Costa Rica Selects Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola” for Oscars’ Best International Feature Film Race

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén is hoping to find herself celebrating Sola at the Oscars…

Costa Rica has selected the 33-year-old Costa Rican-Swedish film writer/director’s debut feature Clara Sola as the country’s submission to the 2022 Best International Feature Film race at the Academy Awards.

The film, which made its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was later scooped up by Oscilloscope Laboratories, which will release it in theaters early next year.

Álvarez Mesén and Maria Camila Arias co-penned the script for the film, which is set in a remote Costa Rican village and centers on 40-year-old Clara, who endures a repressively religious and withdrawn life under the command of her mother. Tension builds within the family as Clara’s younger niece approaches her quinceañera, igniting a sexual and mystical awakening in Clara, and a journey to free herself from the conventions that have dominated her life.

Ana Julia Porras Espinoza, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Flor María Vargas Chavez and Wendy Chinchilla Araya star. Sweden-based production company Hobab produced with the Resolve Media, Costa Rica’s Pacifica Grey, Belgium’s Need Productions and Germany’s Laïdak Films.

Costa Rica has never won the International Feature Oscar (the category was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film) or made the category’s shortlist. Last year, it submitted Ceniza Negra’s Land of Ashes.

This year, the Oscar Academy will reveal the category’s 15-film shortlist on December 21. Nominations will be announced on February 8.

Netflix Releases Trailer for Tatiana Huezo’s Mexican Film “Prayers for the Stolen”

Posted on October 24, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Tatiana Huezo’s Prayers have been revealed…

Netflix has released the official trailer for the Mexican film Prayers For The Stolen, written and directed by the 49-year-old Salvadoran and Mexican filmmaker.

The film is liberally adapted from Jennifer Clement’s 2014 novel of the same name.

The film stars Ana Cristina Ordóñez González, Marya Membreño, Mayra Batalla, Norma Pablo, Eileen Yáñez, and Memo Villegas, and is produced by Nicolás Celis and Jim Stark.

Prayers For The Stolen takes place in a solitary town nestled in the Mexican mountains, the girls wear boyish haircuts and have hiding places underground. Ana and her two best friends take over the houses of those who have fled and dress up as women when no one is watching. In their own impenetrable universe, magic and joy abound; meanwhile, their mothers train them to flee from those who turn them into slaves or ghosts. But one day, one of the girls doesn’t make it to her hideout in time.

Mexico recently selected Prayers for the Stolen as its submission to this year’s International Feature Film Oscar race.

The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this year, receiving a special mention in the Un Certain Regard program. The film was also a multi-award-winner at the San Sebastian and Athens film festivals.

Netflix picked up rights and will release in select theaters in November and will be available on the streaming service November 17.

Tony Revolori to Star in Wes Anderson’s Latest Still-Untitled Film

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Tony Revolori is ready to go Wes, once again…

The third time is apparently the charm when it comes to Wes Anderson and the 25-year-old Guatemalan American actor, the breakout star of Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel.

Revolori is reuniting with the director on his next project. This will mark their third outing together after having also just worked on The French Dispatch.

Joining Revolori are Anderson alums Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston and Tilda Swinton, as well as Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Rupert Friend and Tom Hanks. The film is expected to shoot in Spain.

Outside of Anderson writing and directing, not much is known about the project.

The project has gained momentum following the premiere of The French Dispatch, at the Cannes Film Festival and bows in theaters this October.

Besides The French Dispatch, Revolori can be seen next in Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. He was also recently seen in the second season of Apple’s Servant.

Revolori is wrapping up production on the first season of Willow for Disney+.

Natalie Mendoza to Star as Satine in Broadway’s “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Natalie Mendoza is seeing rouge…

The 42-year-old part-Spanish Australian actress/singer has been cast as the lead role of Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical, filling the vacancy left when the Tony Award-nominated Karen Olivo resigned in April.

