San Sebastian Co-Production Forum: Federico Veiroj, Theo Court, Alicia Scherson, Daniel Hendler Make a Selection Signaling Sea Change in Latin American Filmmaking

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Teresa Sánchez, winner of a 2022 Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for acting in Juan Pablo González’s “Dos Estaciones,” is set to star in the follow-up, his sophomore outing “Warm Water.” Co-directed with Ana Isabel Fernández, co-writer of “Dos Estaciones,” “Warm Water” will also star Rafaela Fuentes, who played opposite Sánchez in “Dos Estaciones.” Set up at Mexico’s Sin Sitio Cine, whose partners are González, Ilana Coleman, Makena Buchanan and Jamie Gonçalves, “Warm Water,” produced by Bruna Haddad (“La Hija de Todas Las Rabias,” “Dos Estaciones”) and Gonçalves, will be brought onto the market at the San Sebastian Europe-Latin American Co-Production Forum, where it ranks as one of its highest-profile projects. In development and scheduled to shoot in fall 2024, “Warm Water” turns on Ana María, a renowned actress who, after a devastating break-up, reluctantly travels to the rural countryside in Mexico to lead an acting workshop.

Marta Balaga Paula Hernández’s “A Ravaging Wind” (“El viento que arrasa”) has debuted a poster and trailer ahead of its premieres at Toronto and San Sebastian. Based on the novel by Selva Almada – and written by Hernández and Leonel D’Agostino – “A Ravishing Wind” will play Toronto’s Centrepiece program, before opening San Sebastian’s Horizontes Latinos, a showcase of many of the best Latin American movies of the last year. It sees Alfredo Castro as Reverend Pearson, an evangelical pastor who travels Argentina by car in the 1990s with his daughter Leni (Almudena González, seen in “Argentina, 1985”).

Lauren Sánchez was honored at This is About Humanity’s (TIAH) 5th annual fundraising soirée in Los Angeles. It was a star-studded gathering that included her fiancé Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, Diego Boneta, Jordana Brewster, among other A-listers. It was a special day for Sánchez who was honored for her donations and contribution to benefitting families and children at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Lauren Sánchez, Eva Longoria and Kim Kardashian were spotted at the star-studded ‘This is About Humanity’s’ (TIAH) 5th annual fundraising soirée in Los Angeles. TIAH is an organization of allies and advocates dedicated to raising awareness about separated and reunified families and children at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Aussie filmmaker Kitty Green’s latest pic, The Royal Hotel, starring Julia Garner, and Fingernails, the latest film from Christos Nikou, with Riz Ahmed and Jessie Buckley, have been added to San Sebastian’s competition lineup.

Lauren Sánchez, accompanied by her children, embarked on a meaningful journey to Tijuana to provide much-needed assistance and support to those facing challenging circumstances. Crossing borders both physically and metaphorically, the media personality and philanthropist joined forces with the organization “This Is About Humanity” to lend a hand and positively impact the lives of children living in shelters.According to Lauren, the experience proved to be profoundly moving, leaving an indelible mark on her and her children and the hearts of those they touched.Taking to Instagram, Lauren Sánchez shared her emotions and reflections about the journey.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chilean indie Equeco, led by Pablo Calisto, is a triple threat at the 19th Santiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic), with three projects participating in the annual event running August 20-27. Vying for the top prize in the official competition is Equeco’s “Historia y Geografia,” which debuts its teaser trailer exclusively on Variety. Equeco is also embarking on its most ambitious project, “Il Cileno” by Sergio Castro San Martín, a historical drama in co-production with Italy’s Dispàrte, a Rome-based independent production company founded in 2015 by Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti.

Holly Jones Argentine director Martín Turnes, whose feature “Pichuco” snagged the Argentine Film Critic Association’s Silver Condor Award for best documentary in 2015, is bringing his first full-length fiction title, “El Agrónomo,” to Sanfic Industria’s Works In Progress. Filmed in Marcos Paz, Argentina with the support of Marcos Paz Film TV, the project is produced by Fernando Romanazzo of Buenos Aires-based Aqueronte alongside Zebra Films (“Manifesto”) and Haz Cooperativa Audiovisual.

