to collaborate with a first-rate team and to be able to offer its clients and partners a number of films and series designed to reach the general public.”
“By participating in the genesis of the projects, we will be better able to tailor the right model for each of them,” he added.
First out the gate is the adaptation of the 1945 Premio Nadal award-winning novel “Nada” by Carmen Laforet. The literary sensation is narrated by a young orphaned woman who leaves her small town to attend university in post-civil war Barcelona.
Said Adolfo Blanco, CEO of A Contracorriente Films: “For A Contracorriente, the deal is an opportunity to collaborate with a first-rate team and to be able to offer its clients and partners a number of films and series designed to reach the general public.”
“By participating in the genesis of the projects, we will be better able to tailor the right model for each of them,” he added.
First out the gate is the adaptation of the 1945 Premio Nadal award-winning novel “Nada” by Carmen Laforet. The literary sensation is narrated by a young orphaned woman who leaves her small town to attend university in post-civil war Barcelona.
- 10/20/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Blessed by largely clement weather, San Sebastian fairly hummed, as hundreds of industry execs sat down to talk face to face – some, especially from Latin America, for the first time since February 2020. As at Venice, Latin American producers could talk on-site and with some degree of confidence about putting movies long in development into production. So the 69th San Sebastián Festival proved a joyous and energy-sluiced affair. Following, some of its highlights:
San Sebastian Rebounds
Through Thursday, total San Sebastian delegates numbers came in at 3,848, 46.5% up on 2020 and just 11% down on a pre-pandemic 2019. Industry reps drove much of that rebound, San Sebastian welcoming 1,686 this year, compared to 1,185 in 2020 and 1,749 in 2019. “Everyone’s very active, enthusiastic, appreciating seeing one another again. We really wanted to be here,” said Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. He added that late November’s Ventana Sur had received a record number of applications for accreditations. Expect...
San Sebastian Rebounds
Through Thursday, total San Sebastian delegates numbers came in at 3,848, 46.5% up on 2020 and just 11% down on a pre-pandemic 2019. Industry reps drove much of that rebound, San Sebastian welcoming 1,686 this year, compared to 1,185 in 2020 and 1,749 in 2019. “Everyone’s very active, enthusiastic, appreciating seeing one another again. We really wanted to be here,” said Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. He added that late November’s Ventana Sur had received a record number of applications for accreditations. Expect...
- 9/24/2021
- by John Hopewell and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
In San Sebastian to receive the festival’s highest honor, the Donostia career achievement award, American actor, producer and director Johnny Depp has announced his involvement in a new development fund for film and TV projects, headed by his own upstart London-based In.2 Films and Adolfo Blanco’s Contracorriente in Spain.
In.2 is Depp’s newly-launched U.K.-based production house, born from his L.A.-based Infinitum Nihil, which is courting scripts for films, stage productions and plays “focusing on European sensibility combined with American accessibility,” explained a release handed out during a San Sebastian press conference.
Producers Stephen Deuters (“Minamata”) and Stephen Malit (“Hector”) are also joining In.2 as co-heads alongside Depp, and were in person in San Sebastian to jointly announced the new development deal with A Contracorriente.
In the release, Depp explained: “From the student to the maestro, from the aspiring artists to the yet-knowns, to...
In.2 is Depp’s newly-launched U.K.-based production house, born from his L.A.-based Infinitum Nihil, which is courting scripts for films, stage productions and plays “focusing on European sensibility combined with American accessibility,” explained a release handed out during a San Sebastian press conference.
Producers Stephen Deuters (“Minamata”) and Stephen Malit (“Hector”) are also joining In.2 as co-heads alongside Depp, and were in person in San Sebastian to jointly announced the new development deal with A Contracorriente.
In the release, Depp explained: “From the student to the maestro, from the aspiring artists to the yet-knowns, to...
- 9/23/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-nominated Rodrigo Sorogoyen is set to direct rural thriller “As Bestas,” backed by a powerful alliance of of European companies.
Introduced to buyers at this week’s Cannes Marché du Film by its sales agent, Latido Films, “As Bestas” is produced by Jean Labadie’s Le Pacte in France, and in Spain Ibon Cormenzana’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Caballo Films, Sorogoyen’s own label with Eduardo Villanueva.
Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films handles distribution in Spain, with Le Pacte handling the release in France. “As Bestas” rolls in Galicia and León for nine weeks starting in September. It will be ready for delivery in May 2022.
