Benefits cheat who lived in sunny Spain while claiming for UK properties foiled by Facebook boast about Costa Blanca lifestyle

Aymeric Laporte has hailed his decision to switch allegiance from France to Spain as the 'best experience of his life'. The Spain international signed for Manchester City from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 and since then has gone on to make 142 appearances for the club, scoring an impressive 11 goals.

Emilio Mayorga Jose Zelada and Richard Claus’ “Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” (Peru, Netherlands), Cesar Cabral’s “Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People” (Brazil) and Hugo Covarrubias’ Oscar-nommed “Beast” (Chile) are some of the animated works in the running for the 5th Quirino Awards, the biggest prize event on Spain, Portugal and Latin America’s burgeoning animation scene.In addition to a ceremony, the Quirino Awards includes an industry co-production and business forum for animation titles from the region.The Quirino event will also host meetings including one of the Ibero-American CAACI state film-TV agencies, and another of Ibermedia, the region’s key international co-pro and distribution fund. Brazilian feature “Bob Spit” and Chilean short “Beast” nabbed the highest number of nominations, each securing four.

Ed Meza @edmezavarWith its focus on Costa Rica, the Málaga Festival Industry Zone (MAFIZ) is showcasing the central American country’s bourgeoning film sector and talent with presentations of feature films, works in progress, projects in development and the country’s scenic locations and support opportunties.Costa Rican filmmakers and their projects are participating in MAFIZ’s various sections, including the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF); Málaga Work in Progress; Málaga Talent and Hack Málaga.Nicole Chi’s documentary “Guián” and Daniel Ross Mix’s “El Zoológico de la Milla 70” (“70 Mile Zoo”) are the two Costa Rican projects taking part in the Work in Progress section. In “Guián,” Chi chronicles her own personal journey of discovery as she travels to China following the death of her grandmother Guián.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentSPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched the Season 4 finale of “Elite.”Save Cannes, most film festivals have a TV strand. So the biggest event at a now super-sized Malaga Film Festival has also happened on just day two of proceedings; the presentation of the soon-to-drop Season 5 of “Elite,” the second most-viewed Spanish-language series-franchise on the streaming giant, after “Money Heist,” which is still saying something.Málaga focuses on Spanish and Latin American film and TV.

Bob Verini “Steven had said that he wasn’t going to make the film if he couldn’t cast it correctly.”Thus, explains casting director Cindy Tolan, assembling the perfect ensemble was of existential importance to Spielberg’s revisited “West Side Story.” The goal was to capture all the charisma of the beloved 1961 original, while avoiding its much-criticized, inauthentic approach to ethnicity.“I looked to my office and I said, ‘We are not going to be the reason this film does not get made.’” An early, viral social media posting kicked off an 18-month worldwide search, involving open calls and appointments from the U.S. to Puerto Rico and Australia.All told, she claims, “we saw 30,000 humans,” and in no sense did any have to be professionals or even trained.

Anthony Martial has rubbished rumours of a divide between Cristiano Ronaldo and his Manchester United teammates.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s TV industry will make history at Series Mania Forum 2022, with its biggest panel and sneak peek series presentation presence ever at a major TV market. The Spanish conference attendance – alongside Finland’s panel spread – also weighs in as the biggest from any single country at the upcoming edition of the most important co-production event for scripted TV series in Europe.Series Mania Forum runs on-site over March 22-24 in Lille, northern France, under the larger Series Mania Festival umbrella.Organized by ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, the country’s export and inward investment board, the Spanish pavilion at the Lille Grand Palais will host a record-breaking delegation for Spain of around 20 companies and more than 50 executives. That’s a sign of just how much Series Mania has grown as an industry forum in the last few years, and of Spain’s ambition to ramp up exports of Spanish movies and TV content via a Spain AVS Hub plan whose total investment through 2025 is tabbed at $1.8 billion in state incentives and government-engineered financing.

Jon Burlingame editorThe Academy’s 400-member music branch singled out an especially diverse group this year, including composers born in England, Spain and Germany, along with two Americans – one of whom is not only female but also a person of color.They also cast a wide net in terms of genre: a comedy, two dramas, a science-fiction epic and an animated family film. And while “Dune” has long been the favorite of Oscar prognosticators, don’t count out critically praised “Power of the Dog,” the colorful backdrop of “Encanto,” or Academy voters’ frequent use of the score category as consolation prize: a convenient way to reward a film that won’t win anything else.“Don’t Look Up”New York composer Nicholas Britell received his third Oscar nomination for the music of Adam McKay’s sci-fi social satire: an eclectic brew of big-band jazz, traditional orchestral sounds, considerable electronics and a wild collection of offbeat instruments from toy piano to banjo and mandolin.

Prince Royce and Maria Becerra just dropped a passionate song that will have you thinking about your ex. “Te Espero” starts with the iconic 80’s hit “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by the renowned British band Cutting Crew, (which is one of Royce’s favorite songs) and takes you on a journey of love. The music video was filmed over two days in Becerra’s native Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is an action-packed story with spectacular scenes.