Sovereign is proud to announce that award-winning Mexican director Amat Escalante’s powerful thriller Lost In The Night received its UK premiere at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival, as part of the ‘Thrill’ section, and now the film is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
From acclaimed Mexican director Amat Escalante, following Heli, for which he won Best Director at Cannes in 2013, and The Untamed, which won him the Best Director prize at Venice in 2016, comes Lost In The Night, a taut, engrossing thriller that blends traditional elements of Latin American cinema with astute social commentary on Mexican society and contemporary influencer culture.
The film, which premiered at Cannes this year, stars Juan Daniel García Treviño (Narcos México), and Latin American influencer superstar Ester Expósito, who has 27 million followers, and features a superb score by Stranger Things composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.
The film...
From acclaimed Mexican director Amat Escalante, following Heli, for which he won Best Director at Cannes in 2013, and The Untamed, which won him the Best Director prize at Venice in 2016, comes Lost In The Night, a taut, engrossing thriller that blends traditional elements of Latin American cinema with astute social commentary on Mexican society and contemporary influencer culture.
The film, which premiered at Cannes this year, stars Juan Daniel García Treviño (Narcos México), and Latin American influencer superstar Ester Expósito, who has 27 million followers, and features a superb score by Stranger Things composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein.
The film...
- 4/11/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
"Look how happy it looks!" Red Water Entertainment has unveiled a new official trailer for a very weird and peculiar Japanese indie sci-fi horror film titled Extraneous Matter made by filmmaker Ken'ichi Ugana. This originally premiered back in 2021 at festivals around the world, with appearances at Screamfest and others. Now it's finally getting a VOD debut in the US as Extraneous Matter: Complete Edition, since it's based on a series of short films. "High-gloss trash at its best!" One day, a strange thing comes to a woman who is suffering from being in a sexless relationship with her boyfriend. The "extraneous matter" (strange tentacled creatures), appear out of nowhere in front of two couples who are not getting along, former lovers, and factory workers and affects their thoughts & lives. Starring Kaoru Koide, Shunsuke Tanaka, Nina Sakura, Megumi Haruno, Adone Kudo, and Rino. There's no easy way to describe this, but...
- 3/22/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Night Moves: Escalante Cultivates a Moody, Capricious Mystery
Replete with a slew of customary features encountered in a fatalistic film noir, Amat Escalante’s fifth feature, Perdidos en la noche (Lost in the Night), begins with a missing woman and then splinters off into unexpected directions. Part of the film’s intrigue is in how it resists our expectations, embracing Escalante’s penchant for corruption and nihilism but not without a sense of salvation. While the film’s narrative has more in common with Escalante’s Heli (2013) than his extravagantly perverse The Untamed (2016), it’s a genre film with a mind of it’s own, even if it resists a gratifying sense of catharsis.…...
Replete with a slew of customary features encountered in a fatalistic film noir, Amat Escalante’s fifth feature, Perdidos en la noche (Lost in the Night), begins with a missing woman and then splinters off into unexpected directions. Part of the film’s intrigue is in how it resists our expectations, embracing Escalante’s penchant for corruption and nihilism but not without a sense of salvation. While the film’s narrative has more in common with Escalante’s Heli (2013) than his extravagantly perverse The Untamed (2016), it’s a genre film with a mind of it’s own, even if it resists a gratifying sense of catharsis.…...
- 2/9/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Seven years after his mesmerizing sci-fi drama on extraterrestrial sex, “The Untamed,” genre-defying Mexican auteur Amat Escalante switches gears once again to try his hand at a sharp-edged, quasi-detective story with “Lost in the Night.” His approach expectedly deviates from a straightforward whodunit. Escalante rejects both simplified villainy and stainless heroism, crafting individuals with clear motivations who never stop to consider their actions through a moral filter. The result is an at times jarring but always intriguing enigma that escapes facile classification, especially because it tends to veer into absurdism.
In just a handful of years since his breakout role in Fernando Frías de la Parra’s “I’m No Longer Here,” Juan Daniel García Treviño has become a familiar face in Mexican cinema, usually playing a member of a criminal organization. Here, Escalante pushes against such typecasting and places him on the righteous side of the fence, as Emiliano, a...
In just a handful of years since his breakout role in Fernando Frías de la Parra’s “I’m No Longer Here,” Juan Daniel García Treviño has become a familiar face in Mexican cinema, usually playing a member of a criminal organization. Here, Escalante pushes against such typecasting and places him on the righteous side of the fence, as Emiliano, a...
- 2/2/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety Film + TV
Amat Escalante brings great intensity to this story of a young man seeking out the truth of his mother’s disappearance, but the point gets rather lost
Amat Escalante is the Mexican film-maker who created the brutal and politically engaged crime drama Heli in 2013, for which he won the best director award in Cannes, and in 2016 the deeply strange body horror parable The Untamed which was a prizewinner at Venice. Now, after a stint on the streaming TV drama Narcos: Mexico he has directed and co-written this contorted Lynchian melodrama about Mexico’s corruption, cynicism and indifference, and all the secrets and lies that bloat the country’s ruling classes.
Lost in the Night concerns what may be the corpse of a woman buried in the grounds of a super-rich family and in this respect it rather resembles Robe of Gems from Natalia López Gallardo, who like Escalante has worked with Carlos Reygadas.
Amat Escalante is the Mexican film-maker who created the brutal and politically engaged crime drama Heli in 2013, for which he won the best director award in Cannes, and in 2016 the deeply strange body horror parable The Untamed which was a prizewinner at Venice. Now, after a stint on the streaming TV drama Narcos: Mexico he has directed and co-written this contorted Lynchian melodrama about Mexico’s corruption, cynicism and indifference, and all the secrets and lies that bloat the country’s ruling classes.
Lost in the Night concerns what may be the corpse of a woman buried in the grounds of a super-rich family and in this respect it rather resembles Robe of Gems from Natalia López Gallardo, who like Escalante has worked with Carlos Reygadas.
- 11/21/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
From the very onset with his feature debut Sangre (2005), filmmaker Amat Escalante has proposed a cinema of provocation that simultaneously critiques corruption and violence, and culminates in disheartening statistics (and tragedy) for his adoptive Mexico. For his fifth feature film, Escalante leans on the some of the same matter but as explored with 2016’s The Untamed, he is “mining” within entirely new genre blueprints. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in the Premieres section, Lost in the Night (Perdidos en la Noche) delves into moral consciousness while navigating a landscape tainted by corruption, and is once again rooted on the ever-changing dynamics shifting social class paradigms.…...
- 10/21/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
In his films, director and screenwriter Amat Escalante (Mexico) is committed to portraying the violence of his country in a provocative, head-on way. His first three feature films premiered at the Cannes Film Festival: Sangre and Los bastardos screened in the Un Certain Regard section, and his 2013 film Heli premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or, for which Escalante won the Best Director Award. In 2016, he presented The Untamed (La región salvaje), a film with science-fiction elements, in competition at the Venice Festival, which again won him the Best Director Award. This year, he premiered his fifth feature film, Lost in the Night, in the Cannes Premieres section.In this episode, we talk about the relationship between filmmakers and their social context. In conversation with programmer and critic Pamela Biénzobas, Escalante speaks about his relationship with the city of Guanajuato as a source of inspiration and his interest in establishing...
