Surprise Golden Globe Win Puts ‘Argentina, 1985’ in Oscar Sights

There are strong parallels between Santiago Mitre’s historic legal drama and 2010 Argentine Oscar winner ‘The Secret in Their Eyes.’ 

Scott Roxborough – The Hollywood Reporter – January 11, 2023

One of the most surprising upsets of the Golden Globes on Tuesday night was Argentina, 1985 winning the best non-English language feature honor, beating out the bookies’ favorites, including Netflix’s German war drama All Quiet on the Western Front, Indian box office smash RRR and Cannes festival winners Close and Decision to Leave.

The win of a Golden Globe puts increased awards focus on Santiago Mitre’s historic legal drama, which follows the story of the real-life prosecutors who put Argentine’s military on trial for the crimes of state terrorism committed during the country’s bloody dictatorship.

Argentina, 1985 now looks like a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination in the best international feature category, though its Globes rivals — and critical favorites, including Ireland’s The Quiet Girl, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Polish drama EO and Ali Abbasi’s newly-relevant Iranian feature Holy Spider — will provide stiff competition. But, following the Globes win, Mitre’s movie is clearly Argentina’s best chance in a decade of seizing Oscar glory. 

Argentina, 1985 actually has a lot in common with 2010’s best international feature winner Secret in Their Eyes, the last Argentine film to win cinema’s top honor (and only the second time in history, after Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story in 1985). Both Secret in Their Eyes and Argentina, 1985 are legal dramas that examine the legacy of Argentina’s military dictatorship of the 1970s and early 1980s. And both feature Argentine star Ricardo Darín as a principled prosecutor willing to challenge entrenched authority in his pursuit of justice. 

But where Juan José Campanella’s Oscar winner is historically-inspired fiction — the film is adapted from a novel by Eduardo Sacheri — Argentina, 1985 hews tightly to the historic facts. Secret in Their Eyes invents a tale of public prosecutors who spend 25 years tracking down a murder and rapist who goes free after being recruited by Argentina’s secret police to carry out their “dirty war” against political dissidents during the dictatorship. Darín plays the lawyer Benjamin Esposito in a double role: as the idealistic young prosecutor at the start of his career, and as the cynical, world-weary man looking back over his life, trying to figure out what went wrong.

The story is told in the form of a procedural thriller — Campanella cut his teeth on U.S. serialized drama, directing more than a dozen episodes of Law & Order — and the film’s political commentary remains subtle, the setting for the movie’s primary themes of justice and power of memory. 

In Argentina, 1985, an Amazon Prime original, Mitrefollowsthe more classic mode of historic reconstruction. The movie traces the true story of Julio Strassera (Darín) and Luis Moreno Ocampo, the public prosecutors who, after Argentina’s democracy was restored in 1983, put Argentina’s military on trial for its actions during the dictatorship, which included using death squads to hunt down perceived opponents. Thousands of people were killed or “disappeared.”

Mitre meticulously recreates the period for the film, even going so far as to use the same 1980s pneumatic cameras and lenses to mimic the look and feel of the original trial, which was broadcast live on national TV. Argentina, 1985 is much more clearly making a political statement about the importance of the rule of law in establishing and maintaining democracy. 

That message, made all the more timely following the U.S. House Select Committee hearings on the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks, and the more recent storming of the national capital in Brazil, might give Argentina, 1985 the edge with Oscar voters.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Secrets in Their Eyes was the only Argentine film to win the best international feature Oscar.

Read the article HERE.

Academy Conversations: ‘Argentina, 1985’

Featuring a discussion with Santiago Mitre, Ricardo Darín and Axel Kuschevatzky | Moderated by Stacey Wilson Hunt.

Amazon’s Prime Video to Launch Lucia Puenzo-helmed Karla Souza Drama ‘La Caida’ in November (EXCLUSIVE)

By Anna Marie de la Fuente – Variety – Oct 10, 2022

Prime Video is debuting the Karla Souza drama “La Caida” (“Dive”) on Nov. 11 after its world premiere at the Morelia Int’l Film Festival. 

“How to Get Away with Murder” star Souza produces and stars in the topical drama directed by high-flying Argentine helmer-scribe Lucía Puenzo, hot off “La Jauría” and “Señorita 89.” 

Souza is known for her performances in Mexican hit family comedy “We are the Nobles,” action-comedy “Day Shift” opposite Jamie Foxx, as well as the Shondaland TV series “How to Get Away with Murder,” among others.

Puenzo, whose debut feature “XXY” won the Cannes Festival’s Critics’ Week Grand Prix, served as the showrunner as well as one of the directors and writers of Amazon’s first locally produced Prime Video Original in Chile, “La Jauria,” and of “Señorita 89,” both for London-based production-distribution giant Fremantle and the Larrain brothers’ Fabula. Starzplay and Pantaya also backed “Señorita 89.”

Just like “La Jauria,” “La Caida” deals with a story of sexual abuse but in the latter’s case, in the world of high-board diving. Inspired by true events, “La Caida” is described as “a nuanced story about the complexities of relationships in which Mariel (Souza) is a veteran elite diver who has one last chance at the Olympic Games.” As some sordid revelations come to the surface, Mariel has to question whether winning is really her ultimate dream.

“’La Caída’ is the most challenging and personal project of my career,” said Souza who added: “I have found true growth and my own power and agency in the telling of this story.” Lauding Amazon for being an “amazing partner and “the best home for this intimate and brave story,” Souza remarked: “Our hope is to elevate the complex conversations surrounding the systemic abuse of power in our culture.” Early research on the project revealed that in Mexico, 71% of athletes have suffered some kind of harassment or abuse and in 67% of these cases, the trainer was the main culprit.

“One of the most intense journeys of my life has been writing and shooting this film; many doors shut, but many more opened,” said Puenzo.

Relating how Souza trained for three years to be able to jump from a 10-meter platform, Puenzo added: “I am still moved by the dedication she and everyone involved have had from the first to the last day that this story brought us together.”

“Karla always repeats that ‘La Caída’ found her team and her cast, and I agree with those words, it was not an easy script to write nor an easy film to shoot… we always knew it was flammable material, and today I also know that this film will forever be a fiercely personal project for the group of people who joined the emotional roller coaster that is ‘La Caída,’” Puenzo continued.

“’La Caída’ is a strong film that shows how difficult it is to break free from the past,” concurred producer Ramiro Ruiz who added that it also reflected on “the sacrifice and courage it takes to confront power and lies in a high-performance sport.”

Written by Puenzo, María Renée Prudencio (“Señorita 89”), Tatiana Mereñuk (“Yo Soy Sola”), Mónica Herrera and Samara Ibrahin (“Diablo Guardián”), “La Caida” is produced by Prime Video, Madam, Filmadora and Infinity Hill.

Aside from Souza and Ruiz, Ana Laura Rascón (“Hasta que te Conocí”) and Infinity Hill’s Axel Kuschevatzky (“Argentina 1985,” “Staged”) serve as producers.

Drama will stream exclusively worldwide on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.

Souza is attached to feature film “La Hiedra” (“The Ivy”), which is scheduled to shoot in Ecuador next year. Written and directed by Ana Cristina Barragan, whose “La Piel Pulpo” premiered at the recent San Sebastian Film Festival, Souza plays 31-year-old Azucena who searches for the son she gave birth to at age 13 and abandoned.

