Javier Bardem to Star in Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Next Film “El ser querido”

Javier Bardem has lined up his next project…

The 55-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor has signed on to star in the next film from Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

Javier BardemTitled El ser querido, the film will be directed by Sorogoyen from a screenplay he penned with Isabel Peña.

The film will also star Victoria Luengo.

The official synopsis reads: In ‘El ser querido’, an acclaimed film director and his daughter, an unsuccessful actress, shoot a film together after years of estrangement and a difficult past that none of them want to talk about.

The project is a Movistar Plus+ original film in co-production with Caballo Films, El Ser Querido AIE and Le Pacte (France), financed by ICAA with the support of the Creative Europe Media Program.

The film will be released in cinemas, distributed by A Contracorriente Films, and will later be available exclusively on Movistar Plus+. International sales will be handled by Goodfellas.

Bardem is one of Spain’s most famous exports. His most recent titles include Dune: Part Two and The Little Mermaid.

His last Spanish project was Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss, for which he won the Goya for Best Actor.

Luengo most recently starred in Pedro Almódovar’s English-language debut The Room Next Door. On the small screen, she starred in Riot Police, the Movistar Plus+ series directed by Sorogoyen, for which she won the Ondas Award for Best Actress.

Sorogoyen will be known to most for his 2022 feature The Beasts, which won nine Goya awards.

Draco Rosa to Receive The Latin Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Draco Rosa will receive a special honor for his storied career…

The 55-year-old Puerto Rican singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur will be one of the recipients of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award from The Latin Recording Academy, as part of its annual Special Awards presentation.

Draco RosaDraco is among a roster of honorees that include Albita, Lolita Flores, Alejandro Lerner, Los Angeles Azules and Lulu Santos.

Additionally, Puerto Rican composer Ángel “Cucco” Peña and Mexican guitarist Chucho Rincón will receive the Trustees Award.

“It is with great pride that we honor these musical legends who continue redefining our Latin music and heritage, said Manuel Abud, CEO of The Latin Recording Academy, in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating them as part of our Latin GRAMMY 25th anniversary festivities in November.”

According to the Latin Academy, the Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to performers who have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to Latin music and its communities.

Meanwhile, the Trustees Award is given to artists who’ve made “significant contributions to Latin music during their careers in ways other than performance.”

Both are voted on by the Latin Recording Academy’s Board of Trustees.

Draco has evolved from boy band stardom to becoming a rock en español icon and global hitmaker.

He originally garnered fame as a member of boy band Menudo in the 1980s, singing lead on the band’s biggest stateside hit, “Hold Me” and featuring prominently in the accompanying music video.

After leaving the band he moved to Brazil where he released two albums, achieving mainstream success.

Following a brief subsequent stint in California, he returned to New York and joined the band Maggie’s Dream, which split after only one album, allowing him to resume his solo career.

The singer and composer has released numerous albums and has composed multiple songs for Ednita NazarioJulio Iglesias and former Menudo band-mate, Ricky Martin.

He has also been featured on VH1‘s Behind the Music.

Renowned for her fiery vocal delivery, Albita has been championing Cuban music and tradition since the late ’80s.

Her career in the U.S. has produced success, including multiple Grammy and Emmy nominations and wins.

In 2005, Albita was cast for a major role in the Broadway-produced musical play The Mambo Kings, where she worked for six months to rave reviews.

Daughter of Spanish legends Lola Flores and Antonio “El Pescaílla” González, Lolita Flores has made significant contributions to modern flamenco with her stunning voice and diverse repertoire.

Flores started her career in the early 1970s and with the release of the album Amor, amor and a single of the same name in 1975 she achieved success in her native Spain, as well as in countries in Latin America.

Her songs “Sarandonga,” “Lo voy a divider” and “Si la vida son dos días,” among others, have become staples in Spanish radio.

In 2002, she won a Goya Award for Best New Actress for her performance in the movie Rencor. Flores has also appeared in several television programs such as Directísimo and Hostal Royal Manzanares. In February 2019, she received the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes.

Hailing from Buenos Aires, Alejandro Federico Lerner was a trailblazer in Argentine rock during the ’70s and is celebrated as a seminal figure in the genre.