- 7/12/2023
- MUBI
When Rigoberto Duplas, the worrying conceptual artist and antagonist of Amat Escalante’s new film, tells Emiliano, our steadfast lead, that the cheap glass in his modernist mansion has a tendency to “rattle,” it sounds like a dig. Luckily, it’s a tendency our hero doesn’t share. Played with furrowed seriousness by Juan Daniel García (a standout in the recent Robe of Gems), Emiliano is the most convincing part of Escalante’s muddled mystery: a film about a young man on a mission to avenge his mother who disappeared after protesting the sale of a local mine.
After breaking out in Un Certain Regard with Blood in 2005, Escalante’s ascension on the festival circuit has been nothing if not steady: awarded best director for Heli by Steven Spielberg’s jury in 2013, the director followed that success with a Silver Lion in Venice for The Untamed in 2016. That agreeably slimy...
After breaking out in Un Certain Regard with Blood in 2005, Escalante’s ascension on the festival circuit has been nothing if not steady: awarded best director for Heli by Steven Spielberg’s jury in 2013, the director followed that success with a Silver Lion in Venice for The Untamed in 2016. That agreeably slimy...
- 5/18/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Stateside, audiences may know Amat Escalante best for directing episodes of “Narcos: Mexico” for Netflix. But Escalante deserves more recognition than that, having excellent independent dramas like 2013’s “Heli” and 2016’s “The Untamed.” And Escalante returns to the Croisette for the first time since “Heli” premiered in competition for the Palme d’Or with his new film, “Lost In The Night.”
Read More: Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2023 Lineup Includes New Films From Hong Sang-soo, Michel Gondry & More
As a late addition to the Cannes line-up, “Lost In The Night” won’t have its world premiere in competition for the fest’s top prize, instead premiering in the Cannes Premiere section.
Continue reading ‘Lost In The Night’ Trailer: Amat Escalante’s Latest Twisty Crime Drama Premieres At The Cannes Film Festival On May 18 at The Playlist.
Read More: Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2023 Lineup Includes New Films From Hong Sang-soo, Michel Gondry & More
As a late addition to the Cannes line-up, “Lost In The Night” won’t have its world premiere in competition for the fest’s top prize, instead premiering in the Cannes Premiere section.
Continue reading ‘Lost In The Night’ Trailer: Amat Escalante’s Latest Twisty Crime Drama Premieres At The Cannes Film Festival On May 18 at The Playlist.
- 5/12/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
"Why did you hire me if you know who I am?" The Match Factory has unveiled a Cannes promo trailer for Lost in the Night, premiering at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival kicking off soon this month. This is the latest film by Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante, best known for his more recent indie hits Heli and The Untamed. It's premiering in the Cannes Premiere section at the fest, not in the competition, Though it looks like it could be in there nonetheless. Emiliano lives in a small mining town in Mexico. Motivated by a sense of justice, he searches for those responsible for the disappearance of his activist mother. He finds a clue that leads him to the wealthy Aldama Family - soon he gets a job at their home. In search of the truth & justice, Emiliano plunges into a dark world full of secrets, lies and revenge. Starring Juan...
- 5/12/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
One of the most anticipated recent additions to the Cannes Film Festival lineup hails from Mexican director Amat Escalante, who returns to the festival after winning Best Director for Heli and whose last feature was 2016’s genre-defying thriller The Untamed, for which he won Best Director at Venice. Lost in the Night, starring Juan Daniel Garcia, Barbara Mori, Ester Exposito, Fernando Bonilla, and Maria Fernanda Osio, will debut in the Cannes Premiere section of the festival and we’re pleased to debut new images from the film, which clocks in at 113 minutes.
“Emiliano lives in a small mining town in Mexico. Motivated by a deep sense of justice, he searches for those responsible for the disappearance of his activist mother who was standing up for local jobs against an international mining company,” reads the synopsis. “Receiving no help from the police or judicial system, he finds a clue that leads...
“Emiliano lives in a small mining town in Mexico. Motivated by a deep sense of justice, he searches for those responsible for the disappearance of his activist mother who was standing up for local jobs against an international mining company,” reads the synopsis. “Receiving no help from the police or judicial system, he finds a clue that leads...
- 4/27/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Because a list is never done and because we were inspired to dig that bit further, we have a few more updates on potential Cannes contenders this year.
Below is Part Two of our selection of movies we hear are in the conversation. You can read about our first wave of potentials here, including Scorsese, Indiana Jones 5 and Johnny Depp’s comeback movie.
Related Story From ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ & ‘Indiana Jones’ To ‘Jeanne Du Barry’ & ‘The Old Oak’: 32 Movies From Across The Globe That Could Light Up The Cannes Film Festival Related Story International Insider: Cannes Contenders; London's Time To Shine; Danish Diversity Debate; ITV Finances; Ken Loach Union Row Related Story Ruben Östlund Set As 2023 Cannes Film Festival Jury President
Among anticipated films it has become clear to us in recent days are unlikely to debut are Kirill Serebrennikov’s Limonov, Sean Durkin’s Iron Claw,...
Below is Part Two of our selection of movies we hear are in the conversation. You can read about our first wave of potentials here, including Scorsese, Indiana Jones 5 and Johnny Depp’s comeback movie.
Related Story From ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ & ‘Indiana Jones’ To ‘Jeanne Du Barry’ & ‘The Old Oak’: 32 Movies From Across The Globe That Could Light Up The Cannes Film Festival Related Story International Insider: Cannes Contenders; London's Time To Shine; Danish Diversity Debate; ITV Finances; Ken Loach Union Row Related Story Ruben Östlund Set As 2023 Cannes Film Festival Jury President
Among anticipated films it has become clear to us in recent days are unlikely to debut are Kirill Serebrennikov’s Limonov, Sean Durkin’s Iron Claw,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman, Melanie Goodfellow and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
28 selected projects pitched to sales agents and distributors.
A new documentary project from Prayers For The Stolen director Tatiana Huezo was among the prize-winners at the fifth edition of European Work in Progress (Ewip), held in Cologne October 17-19.
An international jury including mk2 films’ head of acquisitions Olivier Barbier, Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Julien Rejl and German director-producer-actress Saralisa Volm awarded in-kind prizes worth a total of €60,000, after the 28 selected projects had been pitched to sales agents and distributors.
The K13 Studios award of €10,000 in Dolby Atmos mixing went to Huezo’s documentary The Echo, a documentary about children...
A new documentary project from Prayers For The Stolen director Tatiana Huezo was among the prize-winners at the fifth edition of European Work in Progress (Ewip), held in Cologne October 17-19.
An international jury including mk2 films’ head of acquisitions Olivier Barbier, Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Julien Rejl and German director-producer-actress Saralisa Volm awarded in-kind prizes worth a total of €60,000, after the 28 selected projects had been pitched to sales agents and distributors.
The K13 Studios award of €10,000 in Dolby Atmos mixing went to Huezo’s documentary The Echo, a documentary about children...
- 10/19/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
28 projects selected from over 150 submissions.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
New features from Mexican director Amat Escalante and Mexican-San Salvadoran filmmaker Tatiana Huezo are among the 28 feature projects selected for the fifth edition of European Work in Progress Cologne (Ewip), the industry pitching event held from October 17-19 in the run-up to Film Festival Cologne.
Escalante will pitch Lost In The Night, about a man searching for those responsible for his mother’s disappearance, who encounters an incompetent justice system.
