Spanish Art Films Win Big Fest Prizes, But How Can That Be Translated into Sales and Box Office?

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “It is undoubtedly the best debut in Spanish cinema for years,” Pedro Almodóvar announced of Alauda Ruíz de Azua’s movie “Lullaby,” as it began to prove one of Spain’s liveliest sleepers of 2022, going on to score a Spanish Academy Goya Award for new director. Having made such an illustrious first feature, what kind of TV debut could Ruíz de Azua make directing her first series? Some large inkling was given on Wednesday as Movistar Plus+ opened up the set of miniseries “Querer” to a select delegation of Spanish press.

Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who won the race for the state’s 30th Senate District in western Prince William County.With her victory, Roem became the first out transgender state senator in Virginia history, and only the second out transgender state senator in the nation, following Delaware’s Sarah McBride, who is now running for Congress. Roem won by 3 percentage points — the tightest margin of any winning Democratic Senate candidate — fighting back a barrage of last-minute money from Youngkin-aligned political action committees that flooded the district.She also faced attacks from her Republican opponent, Bill Woolf, who seized upon the issue of transgender student participation on female-designated sports teams — running transphobic ads that were temporarily pulled from airing on cable — in an attempt to cast Roem as out-of-step with Virginia voters.

Former West End musical star Anne Hart, the widow of comedian Ronnie Corbett, has died at the age of 90, her family has announced.

Missy Elliott became the first female rapper to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night (November 3).After accepting her award, she played a string of her best-known songs, including ‘Get Ur Freak On’, ‘Work It’, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’, ‘Pass That Dutch’ and ‘Lost Control’. Watch a clip of her performance below.The Virginia rapper was inducted by Queen Latifah, who highlighted Elliott as a pivotal figure in the development of women in hip-hop.

Marta Balaga Visions du Réel winner Tomasz Wolski will focus on “A Year in the Life of the Country” next, Variety can reveal exclusively. The Polish helmer – whose latest film “In Ukraine,” co-directed with Piotr Pawlus, premiered in Berlin – is set to explore the turbulent period of martial law, imposed on Dec. 13, 1981 by General Wojciech Jaruzelski in Communist Poland after a wave of strikes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor International sales agency the Playmaker has signed a deal with Blue Finch Film Releasing to distribute the one-shot horror film “Home Sweet Home — Where Evil Lives” in the U.K. and Ireland. Thomas Sieben’s film, which made its world premiere in August at FrightFest in London, has its market premiere at AFM.

Emiliano De Pablos In standout results that suggests the strength of select Spanish arthouse films on the current international market, Bendita Films Sales, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based boutique world sales agency, has closed a formidable raft of deals to Galician auteur Lois Patiño’s multisensory journey film “Samsara.” Winner of a Special Jury Award at Berlin’s 2023 major sidebar Encounters and the Audience Award at Mexico’s Ficunam festival, “Samsara” has just screened in main competition gathered “Samsara”(Oct. 20-28), running up more than a dozen international film festival selections. Bendita Film Sales has clinched commercial release pacts in the U.K.

Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak” – won big Saturday night at Spain’s Valladolid Festival, walking off with its main competition Golden Spike and the Spanish event’s best actor (Dave Turner) and Audience Award plaudits respectively. The prize ceremony also saw Charlotte Rampling, star of closing film “Juniper” from Matthew J.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Although he has already won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, Argentinian pro soccer player Lionel Messi — who currently plays for the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer — is in the running to claim his eighth trophy this week. The Ballon d’Or (French for “The Golden Ball”) is soccer’s most prestigious award, which is given to its biggest stars and the 2023 edition is happening Monday.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director John Stamos appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” to promote his new memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me,” and revealed that his alcoholism got so bad around 2015 that he actually does not remember being on set to film his role in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” The actor appeared to forget he even booked a part in the film and was reminded the day after his 2015 arrest for driving under the influence that he had to go to Toronto, Canada, to film. In previous interviews, Stamos has said his 2015 DUI arrest was a definitive moment in convincing him that it was time to get sober. But it didn’t happen instantly.

