Chile’s European Film Market Highlights

Naman Ramachandran The European Film Academy (EFA) has issued an unequivocal condemnation of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and excluded Russia from the European Film Awards.In a statement released on Tuesday, the EFA said: “The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn them.”“What concerns us most is the fate of the Ukrainians, and our hearts are with the Ukrainian filmmaking community. We are fully aware that several of our members are fighting with arms against the aggressor.

The European Film Academy (EFA) has joined growing calls in the international cinema community for a boycott of Russian films.

Naman Ramachandran The European Film Academy (EFA) has issued an unequivocal condemnation of President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine after Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa expressed his dissatisfaction with their earlier statement and resigned his EFA membership.On Feb. 24, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EFA had issued a statement pledging their support to the Ukrainian filmmaking community.

The European Union is making some big announcements following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Naman Ramachandran The European Film Academy has pledged support to its members in Ukraine and is looking for practical ways to help them. “We need to immediately move beyond ‘thoughts and prayers’ and start to concentrate on what practical help can be given to our membership and community,” European Film Academy chair and board member of the International Coalition for Film makers at Risk, Mike Downey, told Variety.

The European Film Academy (EFA) has contacted its members in Ukraine pledging support amidst today’s assault on the country by Russian forces.

The Berlin Film Festival’s industry wing, the European Film Market (EFM), has confirmed that 600 exhibitors from 62 countries took part in this year’s virtual edition, up from last year’s figure of 504.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro initiative dedicated to pics in post is set to look at German films that are in their final stage of production for its upcoming edition.The fest, located in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, in a statement said that the initiative, now in its tenth edition, will celebrate the up-and-coming cinema of a country that has been “crucial to the history” of the fest. Locarno Pro is now looking closer to home after being a springboard for pics from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Poland, the Baltic Countries, Portugal, Serbia and Switzerland itself.“German filmmakers and producers and the work they have given us has been at the heart of so many memorable editions of the Locarno Film Festival, the fest said in a statement.

Emilio Mayorga Emily Mortimer (“Transiberian,” “Match Point”) and writer-director Jim Cummings (“Thunder Road,” “The Beta Test”) boarded Miguel Faus’ feature debut “Calladita,” whose financing is expected to be raised entirely through NFTs and Web3 systems.It would mark the first time ever that a European film is backed by NTFs (non-fungible tokens) and decentralized web software handled by the crypto community Web3.Based on the eponymous short film which played at the Palm Springs Short and London Short Film festivals, “Calladita” will offer a character study of its protagonist and, through her eyes, a portrait of the Catalan high bourgeoisie with a mix of realism and satire. “I’m involved because I’m a big fan of Miguel, who’s short ‘Calladita’ I really loved,” Mortimer said in a statement.Joining Mortimer, cast members include Spanish Academy Goya Award-winner Antonio de la Torre (“The Endless Trench”) Susana Abaitua (“Patria”) and Paula Grimaldo, who played the lead in the original short.“Calladita” follows a young Colombian woman who works as a domestic laborer in a summer mansion in Costa Brava.

Christopher Vourlias Known Associates Entertainment, the production company behind the South African adaptation of the Colombian telenovela that inspired “Ugly Betty,” is planning to break ground on a Hollywood-style film studio outside Johannesburg that will boost capacity in one of the world’s hottest shooting locations.Cradle Film Studios will be built across the road from the Cradle of Humankind, a sprawling archaeological site where traces of some of the earliest humans were discovered.Comprising state-of-the-art studios and backlots, a data center, an innovation hub, and a housing development, the complex will be located 30 miles from Johannesburg and just 10 minutes from an international airport. It will also include a theme park that takes its inspiration from the world-renowned fossil site.

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended their content deal across Central and Eastern Europe, which will see titles from the Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) slate of current and upcoming films shown exclusively on HBO channels and streamer HBO Max across the region.The slate includes “Spider-man: No Way Home,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Unchartered,” “Morbius,” “Happiest Season,” “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Monster Hunter” and “The Father.”The deal also includes titles from popular SPE franchises such as Hotel Transylvania, Spider-Man, Peter Rabbit and Jumanji and the Sony Pictures Television library of TV series titles.Countries covered under the deal are Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and North Macedonia. HBO Max replaces HBO Go in the region on March 8.

Jennifer Lopez took Maluma by surprise when she suggested crashing one of his sold-out concerts to film a scene for Marry Me. And it worked spectacularly!

Jennifer Lopez took Maluma by surprise when she suggested crashing one of his sold-out concerts to film a scene for. And it worked spectacularly!During an appearance Friday on, Lopez opened up about a particular scene that had Maluma and J Lo performing in front of a packed house. But instead of recreating a fake concert on a movie set, Lopez, who is one of the film's producers, had a brilliant idea.«He was having like two nights at Madison Square Garden and, of course, the producer in me is like, 'We can take advantage of this,'» she explained.

Bas van der Ree has been elected chairman of the Association of Film Commissioners International, becoming the first European to chair the organization in more than a decade. Van der Ree, who has been the Netherlands Film Commissioner since 2014 when the nation’s film production incentive was launched, previously served as AFCI’s 1st vice chair.

HBO Max has lined up the second phase of its international launch, with 15 further European nations set to receive WarnerMedia’s streaming platform from March 8.

In “Watcher,” “It Follows” star Maika Monroe plays Julia, an actor who gives up her career to join her husband for in Romania for his new job. While he’s off at work, she often spends time alone.

DistroTV, a free ad-supported streaming television platform, is moving into original content with the global debut of a feature film, Escándalo Secreto: En Plena Cuarentena. The comedy feature, directed and written by Jorge Cano, will bow on February 25th.