From Iztapalapa to the world, Los Ángeles Azules have been instrumental in propelling Mexican cumbia to international acclaim since the ’70s, continually infusing the genre with a Latin alternative twist that keeps it vibrant and relevant.

Lastly, Lulu Santos, a gifted Brazilian guitarist, singer and composer, has enchanted audiences for over five decades with his distinctive contributions to Brazilian music.

The honorees will be celebrated at a private event on Sunday, November 10, in Miami during Latin Grammy Week. As in previous years, Latin Grammy Week will include the Latin Grammy Person of the Year gala, which this year honors Colombian sensation Carlos Vives, the Special Awards ceremony and a Leading Ladies of Entertainment luncheon, among other events.

Nominations for the 2024 Latin Grammys will be announced on September 17, and the awards ceremony will take place on November 14 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.

Movistar Plus+ Partners on Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s New Film “Los domingos”

Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s latest project has new support…

Movistar Plus+, Spain’s most-viewed pay television operator, is partnering on Los domingos, a new film from the 46-year-old Spanish filmmaker and Lullaby director and the producers of that critically acclaimed film.

Alauda Ruiz de AzúaA Movistar Plus+ Original, Los domingos is set in and will shoot in Ruiz de Azúa’s native Basque country, said Nahikari Ipiña at Sayaka Producciones.

Now in development, Los domingos is produced by Movistar Plus+ and Sayaka and Marisa Fernández ArmenterosBuenapinta Media, Sandra Hermida at Think Studio and Colosé Producciones and Manu Calvo.

Los domingos is a co-production between Movistar Plus+ and four producers and as independent producers for us that’s important,” Fernández Armenteros said at Cannes.

Los domingos, which shoots in the first half of 2025, is a drama, although plot details are under wraps.

“It is such luck to accompany Alauda in Los domingos after Lullaby success with audiences and critics. We are moved again by her talent in picturing the contradictions of her characters, and her unique visions when depicting life,” Los domingos’ producers said Friday in a joint statement.

Sold by Latido, and bowing in Berlin’s 2022 Panorama section, Lullaby swept Spain’s Malaga Festival, taking eight awards including best picture, a rare achievement.

Endorsed by Pedro Almodóvar as “undoubtedly the best debut in Spanish cinema for years,” Lullaby was distributed in Spain by BTeam Pictures. It over-performed notably in Spain, grossing €823, 933 ($880,847) at theaters, before scooping three Goya Awards, including best new director and gongs for both main actresses, Laia Costa and Susi Sánchez.

“Movistar Plus+ wants to bet on auteurs with a key vision but also the potential to reach a broad public, and ‘Los domingos’ is a case in point,” said Guillermo Farré, Movistar Plus+ head of original films & Spanish cinema.

Los domingos will be a Movistar Plus+ Original “but Movistar Plus+’s strategy when it produces films is to co-produce,” he added.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen to Serve as Jury President at This Year’s Cannes Critics’ Week

Rodrigo Sorogoyen is taking the lead at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week

The 42-year-old Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for his 2023 feature The Beasts, has been revealed as the jury president for this year’s edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.

Rodrigo SorogoyenThe parallel Cannes section devoted to emerging talents and first and second features will unfold from May 15 to 23 this year.

“It is a big responsibility, which I look forward to,” Sorogoyen said in a video statement on X announcing his presidency.

“La Semaine de la Critique supports and rewards first and second feature films as well as short films, thus providing vital support to cinema, new voices, and new ways to tell stories. Without these new voices, there would be no new cinema. They’re the ones who make it live and make it work.”

Sorogoyen’s last film, The Beasts, debuted at Cannes in 2022 and dominated the main prizes at the 37th edition of Spain’s Goya Awards, taking home nine gongs, including best film and director.

The film’s story follows a middle-aged French couple who move to a small village, seeking closeness with nature. However, their presence inflames two locals to the point of outright hostility and shocking violence.

The Beasts also picked up wins for best screenplay, leading actor and supporting actor.

The year’s Critics Week lineup will be announced in the next few weeks.

The official Cannes Film Festival lineup will be announced on April 11.

