Natalia Reyes to Star in Lionsgate’s Action-Thriller “Shadow Force”

Natalia Reyes is casting shadows

The 35-year-old Colombian actress will star opposite Mark Strong, Jahleel Kamara, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III, Yoson An and Ed Quinn in Lionsgate’s action-thriller Shadow Force, from director Joe Carnahan.

Natalia ReyesThe film has entered production in Colombia.

The actors join an ensemble led by Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, which also includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Cliff “Method Man” Smith.

The film penned by Leon Chills and Carnahan follows Kyrah (Washington) and Isaac (Sy), who were once the leaders of a multinational special forces group called Shadow Force. They broke the rules by falling in love, and in order to protect their son, they go underground. With a large bounty on their heads, and the vengeful Shadow Force hot on their trail, one family’s fight becomes all-out war.

Details as to the roles the film’s newest cast members will play are being kept under wraps. But Stephen “Dr.” Love is producing via his company Made with Love Media—which has an overall deal with Lionsgate—alongside Simpson Street’s Washington and Pilar Savone, and Sterling K. Brown for Indian Meadows Productions.

Shadow Force has received approval to obtain the CINA incentive (Audiovisual Investment Certificate), granted by the Colombian government and administered by Proimágenes Colombia: a tax discount equivalent to 35% of the expenditure on audiovisual services in the country.

Reyes was most recently seen in the leading role of Dani in Terminator: Dark Fate — prior to that, starring in Ciro Guerra’s Birds of Passage, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as an official Fortnight selection.

Additionally, she starred in Peter Webber’s Pickpockets and in Lady, La Vendedora de Rosas, one of Colombia and Netflix Latin America’s most popular series.

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

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.

Natalia Reyes

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.

Cristina Gallego Signs with Verve for Representation in All Areas

Cristina Gallego is going global…

Verve has signed the Colombian filmmaker, and will rep her in all areas as she moves to widen her reach and continue her passion for telling untold stories from a female perspective.

Cristina Gallego

Gallego co-directed Birds of Passage, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, was selected as the Colombian entry and made the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. The film is not a traditional Colombian drug-running story; it follows the journey of a Wayuu Indian family as they forego their traditions and fall into the drug trade.

Gallego was at the forefront of the creative process and wanted to subvert the genre that has typically been very macho by focusing on stories from the female members of the family and community. She directed the film with Ciro Guerra, her ex-husband; she produced the acclaimed 2015 film Embrace of the Serpent, which Guerra directed and which landed them their first foreign-language Oscar nomination. It was the first Colombian film to be nominated in the category. That led to Birds of Passage, a 10-year journey.

Most recently Gallego was in production on Cortes, a massive event miniseries for Amazon that she was executive producing and attached to direct multiple episodes of. Written by Steve Zaillian and starring Javier Bardem, this project was unfortunately a COVID-19 casualty and was shut down by the streamer back in September.

Gallego’s other producing credits include Wajib, the Palestinian official submission to the 90th Academy Awards and Ruben Blades is Not My Name, Panama’s submission to the 91st Academy Awards.

Tenoch Huerta to Star in Amazon Studio’s Untitled Cortes/Moctezuma Series

Tenoch Huerta is exploringa whole new role…

The 39-year-old Mexican actor will star alongside Javier Bardem in the untitled Cortés and Moctezuma project from Amazon Studios and Amblin Television.

Tenoch Huerta

Yoshira Escárrega has also been cast in the project. 

The limited series will be a four-hour epic drama that maps the inexorable march and eventual clash between Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortésand Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, leading to the annihilation of an empire and tragic downfall of a civilization that took centuries to build, but less than two years to destroy.

Oscarwinner Bardem was announced in the role of Cortés last year and will also serve as an executive producer on the project.

Huerta will play Moctezuma, the Emperor of the Aztecs. Escárrega will play Marina, strategic partner, translator and consort to Hernán Cortés.

From Amazon Studios and Amblin Television, the limited series is created for television and written by Academy Award-winner Steven Zaillian and based on the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. The series is directed by Ciro Guerraand Cristina Gallego

Bardem will executive produce alongside Zaillian, Gael García BernalDiego Luna and more.