The Mexico-Germany-Netherlands-Denmark co-production is produced by Nicolas Celis and Fernanda de la Peza for Tres Tunas Cine. Escalante has previously directed four features including Venice and Toronto 2016 horror The Untamed.
- 10/11/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
10 films underscoring Mexican cinemas drive into diversity:
“Huesera,” (Michelle Garza Cervera)
Valeria is pregnant, but something is wrong with the baby. Shades of “Rosemary’s Baby,” but “Huesera” goes its own way, as Valeria gradually realizes what for her is really horror.
Genre and LGBTQ, a double winner at Tribeca, taking its coveted New Narrative Director hardware, and picked up by XYZ Films for most world sales. “A terrifying, bone-breaking body horror nightmare,” said Variety. Produced by Mexico’s Napa Films and Machete Films, the latter behind Cannes winners “Leap Year” and “La Jaula de Oro.”
“Mom,” (“Mamá,” Xun Sero)
Selected for Canada’s Hot Docs, Guadalajara Mezcal Award competition, where it won an honorable mention, and now Morelia’s doc strand, one of the banner titles of a new Chiapas cinema. A portrait of Sero’s mom, yes, but also of a remarkable, resilient woman who defied the conventions of her village,...
“Huesera,” (Michelle Garza Cervera)
Valeria is pregnant, but something is wrong with the baby. Shades of “Rosemary’s Baby,” but “Huesera” goes its own way, as Valeria gradually realizes what for her is really horror.
Genre and LGBTQ, a double winner at Tribeca, taking its coveted New Narrative Director hardware, and picked up by XYZ Films for most world sales. “A terrifying, bone-breaking body horror nightmare,” said Variety. Produced by Mexico’s Napa Films and Machete Films, the latter behind Cannes winners “Leap Year” and “La Jaula de Oro.”
“Mom,” (“Mamá,” Xun Sero)
Selected for Canada’s Hot Docs, Guadalajara Mezcal Award competition, where it won an honorable mention, and now Morelia’s doc strand, one of the banner titles of a new Chiapas cinema. A portrait of Sero’s mom, yes, but also of a remarkable, resilient woman who defied the conventions of her village,...
- 9/16/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Baby Catfish April is firmly in the rearview, though Trace and I are still basking in the great conversations we had about Mexican sci-fi film The Untamed, 80s live-action/animation technical marvel Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and our pair of vampire films: Swedish teen coming of age ‘Let The Right One In and Western/Horror hybrid Near Dark. Now […]
The post The Dysmorphia of Being Online in ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post The Dysmorphia of Being Online in ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 5/9/2022
- by Joe Lipsett
- bloody-disgusting.com
Tentacle Porn. After traveling all the way to Sweden to look at the evolving friendship between Eli and Oskar in Let the Right One In, we changed up the pace a little bit with an off-kilter pick in Robert Zemeckis’ 1988 masterpiece Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Now we’re making our first journey to Mexico […]
The post Internalized Homophobia and Tentacle Alien Monsters in ‘The Untamed’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The post Internalized Homophobia and Tentacle Alien Monsters in ‘The Untamed’ [Horror Queers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
- 5/2/2022
- by Trace Thurman
- bloody-disgusting.com
Mexico’s Peninsula Films & Entertainment and Monica Lozano’s Alebrije Prods. have teamed up to produce feature film “El Hombre de la Multitud” about Mexican tabloid photojournalist Enrique Metinides.
His iconic, at times grisly, photos chronicled scenes of accidents, crimes and historical events from the 1940s until 1997 in Mexico. Now 88 years old, Metinides’ career in “nota roja” photojournalism began at the age of 10 when he started riding along with policemen with the camera his father gave him. His first photo was published when he was just 12. By the age of 13, he was hired by tabloid La Prensa, albeit unpaid, and earned the nickname “El Niño” (‘The Boy’).
To be directed by Jose Manuel Cravioto, whose credits include his feature debut “Mexican Gangster” and TV shows “Señor Avila,” “El Chapo,” and “Diablero,” “El Hombre de la Multitud” begins with Metinides as a child who’s toying with the camera he got...
His iconic, at times grisly, photos chronicled scenes of accidents, crimes and historical events from the 1940s until 1997 in Mexico. Now 88 years old, Metinides’ career in “nota roja” photojournalism began at the age of 10 when he started riding along with policemen with the camera his father gave him. His first photo was published when he was just 12. By the age of 13, he was hired by tabloid La Prensa, albeit unpaid, and earned the nickname “El Niño” (‘The Boy’).
To be directed by Jose Manuel Cravioto, whose credits include his feature debut “Mexican Gangster” and TV shows “Señor Avila,” “El Chapo,” and “Diablero,” “El Hombre de la Multitud” begins with Metinides as a child who’s toying with the camera he got...
- 4/4/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
New York-based Visit Films has swooped on world sales rights to “Robe of Gems” (“Manto de Gemas”) which will world premiere in main competition at next’s month’s Berlinale.
Produced by some of the best known producers on the art film and crossover scene in Mexico and Argentina, “Robe of Gems” marks the directorial debut feature of Natalia López Gallardo who has edited some of the most acclaimed and challenging films coming out of Latin America in the last decade, such as Lisandro Alonso’s “Jauja,” starring Viggo Mortensen, and Carlos Reygadas’ “Post Tenebras Lux” and Amat Escalante’s “Heli,” the latter two both best director award winners at the Cannes Festival.
Written, directed and edited by López Gallardo, “Robe of Gems” turns on Isabel, a woman in the midst of divorce who moves to an old country house her family once owned.
There she discovers her helper Marta...
Produced by some of the best known producers on the art film and crossover scene in Mexico and Argentina, “Robe of Gems” marks the directorial debut feature of Natalia López Gallardo who has edited some of the most acclaimed and challenging films coming out of Latin America in the last decade, such as Lisandro Alonso’s “Jauja,” starring Viggo Mortensen, and Carlos Reygadas’ “Post Tenebras Lux” and Amat Escalante’s “Heli,” the latter two both best director award winners at the Cannes Festival.
Written, directed and edited by López Gallardo, “Robe of Gems” turns on Isabel, a woman in the midst of divorce who moves to an old country house her family once owned.
There she discovers her helper Marta...
- 1/20/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Streaming
Over the weekend, the La Biennale di Venezia launched its new Biennale Cinema Channel in collaboration with Italian streamer MYmovies, offering up a streamable selection of films which have featured in previous editions of the Venice International Film Festival but which are not currently available elsewhere in Italy. The channel drops with an initial library of 36 titles which featured in various sections of the festival between 2007 and 2020. In September, the first group of films will be supplemented with titles available on the 2021 festival’s Sala Web from Sept. 1-11, and continuously updated thereafter. The channel is available as a monthly subscription for €7.90 ($9.38) or in three-month blocks for €19.90 ($23.62).
Venice prizewinning titles from the initial lineup include 2014 best screenplay winner “Tales” by Rakhshan Banietemad, Gastón Solnicki’s 2016 Fipresci Award-winner “Kékszakállú” (“Bluebird”), and Amat Escalante’s “La región salvaje” (“The Untamed”), which won the filmmaker the Golden Lion for best director in...
