Brazilian Director Bruno Carboni’s First Feature ‘The Accident’ Gets Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent CANNES — Framing one of the first independent series co-productions between Brazil and Portugal, Ventre Studio, Coral Europa, Canal Brasil and TVI are co-producing “Godless John,” with Brazilian acting legend Marco Nanini as John of God. Directed by Marina Person (“California”), the three-part series’ boasts a powerful Brazilian cast which has gained international recognition: Bianca Comparato,  star of Netflix hit “3%,” Karine Teles (“Second Mother”) and Antonio Saboia (“Bacurau”). Two Portuguese actresses will be confirmed shortly.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor After two straight quarters of subscriber losses, Netflix returned to growth in the third quarter of 2022 — and told investors it’s expecting a strong Q4 to finish the year, even though it doesn’t expect big gains right away from the launch of its cheaper, ad-supported plans. The streaming giant reported 2.41 million net new paid subscribers in Q3, including a gain of 100,000 in the U.S./Canada region, to stand at 223.1 million worldwide as of the end of September. That handily topped Netflix’s previous forecast of a 1 million pickup for the period. For Q4, Netflix expects to gain 4.5 million new streaming customers, compared with 8.3 million in the year-earlier quarter. Netflix Basic With Ads is slated to launch in the U.S. on Nov. 3 and priced at $6.99 per month — three dollars less than the regular Basic plan. Similar ad tiers are also coming next month to 11 other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the U.K.

Liza Foreman Set to run April  14-19, Canneseries has introduced a new competition documentary section, the International Documentary Series Competition, to be included in its next go-round in Cannes. The idea is to keep storytelling at the heart of the event. “Whether the main character is sport, history, a crime, a celebrity, the environment or a changing society, it is always about telling stories. And Canneseries, which promotes serial writing in all its forms, had to highlight this narration of reality,”, said Albin Lewi, artistic director of Canneseries. Bavaria Media International has sealed a distribution agreement with major Portuguese production house SPi  to handle worldwide distribution of “Codex 632.” The six-part series is based on the bestseller of the same name by José Rodrigues dos Santos. “Codex 632” is a co-production between SPi, Portuguese TV station RTP, and Brazilian streaming provider Globoplay, and is scheduled to premiere in 2023.

Emiliano De Pablos Globoplay, the streaming platform of Latin American TV giant Globo, has picked up Brazilian rights to police noir thriller series “Motel Valkirias,” a Spain-Portugal co-production handled by Onza Distribution.  Created by Ghaleb Jaber Martínez, writer-producer of Netflix’s Galician TV drama hit “O Sabor das Margaridas,” the series is directed by Álex Sampaio (Schibare”) and Jorge Quiroga (“Atras das Nuvens”). In post-production, the eight episode 50-minute “Motel Valkirias” is set in a cross-border motel between Galicia and Portugal, following three women with financial and personal problems who get in serious danger after joining forces to get their hands on some valuable merchandise from a guest in the motel.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks Int’l has snapped up worldwide rights to Portugal’s first stop motion animated feature “My Grandfather’s Demons,” the debut animated pic by Nuno Beato. According to FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud, it was able to outbid other contenders for the toon, which had its world premiere at Annecy. “One of the hardest tasks for my acquisition team, run by Santiago Migdal, is to find a true animation gem, not only aesthetically but narratively where the use of different animation techniques makes the story fly even higher,” said Rud. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Ahead of next week’s Mipcom, Banijay has acquired global rights to Argentine celebrity competition series “The Hotel,”  continuing its hugely successful relationship with Diego Guebel’s high-flying Boxfish in Argentina.  Produced by Boxfish for Canal 13, one of Argentina’s biggest free-to-air channels, “The Hotel” (“El Hotel”) sees 16 celebrity contestants shut themselves away for four months in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of a city. There’s only one caveat: the luxury establishment does not employ any staff.  “While guests enjoy a luxurious stay in the pool, spa and live shows and tuck into gourmet dinners, staff are housed in the hotel’s service area, washing linen, preparing breakfast and serving the guests’ every need,” Banijay explained Saturday, announcing its acquisition. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent To be released worldwide Nov. 4 on Prime Video, Amazon Original “El Presidente: The Corruption Game,” from Academy Award winner Armando Bo, is a Latin American series about how a Brazilian, João Havelange, wrestled control from Europe of the biggest sport on earth. In a neat historical echo, backed by Bo, “Narcos” producer Gaumont TV, Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula (“La Jauría”) and Argentine powerhouse Kapow (“La Jauría”), the second season in the “El Presidente” series saga of soccer business high jinks and low morals now looks set to become one of the biggest soccer titles released in the countdown to the greatest show on earth, the FIFA World Cup. 