Penned with Sorogoyen’s regular co-scribe Isabel Peña, “As Bestas” is set in Galicia, Spain, where a middle-aged French couple, Antoine and Olga, arrive to live in a local village, seeking greater closeness to nature. Their presence, however, inflames two locals, brothers Xan and Lorenzo,...
Introduced to buyers at this week’s Cannes Marché du Film by its sales agent, Latido Films, “As Bestas” is produced by Jean Labadie’s Le Pacte in France, and in Spain Ibon Cormenzana’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Caballo Films, Sorogoyen’s own label with Eduardo Villanueva.
Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films handles distribution in Spain, with Le Pacte handling the release in France. “As Bestas” rolls in Galicia and León for nine weeks starting in September. It will be ready for delivery in May 2022.
Penned with Sorogoyen’s regular co-scribe Isabel Peña, “As Bestas” is set in Galicia, Spain, where a middle-aged French couple, Antoine and Olga, arrive to live in a local village, seeking greater closeness to nature. Their presence, however, inflames two locals, brothers Xan and Lorenzo,...
- 7/8/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Vin Diesel vehicle “Muscle,” Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” and the Zoe Kravitz-directed “Pussy Island” have proved early sales standouts at a contained virtual Pre-Cannes Screenings whose pre-sales market says a lot about the resilient vitality and ever greater complexity of the international film business.
Budgeted at a reported $60 million, which would make it the biggest project at the Screenings, “Muscle” moved waves when Leonine paid a reported high seven-figure pre-sale figure for Germany.
In an out-of-the-box move, Miramax announced Monday that it had secured worldwide rights to “The Holdovers,” reuniting Payne with “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti.
In earlier banner deals, reinvigorated under Michael de Luca, MGM landed global rights to “Pussy Island” and North America on Sean Penn’s “Flag Day,” the biggest film in Cannes competition.
The Anton/CAA Media Finance-sold “Greenland: Migration” was drawing a lot of heat, cited by overseas distributors as the kind of straight-arrow...
Budgeted at a reported $60 million, which would make it the biggest project at the Screenings, “Muscle” moved waves when Leonine paid a reported high seven-figure pre-sale figure for Germany.
In an out-of-the-box move, Miramax announced Monday that it had secured worldwide rights to “The Holdovers,” reuniting Payne with “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti.
In earlier banner deals, reinvigorated under Michael de Luca, MGM landed global rights to “Pussy Island” and North America on Sean Penn’s “Flag Day,” the biggest film in Cannes competition.
The Anton/CAA Media Finance-sold “Greenland: Migration” was drawing a lot of heat, cited by overseas distributors as the kind of straight-arrow...
- 6/30/2021
- by John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In a novel experiment for Spain, Telefonica unit Movistar Plus will release its big new banner series, Enrique Urbizu’s historical adventure “Libertad,” day-and-date on March 26 on both its pay-svod platform and in Spanish theaters.
Theatrical distribution in Spain on “Libertad,” which is set in early 19th century Spain, in the wake of the French Revolution, will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films.
Beta Film has international distribution rights on the series, produced by Movistar Plus with Gonzalo Sálazar-Simpson’s Lazona, which also made Urbizu’s prior Movistar original series, “Gigantes.”
The theatrical release will not be nominal but “broad,” said Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé. It will take advantage of Holy Week, which begins on March 26, and often sees a surge in box office in Spain, Blanco added.
The movie will run 135 minutes, the series bows as a five-part original of 50-minute episodes, which can be...
Theatrical distribution in Spain on “Libertad,” which is set in early 19th century Spain, in the wake of the French Revolution, will be handled by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films.
Beta Film has international distribution rights on the series, produced by Movistar Plus with Gonzalo Sálazar-Simpson’s Lazona, which also made Urbizu’s prior Movistar original series, “Gigantes.”
The theatrical release will not be nominal but “broad,” said Movistar Plus president Sergio Oslé. It will take advantage of Holy Week, which begins on March 26, and often sees a surge in box office in Spain, Blanco added.
The movie will run 135 minutes, the series bows as a five-part original of 50-minute episodes, which can be...
- 2/18/2021
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Jorge Coira, the Spanish director of “18 Meals” and hit Spanish-French series “Hierro,” is set to helm “Project Emperor” (“Proyecto Emperador”), a timely spy thriller penned by “Cell 211” screenwriter Jorge Guerricaechevarria, also Alex de la Iglesia’s career-long co-scribe.