A social worker who caused a Jet2 flight to make an emergency landing by shouting and hitting the cabin crew has been pictured for the first time. Heather Anne McCarroll, a mum-of-two, was on a flight from Belfast to Antalya, Turkey, when she started behaving badly and attacked the staff.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Rodrigo Sorogoyen, director of ‘The Beasts,’ the Best Foreign Film winner at France’s 2023 Cesar Awards, has gone into production on a new series, “The New Year’s Eves.” Following on Sorogoyen’s acclaimed “Riot Police,” and his episode in “Offworld,” chosen by Variety as one the best international series of 2022, “The Beasts” is produced by Movistar Plus+, the biggest Spanish pay TV/OTT operator, in collaboration with Madrid-based independent production house Caballo Films (“Riot Police,” “The Route”), co-founded by Sorogoyen. Movistar Plus+ International will handle distribution outside Spain.

Mumbai Film Fest To Honor Luca Guadagnino & Mani Ratnam

Emiliano De Pablos One of Spain’s biggest and oldest movie events, the Valladolid Intl. Film Festival, known as the Seminci in Spain, is broadening its range of Spanish films and aims to strengthen its position as an international platform for art films. Running Oct.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has dropped a teaser for J.A. Bayona’s highly anticipated survival thriller “Society of the Snow,” which will represent Spain in the Oscars international feature film race. The film world premiered on closing night of the Venice Film Festival and is playing this week at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon.

Ed Meza @edmezavar J.A. Bayona’s Netflix drama “Society of the Snow” recounts the tragic story of the 1972 Uruguayan airplane crash high in the snow-covered Andes, of which 29 of the original 45 passengers initially survived, stranded on a glacier 4,000 meters above sea level aptly named the Valley of Tears. Survivors of the doomed flight, which carried a rugby team and their friends and family members from Montevideo to Santiago, managed to stay alive for two and a half months by consuming the flesh of the deceased.

Martin Scorsese was two years into writing the script for Killers Of The Flower Moon when Leonardo DiCaprio requested an overhaul, the filmmaker has revealed.Speaking to The Irish Times, Scorsese revealed that he had been working on the upcoming true crime film’s script for two years when Leonardo DiCaprio read it and asked for it to be reworked.Killers Of The Flower Moon is based on a series of murders in the Osage tribe in 1920s Oklahoma and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone and Brendan Fraser.While the film is now being told from the perspective of the Osage tribe, that wasn’t always the case. According to Scorsese, the film’s original script was told “from the point of view of the bureau agents coming in to investigate”, which prompted DiCaprio’s issue with the script.Scorsese explained: “Leo came to me and asked, ‘Where is the heart of this story?’ I had had meetings and dinners with the Osage, and I thought, Well, there’s the story.

Liam Gallagher has sent fans into a frenzy announcing an epic new tour celebrating Oasis' seminal debut album Definitely Maybe in 2024. The new tour will include three HUGE homecoming shows at the new Co-Op Live arena in Manchester.

Emiliano De Pablos Spain’s TV market saw 82 new fiction series commissions over September 2022 to August 2023, 61% of them aimed at exclusive online release, compared to 52% the year before, according to TV research firm The Wit. A few years ago, online was an afterthought.

Mipcom participation is coordinated by Spanish trade institute ICEX, with the support of the Spain Audiovisual Hub of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by the Next Generation Funds of the European Commission. A drill-down on the companies and some titles: “Transuniversal,” (1 x 80’ LGBTQ+ Docu) Docu delves into the arduous struggle for Trans people’s rights, fueled by new regulations, offering hope to those facing societal rejection and limited opportunities. “Tramps,” (“Zorras,” Atresmedia TV, Morena Films)A dramedy adapted from Noemí Casquet’s popular book trilogy “Zorras, Malas y Libres.” Three twenty-something women create a secret group, the Sex Friends Club, to fulfill their sexual fantasies, unintentionally launching a feminine revolution.