For the first musical version of Madeleine L’Engle’s acclaimed novel, her granddaughter and the director of her literary estate, Charlotte Jones Voiklis, has helped pick the creative team that includes music and lyrics by composer Heather Christian, a story by Lauren Yee and direction by Lee Sunday Evans. Diana DiMenna and Aaron Glick are also producers.“Knowing my grandmother’s love of and devotion to theater, I had long envisioned a musical adaptation of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ that could transport audiences to a different dimension in a way only music can,” said Voiklis in a statement released Thursday.

Bernardo Silva was linked with a move to Barcelona throughout the summer, but it could be another Manchester City midfielder that the Spanish giants target come the next transfer window if the latest reports are to be believed.

Ye West has had a busy week. Aside from his social media tirades that have resulted in several blockings, accusations of anti-semitism, and more, West also had the time to go on a date.

Humankind’s first expansion getting a November release date, the game can be played for free this weekend.Humankind, the historical strategy game from developer Amplitude Studios, is available to play for free on Steam now, and will remain so until Monday, October 10. And if you want to keep playing after that, the game is currently available for 50 per cent off as part of the Sega Megamix Sale.This free weekend comes in celebration of the game’s first expansion, Together We Rule, getting a release date of November 9.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent YouTube Original doc “The Letter: A Message For Our Earth,” an unprecedented call to action for climate change from Pope Francis, featuring his dialogues with activists from the Brazilian Amazon, India, Senegal and the U.S., launched on Tuesday from Vatican City. The high-profile ecological doc is directed by Emmy-winning director Nicolas Brown (“Serengeti Rules”) and produced by Off The Fence, the company behind Oscar-winning doc “My Octopus Teacher,” in tandem with the Laudato si’ Movement which is a global Catholic climate change organization. Shot in cinematic style, “The Letter” takes its cue from the pope’s landmark Laudato si’ environmental encyclical and interweaves the lives of five main characters, comprising Amazon rain forest tribe chief Cacique Odair “Dadá” Borari; Ridhima Pandey, a young climate activist from India; Senegalese climate refugee Arouna Kandé who is a student in sustainable development; and U.S. scientists Greg Asner and Robin Martin who have developed an innovative technique to map underwater heat waves that kill coral reefs.

Dr. Brain.On September 29, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced its nominees for the upcoming 2022 ceremony.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “Kompromat,” an action thriller film directed by Jerome Salle (“The Largo Winch” ), starring Gilles Lellouche (“The Stronghold”) and Joanna Kulig (“Cold War”). SND, the commercial arm of M6, is representing the film in international markets. Loosely based on a true story, “Kompromat” stars Lellouche as a French diplomat working in Siberia who is arrested overnight by the Russian authorities. Accused of sexually abusing his own daughter and imprisoned, he realizes he is a victim of a Kompromat. Someone is working with the FSB (Federal Security Service) to frame him. His only way out is to escape.

Nia Archives has shared a new Brazilian-inspired track and video – watch ‘Baianá’ below.The track is the first solo release from the producer since her EP ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ was released back in March of this year.Discussing ‘Baianá’, which samples the traditional Brazilian choir Barbatuques, Nia Archives said: “I’ve always been a massive fan of Samba Music, Bossa Nova Music and Brazilian culture and had been a fan of the Barbatuques for a while.“When I was looking through my samba / bossa playlist and thinking about songs to sample, ‘Baianá’ was the one that stood out for me. When I started making it, the original version was quite bouncy which I wanted to make harder… so I flipped it into this crazy amen break roller with a Reese bass line.