Vaca Films (“Extinction”) is producing with Sábado Películas (“A Perfect Enemy”), La Ley del Plomo Aie (“Gun City”) and Paris-based pan-European sales-production company the Playtime Group whose current slate includes Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District.”
“Project Emperor” is expected to start filming in April. Adolfo Blanco’s leading Spanish company, A Contracorriente Films, has acquired Spain’s distribution rights.
“Project Emperor” unfolds in the Spanish state espionage underworld and revolves around Juan, an agent working for the intelligence services, who also reports to a parallel unit involved in illegal activities. While his official mission is to prevent terrorist attacks, Juan is pushed to cross the red line to cover up...
Vaca Films (“Extinction”) is producing with Sábado Películas (“A Perfect Enemy”), La Ley del Plomo Aie (“Gun City”) and Paris-based pan-European sales-production company the Playtime Group whose current slate includes Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, 13th District.”
“Project Emperor” is expected to start filming in April. Adolfo Blanco’s leading Spanish company, A Contracorriente Films, has acquired Spain’s distribution rights.
“Project Emperor” unfolds in the Spanish state espionage underworld and revolves around Juan, an agent working for the intelligence services, who also reports to a parallel unit involved in illegal activities. While his official mission is to prevent terrorist attacks, Juan is pushed to cross the red line to cover up...
- 11/20/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy and Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Framing world premieres of “Maragall i la Lluna” and “Wishlist,” plus new movies from Justin Kurzel, Marjane Satrapi, Matteo Garrone and Caroline Link, Barcelona’s Bcn Film Fest aims to become one of the first festivals in Europe to stage a live on-site edition, running June 25 to July 2.
The dates and ambition were re-confirmed Tuesday when Bcn Film Fest, one of the biggest film events in the Catalan capital, announced its lineup.
“One of the most beautiful things about watching films is to do so in a theater as a shared social and cultural experience. To be able to discuss films immediately with people after seeing them. Bcn Film Fest aims to maintain that this year,” said festival artistic director Conxita Casanovas.
While pushing the pleasures of a live event, from the quality of projection and sound to cinema viewing as a social and cultural community event and driver of local economic economy,...
The dates and ambition were re-confirmed Tuesday when Bcn Film Fest, one of the biggest film events in the Catalan capital, announced its lineup.
“One of the most beautiful things about watching films is to do so in a theater as a shared social and cultural experience. To be able to discuss films immediately with people after seeing them. Bcn Film Fest aims to maintain that this year,” said festival artistic director Conxita Casanovas.
While pushing the pleasures of a live event, from the quality of projection and sound to cinema viewing as a social and cultural community event and driver of local economic economy,...
- 5/27/2020
- by John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy and Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Spain’s government has drawn up a timetable of phased emergence from Covid-19 lockdown which sets cautiously estimated dates of May 11 and May 26 for the re-authorization of movies and series shoots and cinema theater re-openings respectively.
Scheduled as Phase One and Two of a easing of Covid-19 restrictions, dates depend on no second spike in contagion, Spanish prime minster Pedro Sánchez stressed when addressing the nation Tuesday night.
No dates were initially given to the phase-out. Those became clearer Wednesday in Spanish newspaper coverage of the government’s recovery plans.
Announcements of the potential lockdown lift on shoots was greeted positively by Spain’s production sector, though with multiple riders.
Spain’s exhibition sector used the news of plans to reopen cinema theaters to call, via trade assn. Fece, for compensation for losses accumulated to date, and in the foreseeable immediate future.
“It’s fantastic news that the government...
Scheduled as Phase One and Two of a easing of Covid-19 restrictions, dates depend on no second spike in contagion, Spanish prime minster Pedro Sánchez stressed when addressing the nation Tuesday night.
No dates were initially given to the phase-out. Those became clearer Wednesday in Spanish newspaper coverage of the government’s recovery plans.
Announcements of the potential lockdown lift on shoots was greeted positively by Spain’s production sector, though with multiple riders.
Spain’s exhibition sector used the news of plans to reopen cinema theaters to call, via trade assn. Fece, for compensation for losses accumulated to date, and in the foreseeable immediate future.
“It’s fantastic news that the government...
- 4/29/2020
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Just as things in Europe were getting really bad, they’ve gotten a lot worse.
Cinema shutdowns across Europe on Friday, in addition to travel bans and multiple film and TV shoot postponements, have left Europe’s film industry facing a perfect storm — and sent shockwaves across the whole of its movie industry.
