Pedro Almodóvar to Receive Chaplin Award from Film at Lincoln Center

Posted on March 27, 2025 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodóvar has been selected to receive a special award…

The 75-year-old Spanish two-time Oscar-winning film director, screenwriter and author, who has had a decades-long relationship with the New York Film Festival, will receive a lifetime honor from its presenting organization next month.

The 50th annual Chaplin Award will be presented to the filmmaker on April 28 at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.

Presenters who will pay tribute to him at the gala event include performer and artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov; actress Rossy de Palma (the honoree’s longtime muse); pop star Dua Lipa; actor John Turturro; and filmmaker John Waters.

The Chaplin Award Gala is Film at Lincoln Center’s primary annual fundraising event. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit’s programs, including film series, educational initiatives, and marquee events like the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films.

The list of previous Chaplin recipients includes Jeff Bridges, Viola Davis, Robert De Niro, Barbara Streisand, Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Altman, Billy Wilder and Elizabeth Taylor.

Almodóvar has had 15 films selected to screen at the New York Film Festival, including Oscar winners All About My Mother and Talk to Her.

His relationship with FLC began with when New Directors/New Films (a spring fest, on the opposite end of the calendar from NYFF in the fall) featured What Have I Done to Deserve This? in 1985 and Law of Desire in 1987.

He made his NYFF debut in 1988 with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which was that year’s Opening Night selection.

Other selections include Centerpiece films Bad Education, Volver and The Room Next Door; and Closing Night films Live Flesh, Talk to Her, Broken Embraces, and Parallel Mothers.

Gael García Bernal Starring in the Hitchcockian Thriller “Holland, Michigan”

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Gael García Bernal is headed to the Midwest…

The 44-year-old Mexican Golden Globe-winning actor/director will star opposite Nicole Kidman and Matthew Macfadyen in the Hitchcockian thriller Holland, Michigan.

From Prime Video, the film will be directed by Mimi Cave.

While Holland, Michigan is said to concern secrets that lurk beneath a Midwestern town, specifics as to the plot of the film scripted by Andrew Sodroski are under wraps.

Blossom Films’ Kidman and Per Saari are producing alongside Pacific View Management & Productions’ Peter Dealbert, and Churchill Films’ Kate Churchill.

The film will stream in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Garcia Bernal is known for his performances in the films Bad Education, The Motorcycle Diaries, Amores perros, Y tu mamá también, Babel, Coco and Old.

He won a Golden Globe for his role as Rodrigo de Souza in the series Mozart in the Jungle.

Rafael Casal Lands Major Role in Second Season of Disney+’s Marvel Series “Loki”

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Casal is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe…

The 36-year-old part-Spanish and Cuban American actor will appear in a major role in the upcoming second season of Disney+’s Marvel series Loki.

A representative for Marvel declined to comment on the casting, but word of Casal’s addition started trickling out when a photo from the set of Season 2 leaked online.

It features Casal walking alongside Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson, who are back, reprising their roles as anti-hero Loki and Mobius, respectively.

Details about Casal’s character are being kept under wraps; online speculation includes a hypothesis that he could be playing Zaniac.

Following strong reviews and record viewing numbers for the original installment, Loki became the first Marvel series for Disney+ to get a second season.

Loki is set in a Marvel Cinematic Universe-adjacent world, in which the God of Mischief is a fish-out-of-water when he lands in trouble with the bureaucratic TVA (Time Variance Authority) after absconding with the Tesseract.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead are co-directing a majority of the episodes in the new season. Hiddleston and Michael Waldron, who wrote and served as showrunner in Season 1, executive produce. Eric Martin is penning all six episodes.

Casal, along with Daveed Diggs, co-wrote, produced and starred in the 2018 movie Blindspotting.

The two co-created and executive produce Starz’s Blindspotting series spinoff, which debuted earlier this year, with Casal as showrunner and reprising his role from the movie.

The series, which has been renewed for a second season, earned an Indie Spirit Award and Gotham Award nominations for Best New/Breakthrough series.

Casal’s acting credits also include Good Lord Bird, Bad Education and Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Rafael Casal to Write & Direct Lionsgate’s Sci-Fi Rom Com “First Sight”

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Casal is has set his (first) sights on a new project…

The 33-year-old half-Spanish American actor will write and make his feature directorial debut on Lionsgate’s First Sight, a sci-fi romantic comedy about falling asleep to find the person of your dreams.

Casal will join forces with his Blindspottingco-writer, producer and star Daveed Diggs, and the film’s producers Snoot Entertainment, on the project.

Casal, a musician and poetic who appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry, was recently added to the cast of Bad Education starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney.

Hulu to Feature del Castillo’s “La Reina del Sur” & Other Telemundo & Sony TV Projects

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Kate del Castillo will soon be the reina of Hulu…

Hulu has beefed up its Spanish-language offerings with deals that secure programming from Sony Pictures Television and co-owner Comcast’s Telemundo, including the 44-year-old Mexican actress’ popular telenovela La Reina del Sur.

The company didn’t disclose financial terms, but says both pacts are “multi-year.”

The first time agreement with Telemundo will give Hulu five series from its library. They include past episodes of La Reina del Sur, Celia, and Bajo El Mismo Cielo, which are available now. On April 15 Hulu will add the complete catalogs of Tierra de Reyes and La Patrona.