Pablo Sandoval Driving into Spanish-language movies and series, Amazon Studios is hoping to repeat the success of “Argentina, 1985” with big Spanish period production “Hildegart,” starring Najwa Nimri (“Money Heist,” “Locked Up”) and Alba Planas (“Skam España”), which wrapped production Aug. 19 in Madrid.

San Sebastian Fetes Veteran Director Victor Erice

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Victor Erice, one of the greatest of Spanish filmmakers, will receive a prestigious Donostia Award, given for career achievement, granted by the San Sebastian Film Festival. The award will coincide with screening of Erice’s latest film, “Close Your Eyes” (Cerrar los Ojos), which world premiered at the Cannes Festival this May.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Alfredo Castro, an absolute lead or co-star in seven Pablo Larraín films and one of the highest-regarded of actors in Latin America, is set to head the choral cast of “Three Dark Nights” (“Tres noches negras”), the third feature from Spanish-Chilean Theo Court. “Three Dark Nights” follows up Court’s “White on White,” also starring Castro, an actor described by Variety as “reliably superb,” which won a best director and Fipresci Prize at 2019’s Venice Horizons.

Sony Picture Classics and Trafalgar Releasing have firmed up worldwide release plans for Carlos, their feature documentary on 10-time Grammy-winning musical icon, Carlos Santana.

Hayao Miyazaki will open the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival with his latest pic, The Boy and the Heron.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Argentina’s Tarea Fina, a producer on Cannes Camera d’Or winner “Las Acacias,” International Oscar entry “The Sleepwalkers” and Ventana Sur hit “Sublime,” has boarded “A Loose End,” the third feature as a director from Uruguay’s Daniel Hendler, a Berlin Silver Bear winner for Best Actor in Daniel Burman’s 2004 international breakout “The Lost Embrace.” Set up at Montevideo’s Cordon Films, founded in 2007 by producer-TV director Micaela Solé and Hendler, “A Loose End” (“Un cabo suelto”) is one of the highest-profile projects announced on Monday by the San Sebastián Festival as part of its Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, its industry centerpiece. Written by Hendler, his third directorial outing returns to a central theme in his first two features as a writer-director: Identity.

Scheana Shay hinted that there’s more to the story after fans slammed the Vanderpump Rules cast for hugging Tom Sandoval in recent beach photos.

Holly Jones Oh My Gómez! Films’ Ramiro Pavón, producer of Ana Katz’s Sundance title “El perro que no calla,” and Rocío Romero Quintana, behind 2016 Berlinale Generation 14+ winner “Las Plantas,” will both pitch their latest doc projects at this month’s Sanfic Industria, one of the biggest industry forums in South America. Another project at its Documentary Lab is sourced from Paula Zyngierman at Argentina’s MaravillaCine, which backed “That Weekend” and “Marilyn.” “This year we received a large number of applications from both directors and producers with large experience as well as projects by new talents,” Gabriela Sandoval, head of Sanfic Industria, told Variety, noting that some projects have been sourced from allied international industry platforms such as Industria Guadalajara, DocsMx, Fidba, Taller de productores de Panamá, Arca Residencia.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Sanfic Industria, the industry component of Chile’s 19th Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic), charges back in full in-person mode this year after three years online. This year’s selection, comprising 11 fiction and 10 documentaries, hails from Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru, Spain and Brazil.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Now on its fourth year, the Santiago Film Festival’s Morbido-Sanfic Lab features an ever more diverse selection from Ibero-America. As Morbido founder-CEO Pablo Guisa said of this year’s edition: “It has projects from multiple countries, several produced or directed by women as well as one LGBTQ-themed project and, for the first time, a documentary.” Vampire creatures abound in this crop.

Emiliano De Pablos Argentine director Paula Hernández’s “The Ravaging Wind,” toplined by Latin American star Alfredo Castro (“Karnawal,” “El Club”), will be the opening night film of Horizontes Latinos sidebar at the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, which runs Sept. 22-30.