David Pérez Sañudo Agrees to Two-Picture Deal with Latido Films

David Pérez Sañudo has landed a two-picture deal…

Latido Films has sealed a two-picture deal with the 36-year-old Spanish filmmaker whose debut feature Ane, repped by Latido, swept three Spanish Academy Goya Awards in 2021.

David Pérez SañudoLatido will take world sales rights on both titles.

The move comes as Spanish sales companies battle to retain top-flight talent, increasingly in the crosshairs of international counterparts.

With Pérez Sañudo, Latido gets one of Spain’s most exciting young directors, particularly for a skill now held at high value in and outside the U.S.: His ability to channel genre and sub-genre, often in individual scenes, injecting them with a larger sense of narrative.

Latido handled world sales rights on films on another director with that sensitivity to sub-genre, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, from May God Save Us (2016) to The Realm (2018) and The Beasts (2022), which trounced multiple Cannes winners to win best foreign film at France’s Cesars last year.

First up for Latido is Pérez Sañudo’s Los últimos románticos, (“Azken Erromantikoak”) which has gone into production, shooting principally in Gernika, Bizkaia, near the Basque city of Bilbao.

A second chance drama adapting Txani Rodríguez’s Euskadi Prize for Literature, it turns on Irune, 40, a paper mill employee in a blue-collar town who is insecure, a bit manic, and a hypochondriac, leading a lonely life, in which the only person she could describe as a friend is one neighbor. She is also a kind person.

When an ominous lump appears on her chest, a labor dispute breaks out at her mill. Drawn in with the strikers, and contacting far more with her context, her life takes a surprising turn for the better.

Los últimos románticos proposes a personal, individual journey, the unique story of Irune at a very specific moment in her life,” Pérez Sañudo explained to Variety.

“It’s a story of mourning and overcoming which is perceived in a luminous way,” he added, noting that the film “strikes a fragile balance between the dramatic and the comic, but also between the individual and the collective” and “an interesting debate between the old and the new, between experience and the imminent, memory and future.”

Written by Pérez Sañudo and Marina Parés, reuniting after Ane is Missing, “Los últimos románticos stars Miren Gaztañaga.

In their fourth collaboration, the film is produced by two of Spain’s most ambitious regional players, Seville’s La Claqueta and San Sebastián’s Irusoin, which partnered notably on San Sebastián winner The Endless Trench.

The second title in the two-picture deal, currently in development, will be announced at Cannes.

“We are thrilled to be working again with David Perez Sañudo, after his debut film Ane’ scored three Goya Awards. With ‘Los Últimos Románticos,’ he is ready to tell a story that will not only connect but will also stay long with the audience after leaving the cinema,” said Oscar Alonso, Latido Films head of acquisitions.

“We look forward to see him grow in a way that we did when we worked on three films with Rodrigo Sorogoyen, now an international recognized director,” Alonso added. “Last but not least, having La Claqueta and Irusoin as production partners on board of his sophomore film, let us know we are in the safest of hands to have a film with an outstanding production value.”

Morena, Mediacrest, Estrategia Audiovisual & Fandango Join Forces on Álvaro Longoria’s Documentary”The Sleeper”

Álvaro Longoria’s latest project is gaining momentum…

Spain’s Morena, Mediacrest and Estrategia Audiovisual are joining forces with Italy’s Fandango on The Sleeper, a thriller documentary following an alleged Caravaggio painting, directed by the 56-year-old Spanish film director, executive producer, and actor.

Álvaro LongoriaRome-based Fandango will handle international sales rights.

Based on an original story created by Morena co-founder Longoria, Mediacrest’s Gerardo Olivares and Estrategia Audiovisual’s Ricardo Fernández-Deu, the project started production at the end of 2023, and is being shot in Madrid, London and several cities in Italy.

Guided by art dealer Jorge Coll, The Sleeper tells the journey of a piece of art that goes from a house’s living room in Madrid to making headlines worldwide in light of the possibility that it could be a lost painting by Italian Baroque master Caravaggio.

“You can’t ask for a better thriller plot,” Longoria told Variety. “The world of art is fascinating and somewhat obscure. The variables that affect the artistic versus economic value of a painting are plenty and this has always fascinated me.”