Read the article HERE.

Argentina, 1985 selected for the Official Competition of the London Film Festival

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina–August 25, 2022–La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films, Infinity Hill, and Amazon Studios celebrate today that Argentina, 1985 will participate in the Official Competition of the 66th BFI London Film Festival taking place October 5-16 in London, England. Argentina, 1985 will be released in theaters in Argentina on September 29 and in the United States on September 30.

Award-winner Santiago Mitre (Paulina, The Summit) directed the film, which he also co-wrote with his long-time collaborator Mariano Llinás (La Flor, Extraordinary Stories). The film features a star-studded cast led by Ricardo Darín (The Secret in Their Eyes, Wild Tales) as Julio Strassera and Peter Lanzani (The Clan, El Ángel) as Luis Moreno Ocampo.

The film is a co-production between La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films, Infinity Hill, and Amazon Studios. Axel Kuschevatzky, Federico Posternak, Agustina Llambi-Campbell, Ricardo Darín, Santiago Mitre, Santiago Carabante, Chino Darín and Victoria Alonso produced the film. The executive producers are Cindy Teperman and Phin Glynn.

Argentina, 1985 is inspired by the true story of public prosecutors Julio Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo, who dared to investigate and prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship in 1985. Undeterred by the military’s still considerable influence within their fragile new democracy, Strassera and Moreno Ocampo assembled a young legal team of unlikely heroes for their David-vs-Goliath battle. Under constant threat to themselves and their families, they raced against time to bring justice to the victims of the military junta.

The latest movies from the Dardenne brothers, Hansen-Løve, Iñárritu, Koreeda, Mungiu and Östlund, amongst the Perlak at San Sebastian Festival’s 70th edition

‘Peter von Kant’, François Ozon’s homage to Fassbinder, and ‘Moonage Daydream’, Brett Morgen’s immersion in David Bowie’s universe, will open and close the section, respectively

‘L’innocent’, by Louis Garrel; ‘Living’, by Oliver Hermanus; ‘Corsage’, by Marie Kreutzer, and ‘Argentina, 1985’, by Santiago Mitre, will also compete for the City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award

Friday, August 19th, 2022

The Perlak section, composed of films as yet unseen in Spain, acclaimed by critics and/or winners of awards at other international festivals, comes this year with the latest movies by some of the biggest names in contemporary filmmaking, such as the Dardenne brothers, Mia Hansen-Løve, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Hirokazu Koreeda, Cristian Mungiu, Ruben Östlund and François Ozon.

Armani Beauty, Festival Official Makeup, is the sponsor of the section. The films screening in Perlak compete for the City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award, sponsored by San Sebastian City Council and decided by the audience at the first screening of the film. The award comes in two parts: the Best Film Award, coming with 50,000 euros, and the Best European Film Award, with 20,000 euros going to the distributor of the film in Spain.

Belgian siblings Jean-Pierre (Engis, 1951) and Luc (Awirs, 1954) Dardenne, winners of two Golden Palms at Cannes, will compete for the first time for the City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award with Tori et Lokita / Tori and Lokita, winner of the 75th anniversary Award at the Festival de Cannes.

The actor, writer and filmmaker Louis Garrel (Paris, 1983) won the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay in San Sebastian with his second feature, L’homme fidèle (A Faithful Man, 2018), the first part of a trilogy. The second instalment, La croisade ( The Crusade, 2021), was selected for Perlak after showing at the Festival de Cannes, just like the third, L’innocent / The Innocent, with which he returns to San Sebastian.

Having competed with Eden in the Official Selection (2014) and having been selected for Perlak with L’avenir / Things to Come (2016), Mia Hansen-Løve (Paris, 1981) returns to the section where the audience plays the part of the jury with Un beau matin / One Fine Morning, winner at the Cannes Quinzaine des Réalisateurs of the Europa Cinemas Cannes Label award.

The South African moviemaker Oliver Hermanus (Cape Town, 1983) signs the British remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru (Living, 1952), 70 years after its initial premiere. Screened at the Sundance Festival and selected at the Official Section out competition in Venice, the film has a screenplay by the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the British author of Japanese origin Kazuo Ishiguro, and stars Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood.

Bardo, falsa crónica de unas cuantas verdades / Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths will be Alejandro González Iñárritu’s (México City, 1963) third participation in the Perlak section, after the screenings of Amores perros (2000) and Babel (2006). His latest movie, focused on a Mexican journalist and documentary-maker, will compete at the next Venice Festival.

Hirokazu Koreeda (Tokyo, 1962) has competed in San Sebastian’s Official Selection with Wandafuru raifu (After Life, 1998),Hana yori mo naho (Hana, 2006),Aruitemo, aruitemo (Still Walking, 2008) and Kiseki (I Wish, 2011), winner of the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and who has received the Audience Award twice, with Soshite chichi ni naru (Like Father, Like Son, 2013) and with Umimachi Diary (Our Little Sister, 2015). In 2018, Manbiki Kazoku (Shoplifters) won the Golden Palm at the Festival de Cannes plus an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, while Koreeda received the Donostia Award. Broker, whose lead character Song Kang-ho received the Best Actor Award in Cannes, is the first South Korean production to be directed by the Japanese filmmaker.

In Corsage, the Austrian moviemaker Marie Kreutzer (Graz, 1977) revisits the story of Sissi and chooses the moment when the Empress of Austria turns 40. Corsage showed in Un Certain Regard at the Festival de Cannes, where Vicky Krieps received the Best Performance Award.

Santiago Mitre (Buenos Aires, 1980), who won the Horizontes Award with his second film, Paulina (2015), returns to San Sebastian with Argentina, 1985. The film, a contender in Venice Festival’s official competition, reconstructs what was known as the ‘Juicio a las Juntas’ trial of the Argentina military Junta, with a screenplay from Mitre himself and Mariano Llinás, and the performance of Donostia Award-winner Ricardo Darín.

Moonage Daydream, an immersion in the universe of the singer and artist David Bowie, will close out of competition the section, following its screening at the Festival de Cannes. Brett Morgen (Los Angeles, 1968), author of On the Ropes, Jane and Cobain: Montage of Heck, has explored more than five million articles (drawings, recordings, films, diaries…) to compose this musical non-fiction.

The Rumanian director Cristian Mungiu (Iasi, 1968), who received the FIPRESCI Grand Prix in San Sebastian for 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, 2007), brings to Perlak R.M.N. , his reflection on xenophobia which competed at the last Festival de Cannes.

Peter von Kant, the latest movie from François Ozon (Paris, 1967), opening film of the last Berlinale, will open the Perlak section. Ozon, winner of the Golden Shell and of the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay for Dans la maison (In the House, 2012) and of the Special Jury Prize for Le refuge (The Refuge, 2009), the RTVE-Otra Mirada Award for Jeune et jolie (Young & Beautiful, 2013) and who competed in the Official Selection with Une nouvelle amie (The New Girlfriend, 2014) and Été 85 ( Summer of 85, 2020), pays tribute in Peter von Kant to the filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, in a work featuring Denis Ménochet, Hanna Schygulla and Isabelle Adjani.

