Peru’s Oscars Entry from Adrian Saba Pounced on by Film Republic (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Brazilian talents to track Enock Carvalho and Matheus Farias, selected for 2021’s Sundance with short “Unliveable,” are teaming with Janaina Bernardes, a co-producer of Karim Ainouz’s “Nardjes A.” and Argentina’s Frutacine, behind Tribeca player “Initials S.G.,” to produce “Burning Land” (“Terra de Fuego”), Carvalho and Farias’ awaited feature debut. “Unliveable” was voted by Brazil’s Abraccine critics’ assn. as the best short of the year.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent For its first Pitching Paradiso, to be held at Ventana Sur on Nov. 30, Brazil’s Projeto Paradiso is looking to Brazil’s North-East and a new more diverse generation of filmmakers which is bringing a sense of urgency and excitement to Brazilian cinema.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Dominican Republic’s Bou Group is in production on its latest pic under its unprecedented multi-year distribution deal with The Walt Disney Company, “Cazatesoros.” According to the adventure caper’s director, Héctor Manuel Valdez, who co-founded Bou Group with José Ramón Alamá and Vicente Alamá, the pact with Disney came about following several years as regional box office leaders. “They contacted us in 2020 after our company had previously produced commercial successes such as ‘Todos los hombres son iguales,’ ‘Colao,’ ‘Trabajo sucio’ and ‘Que león,’ (the highest-grossing film in the history of the Dominican Republic), among others,” said Valdez.

Valerie Wu Intern The Northwest Film Forum has announced Mirta Desir as the awardee of its fourth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” grant. Desir, a Haitian American, is producing her first narrative feature film “Angie.” She will receive an unrestricted award of $25,000 to support the making of her film, which she describes as a “love letter to Latin American artists and Haitians’ oral history — a marriage of human drama and the power of Voudou.” For Desir, the grant was “an amazing source of support for women filmmakers.” “‘Angie’ is a story that I am compelled to tell.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Ilker Çatak, the writer-director behind Germany’s official International Feature Oscar entry The Teachers’ Lounge, for representation in all areas.

Blaga’s Lessons, Bulgaria’s International Film Oscar submission, has set a release in multiple countries.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, DC and R.J. Cutler’s production hub This Machine are developing a documentary about the iconic Mad magazine.

Caroline Brew editor The Palm Springs International Film Awards announced that “Killers of the Flower Moon” will receive the Vanguard Award, which honors a film’s cast and director for their collective work on an exceptional film project. Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone will be presented with the award at the gala ceremony, which takes place Jan.

Lupita Nyong’o has joined Goodbye Julia, Sudan’s entry for this year’s Best International feature race at the Oscars, as an executive producer.

EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Kirby and Lauren Dark have come aboard as exec producers for Swiss Oscar entry Thunder from writer-director Carmen Jacquier. Kirby & Dark’s Aluna Entertainment will back the awards push for the film in the race for Best International Feature. 

Anna Marie de la Fuente High-concept horror film “Rosario” is getting a stellar cast. David Dastmalchian (“Oppenheimer“), José Zúñiga (“Twilight”), Diana Lein (“Fear the Walking Dead”), Paul Ben-Victor (“The Irishman”) and Emilia Faucher (“CODA”) will join rising star Emeraude Toubia (“Shadowhunters”) in the pic. Penned by Alan Trezza (“We Summon the Darkness”), the story, set in New York, revolves around Rosario (Toubia), a successful Wall Street stockbroker who is trapped in her estranged grandmother Griselda’s apartment during a snowstorm.

EXCLUSIVE: United Talent Agency has signed Zarrar Kahn, director of Pakistan’s Oscar entry In Flames, for representation in all areas. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent 2023’s American Film Market may be shaping up for “a rather quiet year,” says Martin Moszkowicz, chairman of the executive board at Germany’s Constantin Film. That said, Moszkowicz will stay in Los Angeles for around 10 days. “We have so much business there – and much of it is not related directly to the market,” he says.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Amazon MGM Studios, the renamed joint venture of Amazon Studios and MGM, has acquired rights to James Ponti’s popular children’s book series “City Spies” and is developing a film based on the first novel. The idea is for the initial installment to launch a global franchise, described by the company as a “four-quadrant action-adventure that will delight audiences of all ages and as a universe-building property for the studio.” The story follows a 12-year-old coding prodigy, who is recruited by an eccentric MI6 agent to join the City Spies, a team of kids from around the world who feel unnoticed in their own lives.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors. Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent). Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, one of the most beloved comedic duos in showbiz history, are set to make their return to the big screen in the sci-fi comedy adventure “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.” GFM Animation will launch worldwide sales on the Warner Bros. Animation-produced theatrical feature at the American Film Market (Oct. 31 – Nov.

EXCLUSIVE: Concrete Utopia, South Korea’s International Film Oscar entry this year, will hit theaters in NY and LA on Dec. 8 with a wide release on Dec. 15.  In the U.S, 815 Pictures and Seismic Releasing are releasing the Lotte Entertainment feature.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Sola Media is set to present its new project “The Sloth Lane” to buyers at the American Film Market. The animated film, an addition to the “Tales From Sanctuary City” franchise, is described as “a story of self discovery, family and friendship.” Australia’s Like a Photon Creative is producing the film and Sola Media is handling world sales, after recently acquiring international distribution rights for the next three animated feature films in the Sanctuary City franchise.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Fotosíntesis Media, a Mexican pioneer in cause-driven entertainment, has unveiled “Ch’ulel,” a 2D fantasy adventure animated feature for 6-8s tapping into the mindset of Tzeltal community. Mexico City-based, Fotosíntesis Media burst onto the scene in 2015, launched by Cannes-winning director Carlos Reygadas and producer Jaime Romandia and director-producer Miguel Angel Uriegas.

Sony Pictures today officially announced via Twitter that their third “Paddington” film titled “Paddington In Peru” would be officially heading to theaters on January 17, 2025 (though it will open two months earlier in the U.K. on November 8, 2024).