The documentary marks Longoria’s return to directing. His 2012 debut, Sons of the Clouds, produced by Javier Bardem, scored a Spanish Academy Goya, while 2015’s The Propaganda Game nabbed a nomination.

J.A. Bayona’s “The Society of the Snow” Wins 12 Goya Awards, Including Best Director & Best Film

J.A. Bayona is this year’s Goya Awards darling.

The 48-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s The Society of the Snow took home 12 trophies at the 38th Annual Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars, in Valladolid.

J.A. BayonaBayona’s film for Netflix claimed the most awards of the night, including Best Director and Best Film awards for the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker.

J.A. Bayona, La Sociedad De La Nieve, Society of the SnowBut Bayona wasn’t the only multiple-award winner.

Pablo Berger earned two Goya Awards for his acclaimed animated film Robot Dreams, which is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.

The 61-year-old Spanish filmmaker’s film claimed the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Animated Film awards.

The top acting awards went to Malena Alterio for Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Que Nadie Duerma and David Verdaguer for David Trueba’s Saben aquell.

Here’s the complete winners list:

Honorary Goya
Juan Mariné

Best Supporting Actor
José Coronado
Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes)

Best Original Song
“Yo solo quiero amor”
Rigoberta Bandini
Te estoy amando locamente

Best Costume Design
Julio Suárez
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Special Effects
Pau Costa, Félix Bergés and Laura Pedro
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver and Montse Ribé
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best New Actor
Matías Recalt
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Film Editing
Andrés Gil y Jaume Martí
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Cinematography
Pedro Luque
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Sound Editing
Jorge Adrados, Oriol Tarra y Marc Orts
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Art Direction
Alain Bainée
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Production Design
Margarita Huguet
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Original Music
Michael Giacchino
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Animated Film
Robot Dreams
Pablo Berger

Best Documentary Film
Mientras seas tú, el aquí y ahora
Carme Elías, de Claudia Pinto

Best Short (Fiction)
Aunque es de noche
Guillermo García López

Best Documentary Short
Ava
Mabel Lozano

Best Animated Short
To bird or not to bird
Martín Romero

Best Novel Direction
Estíbaliz Urresola Solaguren
20.000 especies de abejas (20,000 Species of Bees)

International Goya
Sigourney Weaver

Best New Actress
Janet Novás
O corno (The Rye Horn)

Best Iberoamerican Film
La memoria infinita (Chile) (The Eternal Memory)
Maite Alberdi

Best European Film
Anatomía de una caída (Francia) (Anatomy of a Fall)
Justine Triet

Best Supporting Actress
Ane Gabarain
20.000 especies de abejas (20,000 Species of Bees)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Pablo Berger
Robot Dreams

Best Original Screenplay
Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
20.000 especies de abejas (20,000 Species of Bees)

Best Actor
David Verdaguer
Saben aquell (Jokes & Cigarettes)

Best Actress
Malena Alterio
Que nadie duerma (Something is About to Happen)

Best Director
J. A. Bayona
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Best Picture
La sociedad de la nieve (The Society of the Snow)

Tubi Acquires North American Rights to Alberto Ammann’s Tense Drama-Thriller “Upon Entry”

Alberto Ammann’s latest Entry is headed to North America…

Tubi has acquired North American rights to Spanish and English-language thriller Upon Entry, starring the 45-year-old Argentine and Spanish actor, from French sales firm Charades and Anonymous Content Independent.

Alberto Ammann, Upon EntryThe SXSW film from writer-directors Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, which recently received three Spirit Award nominations and three Goya Awards nominations, will launch on the ad-supported platform on December 12.

The tense drama-thriller Upon Entry finds a couple held and interrogated by border agents determined to see if they have something to hide.

In addition to Ammann, the cast comprises Bruna Cusí, Ben Temple and Laura Gómez.

Internationally, the film has played at festivals including San Sebastian, Tallinn and Thessaloniki.

The films Spirit Award nominations include Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay, while the Goya Awards nominations came for Best Actor, Best Screenplay and Best New Director.

Neon Acquires North American Rights to Pablo Berger’s First Animated Feature “Robot Dreams”

Pablo Berger’s dreams will bring him stateside…

Neon has acquired the North American rights to Robot Dreams, the first animated feature from the 60-year-old Spanish Goya Award-winning filmmaker.