They also saw some industry figures crying out for governments to implement measures similar to those put forward by France’s Cnc state film agency on Thursday.
In the latest lockdown, every single cinema theater in Spain closed Friday after Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of emergency.
“They should have done it sooner,” said producer-distributor-exhibitor Adolfo Blanco, at A Contracorriente Films, who owns the Verdi and Conde Duque cinema theaters in Spain.
“We just have to hope this won’t last long because costs continue, even with zero revenues. I fear some companies just...
Cinema shutdowns across Europe on Friday, in addition to travel bans and multiple film and TV shoot postponements, have left Europe’s film industry facing a perfect storm — and sent shockwaves across the whole of its movie industry.
They also saw some industry figures crying out for governments to implement measures similar to those put forward by France’s Cnc state film agency on Thursday.
In the latest lockdown, every single cinema theater in Spain closed Friday after Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez declared a state of emergency.
“They should have done it sooner,” said producer-distributor-exhibitor Adolfo Blanco, at A Contracorriente Films, who owns the Verdi and Conde Duque cinema theaters in Spain.
“We just have to hope this won’t last long because costs continue, even with zero revenues. I fear some companies just...
- 3/13/2020
- by John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy, Christopher Vourlias and Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
A new trailer has dropped for the upcoming film The Bookshop, which was the winner of three Goya Awards — Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay — and stars Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson.
The film, set in 1959 England, is about a free-spirited widow (Mortimer) who risks everything to open a bookshop in a conservative East Anglian coastal town. While bringing about a surprising cultural awakening through works by Ray Bradbury and Vladimir Nabokov, she earns the polite but ruthless opposition of a local grand dame (Clarkson) and the support and affection of a reclusive book loving widower (Nighy). The film is based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel and directed by Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive).
The film was produced by Jaume Banacolocha, Joan Bas, Adolfo Blanco and Chris Curling.
Greenwich Entertainment acquired the film for theatrical release earlier this year. It will be released on Aug.
The film, set in 1959 England, is about a free-spirited widow (Mortimer) who risks everything to open a bookshop in a conservative East Anglian coastal town. While bringing about a surprising cultural awakening through works by Ray Bradbury and Vladimir Nabokov, she earns the polite but ruthless opposition of a local grand dame (Clarkson) and the support and affection of a reclusive book loving widower (Nighy). The film is based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s acclaimed novel and directed by Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive).
The film was produced by Jaume Banacolocha, Joan Bas, Adolfo Blanco and Chris Curling.
Greenwich Entertainment acquired the film for theatrical release earlier this year. It will be released on Aug.
- 6/28/2018
- by Anita Busch
- Deadline Film + TV
Female-empowerment comedy “Sin Rodeos” (“Empowered”), the recent Spanish hit from “Torrente” star-director Santiago Segura, is proving there’s an audience for feminist-tinted comedies in a machista world.
Starring Maribel Verdú, and released by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films on March 2, “Empowered” bowed in the No. 2 spot at the Spanish box office for a final $5.5 million box office take, making it the third-biggest Spanish release to date in 2018
Also starring Rafael Spregelburd (“The Man Next Door”) and with a cameo from Segura, “Empowered” has been licensed via sales shingle Film Sharks to Australia/New Zealand (Palace Pictures), Italy (Colorado Films) and Argentina and Uruguay (new distributor Digicine).
Also closed: Colombia and Peru (Cinecolor Films), Central America (Wiesner Distribution), former Yugoslavia (2i Films) and Taiwan (Av Jet). The U.S., France, Greece, Turkey, Russia and China are under negotiation, Rud added.
The five “Torrente” saga comedies, which have grossed an aggregate €79.9 million ($90.1 million) in Spain,...
Starring Maribel Verdú, and released by Adolfo Blanco’s A Contracorriente Films on March 2, “Empowered” bowed in the No. 2 spot at the Spanish box office for a final $5.5 million box office take, making it the third-biggest Spanish release to date in 2018
Also starring Rafael Spregelburd (“The Man Next Door”) and with a cameo from Segura, “Empowered” has been licensed via sales shingle Film Sharks to Australia/New Zealand (Palace Pictures), Italy (Colorado Films) and Argentina and Uruguay (new distributor Digicine).
Also closed: Colombia and Peru (Cinecolor Films), Central America (Wiesner Distribution), former Yugoslavia (2i Films) and Taiwan (Av Jet). The U.S., France, Greece, Turkey, Russia and China are under negotiation, Rud added.
