John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn February, Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs” walked off with Spain’s first Berlin Golden Bear in nearly 40 years as Spain notched up its biggest main competition presence at the Berlinale since 1997.This May, Spain has four movies selected for Cannes – Albert Serra’s Competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; Elena López Riera’s Directors’ Fortnight bow “The Water”; and José Luis López Linares’ “Goya, Carrière and the Ghost of Buñuel,” a Cannes Classics doc feature. That reps a Cannes presence roughly on par with recent standout years such as 2018 and 2019.With Netflix launching “Through My Window” in February, three of the streaming giant’s five most-watched non-English language movies are from Spain.
International Insider: UK Broadcaster Shake-Up; CinemaCon Wrap; Cannes Latest
29.04.2022 - 15:15 / deadline.com
Happy Friday readers, Tom here steering the International Insider ship, read on for the week’s top headlines.
Cracking down: The UK government unveiled a landmark White Paper this week that addressed everything from regulation of the global streamers operating in the country to the future of Channel 4. The SVoD services will be hit with fines of up to 5% of their local revenues if they are found to be guilty of showcasing harmful content, according to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The rules still need to get the okay from Parliament and will likely come into force in 2024, meaning Netflix and co still have a few years to push the government’s buttons without fear of reprimand – should they wish. Max had the lowdown, along with analysis of several other elements of the government’s vision.
Channel 4 on the block: The government’s controversial — and often confusing — plan to sell the public service broadcaster to a private buyer moved a step closer to reality this week. The White Paper confirmed a sale would go ahead to allow Channel 4 to “diversify its revenue streams and improve its long-term sustainability.” In essence, the government argues Channel 4’s business model, which stops it from taking on significant debt to finance programs and tech and makes it very reliant on ad sales, will fail in a global streaming environment. A private Channel 4 would be able to take more financial risks and, much to the chagrin of the independent production sector, would be legally allowed to make its shows in-house for the first time — benefitting from their international sales. Basically no-one in British telly thinks selling is a good thing, but the writing on the wall is there for all to see.
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European Cinema Giant Vue and BFI Unite to Bring More British, International Films to U.K. Screens (EXCLUSIVE)
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‘Doctor Strange 2’ Opens to $265 Million at International Box Office, Flies Past $450 Million Globally
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International Insider: Cannes Deals Frenzy; Paramount+ Launches; West End Closure Fury; Time’s Up For Bullies
It’s Friday again, readers. Jesse Whittock here (for the first time, be gentle), taking you through the week’s top headlines.
SND Boards Laetitia Colombani’s International Bestseller Adaptation ‘The Braid’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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