Pablo BergerThe film premiered in the Special Screenings section of the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, May 20th.

Robot DreamsBased on the award-winning graphic novel of the same name by Sara VaronRobot Dreams follows DOG, who lives in Manhattan and one day, tired of being alone, decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of ’80s NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again?

Berger produced the film alongside Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia Diaz and Ángel Durández, with Jérôme Vidal, Sylvie Pialat and Benoit Quainon co-producing.

The acquisition, which is the first North American deal announced for a Cannes festival movie this edition, comes on the heels of Neon’s past triumphs at Cannes with three consecutive Palme d’Or winners: ParasiteTitane and Triangle of Sadness.

Berger’s previous projects include Torremolinos, Blancanieves and Abracadabra.

Latido Films Acquires Arantxa Echevarria’s “Chinas” for International Sales

Arantxa Echevarria’s latest project will be going global…

Latido Films has acquired the Spanish writer-director’s third feature film Chinas for international sales.

Arantxa EchevarriaEchevarria previously won the Goya Award for best new director in 2018 for her debut, Carmen & Lola.

“Arantxa Echevarria is an exceptional filmmaker with a unique sense of capturing the essence of life in minority communities in Spain. As such she has became the voice of a generation, and her movies are eye-openers about realities we seldom know. For us working again with Arantxa is a privilege and a pleasure,” said Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura.

Arantxa Echevarria, ChinasFilmed in Madrid’s Chinatown, the narrative follows two disparate families with ties to China, navigating the weighty segregation of a city that for better or worse, they call home.

“These neighborhoods allow immigrants to weave networks of solidarity and community. They cling to them as part of their own identity away from home, but they also become spaces that distance them from the true reality of where they live” Echevarria told Variety. 

Yun is nine, a buoyant second-generation immigrant whose family lives in the neighborhood. She calls herself Lucía and oscillates between a strict and traditional homelife and her assimilated Spanish life at school, while Claudia, her 17-year-old sister, revolts fully, coming into her own while met with prejudice from peers and increasing self-doubt.

“Adolescence is an extremely fragile time. We want to rebel, to find our own place. And in that moment of fragility, we’re also hyper-exposed to the world, to the gaze of friends, the boy we like. At that moment where we’re in a feverish search, life can be cut short,” Echevarria noted.

“Claudia hates what she is, where she comes from, because it makes her different. She hates and loves being Chinese. Being like the others means betraying her own reality. That journey was so interesting to me that her character began to take more shape and presence in the film. After all, Lucía’s light and smile, with time, will morph into the grim and serious disposition of her sister” she added.

Across town, lives a more reserved Xiang, Lucia’s new schoolmate adopted from China and raised by parents who stop at nothing to include her heritage in her upbringing, even when she abhors it, while showering her with the best of their fortunate social status, a life Lucía covets.

Both girls, the products of fragile surroundings, take on their parents’ struggles while longing for a carefree childhood in a world that seems to have pre-determined their fate, a theme that persists throughout the film.

“I’m afraid that the education and love received from our family dictates who we become. School can shape us, help us to escape from the internalized education of childhood, but the customs, the rigor, the good and bad are determined for us by our parents,” Echevarria noted.“Our inner desires, longings, and dreams are easily buried under the incessant trickle of what’s expected of us.”

Produced by Lazona Producciones, Hojalata Films and TVTEC Servicios Audiovisuales, the film is set for release this year with a cast comprised of non-professional actors who provide richness to the script, a heartfelt rendering of the demoralizing way in which self-imposed and societal prejudice clings to a psyche.

“I usually write about sensations and feelings that I know, even if they take place in a space that’s foreign to me, ” Echevarria said. “The search for identity, the heartbreak of not knowing where you come from and knowing that you’re not the same as the people around you, is a feeling that I’ve experienced and felt in my own skin.”

Chinas lends power to an immigrant community at once steeped in identity and being stripped of it, Echevarria, providing a way out of ignorance and into a greater understanding of the hardships these families endure when pulling up roots to settle into a new culture.

As Saura concludes, “Thanks to this film, no person will enter a Chinese-owned supermarket without understanding the hardworking people that sit behind its counters.