The five “Torrente” saga comedies, which have grossed an aggregate €79.9 million ($90.1 million) in Spain,...
- 5/8/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Drama won three Goyas, played in Berlinale.
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Us rights to Isabel Coixet’s Goya best film winner and Berlinale special gala selection The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson.
Coixet adapted Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel about a widow in 1950s England who locks horns with a local grand dame when she opens a bookshop.
The Bookshop won three Goya Awards for best film, director, and adapted screenplay.
Greenwich Entertainment will release the film theatrically in the Us on August 24. It opened in Spain recently and grossed $3.5m locally.
Jaume Banacolocha, Joan Bas, Adolfo Blanco...
Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Us rights to Isabel Coixet’s Goya best film winner and Berlinale special gala selection The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, and Patricia Clarkson.
Coixet adapted Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel about a widow in 1950s England who locks horns with a local grand dame when she opens a bookshop.
The Bookshop won three Goya Awards for best film, director, and adapted screenplay.
Greenwich Entertainment will release the film theatrically in the Us on August 24. It opened in Spain recently and grossed $3.5m locally.
Jaume Banacolocha, Joan Bas, Adolfo Blanco...
- 4/11/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Bookshop, which played in Berlin and was the winner of three Goya awards in Spain, was just acquired for U.S. distribution by Greenwich Entertainment. Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet (Learning to Drive) and based on a Man Booker Prize short-listed novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, the film stars Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns), Bill Nighy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) and Patricia Clarkson (House of Cards). Greenwich Entertainment will release the title theatrically in the U.S. on August 24th.
The film Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in Spain at the Goya Awards. The Bookshop recently opened in Spain where it grossed $3.5M in the market.
The Bookshop is set in a seaside village in England in the 1950’s where a widow (Mortimer) pursues her lifelong dream of opening a bookshop. As she introduces the townsfolk to the world’s best literature and stirs a cultural awakening,...
The film Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay in Spain at the Goya Awards. The Bookshop recently opened in Spain where it grossed $3.5M in the market.
The Bookshop is set in a seaside village in England in the 1950’s where a widow (Mortimer) pursues her lifelong dream of opening a bookshop. As she introduces the townsfolk to the world’s best literature and stirs a cultural awakening,...
- 4/10/2018
- by Anita Busch
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson star in the adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel.
Screen can reveal the first look at Isabel Coixet’s drama The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson.
Principal photography has wrapped in the UK on the drama, which is being sold at the Afm by Celsius Entertainment.
Set in England in 1959 in a small East Anglian town, the film follows Florence Green who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.
By exposing the locals to cutting-edge literature of the day such as Nabokov’s Lolita and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, she sows the seeds of an awakening in the conservative town.
The film is based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s Booker Prize shortlisted novel.
Coixet commented: “The Bookshop is the story of a woman whose light, innocence and perseverance pose a threat to the powers that be in a small town plagued...
Screen can reveal the first look at Isabel Coixet’s drama The Bookshop starring Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson.
Principal photography has wrapped in the UK on the drama, which is being sold at the Afm by Celsius Entertainment.
Set in England in 1959 in a small East Anglian town, the film follows Florence Green who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop.
By exposing the locals to cutting-edge literature of the day such as Nabokov’s Lolita and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, she sows the seeds of an awakening in the conservative town.
The film is based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s Booker Prize shortlisted novel.
Coixet commented: “The Bookshop is the story of a woman whose light, innocence and perseverance pose a threat to the powers that be in a small town plagued...
- 11/4/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Emily Mortimer, Bill Nighy, Patricia Clarkson check in to The Bookshop.
Emily Mortimer (Hugo), Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) are due to star in writer-director Isabel Coixet’s (Endless Night) drama The Bookshop, which is due to get underway this August.
Coixet has adapted the story from Booker Prize-winning novelist Penelope Fitzgerald’s well-received novel of the same name.
Set in a small town in 1959 England, The Bookshop charts the story of a woman (Mortimer) who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.
Celsius Entertainment will be cooking up deals in Cannes on the period project, which has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Australia/Nz (Transmission), Greece (Odeon), Airlines (Jaguar) and Turkey (Filmarti).
Producers are Joan Bas and Jaume Banacolocha from Diagonal and Adolfo Blanco from A Contracorriente. Executive producers are Manuel Monzon, Albert Sagales and Fernando...
