Sanfic Industria Launches Public Screenings of Series (EXCLUSIVE)

Sanfic Industria wrapped Thursday Nov. 4 with an avalanche of prizes, 49 in total, for its multiple participants in the various sections, which included series and for films, works in progress, documentary and fiction project labs, and the revved up Sanfic-Morbido production lab.In one of the biggest awards, four features in post production are chosen to segue from Santiago Industria to the Cannes Film Market as part of a Sanfic Goes to Cannes showcase.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chilean star writer José Ignacio “Chascas” Valenzuela, creator, showrunner and executive producer of hit Netflix series “Who Killed Sara?” has formed a production company with L.A.-based Argentine producer Lucas Akoskin of Aliwen Entertainment.The new bi-coastal production company, called Malule Entertainment, will be based out of Los Angeles and Miami, where Valenzuela resides. Both partners have lived in the U.S.

Danielle Turchiano Senior Features Editor, TVNetflix and Mohammed “Mo” Amer are expanding their partnership through a new stand-up special and scripted comedy series, Variety has learned exclusively.“Ramy’s” Ramy Youssef co-created the scripted series with Amer. A24 is producing both projects.First up is the new special, titled “Mo Amer: Mohammed in Texas,” which will premiere Nov.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVeteran Australian director Rolf De Heer (“Ten Canoes”) is shooting a new film with an Aboriginal theme set in South Australia and Tasmania titled “The Mountain,” for which Italy’s Fandango Sales is launching sales at the online AFM.“The Mountain” (pictured above in a first-look image) tells the story of a central character named BlackWoman, who is abandoned in a cage in the middle of the desert.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe fact-based story about former U.S.

Jamie Lang Up-and-coming Argentine production house Sewati Audiovisual has boarded “Portraits,” one of the most frightening titles pitching at this year’s Morbido Lab for genre projects within the framework of a rescheduled and in-person Sanfic Industria.Sewati joins original Buenos Aires-based producers Latitud Audiovisual, co-founded in 2017 by “Portraits” director Gabriel Musco and Ezequiel de San Pio and Walter Ponte, both producers on the film, with the intention of creating quality

JD Linville Argentine writer-director Andrew Sala (“Pantanal”) brings his new film “The Barbaric” to the highly competitive Works in Progress section of Sanfic Industria, and brings with it a heavy contender filled with violence, secrets and the echoes of power. In “The Barbaric,” Nacho leaves an abusive mother in the city to live and work with his estranged father on his cattle ranch in the Pampas plains.

Jamie Lang Leading Spanish indie sales outfit Filmax has scooped the international rights to “Seve: One Man Army,” a new feature-length documentary about legendary Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros, arguably the top golfer of his era and a Spanish icon on and off the course.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentNew films from Oscar laureate Vanessa Ragone (“The Secret in Their Eyes”) and Camera d’Or winners Edher Campos (“Leap Year”) and Juan Pablo Miller (“Las Acacias”) are among attractions at this year’s Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte and Copia Final, the pix-in-post  industry centerpieces at Latin America’s biggest film-TV market.Ragone co-produces “The Face of the Jellyfish,” from Argentina’s Rotterdam-prized Melisa Liebenthal.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentBestselling Italian writer-turned-director Donato Carrisi (“The Girl in the Fog,” “Into the Labyrinth”) has started shooting near Lake Como on his third feature film “I Am the Abyss.”Vision Distribution is launching international sales at the online American Film Market on the pic, which based on his new thriller by the same title.Carrisi, who has penned 11 international bestsellers and sold over 3 million copies of his books worldwide, shot to the top

A new sports biopic series tells the extraordinary life of a man Gary Lineker described as “one of the greatest footballers of all time” – Diego Maradona.

Ava DuVernay has a special way of telling people's unique and intimate stories on the screen.The acclaimed director returns with, a six-episode limited series about Colin Kaepernick's life.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBenedict Cumberbatch is set to star in the limited series “Londongrad” currently in development at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively.Based on the book “The Terminal Spy” by Alan Cowell, the series tells the true story of Alexander Litvinenko, the KGB agent and later defector killed by poisoning with the radioactive isotope polonium-210 in 2006 in England.

Anna Marie de la Fuente After a multi-year hiatus, Pablo Stoll, who broke out with directing partner Juan Pablo Rebella on such hits as “25 Watts” and “Whisky,” is back in the director’s seat, albeit on his own, with “Summer Hit” (“El Tema del Verano”), a zombie pic now shooting on the beaches of Uruguay.Presented at last year’s Cannes Producers Network, film is co-produced by Temperamento Films (Uruguay), Ice End Content (Chile) and La Unión de los Ríos (Argentina) in association with Nadador

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterParamount Players has optioned eight novels from author Gregg Hurwitz’s “Marked Man” series of books, with plans to adapt them for a series of feature films.The division of the ViacomCBS-owned studio, run by Jeremy Kramer, is eyeing lower budgets for the contemporary noir thrillers and specifically looking for diverse and perhaps first-time writers and directors to create the world.Hurwitz is the bestselling author of “Orphan X” and will produce the films

K.J. Yossman Kenton Allen, CEO of London-based outfit Big Talk Productions, has plenty to be pleased about.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterTimothy Simons has joined the cast of “Candy” at Hulu, the true crime series about Candy Montgomery, Variety has learned exclusively.The show tells the true story of Candy Montgomery, a housewife in Silicon Prairie, Texas, who murdered her best friend, Betty Gore, with an ax in 1980. Jessica Biel is attached to play Montgomery, while Melanie Lynskey will play Betty Gore.

Jamie Lang Chile’s Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic) has unveiled the full list of series projects set to pitch at its upcoming Sanfic Series sidebar, running under the festival’s Sanfic Industria banner Oct. 27-Nov.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPablo Schreiber has signed onto the Hulu true crime series “Candy,” Variety has learned exclusively.The show tells the true story of Candy Montgomery, a housewife in Silicon Prairie, Texas, who murdered her best friend, Betty Gore, with an ax in 1980. Jessica Biel is attached to play Montgomery, while Melanie Lynskey will play Betty Gore.

Jamie Lang Chile’s Santiago International Film Festival (SANFIC) has unveiled the full list of films participating in its upcoming Labs for fiction and documentary features, running under the festival’s Sanfic Industria banner Oct. 27-Nov.