‘Sleep,’ ‘The Strangers’ Case,’ ‘Searching for Amani’ Top Raindance Film Festival Awards

Naman Ramachandran The international documentary market Sunny Side of the Doc concluded its 35th edition in La Rochelle, France on June 27, drawing 2,100 participants from 68 countries. The four-day event, themed “Mapping the Future,” showcased 90 exhibitors and hosted 250 international decision-makers.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Mediapro Studio’s “El 47,” the rousing true story of “a man, a bus and a neighborhood’s fate,” bows its official international teaser in Variety. Helmed by multi-Goya award-winner Marcel Barrena (“Mediterraneo”), it follows bus driver Manolo Vital who is frustrated with the Barcelona City Council’s claim that public transport cannot reach the Torre Baró district due to narrow and unsafe roads. He seizes control of the route 47 bus to prove them wrong.

Sunny Side of the Doc, the world’s biggest documentary-focused marketplace in the world, wrapped its 35th edition Thursday, after gathering 2,100 participants over four days in La Rochelle, France.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “Baby,” which premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week where it won the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for joint acting lead Ricardo Teodoro, has closed further sales. Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal have sold the distribution rights to Ama Films for Greece, Mezipatra z.s for Czech Republic and Slovakia, and Falcon for Indonesia.

Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 keeps on soaring, reaching $799.7M globally through Tuesday. Within that, its international box office crossed the four-century mark at a running cume of $411.9M from 44 overseas markets through Tuesday. In North America, Inside Out 2 rose to $387.8M, moving well up the domestic animated chart.

Invention Studios has launched two film and television development programs in Australia and Kenya dedicated to supporting top local writers and creators and bringing their projects to the world market. “We are thrilled to be expanding our international work to find the greatest emerging creators capable of developing wildly original and world-class movies and shows,” said Invention CEO Nicholas Weinstock.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Locarno Film Festival will honor multiple Oscar winner Ben Burtt — the sound designer, editor and voice actor behind the ‘Star Wars‘ and ‘Indiana Jones’ franchises — with its lifetime achievement award dedicated to creative pioneers. The prominent Swiss fest celebrating international indie cinema will be feting Burtt, best known for voicing Wall-E and creating Darth Vader’s mechanical breathing, with its Vision Award Ticinomoda. 1977’s “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” was one of the first films he worked on.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest has announced the juried and audience award winners for its 2024 edition, which took place June 18-24. Over $25,000 in cash prizes and five Academy Award-qualifying honors were presented to the winning films, which included Esteban Pedraza’s “Bogotá Story” and Jadwiga Kowalska’s animated film “The Car That Came Back from the Sea.” See a full list of winners below.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Making further inroads into markets in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond, Studiocanal, one of Europe’s top production-distribution-international sales powerhouses, has clinched further sales on premium daily drama “The Vow” (“La Promesa”), closing Poland and two Baltic States, as well as France. Produced by Spain’s Bambú Producciones (“Velvet,” “Cable Girls”), a Studiocanal company, Studiocanal and national Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, “The Vow” has been acquired by Polish pubcaster TVP Poland, state-backed network ERR Estonia and state-owned LTV Latvia. In additional new sales, Dubai TV has closed rights to MENA territories.

EXCLUSIVE: Synchronicity Films is adapting Hanif Kureishi’s The Body as a series with the novelist and screenwriter on board as an exec producer and Emmy-nominated director Paul McGuigan attached. There are scripts from crime writer Robert Murphy and the producers will relocate the action from the UK to the U.S. for the series.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Brazilian romantic comedy “Perfect Endings” has sold to distributors in North America and several territories in Europe. Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal is handling world sales rights.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent TOLEDO, Spain — Delivering a masterclass on the first full day of Conecta Fiction in Spain’s Toledo, Javiera Balmaceda – Amazon Studios’ head of international originals, Latin America – underscored one of the perils of frequent air travel, in her case around South America: a voice reduced at times to a near gasp. All credit to her; she soldiered on, and her ideas came over loud and clear. Takeaways from her masterclass, one of the highlights of early Conecta Fiction.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent TOLEDO, Spain — Brazil’s Ventre Studio is readying a powerful slate of scripted series mining the rapidly growing Portugal-Brazil co-production axis, which Ventre itself has helped forge with “Godless John,” produced by Ventre Studio and Canal Brasil as well as Coral Europa and TVI in Portugal. First up in titles is dramedic mini-series “Coligay,” directed by Oscar-nominated Paulo Machline (“A Soccer Story”) and Rafael Gomes, helmer of LGBTQ romantic drama “45 Days Away From You.” Canal Brasil has boarded “Coligay” licensing Brazilian first window TV rights.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Flow,” a director-driven animated feature which world premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just swept three awards at Annecy Film Festival, has been embraced by a raft of major distributors in key territories, including the U.K., Japan, South Korea, Germany, Spain and Italy. The movie is represented internationally by Charades.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Teresa Azcona, a driving force behind the build of the Spain Film Commission’s emergence as one of the key institutional players on Southern Europe’s locations scene, has been named general manager of the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. While Barcelona has a thriving new generation of auteurist movie directors and producers and a building animation scene, Madrid has reaped the largest benefit of Spain’s building, decade-long TV boom. Spain’s Mediaset, Atresmedia, Movistar Plus+, The Mediapro Studio, Secuoya Group and Netflix’s European Production Hub are all located in a golden triangle stretching from northern Madrid to satellite town Tres Cantos, a 25-minute drive north of the Spanish capital.

The Grand Jury Prize for International Competition at Sheffield DocFest has gone to At the Door of the House, Who Will Come Knocking, the feature directorial debut of Maja Novaković, a filmmaker from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Jack Grealish won't be gracing the pitch in Germany this summer as Gareth Southgate omitted him from the England squad for Euro 2024 – with injury troubles throughout the season being a contributing factor.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Prince Albert II of Monaco opened the 63rd Monte-Carlo Television Festival Friday, accompanied by a panoply of stars led by Morgan Freeman, “SEAL Team’s” David Boreanaz and “Bridgerton’s” Simone Ashley. The opening ceremony took place under stormy skies at the Grimaldi Forum, where the world premiere of limited series “The Gray House” opened the event.

Annika Pham Under the auspices of Comunidad de Madrid and the prestigious ECAM film school, the four day ECAM Forum co-production market got off to a flying start with its inaugural session, closing June 13 with an awards ceremony at Madrid’s historical Matadero cultural space. One of eight features in work in progress, the creative documentary “Gods of Stone” (“Deuses de Pedra”) by the Spanish Iván Castiñeiras Gallego scooped the new Comunidad de Madrid award and its €15,000 ($16,000) cash prize earmarked towards its post-production.

Inside Out 2” just scored the biggest box office previews of 2024. Disney and Pixar‘s latest animated outing grossed $13 million in Thursday previews domestically, with $22.3 million worldwide. The family-friendly sequel is projected to launch between $80 million and $90 million this weekend.