Emily Mortimer (Hugo), Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) are due to star in writer-director Isabel Coixet’s (Endless Night) drama The Bookshop, which is due to get underway this August.
Coixet has adapted the story from Booker Prize-winning novelist Penelope Fitzgerald’s well-received novel of the same name.
Set in a small town in 1959 England, The Bookshop charts the story of a woman (Mortimer) who decides, against polite but ruthless local opposition, to open a bookshop, a decision which becomes a political minefield.
Celsius Entertainment will be cooking up deals in Cannes on the period project, which has pre-sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Australia/Nz (Transmission), Greece (Odeon), Airlines (Jaguar) and Turkey (Filmarti).
Producers are Joan Bas and Jaume Banacolocha from Diagonal and Adolfo Blanco from A Contracorriente. Executive producers are Manuel Monzon, Albert Sagales and Fernando...
- 5/11/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Madrid -- One of Spain's most innovative film execs, Adolfo Blanco announced Tuesday the launch of Barcelona-based art house distribution and production house A Contracorriente Films.
With an initial investment of €1.2 million ($1.6 million) and a goal of some €6 million ($8.2 million) in sales in three years, A Contracorriente (literally "against the tide") pools together the founding partners of Blanco's previous successful venture, Notro, which was bought by content powerhouse Vertice 360. He left his position as head of film for Vertice in 2007.
"We're all shareholders, which is very important and changes the dynamics," Blanco said referring to the seven founders. "We're looking forward to recovering the original spirit of Notro."
CEO Blanco, who maintains his shareholder status in Vertice, brings to the table a wealth of experience that spans some of Spain's biggest companies, most successful theatrical releases and biggest international co-productions of the past decade.
A Contracorriente rests on the three...
With an initial investment of €1.2 million ($1.6 million) and a goal of some €6 million ($8.2 million) in sales in three years, A Contracorriente (literally "against the tide") pools together the founding partners of Blanco's previous successful venture, Notro, which was bought by content powerhouse Vertice 360. He left his position as head of film for Vertice in 2007.
"We're all shareholders, which is very important and changes the dynamics," Blanco said referring to the seven founders. "We're looking forward to recovering the original spirit of Notro."
CEO Blanco, who maintains his shareholder status in Vertice, brings to the table a wealth of experience that spans some of Spain's biggest companies, most successful theatrical releases and biggest international co-productions of the past decade.
A Contracorriente rests on the three...
- 2/9/2010
- by By Pamela Rolfe
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MADRID -- Spanish distributor and production house Notro Films on Monday mapped out its production slate for the year, and it marks a shift from the banner's former strategy of joining as co-producers on previously established projects.
"This is the next logical step for us," Notro CEO and founder Adolfo Blanco said.
"Sleuth"-like feature film "Fermat's Room" will be the first 100% Notro production and starts shooting in April. The €2.2 million ($2.9 million) suspense film is written and directed by both Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena and stars Santi Millan, Elena Ballesteros and Federico Luppi.
Next up is "Lavapies", a €2.2 million comedy based on a script by Jacobo Bergareche. Director and cast have yet to be decided.
Additionally, the company has taken a minority stake in Michael Hoffman's upcoming "The Last Station", starring Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins.
Until now, Notro has limited itself in film to a distributor or co-production credit -- as in the case of the Cannes 2006 entry "Honor de Cavalleria". In television, however, it has moved full-throttle into production with "Los Simuladores", "Nada por Aqui", "Brainiac" and "Territorio Champion".
The move to ramp up its film production follows Spanish media group Avanzit's acquisition of Notro last month.
"This is the next logical step for us," Notro CEO and founder Adolfo Blanco said.
"Sleuth"-like feature film "Fermat's Room" will be the first 100% Notro production and starts shooting in April. The €2.2 million ($2.9 million) suspense film is written and directed by both Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena and stars Santi Millan, Elena Ballesteros and Federico Luppi.
Next up is "Lavapies", a €2.2 million comedy based on a script by Jacobo Bergareche. Director and cast have yet to be decided.
Additionally, the company has taken a minority stake in Michael Hoffman's upcoming "The Last Station", starring Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins.
Until now, Notro has limited itself in film to a distributor or co-production credit -- as in the case of the Cannes 2006 entry "Honor de Cavalleria". In television, however, it has moved full-throttle into production with "Los Simuladores", "Nada por Aqui", "Brainiac" and "Territorio Champion".
The move to ramp up its film production follows Spanish media group Avanzit's acquisition of Notro last month.
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