With the casting of Mendoza, the full Moulin Rouge! cast is in place for the resumption of performances on Friday, September 24, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

The musical originally opened on July 25, 2019, but performances were suspended in March 2020 when Broadway went dark due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

Mendoza joins a principal cast that also includes Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Sahr Ngaujah, Tam Mutu, Ricky Rojas and Robyn Hurder.

The casting is a bit of a homecoming for Mendoza, who portrayed a can-can dancer named China Doll in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge!

“From the moment Natalie was cast as China Doll in Moulin Rouge! the film, we knew we had discovered a major young talent,” Luhrmann said in a statement. “That young talent has now blossomed into the lead in our Broadway production. I could not be more thrilled that Natalie will be lowered in that glorious swing as Broadway’s Sparkling Diamond.”

Said Mendoza, “Having been involved with the film from its early conception, the role of Satine has always been close to my heart. This rare jewel of an opportunity to play a character like her on Broadway feels like a full circle moment. With this stunning group of bohemian artists and this uniquely conscious creative team I couldn’t be in better care.”

Mendoza, raised in Australia, previously worked with the Broadway musical’s director Alex Timbers when she appeared as Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love at London’s Royal National Theatre.

He starred on the BBC One drama series Hotel Babylon and The Descent horror film franchise.

On the film side, she’ll next be seen in the buzzy Cannes Film Festival film Annette, directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard.

Mendoza’s other credits include Michael Winterbottom’s futuristic thriller Code 46, Miramax’s The Great Raid and, on television, ABC’s production of South Pacific, ITV’s McDonald & Dodds, CBS’ Blue Bloods and in upcoming episodes of Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan.

On stage, additional credits include Miss Saigon, Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark and Ghost.

Sandra Melissa Torres Earns Critics’ Week Rising Star Award

Posted on July 14, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Sandra Melissa Torres’ star is on the rise…

Cannes Film Festival organizers have begun announcing prizes ahead of the main closing ceremony on Saturday night, with the Latina actress among the honorees.

Parallel section Critics’ Week, celebrating its 60th edition, is up first with Torres receiving the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award.

Torres picked up the award for her work in Amparo by Simón Mesa Soto. She plays a single mother struggling to free her teenage son after he is drafted by the army and assigned to a war zone.

Former Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungui chaired the Critics’ Week jury for its 60th anniversary this year.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Prizes of the Jury

Nespresso Grand Prize
Feathers, dir: Omar El Zohairi

Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award
Sandra Melissa Torres in Amparo

Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for Short Film
Duo Li (Lili Alone), dir: Zou Jing

Partner Prizes

Gan Foundation Award for Distribution
Condor (Rien A Foutre)

SACD Prize
Elie Grappe and Raphaëlle Desplechin for Olga

Canal+ Award for Short Film
Brutalia, Days of Labour, dir: Manolis Mavris

Kleber Mendonça Filho Named to This Year’s Cannes Film Festival Jury

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Kleber Mendonça Filho is on the jury…

Organizers for the 74th Cannes Film Festival have unveiled the nine-person jury group, which includes 52-year-old Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and critic.

In addition to Filho, the jury includes president Spike Lee, French-Senegalese actor-director Mati Diop; Oscar nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, French actress Mélanie Laurent, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and French singer Mylène Farmer.

Rounding out the jury are French actor Tahar Rahim and South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho.

Filho’s first movie, Neighboring Sounds, made its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2012 and was Brazil’s entry in the race for the Oscars. His second feature film, Aquarius, starring Sonia Braga, played in competition at the 69th Cannes in 2016 before being nominated for a César and an Independent Spirit Awards. In 2019, Bacurau, which Filho co-directed with Juliano Dornelles, screened in competition in Cannes was awarded the Jury Prize.

All together, the jury will watch 24 films in competition during the delayed film festival from July 6-17. The jury will announce its winners on the last day of the festival.

Natalia Reyes to Star in the Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Thriller “Tomorrow Before After”

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Natalia Reyes has big plans for tomorrow…

The 34-year-old Colombian actress has signed on to star in Tomorrow Before After, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that’s scheduled to start shooting this month in Colombia.