Also participating in the Perlak selection is the Golden Palm winner at the last Festival de Cannes: Triangle of Sadness from the Swedish moviemaker Ruben Östlund (Styrsö, 1974). Östlund, who opened Zabaltegi-Tabakalera with his former Golden Palm-winner, The Square (2017), sets his latest film and satire on the middle-classes on a luxury cruise.

These twelve films, to which one more will be added, join the already announced As Bestas / The Beasts, directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, selected for Cannes; Un año, una noche / One Year, One Night, by Isaki Lacuesta, which competed in Berlin; En los márgenes / On the Fringe, by Juan Diego Botto, to screen at Venice; and Los renglones torcidos de Dios / God’s Crooked Lines, a production by Oriol Paulo, Special Screening of the section.

The Victoria Eugenia Theatre will also host the screening of a Surprise Film.

Read the article HERE.

THE ZURICH FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FIRST GALA PREMIERES

11. August 2022

The Zurich Film Festival’s «Gala Premieres» section presents the year’s most anticipated international auteur films. We are unveiling the first seven titles, including the star-studded drama THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh, the European premiere of the German film adaptation ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Edward Berger as well as the world premieres of DER NACHNAME by Sönke Wortmann and DIE GOLDENEN JAHRE by Barbara Kulcsar. 

Every year, the Gala section of the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) shows high-quality auteur films with large audience appeal and invites filmmakers to present their movies in person. At the 18th ZFF (22.9.-2.10.) a diverse programme can once again be experienced. «We are delighted to be able to show star-studded prestige productions such as ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT with Daniel Brühl or DER NACHNAME with Iris Berben as European or world premieres,» explains Artistic Director Christian Jungen. «In recent years, the Zurich Film Festival has established itself as a springboard into the award season. Of the last 10 winners of the Oscar for Best Film, 6 screened at ZFF. This year, we will again present international auteur films that will later play a role in the Oscar race to the more than 120,000 visitors and the 600 accredited media.»

The complete programme of the 18th Zurich Film Festival will be published on Thursday, September 8, from 12 noon on our Website. Follow us on our social media channels for more updates. Ticket sales start on September 12.
 

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

Drama | Ireland, USA, UK, 2022
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon

While civil war rages in Ireland in 1923, life on the remote island of Inisherin takes its usual course for the good-natured Pádraic. But he is abruptly jolted out of his carefree state when his lifelong friend Colm resigns his friendship for seemingly no reason. Events threaten to escalate and the men maneuver themselves further and further into a dead end. After THREE BILLBOARDS, Oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh tells a blackly humorous story about a male friendship against a breathtaking backdrop.
 

 
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

European Premiere | Drama | Germany, 2022
Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Aaron Hilmer, Moritz Klaus, Edin Hasanovic, Daniel Brühl, Devid Striesow

Germany, World War I. A romanticized idea of heroism motivates schoolboy Paul Bäumer to volunteer for the army. Full of patriotic zeal, he goes to the Western Front with his comrades – but it is not long before the initial euphoria turns into fear and despair. With ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, Edward Berger directs the first German film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s world bestseller: a gripping drama that brings home the absurdity and reality of war.

BROKER

Drama | South Korea, 2022
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Doona Bae, Lee Joo-Young, Gang Dong-won

When an infant is left at a baby hatch one rainy night, Sang-hyun and Dong-soo decide to secretly take him home. The mission: to find a new family. But then the mother, So-young, unexpectedly reappears. While they go on a journey that will change everyone involved forever, the police are looking for them.
 

DER NACHNAME

World Premiere | Comedy | Germany, 2022
Director: Sönke Wortmann
Cast: Christoph Maria Herbst, Caroline Peters, Justus von Dohnányi, Florian David Fitz, Janina Uhse, Iris Berben

It should have been a harmonious reunion on Lanzarote, but as soon as the married couple Stephan and Elisabeth and new parents Thomas and Anna arrive at the family holiday home, new quarrels break out in the family. Elisabeth and Thomas can hardly believe it when their mother Dorothea announces that she and adopted son René are now married. Four years after DER VORNAME, director Sönke Wortmann returns to Zurich with the long-awaited sequel and delightfully wicked social comedy DER NACHNAME.
 

DIE GOLDENEN JAHRE

World Premiere | Comedy | Switzerland, 2022
Director: Barbara Kulcsar
Screenplay: Petra Volpe
Cast: Stefan Kurt, Esther Gemsch, Ueli Jäggi

Alice and her husband Peter are newly retired, but their new phase of life is overshadowed when Magalie dies unexpectedly. While Alice mourns the loss of her best friend, Peter develops into a health fanatic. A cruise together is supposed to bring the couple closer together again, but Magalie’s widowed husband disturbs their togetherness. Without further ado, Alice decides to set out on her own adventure. A feel-good movie about the third third of life, based on a screenplay by Petra Volpe.
 

ARGENTINA, 1985

Drama | Argentina, 2022
Director: Santiago Mitre
Cast: Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Norman Briski

ARGENTINA, 1985 is inspired by the true story of public prosecutors Julio Strassera, and Luis Moreno Ocampo, who dared to investigate and prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship in 1985. Undeterred by the military’s still considerable influence within their fragile new democracy, Strassera and Moreno Ocampo assembled a young legal team of unlikely heroes for their David-vs-Goliath battle. Under constant threat to themselves and their families, they raced against time to bring justice to the victims of the military junta.
 

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS

Comedy/Drama | Sweden, Germany, France, UK, 2022
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly de Leon, Woody Harrelson

Models Carl and Yaya are navigating the world of fashion while exploring the limits of their relationship. The couple, along with a rogues’ gallery of wealthy passengers, are invited on a luxury cruise where, at first glance, everything seems perfect. When a terrible thunderstorm causes the ship to capsize, things get completely out of hand. The film won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, this year. 
  

The 18th edition takes place from September 22 until October 2, 2022
Programme announcement: Thu, September 8, 2022
Ticket sales: from Mon, September 12, 2022

Read the article HERE.

Alberto Barbera, director of the 79th Venice International Film Festival announces Argentina, 1985.

Venice Festival Picks Marilyn Monroe Drama ‘Blonde,’ New Timothee Chalamet, Olivia Wilde, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Films

The 79th Venice International Film Festival unveils the movies that will compete for this year’s Golden Lion.

The Hollywood Reporter – July 26, 2022 – By Scott Roxborough

The Venice Film Festival has done it again.

The lineup for the 79th Venice International Film Festival could have been a damp squib after Cannes’ stellar 2022 festival, which featured the likes of Hollywood blockbusters Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis alongside arthouse crowd pleasers, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness and Park Chan-wook’s South Korean mystery thriller Decision to Leave.

But Venice’s 2022 program, unveiled on Tuesday, stands up to the Croisette razzle-dazzle with an impressive mix of red-carpet-friendly, star-studded features and compelling, politically-charged dramas and documentaries. While there will be nothing to match Top Gun at the Lido this year, it looks like Venice’s position as the launch pad for award-season contenders is still firmly in place.

New features from Alejandro González Iñárritu, Florian Zeller, Noah Baumbach, Luca Guadagnino, Darren Aronofsky, Joanna Hogg and Olivia Wilde will all premiere in Venice. The stars set to boat in for the Italian fest include Timothée Chalamet, Ana de Armas, Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Tilda Swinton, Brendan Fraser, Cate Blanchett, Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Chris Pine.