Over the weekend, the La Biennale di Venezia launched its new Biennale Cinema Channel in collaboration with Italian streamer MYmovies, offering up a streamable selection of films which have featured in previous editions of the Venice International Film Festival but which are not currently available elsewhere in Italy. The channel drops with an initial library of 36 titles which featured in various sections of the festival between 2007 and 2020. In September, the first group of films will be supplemented with titles available on the 2021 festival’s Sala Web from Sept. 1-11, and continuously updated thereafter. The channel is available as a monthly subscription for €7.90 ($9.38) or in three-month blocks for €19.90 ($23.62).
Venice prizewinning titles from the initial lineup include 2014 best screenplay winner “Tales” by Rakhshan Banietemad, Gastón Solnicki’s 2016 Fipresci Award-winner “Kékszakállú” (“Bluebird”), and Amat Escalante’s “La región salvaje” (“The Untamed”), which won the filmmaker the Golden Lion for best director in...
- 7/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Morelia, Mexico — Berlin-based Pluto Film Distribution has picked up the international sales rights, with the exception of Mexico, to Joshua Gil’s ‘Sanctorum,” which competes at the 17th Morelia Int’l Film Festival (Ficm).
Founded by Torsten Frehse, the fledgling world sales and festival distribution company has an eye for arthouse and crossover films as well as features from emerging talent.
Gil’s sophomore feature closed the 34th Venice International Film Critics Week last September, where it screened out of competition and marked its world premiere.
Shot mostly in the indigenous language of Mixe with non-pros in Oaxaca and Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt flats, “Sanctorum” takes place in a rural village caught in the crossfire between the military and the drug cartels. A little boy’s mother vanishes along with other fellow workers at a marijuana farm. His grief-stricken grandmother tells him to go into the forest and ask the sky,...
Founded by Torsten Frehse, the fledgling world sales and festival distribution company has an eye for arthouse and crossover films as well as features from emerging talent.
Gil’s sophomore feature closed the 34th Venice International Film Critics Week last September, where it screened out of competition and marked its world premiere.
Shot mostly in the indigenous language of Mixe with non-pros in Oaxaca and Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt flats, “Sanctorum” takes place in a rural village caught in the crossfire between the military and the drug cartels. A little boy’s mother vanishes along with other fellow workers at a marijuana farm. His grief-stricken grandmother tells him to go into the forest and ask the sky,...
- 10/22/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
As China gears up for a big political anniversary and national holiday, its box office has been dominated by innocuous animal films and local fare capable of keeping censors happy but unable to make that huge of a splash. None of the top four weekend titles has scored more than 7 out of 10 on the key user-review platform Douban.
“Little Q,” a heartwarming dog film from Hong Kong, led China’s weekend box office with a $9.6 million debut, despite a delayed release date and continued tensions between the mainland and the special administrative region.
The film was directed by Wing-cheong Law, a longtime collaborate of Johnnie To and winner of a 2002 Golden Horse Award for best editing on “Running Out of Time 2,” and stars veteran Hong Kong actor Simon Yam. The movie is based on a true story retold in a Japanese novel by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro, which was adapted into “Quill,...
“Little Q,” a heartwarming dog film from Hong Kong, led China’s weekend box office with a $9.6 million debut, despite a delayed release date and continued tensions between the mainland and the special administrative region.
The film was directed by Wing-cheong Law, a longtime collaborate of Johnnie To and winner of a 2002 Golden Horse Award for best editing on “Running Out of Time 2,” and stars veteran Hong Kong actor Simon Yam. The movie is based on a true story retold in a Japanese novel by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro, which was adapted into “Quill,...
- 9/23/2019
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Variety debuted the trailer for Mexican filmmaker Joshua Gil’s Sanctorum ahead of its World Premiere at the close of Venice International Film Critics’ Week. All we can say is, 'Golly, this is something to behold'. Prepare yourselves for something rather visually and audibly special. We are not at all surprised to read in the Variety piece that Gil has a Master’s Degree in cinematography. Just look at it! Nor are we surprised to read further, "Its sound design, which Gil said took up a year, was crafted by sound designer-supervising sound editor Sergio Diaz whose multi-awarded credits include such gems as “Roma,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Untamed” and “Babel.”" Just listen to it! Filmed mostly in the indigenous language of Mije with non-pros...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 9/3/2019
- Screen Anarchy
Mexican filmmaker Joshua Gil’s “Sanctorum” bows its trailer exclusively through Variety as it gears up for its world premiere at the 34th Venice International Film Critics’ Week.
Gil’s second feature film is set to screen out of competition as it closes Venice Critics’ Week, an independent and parallel section organized by the Italian Critics union Sncci during Venice.
The trailer gives a glimpse of the visual and aural feast that is “Sanctorum.” Its sound design, which Gil said took up a year, was crafted by sound designer-supervising sound editor Sergio Diaz whose multi-awarded credits include such gems as “Roma,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Untamed” and “Babel.”
Gil, who has a Master’s Degree in cinematography and served as an assistant camera on Carlos Reygadas’ stunning debut “Japon,” among others, worked alongside his co-dp Mateo Guzman and production designer Rafael Camacho to create the film’s visual spectacle.
Filmed...
Gil’s second feature film is set to screen out of competition as it closes Venice Critics’ Week, an independent and parallel section organized by the Italian Critics union Sncci during Venice.
The trailer gives a glimpse of the visual and aural feast that is “Sanctorum.” Its sound design, which Gil said took up a year, was crafted by sound designer-supervising sound editor Sergio Diaz whose multi-awarded credits include such gems as “Roma,” “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Untamed” and “Babel.”
Gil, who has a Master’s Degree in cinematography and served as an assistant camera on Carlos Reygadas’ stunning debut “Japon,” among others, worked alongside his co-dp Mateo Guzman and production designer Rafael Camacho to create the film’s visual spectacle.
Filmed...
- 9/3/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of 21st-century debuts is underway, with two-for-one packages doubling some of today’s best working filmmakers.
A free screening of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours is held at Governor’s Island tonight.
A Bigger Splash has screenings.
Museum of the Moving Image
The expressively named “Barbara Hammer, Superdyke” looks...
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of 21st-century debuts is underway, with two-for-one packages doubling some of today’s best working filmmakers.
A free screening of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours is held at Governor’s Island tonight.
A Bigger Splash has screenings.
Museum of the Moving Image
The expressively named “Barbara Hammer, Superdyke” looks...
- 7/19/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Prentice Penny of Insecure has signed on to executive produce and develop HBO’s The Untamed, an epic fantasy tale based on the culturally diverse Asunda line of comic books created by Sebastian A. Jones and published by Stranger Comics. Penny and Jones will co-write the pilot.
The world of Asunda was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology but with its blend of sword-and-sorcery imagery it also feel like a near-neighbor to Westeros, the realm that’s home to HBO’s Game of Thrones and its now-ramping prequel series.
Asunda was introduced by Jones through his tiny independent imprint, Stranger Comics (with help along the way from Kickstarter campaigns), as a “shared universe” saga that was chronicled across individual series like Niobe, Dusu, Erathune and Essessa, each named for a character or locale in the war-battered world of magic and medieval intrigue.
The pilot and early...
The world of Asunda was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology but with its blend of sword-and-sorcery imagery it also feel like a near-neighbor to Westeros, the realm that’s home to HBO’s Game of Thrones and its now-ramping prequel series.