The film, from writer/director Alfonso Quijada (El Suspiro del Silencio), centers on a woman with no name (played by Reyes) who struggles to survive on her own in a post-apocalyptic world, searching for others, with only a stray dog by her side.

In her quest, she collides with a world that is collapsed and utterly destroyed, and it seems, for a long time, that she is the only survivor in the world—until she discovers one day that she is pregnant. Not understanding how this could be possible, she then begins to question her own existence.

Reyes is best known for her turn as Dani Ramos in Tim Miller’s Terminator: Dark Fate, which James Cameron produced for Skydance and Paramount.

She also starred in the crime drama Birds of Passage, directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Among her television credits is Sony’s hit Latin American series Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas, in which she played Lady Tabares.

Focus Features Releases Trailer for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Psychological Thriller “Last Night in Soho”

Posted on May 26, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is preparing for her last night…

The first trailer has been released for Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller Last Night in Soho, starring the 25-year-old Argentine-British actress.

Focus Features will release the film on October 22.

The film stars Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp and Diana Rigg in a story set in 1960s Soho, London.

It follows a young girl (McKenzie), passionate in fashion design, who is mysteriously able to travel back in time where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer (Taylor-Joy), but her journey isn’t without consequences.

Last Night in Soho originally was due to debut in September before being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, it was then scheduled for April 23 before being pushed back again.

Universal is handling the international release. The film had been tipped for a Cannes Film Festival premiere, but there’s no confirmation yet on whether it could turn up at the French festival, which announces its lineup next week.

Universal to Release Penelope Cruz’s Highly Anticipated Femme Action Feature “The 355”

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz is heading to the 355 a week earlier…

Simon Kinberg’s femme action feature The 355, starring the 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress, will be released a week earlier, on January 7, 2022.

The film was original scheduled to be released over MLK Weekend.

In the film, five women band together to stop a global organization from acquiring a weapon that could thrust the teetering world into total chaos.

The film was bought by Universal for domestic distribution at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2018 for a reported $20M.

The foreign partners, arranged through FilmNation, are hoping for a global launch for what they hope will be another Bourne Identity–like franchise, this one led by an all female lead cast including Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Cruz and Fan Bingbing, with Édgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan also appearing.

The 355 is directed by Kinberg. He co-wrote the screenplay with Theresa Rebeck.

The Match Factory Acquires Rights to Lorenzo Vigas’ Acclaimed Feature “The Box”

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Lorenzo Vigas is thinking outside the box…

The Match Factory has acquired the rights to The Box (La Caja), the second feature of the Mexican filmmaker, who previously won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion with From Afar.

The Box will likely to find a berth at the Cannes Film Festival or the Venice Film Festival.

The film follows Hatzin, a teenager from Mexico City, who travels to collect the remains of his father, which have been found in a communal grave in the northern part of Mexico. But a casual encounter with a man who shares a physical resemblance with his father fills Hatzin with both doubts and hope about his parent’s true whereabouts.

Vigas says that in the film he reflects on “the theme of identity from various points of view.” He adds: “Latin American history is very young. Until a relatively short time ago, we were still European colonies; as a continent, we are trying to understand who we are and where we are going. Though still an adolescent, Hatzin is an uncanny presence through which the film explores this theme from various perspectives.”

Hatzin’s story gets entangled with one of north Mexico’s saddest realities, an area well known for the disappearance of more than 20,000 women in the last 10 years in mysterious circumstances.

Vigas was able to shoot in an actual maquiladora – the low cost assembly plants of the Ciudad Juarez region. These plants’ international owners rarely share details about their production lines or their working conditions.

The Box is the third film in a thematic trilogy Vigas has developed about Latin American fathers. The first film, the short Elephants Never Forget (Cannes Critics’ Week, 2004) provided the seed for the second work, Viga’s first feature, From Afar.

The Box cast includes Hernán Mendoza and Hatzín Navarrete. It is written by Vigas and Paula Markovitch.

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