Baumbach’s Netflix film White Noise, an adaptation of the 1985 Don DeLillo novel that is starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, will open the 79th Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31, Venice had announced on Monday. It will mark Baumbach’s return to the Lido three years after his Marriage Story premiered in Venice, en route to picking up six Oscar nominations and one win. It’s one of four Netflix features on the Lido this year, with the streamer also taking Blonde, a fictionalized chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe from New Zealand director Andrew Dominik, starring de Armas as Monroe, Iñárritu’s  Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths and Athena from Romain Gavras (son of Costa Gavras) to the Lido. Bardo is Iñárritu’s first Mexican film since his 2000 feature debut Amores Perros.

Other competition highlights include Zeller’s The Son, the French director’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning drama The Father, starring Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Hopkins, will premiere in competition in Venice. Adapted, like The Father, from his own French-language play, The Son is being produced by See-Saw, the British/Australian banner behind 2021 Venice Festival and 2022 awards season darling The Power of the Dog. Sony Pictures Classic has the rights.

Venice favorite Guadagnino returns to the Lido with competition title Bones and All, a U.S.-set feature that reteams the director with his Call Me By Your Name Oscar nominee Chalamet. The film co-stars Taylor Russell as Maren, a young woman living on the margins of society who falls in love with Lee (Chalamet), an intense and disenfranchised drifter. Jessica Harper, Chloë Sevigny, Michael Stuhlbarg and Mark Rylance co-star. MGM has worldwide rights, with United Artists releasing in the U.S. and Vision Distribution handling the Italian bow.

Aronofsky’s The Whale will also premiere in competition, marking his return to the Lido after 2017’s Mother! Aronofsky won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2008 with The Wrestler. His latest stars Sadie Sink, Brendan Fraser and Samantha Morton in the story of a reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity who attempts, one last time, to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter. A24 has worldwide rights.

British auteur Joanna Hogg will bring The Eternal Daughter, starring Tilda Swinton, to the Venice competition. The same goes for the latest from 2017 Venice Golden Lion winner Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), The Banshees of Inisherin, starring Colin Farrell. French director Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children, a French feature starring Virginie Efira (Elle, Benedetta) as a childless woman who forms a deep bond with her boyfriend’s young daughter, has also made the Venice competition cut, as has Our Ties from fellow French director Roschdy Zem (Chocolat).

Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, whose 2017 drama Hannah, starring Charlotte Rampling, was part of the Venice competition that year, is set to return with his English-language debut, Monica. The family drama stars Trace Lysette as a woman who returns home to care for her dying mother. Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza and Emily Browning co-star. The Exchange and UTA Independent Film Group are handling world sales. Another Italian feature, Chiara from director Susanna Nicchiarelli, will be representing the home crowd in the Venice competition this year.

No Bears, a film shot in secret by banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi, will also get a Venice competition slot, as will Todd Field’s TÁR, starring Cate Blanchett, Vahid Jalilvand’s Beyond the Wall, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer and Koji Fukada’s Love Life. Beyond the Wall, an Iranian drama from Panahi’s countryman Vahid Jalilvand, will also screen in competition, one of four Iranian films in Venice’s official selection this year.

Laura Poitras’ documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed will get a rare competition slot for a non-fiction film, while A Couple, a French-shot feature from acclaimed documentarian Frederick Wiseman (City Hall), will also premiere in the lineup.

Other competition titles include Il signore delle formiche from Italian director Gianni Amelio, a portrait of the Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti jailed in 1968 under a Fascist-era law criminalizing gay activity; Emanuele Crialese’s Spanish drama L’immensità starring Penelope Cruz; and Santiago Mitre’s political period piece Argentina, 1985.

The Hanging Sun, a Sky thriller from director Francesco Carrozzini, based on the Jo Nesbø best-seller, starring Alessandro Borghi, Jessica Brown Findlay, Peter Mullan and Charles Dance,  will close the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 10.

Out of competition, Olivia Wilde’s hotly-anticipated Don’t Worry Darling will have its world premiere on the Lido. The feature stars Pugh, Styles and Pine. A year after Paul Schrader wowed Venice with The Card Counter, he returns with Master Gardener, starring Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver, which will premiere out of competition.

Walter Hill’s new Western Dead for a Dollar, starring Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe, also secured an out-of-competition slot, as did Kim Ki-duk’s Call of God, a feature completed after the Korean director’s death and Dreamin’ Wild from director Bill Pohlad (Love & Mercy), with Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel and Walton Goggins, about musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson.

On the TV side, Venice is looking to amaze and shock with two new series from Danish arthouse scandal magnets Lars von Trier and Nicolas Winding Refn, who will premiere their latest small-screen efforts, The Kingdom and Copenhagen Cowboy, respectively, out of competition on the Lido this year.

Also screening out of competition in Venice are Paolo Virzi’s Italian drama Siccita, Ti West’s Pearl, starring Mia Goth and David Corenswet, When The Waves Are Done from Lav Diaz, Living from Oliver Hermanus, plus Oliver Stone’s new, and sure-to-be-controversial, documentary Nuclear.

On the non-fiction side, two Ukraine documentaries, Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom from Evgeny Afineevsky — described as an “instant movie”, shot from the beginning of the Ukraine war in February — and The Kiev Trial from Sergei Loznitsa (Babi Yar. Context), will premiere out of competition.

Gianfranco Rosi’s In Viaggio, a documentary on Pope Francis, The Matchmaker, a documentary on western women who joined ISIS, from Benedetta Argentieri will also get Venice debuts, as will non-fiction features Gli Ultimi Giorni Dell’Umantita from Enrico Ghezzi an Alessandro Gagliardo, A Compassionate Spy from director Steve James, Music for Black Pigeons from Jorgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed, and Bobi Wine Ghetto President from Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo on the titular Ugandan rapper-turned-politician.

Several short films, including Maid from Lucrecia Martel, Sally Potter’s Look at Me, starring Javier Bardem and Chris Rock, will get an out-of-competition premieres in Venice 2022. Organizers said they are hopeful Rock would attend the fest.

Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera and Roberto Cicutto, president of La Biennale di Venezia, the umbrella organization that runs the world’s oldest film fest, unveiled the lineup live from the library of the Biennale Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts in Venice in a ceremony that was live-streamed on the festival’s website, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Venice was the only major A-list festival not to cancel its in-person event during the coronavirus pandemic, but the 2022 Lido fest looks to be the first since the start of COVID-19 to take place without any restrictions whatsoever after Italy removed its remaining mask rules for cinemas on June 15.

Ahead of the official selection unveiled on Tuesday, Venice announced this year’s lineup for its sidebar sections.

Roberto De Paolis’ Princess will open the 2022 Horizons sections, described as a combination of documentary and fantasy, which explores

Victim, a Czech drama from first feature from director Michal Blasko, the Spanish feature On the Fringe, the directorial debut of Spanish actor Juan Diego Botto and Trenque Lauquen from Argentine director Laura Citarella will also screen in the sidebar this year. Directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel make their Venice debut in Horizons with Vera

Guy Davidi’s documentary Innocence will also make a Horizons bow this year. The film examines the phenomenon of suicides among Israeli army recruits. Davidi’s 2011 doc 5 Broken Cameras was Oscar-nominated.