Asunda was introduced by Jones through his tiny independent imprint, Stranger Comics (with help along the way from Kickstarter campaigns), as a “shared universe” saga that was chronicled across individual series like Niobe, Dusu, Erathune and Essessa, each named for a character or locale in the war-battered world of magic and medieval intrigue.
The pilot and early...
- 7/17/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Madrid — Selected for this year’s Cannes Atelier, Felipe Gálvez’s Chilean Western “The Settlers,” one of the most buzzed-up projects to come out of Chile in recent years, has attracted three of the most successful production partners currently working in Latin America: Argentina’s Rei Cine, Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Cine-Sud Promotion.
Lead produced by Chile’s Quijote Films, “The Settlers” hits Cannes having won in November the 2018 TorinoFilmLab, one of Europe’s key co-production prizes.
The Quijote-rei Cine partnership won financing from the Chile-Argentina bilateral co-production fund.
Written by Gálvez, and scheduled to shoot in tierra del Fuego and Patagonia in March 2020, “The Settlers” is set in 1901 as Segundo, a mixed-race Chilean, rides south on an expedition led by MacLenan, a former Boer War English captain and Bill, an American mercenary, to fence off land granted to Spanish landowner José Menéndez. They brutally – and euphorically -slaughter a settlement of indigenous Onas,...
Lead produced by Chile’s Quijote Films, “The Settlers” hits Cannes having won in November the 2018 TorinoFilmLab, one of Europe’s key co-production prizes.
The Quijote-rei Cine partnership won financing from the Chile-Argentina bilateral co-production fund.
Written by Gálvez, and scheduled to shoot in tierra del Fuego and Patagonia in March 2020, “The Settlers” is set in 1901 as Segundo, a mixed-race Chilean, rides south on an expedition led by MacLenan, a former Boer War English captain and Bill, an American mercenary, to fence off land granted to Spanish landowner José Menéndez. They brutally – and euphorically -slaughter a settlement of indigenous Onas,...
- 5/8/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Joseph Baxter Mar 26, 2019
The Asunda fantasy universe from Stranger Comics is headed to HBO, with a TV series adaptation now in the works.
HBO is eyeing new fantasy-action TV series plans that could become as sprawling and grandiose as the plans it had after first meeting with George R.R. Martin for a certain series about “thrones” and the “game” over which they’re played. This time, however, the source material arrives from indie comic company Stranger Comics, specifically its shared-universe titles that take place in the fantasy world known as Asunda.
A drama series based on Stranger’s Asunda fantasy universe is in development at HBO, reports Deadline. Created by Sebastian A. Jones, the comic continuity – a culturally diverse amalgam of real-world history and mythologies with tropes like magic, elves, dwarves and orcs – manifests through shared-universe titles such as Niobe, Dusu, Erathune, Essessa and The Untamed. The TV project will...
The Asunda fantasy universe from Stranger Comics is headed to HBO, with a TV series adaptation now in the works.
HBO is eyeing new fantasy-action TV series plans that could become as sprawling and grandiose as the plans it had after first meeting with George R.R. Martin for a certain series about “thrones” and the “game” over which they’re played. This time, however, the source material arrives from indie comic company Stranger Comics, specifically its shared-universe titles that take place in the fantasy world known as Asunda.
A drama series based on Stranger’s Asunda fantasy universe is in development at HBO, reports Deadline. Created by Sebastian A. Jones, the comic continuity – a culturally diverse amalgam of real-world history and mythologies with tropes like magic, elves, dwarves and orcs – manifests through shared-universe titles such as Niobe, Dusu, Erathune, Essessa and The Untamed. The TV project will...
- 3/26/2019
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: HBO has put in development Asunda, a drama series rooted in the namesake fantasy universe created by Sebastian A. Jones.
Co-written and executive produced by Jones, Asunda is set in the culturally rich but war-torn world of Asunda, where an orphan girl is born of two nations and raised in a small desert town. Hunted by all, she will search for her ancestors and the courage to bind them against an ancient enemy.
Mimi Ditrani also executive produces.
Asunda is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology and is similar in its settings to Westeros, the world in which the HBO hit series Game of Thrones is placed. It is published by Jones’ independent imprint, Stranger Comics, with Kickstarter campaigns helping along the way.
The epic history of Asunda has been chronicled in various “shared universe” titles published by Stranger Comics, among them Niobe, Dusu, Erathune...
Co-written and executive produced by Jones, Asunda is set in the culturally rich but war-torn world of Asunda, where an orphan girl is born of two nations and raised in a small desert town. Hunted by all, she will search for her ancestors and the courage to bind them against an ancient enemy.
Mimi Ditrani also executive produces.
Asunda is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology and is similar in its settings to Westeros, the world in which the HBO hit series Game of Thrones is placed. It is published by Jones’ independent imprint, Stranger Comics, with Kickstarter campaigns helping along the way.
The epic history of Asunda has been chronicled in various “shared universe” titles published by Stranger Comics, among them Niobe, Dusu, Erathune...
- 3/25/2019
- by Denise Petski and Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
New projects directed by auteurs from Mexico, Brazil, Ukraine, Thailand and Hungary make up slots 6 to 10 in our most anticipated foreign films of 2020.
#10. State of the Empire (Estado del Imperio) – Amat Escalante
Four years after his subversive socio-genre creature feature The Untamed (which won Best Director in Venice 2016), Amat Escalante will return with his fifth feature State of the Empire. Produced by Nicolas Celis of Pimienta Films, the project won a Ctt Exp & Rentals Award at the 2018 Los Cabos Film Festival. While the narrative details have yet to be revealed, we’re assuming something dark and disturbing given the Mexican auteur’s track record, which includes 2008’s Bastards and 2013’s Heli (which won him Best Director at Cannes).…...
#10. State of the Empire (Estado del Imperio) – Amat Escalante
Four years after his subversive socio-genre creature feature The Untamed (which won Best Director in Venice 2016), Amat Escalante will return with his fifth feature State of the Empire. Produced by Nicolas Celis of Pimienta Films, the project won a Ctt Exp & Rentals Award at the 2018 Los Cabos Film Festival. While the narrative details have yet to be revealed, we’re assuming something dark and disturbing given the Mexican auteur’s track record, which includes 2008’s Bastards and 2013’s Heli (which won him Best Director at Cannes).…...
- 1/10/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao (A Vida Invisível)
It’s been five years since the last narrative feature from Brazil’s Karim Aïnouz, but he’ll finally return in 2019 with the feminist melodrama A Vida Invisível (The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao). Produced by Rodrigo Teixeira of Rt Features (who produced Ainouz’s 2011 film Silver Cliff and apparently an upcoming adaptation of the Geovani Martins novel O Sol na Cabeca), Ainouz’s adaptation of the Martha Batalha novel features Academy Award nominee Fernanda Montenegro, Julia Stockler and Carol Duarte. The film is co-produced by Viola Fugen (Only Lovers Left Alive; Happy as Lazzaro; Foxtrot) and Michael Weber (The Untamed) with cinematography by Helene Louvart.…...
