Venice Title ‘Argentina 1985’ Sheds Light on the Momentous Trial of Argentina’s Military Junta

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mexico’s Bruno Santamaría, Argentina’s Martín Benchimol and Turkey’s Selman Nacar proved three of the big winners among San Sebastian Industry Awards, announced Wednesday. João Paulo Miranda, already a young star on Brazil’s film scene after “Memory House,” meanwhile won the Ikusmira Berriak Award. A Chicago Golden Hugo winner for doc feature “Things We Dare Not Do,” Santamaría swept two awards at the fest’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, a Mecca for Latin America auteurs and their producers seeking vital co-production partners as state funding prospects have plunged across the region.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday. LAST UPDATED: Sept. 20, 2022 CATEGORY COMMENTARY: A large wave of official submissions have been announced with some expected and a few surprising choices. Some early favorites are already out of the running after not being chosen by their respective countries. Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” will represent India instead of the global box office smash “RRR” from S.S. Rajamouli, while Monica Stan and George Chiper’s “Immaculate” will define Romania in the race instead of Cristian Mungiu’s “R.M.N.” The Telluride and TIFF hit “Godland” from Hlynur Pálmason was also passed over for “Beautiful Beings” from Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson

Pablo Sandoval Set to be unveiled at this week’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, “Bajo el Mismo Sol” has secured a first co-production deal ahead of the festival.  Argentina’ Pucará Cine has boarded the project, reteaming with lead producer Wooden Boat Productions in the Dominican Republican on director Ulises Porra’s third feature. Both production companies co-produced Porra’s most recent movie, “Carajita” (2021), co-directed by Silvina Schnicer, which won the New Directors award at last year’s San Sebastián, swept Guadalajara, and collected hardware at Argentina’s Mar del Plata and the Miami Film Festival.

Glenn Close will no longer be at the helm of the jury at the San Sebastian Film Festival after canceling her highly anticipated appearance due to a family emergency.In a statement provided to ET, the festival says Argentinian producer Matías Mosteirín will be the president of the jury. The last-minute change in the lineup comes a week after the and  star posted a video on social media expressing enthusiasm about presiding over the jury.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Ulrich Seidl’s “Sparta” has been pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival amid allegations of impropriety and child exploitation against the director, but its premiere at next week’s San Sebastian Film Festival will continue as planned, Variety can reveal. A spokesperson for the Spanish festival tells Variety on behalf of festival management that “Sparta” will remain in competition. Providing a three-point list explaining their reasoning, San Sebastian said “the festival team assesses the films after their viewing according to their interest and quality” and that the event “does not have the ability to judge how a film has been shot and whether a crime has been committed in the course of the filming. If anyone has any evidence of a crime, they should report it to a judge.”

Valentina Zenere joined the cast of Netflix’s hit show Elite this year and now she’s at the Venice Film Festival!

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Christopher Vourlias Paris-based sales agency and production company Luxbox has released the trailer for “Trenque Lauquen,” Argentine director-producer Laura Citarella’s adventure mystery that has its world premiere Sept. 8 in the Horizons sidebar of the Venice Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer, which can be seen below. Filmed in two parts, Citarella’s fourth feature begins with a pair of men both searching for a woman who has mysteriously vanished. While one of them claims to be her boyfriend, the other has also forged an intimate bond with the missing woman, with a series of flashbacks revealing that he’s also fallen in love with her.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Paris-based sales agency and production company Luxbox has snagged the rights to “Trenque Lauquen,” the fourth feature by Argentine director-producer Laura Citarella, ahead of its Sept. 8 world premiere in the Venice Horizons sidebar. The pick-up continues Luxbox’s strong line in Latin American titles, seen this year in Sundance entry “Dos Estaciones” and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title “1976.” Filmed in two parts, “Trenque Lauquen” begins with a couple of men, Rafael and Ezequiel, who are on the road, both searching for a woman, Laura, who has vanished. 

Pepe Guardiola has explained how Julian Alvarez has been able to adapt so quickly to life at Manchester City.

Five years on from their thrilling diplomatic drama “The Summit,” icons of Argentinian cinema Santiago Mitre (“White Elephant,” “Paulina,” ) and Ricardo Darín (“Wild Tales,” “The Secret in Their Eyes”) have teamed up once more for the Venice-bound “Argentina, 1985.” This time, however, their collaboration is much more fact than fiction, as the film seeks to bring one of Argentina’s most historic judicial trials to the big screen.

When the colonels enter the courtroom, they clearly think they are in the clear. A military court has spent a year deciding that whatever excesses the Argentinian police, army and whoever else might have committed, these gentlemen were not down in the muck where these things happened, whatever “these things” were. One by one, they rise to announce that, as military men, they do not recognize the authority of the civil court. They are holding back smirks. Perhaps they think they will be free of this nonsense by lunchtime.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Rather like the arc of the moral universe, “Argentina, 1985” is long, but bends toward justice. Effectively dramatizing the country’s landmark Trial of the Juntas, history’s first instance of a civilian justice system convicting a military dictatorship, Santiago Mitre’s broad, sprawling, heart-on-sleeve courtroom saga may draw from the same nightmarish period of history that has informed much of Argentine cinema’s most essential, haunting works — from 1985’s Oscar-winning “The Official Story” to last year’s “Azor” — but eschews any subtle arthouse stylings for a storytelling sensibility as robustly populist as anything by Sorkin or Spielberg. Small wonder, then, that Amazon Studios has boarded a film clearly aiming to be both a domestic smash and an international crossover hit — buoyed by the reliable star power of Ricardo Darín, his signature suaveness tempered by a walrus mustache and boxy ‘80s frames as Julio Strassera, the dogged prosecutor who took on this charged, against-the-odds case. Though a warmly received premiere in competition at Venice will set it on the right path, “Argentina, 1985” is, appropriately enough, a people’s film about people’s justice, balancing tear-jerking historical catharsis with touches of droll domestic comedy, and set to draw crowds on enthusiastic word of mouth.

American actress Glenn Close has been announced as the jury president for the Official Section of the 70th San Sebastian Film Festival, running from September 16-24.

Matt Damon is enjoying his family vacation. The actor has been photographed throughout Buenos Aires, enjoying the city’s sights and cuisine accompanied by his daughters and his wife, Luciana Barroso, who was born in Argentina.Ben Affleck spotted leaving with Matt Damon after wedding with Jennifer LopezMatt Damon and his family enjoy their vacation in ArgentinaThis week, he was photographed in the restaurant Don Julio, ranked as one of the year’s 15 best restaurants in the word.