Other Horizons features include Blanquita from Chilean director Fernando Guzzoni, For My Country from Rachid Hami, Autobiography from Makbul Mubarak, To the North from Romanian director Mihai Mincan, Kei Ishikawa’s Japanese thriller A Man, the Polish debut Bread and Salt from director Damian Kocur, French feature The Sitting Duck from Jean-Paul Salome, starring Isabelle Huppert, the black-and-white Italian feature Ti Mangio Il Curore from director Pippo Mezzapesa, and Luxembourg, Luxembourg from Antonio Lukich, a Ukraine-set comedy.

World War III from Houman Seydei, which will screen in Horizons, is one of four Iranian films to make the cut for Venice this year.

The Happiest Man in the World from Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska, about the siege of Sarajevo, and Sergio Trefaut’s The Bride, shot in Iraqi Kurdistan, completes the main Horizons feature.

Origin of Evil from Sebastian Marnier will open Venice’s Horizons Extra section.

Hanging Gardens from Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji and Amanda from Carolina Cavalli, and Red Shoes from Mexican director Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser, all first-time directors, will debut in Horizons Extra.

Soudade Kaadan’s Syrian-set Nezouh, the Italian feature Notte Fantasma from director Fulvio Risuleo, Michal Vinik’s Israeli drama Valeria is Getting Married, Goliath from Adilkhan Yerzhanov, and Arian Vazirdaftari’s Iranian thriller Without Her, will also premiere in Horizons Extra.

Darren Aronofsky, Laura Poitras, Olivia Wilde, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Florian Zeller Take New Movies to Venice – Full Lineup

Variety – Jul 26, 2022 1:50am – By Nick Vivarelli, Manori Ravindran

New works by Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Alejandro J. Iñárritu, Luca Guadagnino, Joanna Hogg and Laura Poitras are among the rich roster of titles that will launch from the Lido and compete for a Golden Lion at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, which is set for a standout stellar 79th edition.

Artistic director Alberto Barbera has unveiled a luscious, politically infused lineup comprising a slew of hotly anticipated pics from the U.S. and elsewhere around the world, featuring scores of stars.

Olivia Wilde, Penelope Cruz, Ana de Armas, Cate Blanchett, Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Christoph Waltz, Sigourney Weaver and Mia Goth are just some top talents now expected to be on the Palazzo Del Cinema’s red carpet during the Aug. 31-Sept. 10 event. Chris Rock may be coming to Venice to promote a short titled “Look at Me” directed by Sally Potter.

But fest director Alberto Barbera at the presser made it clear that he has a lot more on his mind than sparking paparazzi and fan frenzies on the Lido.

“It’s often said that film festivals are a window on the world,” said Barbera, noting that “From this window we are witnessing things that we would rather not see, such as the war of aggression on Ukraine.”

Barbera added that he and the Venice team are also horrified by the arrests in Iran and the incarceration “for no reason” of filmmakers, Jafar Panahi Mohammad Rasoulof, Mostafa Al-Ahmad, “guilty only of having exercised their right to freedom of expression,” he noted. He also denounced the incarceration in Turkey of producer Cigdem Mater, “who is guilty only of having planned a doc — that was never made — on the 2013 Gezi Park anti-government protests,” Barbera said.

Aronofsky, a Venice aficionado whose “Black Swan” was the Lido’s opener in 2010, is back with “The Whale,” an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play about a morbidly obese recluse, played by Brendan Fraser and also starring Sadie Sink and Samantha Morton.

Meanwhile, Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe drama “Blonde” starring de Armas as the Hollywood icon is one of four Netflix original films in the 23-title competition section.

Also getting a Venice launch from the streaming giant — which is clearly gunning for more Oscars after “Power of the Dog,” which premiered on the Lido last year — is the fest’s previously announced opener, Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise,” with Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver and Jodie Turner-Smith, which is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. “White Noise” marks the first time a Netflix film has landed in Venice’s opening slot.

As anticipated by Variety, other Netflix originals in the Venice competition are Iñárritu’s “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” which chronicles the story of a Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity and family relationships, and Romain Gavras’ modern tragedy “Athena,” co-written by the French “The World is Yours” director with “Les Miserables” filmmaker Ladj Ly.

Netflix will also be bowing Nicholas Winding Refn’s “neon-noir “Copenhagen Cowboy” TV series, which will screen out of competition during the second half of the festival.

Guadagnino, who first made a splash in Venice with Tilda Swinton-starrer “I Am Love,” is back on the Lido with “Bones and All” featuring “Call Me By Your Name” star Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as cannibal lovers on a road trip across America in the 1980s. “Bones” is from Amazon-owned MGM.

Amazon is also bowing its first Argentinian original film from Venice, the political drama “Argentina, 1985,” directed by auteur Santiago Mitre whose “Paulina” and “The Summit” went to Cannes. “1985” is the true story of how public prosecutor Julio Strassera, a young lawyer, and his inexperienced legal team dared to prosecute the heads of Argentina’s bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time, braving bomb and death threats.

Elsewhere, Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” from Sony, which segues from the director’s Oscar-winning “The Father” and stars Vanessa Kirby, Laura Dern and Hugh Jackman, is also vying for a Golden Lion, as is Wales-set “The Eternal Daughter” starring Tilda Swinton, which is directed by her old friend, “The Souvenir” helmer Joanna Hogg.

Focus Features will be on the Lido with Todd Field’s “Tár,” which teams the “In the Bedroom” director with Cate Blanchett as the fictional Lydia Tár, one of the world’s greatest conductors and the first female conductor of a major German orchestra. Blanchett is a Venice regular who presided over the festival’s main jury in 2020.

Searchlight has Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees Of Inisherin,” the Irish director’s follow-up to “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” “Banshees” centers on the dynamics of lifelong friends on a remote Irish island and reunites McDonagh with his “In Bruges” stars Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell.

Oscar winner Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) is in competition with her new under-the-radar documentary titled “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” about photographer Nan Goldin’s battle against the notorious big-pharma Sackler family. Also competing is veteran documentary master Frederik Wiseman who will bow narrative film ”A Couple,” his collaboration with French multi-hyphenate Nathalie Boutefeu, about Leo Tolstoy and his wife.

Hollywood titles bowing in Venice’s out-of-competition section comprise steamy psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” which is Olivia Wilde’s second directorial effort and stars Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, from Warner Bros. Wilde, who also stars in “Don’t Worry,” will be on the Lido with Styles, Pugh and their co-stars Gemma Chan (“Crazy Rich Asians”) and Chris Pine (“All the Old Knives”).

Among other Venice out-of-competition bows are the A24 slasher film “Pearl” by cult U.S. director Ti West, starring Mia Goth, and serving as a prequel to his film “X” about a group of amateur filmmakers making a porno in ’70s Texas.

Walter Hill is in the section with his Western “Dead For a Dollar” starring Christoph Waltz as a bounty hunter and also featuring turns by Willem Dafoe and Rachel Brosnahan. Elsewhere, Paul Schrader, who is being honored on the Lido with the 2022 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, will bring his new feature “The Master Gardener.” “Gardener” tells the story of horticulturist Narvel Roth, played by Joel Edgerton, who tends to a beautiful Louisiana estate owned by a wealthy widow played by Sigourney Weaver. Things take a dark turn when the widow’s troubled great niece arrives on the scene.