Meanwhile, Sony has provided telenovelas and teleseries including Lady, La Vendendora de Rosas, Doña Barbara, comedy series Los Beltran, and crime dramas El Mariachi, Metastasis and En la Boca del Lobo.

Films in the agreement include El Mariachi and The Secret in Their Eyes. Hulu also will have nine films from director Pedro Almodóvar, including The Skin I Live In, Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother, Bad Education, Broken Embraces, Talk to Her and Law of Desire.

Hulu’s deepening its video on demand online library as it prepares to introduce a live streaming service.

Almodóvar to Serve as Jury President at This Year’s Cannes Film Festival

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodóvar is taking a special role at this year’s Cannes Film Festival…

The 67-year-old Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer has been named the next President of the Jury for the 70^th edition of the festival in May.

“I am very happy to be able to celebrate Cannes Film Festival[‘s] 70^th anniversary from such a privileged position,” said Almodóvar in a statement. “I am grateful, honoured and bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.”

Almodóvar has a film career that spans across 35 years and his 20 films range from From Pepi, Luci, Born to La Mancha to last year’s Julieta.

He’s worked with a range of actors including Penélope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Antonio Banderas, Rossy de Palma, Javier Bardem, Javier Cámara, Carmen Maura and Victoria Abril.

Five of his films – All About My Mother, Volver, Broken Embraces, The Skin I Live In and Julieta – have been selected In Competition in Cannes. Bad Education opened the fest in 2004 while the director himself featured on the poster of the 60^th festival.

“For its 70^th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist,” said the President of the Festival, Pierre Lescure and Delegate-General Thierry Frémaux. “A long and loyal friendship binds Pedor Almodóvar to the festival, where he was member of the jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”

The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28.

Almodóvar to Receive the WGA West’s Jean Renoir Award

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodóvar is the write man on top…

The 65-year-old Spanish filmmaker, who earned France’s Prix Lumiere in October for his lifetime of filmmaking achievements, will be feted as this year’s recipient of the Writers Guild of America West’s Jean Renoir Award, which celebrates an international writer who has advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of screenwriting.

Almodóvar has written, directed, and produced more than 20 feature films over the last three decades and won the Original Screenplay Academy Award for 2002’s Talk To Her, for which he also received an Oscar nod for best director.

His other films include Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown, Volver, Bad Education, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, High Heels, Kika, The Flower Of My Secret, Live Flesh and All About My Mother.

His most recent film was the 2013 comedy I’m So Excited, and he’s currently prepping his next film, Silencio.

“Almodóvar – the first name is almost unnecessary – is a genius, is a flower, is a guiding light: the last, best son of Buñuel and so much more than that,” said WGA West VP Howard Rodman in announcing the honor. “His screenplays, which he directs with passion and fine care, have taught us about the exteriors of his native land and the interiors of our own hearts.”

Almo will receive his special prize at the WGAW’s Awards ceremony on February 14.

Perez Starring in ABC;s Comedy Pilot “An American Education”

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez is headed back to the halls of learning…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican Oscar-nominated actress, dancer and community activist will star opposite Jack Whitehall in ABC’s single-camera comedy pilot An American Education.

Based on the BBC Three series Bad Education, British actor-comedian Whitehall – who created and starred in the original series – is reprising his role as Alfie Wickers, now a British transplant and an unorthodox young teacher in the San Diego public school system. Alfie loves his students but his youthful, often naive enthusiasm and unconventional methods put him at odds with the test-obsessed administrators.

Perez will portray Rita Gomez, the school’s hard-assed Vice Principal, a terrifying force that grew up in a bad neighborhood who intimidates Alfie by her no-nonsense, bullish, self-righteous, by-the-numbers approach to ruling the school, or how she sees it, her kingdom.

Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory wrote the script from a story they co-wrote with Whitehall and Ben Cavey.

Perez, who got her big break in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing in 1988, last appeared on television on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie and Fox’s The Cleveland Show in 2012.

Delgado Wins Saturn Award for “Les Miserables”

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Paco Delgado is still picking up awards for his Miserables work…

The Spanish costume designer, who earned his first Oscar nomination this year, won a Saturn Award for Best Costume for his impressive work on Les Miserables.

Delgado oversaw the creation of more than 2,200 outfits for the ensemble cast of the epic film. He recently opened up about his designs in an online featurette.

Delgado’s credits include creating the Goya Award-winning costumes for Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves, as well as the Pedro Almodovar films Bad Education and The Skin I Live In.

He most recently completed work on Álex de la Iglesia’s Witching and Bitching.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires the Rights to Almodóvar’s Next Film

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

The anticipation is definitely building for Pedro Almodóvar’s next film, even though production hasn’t even started on the project…

Sony Pictures Classics announced Tuesday that they have acquired all North American rights to Almodóvar’s new comedy currently titled I’m So Excited from El Deseo.

The film, an ensemble comedy written and directed by Almodóvar, is set to begin production in July and will be released next summer.

The all-star cast includes Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, Raul Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Willy Toledo, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Blanca Suárez, José Luis Torrijo, José María Yazpik and Laya Martí.

In addition, the film—which was previously known as Los Amantes Pasajeros—will include special collaborations from Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Paz Vega.

The Sony Pictures Classics team has a long history with Almodóvar that began with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Orion Classics and has continued with seven films at Sony Pictures Classics , including Goya-winning film The Skin I Live In, Broken Embraces, Volver, Bad Education, All About My Mother and Talk to Her.

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