It’s been five years since the last narrative feature from Brazil’s Karim Aïnouz, but he’ll finally return in 2019 with the feminist melodrama A Vida Invisível (The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao). Produced by Rodrigo Teixeira of Rt Features (who produced Ainouz’s 2011 film Silver Cliff and apparently an upcoming adaptation of the Geovani Martins novel O Sol na Cabeca), Ainouz’s adaptation of the Martha Batalha novel features Academy Award nominee Fernanda Montenegro, Julia Stockler and Carol Duarte. The film is co-produced by Viola Fugen (Only Lovers Left Alive; Happy as Lazzaro; Foxtrot) and Michael Weber (The Untamed) with cinematography by Helene Louvart.…...
- 1/5/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Los Cabos, Mexico — This year’s Los Cabos Festival couldn’t have gone much better for editor-producer Fernanda de la Peza. Two films she is producing participated in the Works in Development section, Amat Escalante’s “Estado del Imperio” and Joaquín del Paso’s “The Hole in the Fence,” the former winning the Ctt Exp & Rentals post-production award and the later the Ctt Exp & Rentals + Chemistry Award, one of the competitions weightiest prizes.
De la Peza started her career as an assistant director, but is best known for her work in editing. In fact, she won an Mexican Academy Ariel for editing on Amat Escalante’s Venice competition winner “The Untamed.”
While her workload as a producer has increased, she has no intentions of cutting back on editing. “I really love the combination of these two jobs,” she told Variety. “I think editing gives me a particular vision towards production,...
De la Peza started her career as an assistant director, but is best known for her work in editing. In fact, she won an Mexican Academy Ariel for editing on Amat Escalante’s Venice competition winner “The Untamed.”
While her workload as a producer has increased, she has no intentions of cutting back on editing. “I really love the combination of these two jobs,” she told Variety. “I think editing gives me a particular vision towards production,...
- 11/12/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Los Cabos, Mexico — The 7th Los Cabos Festival, the most industrially-minded of Mexico’s film events, was the first to take place in full-blown digital Ott revolution.
Two TV panels, the biggest ever at Los Cabos, packed out by some of the foremost Latino TV and Ot show-runners, producers and directors, debated the huge, multi-faceted and still fast-evolving impact the digital platforms are having, and will have, on the industry. The result was maybe the most intense industry debate Los Cabos has ever seen. Eight takeaways:
1.Latin America Gets What It Needs
The panels underscored the huge paradigm shift in just a few years. For decades, Latin American TV production was dominated by free-to-air networks, producing in-house, producer Alex Garcia reminded a Los Cabos industry audience. Independent production companies – Mexico’s Argos, Argentina’s Pol-ka and Underground – were huge exceptions, their fortunes tied to producing for specific broadcasters. Then came the pay TV revolution.
Two TV panels, the biggest ever at Los Cabos, packed out by some of the foremost Latino TV and Ot show-runners, producers and directors, debated the huge, multi-faceted and still fast-evolving impact the digital platforms are having, and will have, on the industry. The result was maybe the most intense industry debate Los Cabos has ever seen. Eight takeaways:
1.Latin America Gets What It Needs
The panels underscored the huge paradigm shift in just a few years. For decades, Latin American TV production was dominated by free-to-air networks, producing in-house, producer Alex Garcia reminded a Los Cabos industry audience. Independent production companies – Mexico’s Argos, Argentina’s Pol-ka and Underground – were huge exceptions, their fortunes tied to producing for specific broadcasters. Then came the pay TV revolution.
- 11/11/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister in “Game of Thrones,” heads a distinguished European cast in “Suicide Tourist,” a mystery drama with romantic elements from Copenhagen-based Snowglobe, whose production credits include “Thelma,” “The Untamed” and “Birds of a Passage.”
Described by Snowglobe in a statement as its most ambitious film to date, “Suicide Tourist” marks Danish director Jonas Alexander Arnby’s follow-up to his breakout debut “When Animals Dream,” which played in Cannes Critics’ Week and sold to Radius for the U.S. and to another score of territories. Paris-based Charades has acquired world sales rights to “Suicide Tourist” and will introduce the title to buyers at next week’s American Film Market in Santa Monica.
Coster-Waldau stars opposite Sweden’s Tuva Novotny, co-star of international productions such as “Borg vs. McEnroe” and Alex Garland’s “Annihilation.”
Arnby’s “When Animals Dream” proved catnip to distributors because of its director-driven...
Described by Snowglobe in a statement as its most ambitious film to date, “Suicide Tourist” marks Danish director Jonas Alexander Arnby’s follow-up to his breakout debut “When Animals Dream,” which played in Cannes Critics’ Week and sold to Radius for the U.S. and to another score of territories. Paris-based Charades has acquired world sales rights to “Suicide Tourist” and will introduce the title to buyers at next week’s American Film Market in Santa Monica.
Coster-Waldau stars opposite Sweden’s Tuva Novotny, co-star of international productions such as “Borg vs. McEnroe” and Alex Garland’s “Annihilation.”
Arnby’s “When Animals Dream” proved catnip to distributors because of its director-driven...
- 10/25/2018
- by John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
San Sebastian — Denmark’s Snowglobe is teaming with Argentina’s Rei Cine to produce writer-director Pablo Fendrik’s “Hermano Peligro” (Brother Danger).
Currently at first-draft screenplay, the title weighs is as one of the big potential crossover project propositions at this year’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, which tales place Sunday Sept. 23.
The co-production also links two of the most prestigious and internationally energetic upscale film companies currently working in the Spanish-speaking world.
Headed by Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, and Matías Roveda, Buenos Aires-based Rei Cine, “Hermano Peligro’s” lead producer, has over the last year produced Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama” and Natalia Garagiola’s “Hunting Season,” both 2017 Venice hits, then Sundance-selected “The Queen of Fear,” from Valeria Bertuccelli and Fabiana Tiscornia, and Gonzalo Tobal’s 2018 Venice competition player “The Accused.”
A Copenhagen-located co-producer of some of the highest-profile and boldest Latin American movies in the last two years – Carlos Reygadas’ “Our Time,...
Currently at first-draft screenplay, the title weighs is as one of the big potential crossover project propositions at this year’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, which tales place Sunday Sept. 23.
The co-production also links two of the most prestigious and internationally energetic upscale film companies currently working in the Spanish-speaking world.
Headed by Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, and Matías Roveda, Buenos Aires-based Rei Cine, “Hermano Peligro’s” lead producer, has over the last year produced Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama” and Natalia Garagiola’s “Hunting Season,” both 2017 Venice hits, then Sundance-selected “The Queen of Fear,” from Valeria Bertuccelli and Fabiana Tiscornia, and Gonzalo Tobal’s 2018 Venice competition player “The Accused.”
A Copenhagen-located co-producer of some of the highest-profile and boldest Latin American movies in the last two years – Carlos Reygadas’ “Our Time,...
- 9/23/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
A flock of sheep, fleeces and faces splattered with blood, mill around the camera in ovine alarm. The source of the blood is revealed: a young farmer standing among them, with an enormous spurting gash across her throat, so deep you can see tendons and perhaps even the white of bone. It’s a shocking image to see in the first minute of a film, but what makes the opening of Alejandro Fadel’s “Murder Me, Monster” truly memorable is when the woman’s hands come up into frame as she tries to fix her nearly severed head back on her neck. This unflinchingly grotesque and darkly comic opening, however, is deceptive in being so declarative. Most of the rest of this Un Certain Regard title burns much lower and slower, mountainously heavy with mood and metaphysics, and almost completely incomprehensible.
Set in the Mendoza region of Argentina, which is famous for its vineyards,...
