Alpha Violet Boards Uruguayan Drama ‘Don’t You Let Me Go’ Following Sundance Wins For Slate Titles ‘Sujo’ & ‘In The Land Of Brothers’

“This is a very, very romantic film,” Gael García Bernal said of his Berlin competition title, Another End. 

EXCLUSIVE: Australia’s Odin’s Eye Animation (OEA) has boarded sales on caveman comedy Rock Bottom, starring the voices of top comedy actors Rob Schneider and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Teresa Cavina has been appointed artistic director of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival the second edition of which will run June 22-30 in Valletta, the island’s capital. Cavina, who has over twenty years of experience in programming and artistic director roles at festivals including Locarno, El-Gouna, Rome, Venice and Abu Dhabi, is structuring the Mediterrane fest’s selection in four programming strands: In Competition, featuring films from across the Mediterranean; Out of Competition, featuring films from the rest of the world; Mare Nostrum – ‘Our Sea’, showcasing narrative and documentary films dedicated to sustainability and the environment; and Future Visions – a selection of experimental VR projects.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Before demonstrating himself to be one of Mexico’s most original and exciting new filmmaking talents, Alonso Ruizpalacios washed dishes in a bustling big-city kitchen. That experience informs every second of the “Museo” director’s fourth feature, “La Cocina,” a thrilling in-spirit adaptation of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play “The Kitchen,” transposed from midcentury London to modern-day New York.

Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios has had a winning record coming to the Berlin Film Festival since 2013, when his film Gueros took the Best First Feature prize. Five years later he was back with his second, the sensational museum-heist film Museo, and deservedly won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. His third, A Cop Movie, which plays with the traditional docu form by using actors, won Best Documentary at Mexico’s Golden Ariel Awards.

Iranian filmmakers Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam’s new feature My Favourite Cake world premieres at the Berlinale on Friday but the directors are not at the festival having been slapped with a travel ban by Iran’s authoritarian Islamic Republic regime.

Ellise Shafer Directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeh were banned by Iranian authorities from traveling to this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where their film “My Favourite Cake” is premiering in competition. At the film’s press conference on Friday morning, actors Lily Farhadpour and Esmail Mehrabi delivered a powerful message from the directors in the form of a letter as a photo of the two was propped up besides their empty seats. “Today, a film which we have spent three years of our lives making will be shown here, unfortunately, without our presence.

“It’s about a whole bunch of things,” Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios says when quizzed on the subject of his latest feature, La Cocina, debuting this evening at the Berlin Film Festival. “In equal parts, it explores the topic of work, the American dream, the failure of the American dream, and abortion rights. That’s a really tough question as a director.” 

Super Bowl LVIII broke viewership records across the board last Sunday, including in one small-but-growing segment: Spanish-language audiences.

Zendaya has delivered another amazing look for the Dune: Part Two press tour!

EXCLUSIVE: HanWay Films has closed a Germany & Austria pre-sale on Berlinale competition title La Cocina with SquareOne Entertainment.

Naman Ramachandran The late Pema Tseden‘s “Snow Leopard” (China) won the top prize, the Golden Cyclo, at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema on Tuesday. The film, which previously won awards at the Tokyo and Hainan festivals, also won Vesoul’s National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilizations (INALCO) jury prize and actor Tseten Tashi scored a jury special mention. Pema Tseden (aka Wanmacaidan) died in May last year, age 53.

New York’s Museum of the Moving Image has revealed the full lineup for First Look 2024, the 13th edition of the festival that showcases “new and innovative international cinema,” both fiction and nonfiction.

Welcome to ElectionLine’s A View From Abroad series, in which we speak to media figures who don’t live in America, but keep a close eye on its politics. Every few weeks, these smart observers will provide a unique perspective on what promises to be a fraught and unpredictable campaign for the White House. This week, our interview is with Matt Frei, who serves as an anchor and Europe editor for Channel 4 News. He is nominated for the network presenter prize at the Royal Television Society Journalism Awards, which take place on February 28.

“Pod Meets World” podcast Monday, the “10 Things I Hate About You” actor said he became “immersed in the culture and the community” of Venice Beach after moving to California in his 20s.“There was this interesting group of hippie types, if you will, in Venice,” Keegan, 45, told hosts Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.“I’m sure if you went on the west side, there’s definitely a lot of spirituality. I was connected with some folks and we had this opportunity.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based sales and production outfit Totem Films has closed a slew of sales ahead of the Berlinale premieres of their Competition title “My Favourite Cake,” and the Panorama opening film “Crossing.” Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha‘s “My Favourite Cake” sold to Cherry Pickers for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Arizona for France, Triart for Sweden, Cineworx for Switzerland and BIR for Turkey. Levan Akin‘s “Crossing” sold to Imagine for Benelux, New Story for France, Lucky Red for Italy, Avalon for Spain and Cineworx for Switzerland. As announced previously, a multi-territory deal was also signed with Mubi.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The 26th Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival has revealed the lineup of the International Competition section, which includes “A New Kind of Wilderness,” winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema – Documentary section of Sundance Film Festival. Thessaloniki Documentary Festival runs from March 7-17.

A perfect gift for any thrill-seeker this Valentine's Day is a trip to somewhere sunnier than the freezing UK like Spain or Italy.

A child genius who attended university aged just 12 years old has now the youngest person in Britain to hold a PhD.

Alison Herman TV Critic In the spring of 2023, Hong Kong had just opened up to tourism after three years of pandemic-related restrictions. So for the third season of his PBS travel show “Field Trip,” Australian-born chef Curtis Stone assembled a supersized episode highlighting the coastal, cosmopolitan city’s culture and cuisine, from martial arts to seaside seafood stalls. Stone had visited Hong Kong previously, but the “Field Trip” spotlight is a more in-depth look at a unique location that most travelers haven’t been able to experience since late 2019.