U.S. director Bill Pohlad will be launching his indie biopic “Dreamin’ Wild,” about real-life musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson and the tumult that followed the success of their self-recorded pop-funk album of the same name. It stars Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel and Walton Goggins.

“Living,” a re-imagining of Akira Kurosawa’s classic meaning-of-life story directed by Oliver Hermanus and written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro, who is a Venice juror, is the only film in the selection that is not a world premiere, said Barbera, who noted that the film bowed at virtual Sundance in January. Adapted from Kurosawa’s 1952 film “Ikiru,” “Living” takes place in 1950s Great Britain and follows a veteran civil servant portrayed by Nighy.

Israeli-American director Evgeny Afineevsky, who was in Venice in 2015 with “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” is now back with “Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom.”

Late South Korean auteur Kim Ki-Duk’s posthumously edited work “Call of God,” which is a three-way co-production between Estonia, Kirghizistan, and Lettonia, is also ensconced in an out-of-competition berth.

Besides “Copenhagen Cowboy,” this year Venice will premiere another TV series by a name auteur, the third and final instalment in Lars von Trier’s cult “The Kingdom” TV series trilogy, set in the neurosurgical ward of Denmark’s main hospital.

Back to the competition, similar to Cannes, Iran has a strong Lido presence with four films across the selection. Among them is a new film from recently re-incarcerated auteur Jafar Panahi, whose drama “No Bears” reportedly interweaves two parallel love stories both thwarted by obstacles that reflect life in Iran these days. Also screening is “Beyond The Wall” by Vahid Jalilvand whose “No Date, No Signature” was in Venice Horizons in 2017.

Italian director Andrea Pallaoro is looking to be lionized with his Ohio-set English-language drama “Monica” starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson.

Also from Italy, Emanuele Crialese (“Respiro”) will be on the Lido with Penelope Cruz-starrer “L’Immensità,” a family drama set in 1970s Rome in which Cruz plays the mother of a twelve-year-old named Clara who wants to be a boy.

And Susanna Nicchiarelli is back in competition with her new film “Chiara,” featuring “My Brilliant Friend” star Margherita Mazzucco as the 13th century Saint Clare of Assisi which will conclude the director’s trilogy of female biopics also comprising “Nico, 1988” and “Miss Marx.”

And competing from Italy is Gianni Amelio’s “Il Signore Delle Formiche,” a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law, starring Elio Germano and Luigi Lo Cascio.

Competing from Asia is Japanese director Koji Fukada’s “Love Life,” which follows a happily married woman who decides to care for her son’s long-lost father when he reappears, deaf, ill and homeless.

The five-title strong French competition contingent comprises Rebecca Zlotowski’s drama “Les Enfants Des Autres” (“Other People’s Children”), about making a connection with a child that isn’t your own, and stars Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem and Chiara Mastroianni; Alice Diop’s fiction feature debut “Saint Omer,” based on the true story of a Senegalese woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter by abandoning her to the rising tide on a beach in northern France (this is the only debut in the section); and Roschdy Zem’s family dynamics drama “Our Ties” with a cast comprising Maïwenn.

Opening Venice’s Horizons section will be Italian director Roberto De Paolis’ “Princess,” about a young African woman who is a victim of the sex trade.

Other highlights in the Lido’s more cutting-edge parallel competitive section include Penelope Cruz-starrer “On The Fringe,” an economic crisis-themed drama by Juan Diego Botto; French director Jean-Paul Salomé’s thriller “The Sitting Duck”; and “Innocence,” a new doc by Oscar-nommed Israeli filmmaker Guy David (“5 Broken Cameras”).

The fest’s closer is “The Hanging Sun,” an English-language adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s bestselling novel “Midnight Sun,” set in Norway, directed by Italy’s Francesco Carrozzini, and starring Peter Mullan, Charles Dance, and Alessandro Borghi. Pic is produced by Sky Studios with ITV-owned Cattleya and Groenlandia.

As previously announced, Julianne Moore will preside over the main jury which also includes French director Audrey Diwan, winner of last year’s Venice Golden Lion for abortion drama “Happening”; Iranian actor Leila Hatami who broke out globally with Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation”; British author and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (“Never Let Me Go”); Italian director Leonardo di Costanzo, in Venice last year with prison drama “The Inner Cage”; Argentina’s Mariano Cohn, also in Venice last year with comedy “Official Competition”; and Spanish director and producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

The 79th edition of Venice will run Aug. 31-Sept. 10.

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

COMPETITION

“White Noise,” Noah Baumbach (U.S.) – Opening Film
“Il Signore Delle Formiche,” Gianni Amelio (Italy)
“The Whale,” Darren Aronofsky (U.S.)
“L’Immensità,” Emanuele Crialese (Italy)
“Saint Omer,” Alice Diop (France)
“Blonde,” Andrew Dominik (U.S.)
“TÁR,” Todd Field (U.S.)
“Love Life,” Kôji Fukada (Japan, France)
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Mexico)
“Athena,” Romain Gavras (France)
“Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino (U.S.)
“The Eternal Daughter,” Joanna Hogg (U.K.)
“Beyond The Wall,” Vahid Jalilvand (Iran)
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Martin McDonagh (U.K., U.S.)
“Argentina, 1985,” Santiago Mitre (Argentina, U.S.)
“Chiara,” Susanna Nicchiarelli (Italy)
“Monica,” Andrea Pallaoro (Italy)
“No Bears,” Jafar Panahi (Iran)
“All The Beauty and The Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras (U.S.)
“A Couple,” Frederick Wiseman (U.S.)
“The Son,” Florian Zeller (U.K.)
“Our Ties,” Roschdy Zem (France)
“Other People’s Children,” Rebecca Zlotowski (France)

Money Heist’s’ Rodrigo de la Serna to Star in Paramount+ Pic ‘El Salto de Papá’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Variety – July 21, 2022 – By Anna Marie de la Fuente

Argentina’s Rodrigo de la Serna leads the cast in the latest Paramount+ original film for Latin America, “El Salto de Papá,” based on the memoir of Argentine author-journalist Martin Sivak.

Daniela Goggi (“Abzurdah,” “El Hilo Rojo,” “Maria Marta”), who co-wrote the script with Andrea Garrote, will direct the pic which is set to begin shooting in Argentina in upcoming weeks. VIS, Paramount’s international studio, is producing the drama in association with two of Argentina’s leading producers, Infinity Hill (“The Intruder,” “Staged”) and Rei Cine (“Zama,” “The Queen of Fear”).

The film is one of multiple Paramount+ original projects underway in Latin America and Spain as the streamer seeks to rev up its local slate. Competition for premium culturally-specific content among streaming giants and studios in Latin America continues to heat up as they source more original productions locally. This June, at its U.K. launch, Paramount+ announced plans to commission more than 150 international originals by 2025. 

De la Serna is best known for his role as Palermo, the wannabe criminal mastermind in Netflix megahit “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”) as well as for his performance in Walter Salles’ epic road movie, “The Motorcycle Diaries,” alongside Gael Garcia Bernal.