Set in the Mendoza region of Argentina, which is famous for its vineyards,...
- 5/21/2018
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Speaking to Variety at the La Screenings, “Narcos” showrunner-executive producer Eric Newman revealed the names of key cast members of the upcoming fourth season of Netflix’s global hit series. The much-anticipated season, shot on location in Mexico, is likely to be released in the fall like past seasons.
The previously announced leads, Diego Luna and Michael Pena, head a cast that includes Tenoch Huerta (“Spectre”), Joaquin Cosio (“Quantum of Solace”), Jose Maria Yazpik (who starred in Season 3), Mexican-American thesp Teresa Ruiz (“The Last Ship”), and American actress Alyssa Diaz (“Red Dawn”).
“Narcos” Season 4 has also enlisted award-winning Mexican helmers including Amat Escalante, who won the Silver Lion Best Director award at Venice 2016 with his sci-fi drama “The Untamed,” and Alonso Ruizpalacios, whose “Museum” won the Silver Bear in Berlin.
Colombian director Andi Baiz, who helmed several episodes of the first three seasons shot in Colombia, has also directed some...
The previously announced leads, Diego Luna and Michael Pena, head a cast that includes Tenoch Huerta (“Spectre”), Joaquin Cosio (“Quantum of Solace”), Jose Maria Yazpik (who starred in Season 3), Mexican-American thesp Teresa Ruiz (“The Last Ship”), and American actress Alyssa Diaz (“Red Dawn”).
“Narcos” Season 4 has also enlisted award-winning Mexican helmers including Amat Escalante, who won the Silver Lion Best Director award at Venice 2016 with his sci-fi drama “The Untamed,” and Alonso Ruizpalacios, whose “Museum” won the Silver Bear in Berlin.
Colombian director Andi Baiz, who helmed several episodes of the first three seasons shot in Colombia, has also directed some...
- 5/17/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Ernesto Contreras' I Dream in Another Language (Sueno en Otro Idioma), a drama about forbidden love and a dying Mexican dialect, racked up 16 nominations, including a best picture mention, for Mexico's 60th Ariel Awards.
I Dream in Another Language made its world premiere last year at Sundance and took home the Audience Award in the festival's world cinema dramatic competition.
Contreras, currently president of the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, will face stiff competition in the best picture category. Other nominees include Amat Escalante's The Untamed (La Region Salvaje), best director winner at Venice; Sebastian Hofmann's Time...
I Dream in Another Language made its world premiere last year at Sundance and took home the Audience Award in the festival's world cinema dramatic competition.
Contreras, currently president of the Mexican Academy of Film Arts and Sciences, will face stiff competition in the best picture category. Other nominees include Amat Escalante's The Untamed (La Region Salvaje), best director winner at Venice; Sebastian Hofmann's Time...
- 4/23/2018
- by John Hecht
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Couple’s romantic sailing holiday disturbed by their rescue of a refugee.
Danish producers Snowglobe, whose credits include festival hits such as Godless, Thelma and The Untamed, are now in post-production on Lifeboat (working title), the feature directorial debut of Josefine Kirkeskov.
Screen can unveil this first image of Sofia Helin (Saga in The Bridge), who stars as Iben, a woman on a romantic sailing holiday with her boyfriend (Kon-Tiki’s Pål Sverre Hagen) when they rescue a refugee woman (Sebnem Hassanisoughi of TV’s Wounded Love) who makes Iben confront her past.
Writer/director Kirkeskov, a graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, explains, “The idea for the film came as a reaction to the current refugee crisis in Europe. I’m interested in the space that results by the encounter between strangers, the space created when they are forced to relate to each other, and therefore also relate to themselves.”
Snowglobe producer and co-founder...
Danish producers Snowglobe, whose credits include festival hits such as Godless, Thelma and The Untamed, are now in post-production on Lifeboat (working title), the feature directorial debut of Josefine Kirkeskov.
Screen can unveil this first image of Sofia Helin (Saga in The Bridge), who stars as Iben, a woman on a romantic sailing holiday with her boyfriend (Kon-Tiki’s Pål Sverre Hagen) when they rescue a refugee woman (Sebnem Hassanisoughi of TV’s Wounded Love) who makes Iben confront her past.
Writer/director Kirkeskov, a graduate of the National Film School of Denmark, explains, “The idea for the film came as a reaction to the current refugee crisis in Europe. I’m interested in the space that results by the encounter between strangers, the space created when they are forced to relate to each other, and therefore also relate to themselves.”
Snowglobe producer and co-founder...
- 2/18/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Pastiches, homages, and carbon copies of films made years, decades, and movements ago clog today’s cinema. Art house fare as diverse and varied as Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), Queen of Earth (2015), The Death of Louis Xiv (2016), The Untamed (2016), and First Reformed (2017) all draw from a—now sizeable—history of cinema, for better or for worse. Add Valeska Grisebach’s Western to the batch. Eleven years since her previous work, Longing (2006), Grisebach returns to cinema with a slow-boiling film that injects the DNA of the western genre into a narrative concerning inter-European relations. And to be sure, Grisebach had some movies in mind while making Western (a few low-key nods to My Darling Clementine here and there), but as she told Daniel Kasman on this site, “it was more like they were traveling with [her] while [she] was making the film.” Western isn’t so much an homage as a muted mutation.
- 2/13/2018
- MUBI
The Untamed (aka La región salvaje) is arguably Amat Escalante’s greatest film yet. After dealing with the Mexican drug trade in Heli, Escalante returned with another social drama set in Guanajuato, his hometown. This time, though, there’s a fantastic element without precedent in the director’s filmography. In The Untamed, a young woman (Simone Bucio) maintains a connection with a mysterious creature that helps her reach the “wild region”; however, these encounters, as exciting as they are, have become life-threatening for the girl, since maybe everything that we have always desired, sexually or otherwise, can actually be destructive. Soon, this character ends wounded in a local hospital, where she meets a male nurse (Eden Villavicencio). The Untamed manages to explore such relevant issues in Mexican society...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/1/2018
- Screen Anarchy
2017 was a horrific year, but it was also a great year for horror cinema. 2016 gave us some instant classics, but I would argue that this year’s offerings were more diverse, fascinating, and forward-thinking. There were mainstream films—It, Annabelle: Creation, and Happy Death Day, to name a few—that I didn’t personally love, but their success has paved the way for more genre cinema overall. We’re finally seeing stories that reflect our times. I had the honor of witnessing this upsurge of conversation and success at Sitges’ 50th anniversary event, which was my cinematic and personal highlight of the year.
In terms of television, Twin Peaks: The Return has to go down in history as one of broadcasted horror’s best moments. Lynch dialed up the intensity and the surrealism in his new installment, and the result was stunning—not only spiritually terrifying, but beautiful and moving as well.
In terms of television, Twin Peaks: The Return has to go down in history as one of broadcasted horror’s best moments. Lynch dialed up the intensity and the surrealism in his new installment, and the result was stunning—not only spiritually terrifying, but beautiful and moving as well.
- 1/6/2018
- by Ben Larned
- DailyDead
For our most comprehensive year-end feature, we’re providing a cumulative look at The Film Stage’s favorite films of 2017. We’ve asked our contributors to compile ten-best lists with five honorable mentions — those personal lists will be shared in the coming days — and, after tallying the votes, a top 50 has been assembled. (For the first time ever, our #1 overall pick wasn’t #1 on anyone’s personal list, showing how collective of a choice it truly was.)
