Sanfic Industria Series Lab Highlights Titles from Fernando Epstein, Laura Farhi, Paola Teran (EXCLUSIVE)

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chilean industry forum Sanfic Industria bows its 11th edition with the launch of new virtual reality and women producers lab sections. Running Aug 11-19, Sanfic Industria will also include its mainstays: WIP Ibero-American, Santiago Lab: Fiction and Documentary, Sanfic-Mórbido Lab, Series Lab, Sanfic Net and Sanfic Series.“By introducing a virtual reality section, we’re betting on new narrative formats,” said Sanfic Industria founder-director Gabriela Sandoval of the Sanfic XR showcase, which will be open to the public at the forum’s official headquarters, Matucana 100.“Making these films accessible to everyone creates a nexus between the public and the films’ creators,” she pointed out.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The 18th Santiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic) is paying tribute to Chile’s most internationally renowned and arguably hardest working actor, the peripatetic Alfredo Castro who will attend Sanfic’s inauguration Aug. 14 to receive his lifetime achievement award and kick off a retrospective of his films.Also a playwright and theater director, Castro has worked across Europe and Latin America, acting in French, Spanish, Portuguese and a number of accents and dialects from Latin America, including neutral Spanish.

Holly Jones Paris-based sales company Alief has swooped on international sales rights to horror-political thriller “Matadero” (“Slaughterhouse”), the awaited fiction feature debut of Argentina’s Santiago Fillol, co-scribe on Oliver Laxe’s Cannes winners “Mimosa” and “Fire Will Come.”Co-written by Fillol, “Matadero” world premieres this week in Locarno’s main International Competition.The film takes a stark look at a historic tale through the maniacal lens of U.S. filmmaker Jared (Julio Perillán), as he shoots a big-screen version of a 19th-century text by Argentine writer Estaban Echeverría, exploiting the times and their trappings to create a piece of cinema meant to dig itself into the collective consciousness.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorDespite some “headwinds” including an unusually strong dollar, a lighter-than-usual release schedule and several short-term expenses, Warner Music posted a solid third quarter of 2022, with a strong showing from its publishing division and 12% revenue growth that the company stressed would have been closer to 15% if not for the above factors. The company also announced a new deal with Meta (formerly Facebook) and several upcoming legal settlements that it says will bring in $25 million in OBITDA, both of which will have a strong impact on Q4.“We delivered solid double-digit growth on a constant-currency basis, even against the backdrop of a slowdown in the advertising market and some one-time items affecting year-over-year comparisons,” said Steve Cooper, CEO, Warner Music Group.

Holly Jones Ecuador-based producer Daniela Fuentes Moncada of Epopeya is introducing the introspective queer feature, “Ñusta,” as part of three regional films on her development slate at Locarno’s Producer’s Lab, an Open Doors initiative spotlighting Latin America and Caribbean talent.Epopeya teams Moncada with founder María de los Ángeles Palacio.Underscoring the project’s industry pulling power, co-producing the project are Director Papu Corotto at Argentina’s HAIN Cine (“Esteros”) alongside Lady Vinces(“Checoslovaquia”) and Silvia Arellano (“En Medio Del Laberinto”) of Peru’sCasa Aguaflorida.The pair bring poignant narratives to life, with Moncada previously backing “La Mala Noche” directed by Gabriela Calvache, a raw portrait of human trafficking that premiered at SXSW and was selected by festivals worldwide, receiving 15 awards and nominations. Epopeya produces animation, documentary and fiction with a focus on forward-thinking narratives.