“’El Salto de Papá’ will be a story permeated by courage and tenderness as one man seeks to understand his complicated father, giving us a fresh and unique perspective of this shared history,” said Federico Cuervo, SVP & Head of VIS Americas who added: “We know de la Serna, who is an extraordinary actor, will masterfully weave the intricacies and nuances of this character to tell this poignant story.”

In his memoir, Martin Sivak tries to comes to terms with his father’s complex life and death. Set against the backdrop of 1980s Buenos Aires, it centers on Martin’s father, Jorge Sivak, who returns with his family in tow after years in exile to a newly democratized Argentina, still reeling after decades under dictatorship. Not long after their return, Jorge’s brother, Osvaldo Sivak, is kidnapped. Jorge is obliged to take charge of the family business while spearheading the search for his brother and coping with all the media attention.

Described as a multilingual, multicultural film and TV series production company with offices in the U.K., Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. Infinity Hill, led by Axel Kuschevatzky, Phin Glynn and Cindy Teperman, has also produced “El Gerente” with Leonardo Sbaraglia for Paramount+. Its other upcoming movies include “Argentina, 1985” with Ricardo Darin and Peter Lanzani for Amazon; “Amor es Amor” starring Rob Schneider and Vadhir Derbez; “Los Conspiradores,” headlined by Guillermo Francella for HBO Max; “A Bit of Light” starring Academy winner Anna Paquin and Ray Winstone; and docuseries “Daughter of God” with Dalma Maradona for Discovery+.

Buenos Aires-based Rei Cine, founded by Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli and Matías Roveda, has a list of noteworthy credits that include Valeria Bertuccelli’s Sundance hit “The Queen of Fear”; Gonzalo Tobal’s “The Accused,” starring Lali Espósito and Leonardo Sbaraglia; Marcela Said’s “The Dogs,” toplined by Alfredo Castro and Antonia Zegers; and Lucrecia Martel’s critically acclaimed “Zama.”

Read the article HERE.

“Argentina, 1985”, filme con Ricardo Darín y Peter Lanzani sobre el juicio a las Juntas, ya tiene fecha de estreno

La película de Santiago Mitre relata el fallo histórico contra la Dictadura militar con los actores como los fiscales Julio Strassera y Luis Moreno Ocampo

Clarin – 28/06/2022 14:31

La película Argentina, 1985, despierta gran expectativa por el tema histórico que aborda, el juicio a la Dictadura militar, y por su elenco en roles de personajes reales durante un momento crucial de la historia del país. Cuenta con un elenco estelar encabezado por Ricardo Darín en el rol del abogado y fiscal Julio César Strassera y, Peter Lanzani, interpretando a su colega Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Santiago Mitre (quien ya fue premiado por algunos de sus trabajos anteriores como La patota y La Cordillera), dirigió esta película y además, coescribió el guión junto a su colaborador de siempre, el también director Mariano Llinás (La Flor, Historias Extraordinarias).

Ahora Stage 6 Films de Sony Pictures anuncia su estreno en los cines para el 29 de septiembre de este año.

Fiscales que hicieron historia

Argentina, 1985 está inspirada en la historia real del equipo de fiscales liderado por Julio Strassera y Luis Moreno Ocampo que, acompañados por un grupo de jóvenes, en su batalla de David vs Goliat en contra del poder, se atrevieron contra todo pronóstico y bajo una amenaza constante, a enjuiciar a los jefes de la dictadura militar más sangrienta de la Argentina.

El objetivo era brindar justicia a las víctimas de la represión ejercida durante los años del gobierno de facto y también, algo de paz para quienes habían sobrevivido a ese horror, pocos años antes.

El nuevo filme de Santiago Mitre, además de narrar la relación entre los dos fiscales -por entonces, Strassera ya era una figura con trayectoria, mientras que Moreno Ocampo arrancaba su carrera en la Justicia-, también aborda muchas historias menos conocidas de todas las personas que estuvieron involucradas en la gesta de un proceso judicial histórico e inédito en el mundo.

Los fiscales Julio César Strassera (d) y Luis Moreno Ocampo (i), durante el juicio a las Juntas Militares. Foto EFE

Reconocimiento internacional

El juicio fue reconocido internacionalmente como el “Nuremberg Argentino”, y se erigió como el emblema de esa primavera democrática que se animó a juzgar, repudiar y condenar a los responsables de la dictadura militar que se desarrolló entre 1976 y 1983.

Así como la película se refiere a un hecho real, también el rodaje se realizó en escenarios donde ocurrieron los acontecimientos históricos, como las calles aledañas al Monumento a la Bandera, en Rosario, así como también otras locaciones en Buenos Aires y Salta.

La idea de esta película comenzó a gestarse en 2018 y tenía previsto empezar a filmarse durante el 2020 pero, al igual que con muchas otras producciones, la filmación debió postergarse por la pandemia y recién se pudo rodar a mediados de 2021.

Este proyecto se trata de una coproducción de La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films e Infinity Hill. A ellos se sumaron también como productores Axel Kuschevatzky, Federico Posternak, Agustina Llambi-Campbell, Ricardo Darín, Santiago Mitre, Santiago Carabante, Chino Darín y Victoria Alonso mientras que los productores ejecutivos son Cindy Teperman y Phin Glynn.

Luego de su estreno en la pantalla grande en la Argentina, Argentina, 1985, llegará a la plataforma Amazon Prime Video, donde estará disponible en más de 240 países, si bien no se anunció la fecha aún.

Con esta fecha de llegada a las salas de cines, en el último trimestre del año, la película de Mitre está a tiempo para ser participar de la temporada de festivales internacionales. De acuerdo a estos cronogramas, el filme podría competir, en distintas secciones, de los festivales de Venecia, Toronto y San Sebastián y buscar desde allí, un recorrido por otros países.

WD

Click HERE to read the article.

Alex Pettyfer’s Dark Dreams Entertainment Inks 3 Picture Deal with Infinity Hill

Pettyfer plays dual roles as actor and producer.

BY LACY LONG – COLLIDER – May 31, 2022

Alex Pettyfer’s production company, Dark Dreams Entertainment, has a three-picture deal with production company Infinity Hill, according to Deadline. The upcoming deal will produce the projects Blurred, The Contortionist’s Handbook, and The Weekend.

Dark Dreams has produced films, such as Echo Boomers starring Michael Shannon and Patrick Schwarzenegger; Collection, starring Pettyfer and Shakira Barrera; and has several projects currently in pre-production. One of the most recently announced films includes Hunters in the Dark, which is to be based on the novel by Lawrence Osborne.

Infinity Hill is a well-renowned international film and television production company located in the United Kingdom, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires. Some of the company’s productions include The Doorman, starring Ruby Rose and Jean Reno; Nasha Natasha, starring Natalia Oreiro; A Bit of Light, starring Anna Paquin and Ray Winstone; Argentina, 1985, featuring Ricardo Darin and Peter Lanzani; and more. A popular TV production by Infinity Hill includes Staged, a British comedy series featuring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

Blurred is expected to be a thriller set in Paris by Waiting for Anya writer and director, Ben Cookson. The Weekend will follow model and actress Suzy Miller’s first marriage to James Hunt and her second to Richard Burton. Pettyfer is set to star in Blurred and will also play Burton in The Weekend.