It should be noted that, unlike our previous year-end features, we placed no requirement on a selection being a U.S theatrical release, so you may see some repeats from last year and a few we’ll certainly be discussing more during the next. So, without further ado, check out our rundown of 2017 below, our complete year-end coverage here (including where to stream many of the below picks), and return in the coming...
It should be noted that, unlike our previous year-end features, we placed no requirement on a selection being a U.S theatrical release, so you may see some repeats from last year and a few we’ll certainly be discussing more during the next. So, without further ado, check out our rundown of 2017 below, our complete year-end coverage here (including where to stream many of the below picks), and return in the coming...
- 12/30/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Welcome, one and all, to the latest installment of The Film Stage Show! Today, Michael Snydel, Bill Graham and I get weird with it and talk about the almost indescribable new film from Amat Escalante, the sexual thriller The Untamed. We’re also giving away three Blu-rays of the film, courtesy of Strand Releasing. Enter by Rt’ing this or becoming a Patreon contributor by 11/27.
Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream/download. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
M4A: The Film Stage Show Ep. 272 – The Untamed
00:00 – 08:16 – Introductions
08:17 – 24:12 – The Untamed review
24:13 – 01:03:01 – Spoilers
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it.
Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream/download. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
M4A: The Film Stage Show Ep. 272 – The Untamed
00:00 – 08:16 – Introductions
08:17 – 24:12 – The Untamed review
24:13 – 01:03:01 – Spoilers
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it.
- 11/23/2017
- by Brian Roan
- The Film Stage
One of my favourite films of 2016, and part of a new wave of great Mexican genre cinema, The Untamed is coming to Blu-ray and DVD via Strand Releasing. Amat Escalante's fourth feature film is part social realist drama, part love story, and part erotic thriller, with a beautiful and terrifying monster at its dark and sensous heart. Alejandra and her husband Ángel live with their two sons in a modest home, and have a close (perhaps too close) relationship with her brother Fabián, a nurse at the local hospital. A young woman, Vero, encounters Fabién when she must seek medical attention after an encounter with a strange creature who fulfills her sexual needs but also injures her. This introduction leads to more varying sexual...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/7/2017
- Screen Anarchy
As 2017 winds down, like most cinephiles, we’re looking to get our hands on the titles that may have slipped under the radar or simply gone unseen. With the proliferation of streaming options, it’s thankfully easier than ever to play catch-up, and to assist with the process, we’re bringing you a rundown of the best titles of the year available to watch.
Curated from the Best Films of 2017 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up on. This is far from a be-all, end-all year-end feature (that will come at the end of the year), but rather something that will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to seek out notable, perhaps underseen, titles from the year.
Note that we’re going by U.
Curated from the Best Films of 2017 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up on. This is far from a be-all, end-all year-end feature (that will come at the end of the year), but rather something that will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to seek out notable, perhaps underseen, titles from the year.
Note that we’re going by U.
- 10/25/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Today's Horror Highlights commences with impressions of Nicholas Woods' The Axiom (2017). Also: a trailer for The Untamed and release details for Prankz, which is now available on Amazon Prime.
The Axiom Impressions: The Axiom is a deeply intriguing vessel that explores familiar waters in the most creative ways possible.
Written and Directed by Nicholas Woods, The Axiom stars Hattie Smith, Zac Titus, Nicole Dambro, Taylor Flowers, and Michael Peter Harrison. It follows a group of friends who get tricked into going into the woods to rescue McKenzie's (Hattie Smith) sister, who mysteriously disappeared in those same woods. Once in the wilderness, the gang slowly discovers that not only are they not alone, but that they may have entered another dimension.
There is a lot to unpack when discussing this film, so let's start with the axiom itself. It is an opening to other worlds much more terrifying than our own,...
The Axiom Impressions: The Axiom is a deeply intriguing vessel that explores familiar waters in the most creative ways possible.
Written and Directed by Nicholas Woods, The Axiom stars Hattie Smith, Zac Titus, Nicole Dambro, Taylor Flowers, and Michael Peter Harrison. It follows a group of friends who get tricked into going into the woods to rescue McKenzie's (Hattie Smith) sister, who mysteriously disappeared in those same woods. Once in the wilderness, the gang slowly discovers that not only are they not alone, but that they may have entered another dimension.
There is a lot to unpack when discussing this film, so let's start with the axiom itself. It is an opening to other worlds much more terrifying than our own,...
- 10/24/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Strand Releasing’s The Untamed is now available on VOD platforms. Celebrated filmmaker Amat Escalante follows up his critically lauded features Heli and Los Bastardos with the award-winning The Untamed, which critics have called “ferociously intelligent” (Jonathan Romney, Screen) and “brilliant, frightening” (Rory O’Connor, The Film Stage). The Blu-ray release includes an 85-minute behind the scenes featurette. “Alejandra is a housewife, […]...
- 10/23/2017
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum (Sophie Bassaler)
When one conjures iconic memories from cinema history, they might be of your favorite shot or sequence, but my mind often travels to behind-the-scenes photos featuring director, cast, crew, and beyond. These photographs often have a unifying connection: they come from Magnum Photos. Since 1947, the photographic cooperative — founded by such iconic names as Robert Capa amd Henri Cartier-Bresson — has been responsible...
Cinema Through the Eye of Magnum (Sophie Bassaler)
When one conjures iconic memories from cinema history, they might be of your favorite shot or sequence, but my mind often travels to behind-the-scenes photos featuring director, cast, crew, and beyond. These photographs often have a unifying connection: they come from Magnum Photos. Since 1947, the photographic cooperative — founded by such iconic names as Robert Capa amd Henri Cartier-Bresson — has been responsible...
- 10/20/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Mexican director Amal Escalante mixes naturalism and otherworldly CGI in bravura fashion
The Spanish title of Amat Escalante’s film, La región salvaje, translates as “the Wild Region”, which may refer to somewhere in space, or the riskier shores of human desire, or this Mexican writer-director’s lawless imagination. His last film, 2013’s Heli, about innocents caught up in the drug war, was at once coolly lucid in tone and horrific in content.
The Untamed features a similar combination of rigorous directing style and confrontational imagery, but ventures into far stranger territory. It’s about three working-class people – a young mother, her macho husband and her gay brother – whose lives are transformed when a mysterious woman (Simone Bucio) gets them entangled, and I mean entangled, with her ardent paramour who is, let’s say, not from around these parts. Escalante takes a hothouse hybrid of science-fiction horror and implants it...
The Spanish title of Amat Escalante’s film, La región salvaje, translates as “the Wild Region”, which may refer to somewhere in space, or the riskier shores of human desire, or this Mexican writer-director’s lawless imagination. His last film, 2013’s Heli, about innocents caught up in the drug war, was at once coolly lucid in tone and horrific in content.
The Untamed features a similar combination of rigorous directing style and confrontational imagery, but ventures into far stranger territory. It’s about three working-class people – a young mother, her macho husband and her gay brother – whose lives are transformed when a mysterious woman (Simone Bucio) gets them entangled, and I mean entangled, with her ardent paramour who is, let’s say, not from around these parts. Escalante takes a hothouse hybrid of science-fiction horror and implants it...
- 8/20/2017
- by Jonathan Romney
- The Guardian - Film News
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