The San Sebastián Film Festival has revealed the line-up for its latest edition, which is due to unfold from September 16-24.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Streaming media company Cinedigm has landed all North American rights to hit Latin horror movie “History of the Occult” from Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks. After a successful run across Latin America, Europe and Asia, it will debut in the U.S.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentCannes Cinéfondation winner Michael Labarca will hit Locarno’s Open Doors next week with his feature debut project, “Kids Swimming in the Lake,” produced by Venezuela’s Todos Los Ríos, France’s Ticket Shoot Films and Chile’s Oro Films.For Venezuelan movie projects, such international co-productions are not only a virtue but a necessity, “due to the crisis of our public funding for production, our limitation of access to the Ibermedia fund and the complex situation of our country,” said “Kids” producer Patricia Ramírez Arévalo at Todos los Rios.Set in contemporary Venezuela, “Kids Swimming in the Lake” deals with emigration, but from the point of view of those left behind. During constant blackouts, 11-year-old Dayana and her little siblings dream of leaving Venezuela and reuniting with their father, who migrated fleeing the crisis.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBuenos Aires-based Maravilla Cine, producer of 2018 Berlin Panorama player “Marilyn” and San Sebastian 2020 New Directors’ hit “That Weekend,” has boarded “Diamond” (“Diamante”), the first fiction feature from Bolivia’s Yashira Jordán which is shaping up as one of the standout titles at this year’s Locarno Open Doors.Maravilla Cine joins “Diamond” lead producer Empatia Cinema, rapidly consolidating as a production hub for Bolivian auteurs. Recent credits include Martín Boulocq’s “The Visitor” which premiered at June’s Tribeca Festival and Alejandro Quiroga’s Western “Los de abajo,” a Sanfic Industria pix-in-post winner in March 2021.Empatia Cinema and Maravilla Cine have jointly applied for a development grant from the Ibermedia regional film fund for Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Chile’s Santiago Lab, the Santiago Film Festival’s industry initiative to support Ibero-American projects in development, has selected 28 titles, 14 fiction and 14 documentaries, culled out of hundreds of entries from across Latin America and Spain.Some of the titles were picked from other festivals’ industry events such as “Diamante,” from Malaga’s Mafiz; Constanza Figari’s “A Woman Wants to Die,” which Sanfic awarded at Industria Guadalajara this year, along with “MC Silencio,” a Colombian production from Medellin, an emerging audiovisual hub in Colombia, said Sanfic Industry head and festival co-founder, Gabriela Sandoval.The same goes for some of the documentaries such as “The Silence of a Patio” a gripping documentary about the dark history of the Casa de la Beneficencia of Castellón, Spain which was presented at Doc Valencia. Docu “Bloques Erraticos” is the first full-length feature doc of Thomas Woodroffe whose acclaimed shorts include “Austral Fever” and “Holding Desire.” Sanfic Industry leaned on its advisors for the selection.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“History of the Occult” director Cristian Ponce, “The Trace We Leave Behind” producer André Pereira and “Huesera” producer Edher Campos all have projects at the 3rd Sanfic Morbido Lab, Sanfic’s genre/fantastic film showcase which looks packed with riches.Also noticeable, three of the six projects are set to be directed by female genre auteurs –  Argentina’s Laura Sánchez Acosta, Spain’s Marta Medina del Valle and French-Spanish screenwriter Elisa Puerto Aubel – as women create an ever larger number of the most exciting elevated genre movies coming out of Spain and Latin America.Appropriately enough, given Sanfic takes place in Santiago de Chile, Chile accounts for two projects at the Lab, Daniel Aspillaga’s “Plasma,” a part body horror mockumentary, and Cristián Grez Donoso’s “Magic Word,” turning on an aged and crazed former amusement park actor. The potential impact of projects is underscored by recent events.

Holly Jones Focusing on Chile’s large cinematic prowess, Sanfic’s Chilean Film Competition is set to hone in on national filmmaking and a few promising co-productions from budding and established Latin American talent.Efforts backed by industry leaders Roberto Doveris, Alicia Scherson and Mexico’s Inti Cordera illustrate that Chilean filmmakers are pulling in further support by relaying poignant, far-reaching narratives.The Chilean FilmCompetition were announced by Sanfic Industria, which will run Aug.11-19 as a hybrid event.Highly-anticipated projects include “Villa Olímpica,” produced, in part, by Cordera, who’s previously partnered with the likes of National Geographic and Discovery to bring engaging documentary series to the fore, and fantasy feature “Piedra Noche,” which reunites ingenious Argentine filmmaking duo Santiago Loza (“Extraño”) and Iván Fund (“Hoy No Me Tuve Miedo”) Young talents bowing their first feature attempts are also represented in projects like Fernando Saldivia Yañez’s “Sobre Las Huellas del Tiempo,” and Agustina San Martín’s “Matar a la Bestia.”Culturally significant documentaries that chronicle environmental and political themes mix with fantastic fiction works that carry an air of mystery and the supernatural, creating a well-curated and nuanced roundup. Films that question the concept of home and tradition are also keenly represented, doling out solidarity in a world significantly isolated by the pandemic and ever-increasing uncertainty.Speaking to the final selections, Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez noted, “There are ten films, three world premieres, two Latin American and five national projects, with diverse themes that connect with different audiences.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentArgentina’s “FAN,” Colombia’s “Gloria and the Dragon” and Peru’s “Laureano” figure among seven titles at Sanfic Industria’s Productoras Lab, a novel pitching program and training facility for emerging, first or second-feature  women producers in Latin America. All three titles carry good word of mouth.The producers will attend tutorials on how to think from early development about film finance, distribution and boosting the international reach of their productions.“We received a lot of highly distinctive projects from all over Latin America.

Lisandro Martinez's new shirt number for Manchester United has been announced - and the fans love it.

Lisandro Martinez has listed four key attributes he will bring to the Manchester United dressing room, including a strong desire to win and an ever-present helping hand.

Manchester United officially announced the signing of Lisandro Martinez on Wednesday afternoon. After beating Arsenal to the 24-year-old's signature, United will add him to their squad ahead of the new Premier League season.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVenice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera will soon unveil the lineup for the fest’s upcoming 79th edition, which will open with Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise.”“White Noise” stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Jodie Turner-Smith, and is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. The film, which will screen in competition, also marks the first time a Netflix film has landed Venice’s opening slot.Elsewhere, Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All,” starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as cannibal lovers on a road trip across America in the 1980s, is among other titles strongly believed to also be set to vie for a Golden Lion.U.S.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDragons are coming.A month ahead of the premiere of “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon,” HBO Max has launched “House of the Dragon: DracARys” — a free, augmented-reality app for the series that lets fans hatch and raise their own virtual dragon at home.Each dragon will be unique to its user, and as it grows it will develop its own look and temperament driven by its keeper’s interactions with it, based on the lore from George R.R. Martin’s world.