Huerta recently wrapped filming a starring role in the Blumhousefeature film, Borderline, the latest installment in the Purge franchise. He’s known for his role as the infamous Rafael Caro Quintero in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, opposite Diego Luna and Michael Pena. He also appeared in a key role in the Paul Weitz-directed Bel Canto, which starred Julianne Mooreand Ken Watanabe

Escárrega is a film and theater actress born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and a graduate of Escuela Nacional de Arte Teatral. Her latest work in television includes notable roles in Aquí en la Tierra directed by Gael García Bernal for Fox Premium Latinoaméricaand Dani Who for Paramount Channel Latinoamérica. She recently worked in films with acclaimed directors Alonso Ruiz Palaciosand Ximena Montemayor

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego’s “Birds of Passage” Makes Barack Obama’s Year-End List

Ciro Guerra Cristina Gallego have made an extra special list..

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego

Barack Obama has added the 38-year-old Colombian filmmaker and 42-year-old Colombian filmmaker’s latest project, Birds of Passage, to the former American president’s list of Favorite Movies of 2019.

Birds of Passage is the only Spanish language film on Obama’s list this year.

The film explores the rise of a Wayuu man and his family as they enter the drug trade, prosper, and slowly lose their traditions and former way of life. 

It was selected to open the 50th edition of the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, making the December shortlist.

Colombia Selects Alejandro Landes’ “Monos” as Its Pick for the Oscar’s International Feature Film Race

Alejandro Landes is representing Colombia…

The 39-year-old Brazil-born Colombian-Ecuadorian film director’s latest project, the Spanish-language survival thriller Monos, has been selected as Colombia’s selection for the International Feature Film race at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Alejandro Landes

The film centers on a young group of soldiers and rebels training on a remote mountain in Latin America with an American hostage (Julianne Nicholson).

Moisés AriasSofia BuenaventuraDeiby RuedaKaren Quintero and Laura Castrillón star in the film, which Landes co-wrote with Alexis Dos Santos.

Monos

The film won a World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Awardat this year’s Sundance Film Festivalin Park City, Utah. 

The news comes as Neon and co-distributor Participant Media prepare to release the film theatrically in the U.S. on September 13.

Colombia has only seen one film nominated in what was formerly known as the Best Foreign Language Film category. That was Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent in 2015, the year Hungary’s Son of Saulwon the Oscar.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallegos’ “Birds of Passage” Wins Audience Award at Los Cabos International Film Festival

The people have spoken, and they’re all about Ciro Guerra’s latest project.

The awards have been handed out at the Los Cabos International Film Festival, with the 37-year-old Colombian film director’s Birds of Passage, co-directed by Cristina Gallegos, taking home the Cinemex Audience Award.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego

Meanwhile, Andrés Kaiser proved to be the night’s big winner, taking home three prizes for the Mexican filmmaker’s thriller/mockumentary sweeping the Mexico Primero categories.

The black-and-white film, set somewhere in Mexico’s Oaxacan mountains, won the Cinemex Prize, the Premio FIPRESCI and the Art Kingdom Award.

The film, selected as Colombia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film race at the 91st Academy Awards, chronicles the early days of illegal drug trading in Colombia.

The crafted 1970s tribal mobster epic depicts how a Wayuu family is torn apart by Colombia’s early drug trade.

Here’s a look at all the prize winners

LOS CABOS COMPETITION
“Genesis,” (Philippe Lesage, France)

LOS CABOS COMPETITION SPECIAL MENTION
“We the Animals,” (Jeremiah Zagar, U.S.)

CINEMEX AUDIENCE AWARD
“Birds of Passage,” (Cristina Gallegos, Ciro Guerra, Mexico, Colombia)

MEXICO PRIMERO

CINEMEX PRIZE
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

PREMIO FIPRESCI
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

ART KINGDOM AWARD
“Feral,” (Andrés Kaiser, Mexico)

GABRIEL FIGUEROA FILM FUND AWARDS

WORK IN PROGRESS
“Labor,” (David Zonana)

CHEMISTRY AWARD
“Labor,” (David Zonana)

CINECOLOR MEXICO AWARD
“I’m No Longer Here,” (Fernando Frias)

FILM IN DEVELOPMENT AWARD
“Neza,” (Julio Hernández Cordón)

CTT EXP & RENTALS AWARD
“Estado del imperio,” (Amat Escalante)

CTT EXP & RENTALS + CHEMISTRY AWARD
“The Hole in the Fence,” (Joaquín del Paso)

TALENT ON THE ROAD /WORLD TALENT HOUSE AWARD
“Viaje al país de los Tarahumaras,” (Federico Cecchetti)

BOBO AWARD
“The Devil’s Advocates”

PROMO TRAILER ART KINGDOM AWARD
“The Devil’s Advocates”

OUTSTANDING WORK IN CINEMA AWARD
Adam Driver

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Spike Lee, Terry Gilliam

Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage” Selected as Colombia’s Official Entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar Race

Ciro Guerra is hoping for Oscar passage again…  

The 37-year-oldColombian film director and screenwriter’s Birds of Passage, a sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, has been selected as Colombia’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar race, according to distributor The Orchard.

Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego

The film is directed by Cristina Gallego and Guerra — the respective producer and director of 2015’s Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Birds of Passage premiered as the opening-night selection of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Tracing the origins of the Colombian drug trade as it slowly corrupts a native Wayúu family, Birds of Passage stars Jose Acosta, Carmiña Martínez and Natalia Reyes (the upcoming Terminator reboot).

The film will screen at the Toronto Film Festival and is set for release by The Orchard on Wednesday, February 13th in New York and Los Angeles, with a national rollout to follow.

“We are incredibly humbled and honored to again be the Colombian selection for entry to the Academy Awards, especially with a film that is so personal to our country’s history and narrative,” said Gallego and Guerra. “We are very grateful to La Academia Colombiana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, which has supported us throughout our careers. It is with great pride that we bring this film to a global audience.”

The Orchard Picks Up North American Rights to Ciro Guerra & Cristina Gallego’s “Birds of Passage”

Ciro Guerra’s latest film is migrating to the United States…

The Orchard has picked up North American rights to the 37-year-old Colombian filmmaker and screenwriter’s latest film Birds of Passage, co-directed by Cristina Gallego.

Ciro Guerra

The family saga details the impact of drug trafficking on an indigenous family and its culture starting in the 1970s.

“This film was always conceived as a theatrical experience, and there’s really no better way to appreciate it than in the cinema,” said co-directors Gallego, Guerra and producer Katrin Pors. “We are very happy that audiences will have the opportunity to see it the way it was intended, and that we have found a passionate distributor that loves and defends the art of cinema as much as we do.”

Birds of Passage swept us up immediately into an engrossing familial drama surrounded by a world bursting with stunning color and sound,” added Paul Davidson, The Orchard’s EVP of Film and Television. “Cristina and Ciro have delivered something altogether special and unique that we are honored to be a part of.”

The company has yet to set a theatrical release for the film.

Guerra previously produced and directed Embrace of the Serpent, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Sebastián Lelio’s “A Fantastic Woman” Makes Oscars Shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film

Sebastián Lelio is one step closer to a special date with Oscar

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has whittled through 92 submissions to come up with its shortlist of nine titles to advance in the Best Foreign Language Film category this year, with the 43-year-old Argentinian-born Chilean filmmaker still in the running.

Sebastián Lelio

Lelio’s A Fantastic Woman, Chile’s pick to enter the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, joins other favorites like Ruben Ostlund’s The Square (Sweden) and Loveless from Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev in advancing to the next round.

Each of those was nominated for a Golden Globe earlier this week. As was Fatih Akin’s Germany terrorism drama In The Fade, which has seen its street cred solidified by the Academy with tonight’s shortlist inclusion.

The final five Academy Award nominations in the race will be announced along with the rest of the categories on January 23.

Films also making the cut include Berlinale Golden Bear winner On Body And Soul from resurgent Turkish director Ildikó Enyedi; and Venice favorites Foxtrot, from Israel’s Samuel Maoz, and The Insult by Franco-Lebanese helmer Ziad Doueiri.

The last Spanish-language film to earn a nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category was Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent (representing Colombia) in 2015.

The Last Spanish-language film to win the Oscar in the category was Juan José Campanella’s The Secret in Their Eyes (representing Argentina) in 2009. 

In 2012, Chile earned its first and only Oscar nomination in the category with Pablo Larrain’s No, which starred Gael Garcia Bernal.

Here’s this year’s complete shortlist:

Chile, A Fantastic Woman, Sebastián Lelio, director;
Germany, In the Fade, Fatih Akin, director;
Hungary, On Body and Soul, Ildikó Enyedi, director;
Israel, Foxtrot, Samuel Maoz, director;
Lebanon, The Insult, Ziad Doueiri, dirctor;
Russia, Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Senegal, Félicité, Alain Gomis, director;
South Africa, The Wound, John Trengove, director;
Sweden, The Square, Ruben Östlund, director.