The project with the most details out at this point is The Contortionist’s Handbook. Based on the 2002 debut novel by Craig Clevenger, the story follows John Dolan Vincent a forger who enjoys mathematics and has a proclivity for drugs. He finds himself in a constant state of reinvention to escape institutionalization and keep the legal and mental health authorities off of his trail. His life of running leads to trouble with the Los Angeles underground and endangers the only person who knows his name. With the hospital evaluator seemingly catching on to his lies, Vincent questions what his next move should be and whether his flight from his problems is even worth the cost.

Pettyfer is no stranger to the film industry. The British actor and model made his acting debut in 2006 with the film Stormbreaker. In 2009, he starred in Beastly, a romantic fantasy drama based on a novel of the same name. Pettyfer went on to play the part of 19-year-old Adam, a male stripper, in 2012’s Magic Mike. His most recent role is in the Netflix series The I-Land where he plays the main role. It was released in September 2019.

Pettyfer’s experience of years spent acting and modeling has certainly proven he knows how the film business works. With three film projects in the works and a great partnership between these companies, it’ll be interesting to see how things go. Hopefully, the actor’s ambitions will be successful.

Read the article HERE.

Alex Pettyfer’s Dark Dreams Entertainment Secures Investment From Tetra Pak Heir, Sets Three Pic Deal With Infinity Hill Including Film In Which Pettyfer Will Play F1 Champ James Hunt

By Andreas Wiseman – Deadline May 31, 2022 6:40am

EXCLUSIVE: Dark Dreams Entertainment, the production company owned by Magic Mike and I Am Number Four star Alex Pettyfer, has received backing from an angel investor and has set a three-picture deal with UK, LA and Buenos Aires-based production firm Infinity Hill.

Dark Dreams, which Pettyfer steers with his manager-producer James Ireland, has had “substantial” backing from Magnus Rausing, heir to the multi-billion euro Tetra Laval fortune. Rausing has acquired a stake in Dark Dreams and will take a place on the company’s board as an executive. We understand the Swedish heir has quietly supported films in the past but this is his first investment to be made public.

The three-picture pact with Infinity Hill covers projects Blurred, a Paris-set thriller from writer-director Ben Cookson (Waiting For Anya), which is set to star Pettyfer; an adaptation of the Craig Clevenger novel The Contortionist’s Handbook; and The Weekend, a drama recounting the tumultuous period between model and actress Suzy Miller’s first marriage to Formula One champion James Hunt and her second to Welsh acting legend Richard Burton. Pettyfer will play Hunt. Clevenger’s LA-set novel follows a talented young forger with a proclivity for mathematics and drug addiction. In the face of his impending institutionalization, he continually reinvents himself to escape the legal and mental health authorities and to save himself from a life of incarceration.

Infinity Hill is the film and TV production company headed by veteran producer Axel Kuschevatzky (Neruda), formerly of Viacom and Telefonica, Phin Glynn (Staged), and Cindy Teperman (Staged), in association with Mexico’s Pedro Davila.

Among the company’s features are The Doorman, A Bit of Light, and Berlin Official Competition contender The Intruder (El Prófugo), and they are also producing the upcoming Amazon Original feature Argentina, 1985, starring Ricardo Darin, Amor Es Amor with Rob Schneider, El Gerente for Paramount +, and La Hija De Dios for Discovery+.

Pettyfer is currently filming Ben Cookson’s The Chelsea Cowboy. Among projects in the works are feature Branded with Frank Grillo, Tom Hopper and Maria Bakalova also attached.

Read the article HERE.

Paramount+ Finishes Production On ‘Love Is Love’

VIDEOAGE – May 25th, 2022

Paramount+ announced that production wrapped up on the new original film Love Is Love (Amor es Amor).

Produced by VIS in association with El Estudio and Infinity Hill, the Spanish-language romantic comedy tells the story of a telenovela star who must fake a relationship to keep his public image intact. When he loses his memory in his accident, other people will manipulate him for their interests, but only his love remind him who he is.

Love Is Love stars Rob Schneider alongside a cast that includes Vadhir Derbez, Paulina Davila, and Christian Vazquez.

Click HERE to read the article.

PARAMOUNT+ FINALIZÓ EL RODAJE DE AMOR ES AMOR LA PELICULA DIRIGIDA Y PROTAGONIZADA POR ROB SCHNEIDER

Miami, 23 de MAYO de 2022 – Paramount+ finalizó el rodaje de Amor es Amor su nueva película original, dirigida y protagonizada por el actor y productor Rob Schneider y producida por VIS en asociación con El Estudio e Infinity Hill.

Amor es amor cuenta con un elenco protagónico de nivel internacional integrado por Vadhir Derbez, Paulina Davila, Christian Vazquez y el propio Rob Schneider, en su primera película dirigida íntegramente en español.

Esta comedia romántica, ambientada en México de los noventa, cuenta la historia de Enrique (Vadhir Derbez), una estrella de telenovelas mexicana que está a punto de firmar un contrato con una importante cadena de televisión. El presidente de la empresa, Roger (Rob Schneider), encuentra fotos de Enrique junto a Marcelo (Christian Vazquez), su fiel pareja gay. Para avanzar con el contrato, Roger le pide a Enrique que finja una relación con Sofía (Paulina Davila), una cantante pop, y así mantener intacta su imagen pública. Sin embargo, al perder la memoria en un accidente, Enrique se verá tironeado por los intereses de su entorno, pero sólo el amor podrá ayudarlo a recordar quién realmente es.

FINALIZÓ EL RODAJE DE LOS CONSPIRADORES LA NUEVA PELÍCULA ARGENTINA PROTAGONIZADA POR GUILLERMO FRANCELLA

LOS CONSPIRADORES finalizó su rodaje tras casi dos meses de filmación en la Argentina y España. La película está dirigida por Martino Zaidelis y es protagonizada por Guillermo Francella, quien interpreta a un experimentado piloto aeronáutico, Pablo Rago, Andrea Frigerio, Guillermo Arengo y Carlos Portaluppi.

El 19 de enero de 2023 llega a los cines de todo el país, y luego de su paso por los cines estará disponible en HBO Max. La película será distribuida en cines por Warner Bros. Pictures.

Es una producción de Particular Crowd, 100 Bares, Infinity Hill en asociación con Cimarrón.

SINOPSIS

Alejandro es un experimentado piloto aeronáutico que ha dedicado su vida a surcar los cielos. Al borde de su jubilación, Alejandro es extorsionado por los servicios de inteligencia de su país a cambio de no develar nada a la Policía de Seguridad Aeroportuaria acerca de una grave condición médica que adelantaría su retiro. Su misión será llevar en sus vuelos comerciales unas valijas de Buenos Aires a Madrid sin hacer preguntas. Curioso acerca del misterioso contenido de las valijas, Alejandro se sumergirá en un mundo de intriga y corrupción que pondrá en riesgo su vida y a los que ama mientras intentará escapar del problema en el que se metió.

ELENCO Guillermo Francella Pablo Rago Andrea Frigerio Guillermo Arengo Carlos Portaluppi

FICHA TÉCNICA

Director: Martino Zaidelis

Compañías productoras: Particular Crowd, 100 Bares, Infinity Hill

En asociación con Cimarrón

Productores: Axel Kuschevatzky, Muriel Cabeza

Productores ejecutivos: Tomás Yankelevich, Peter Bevan, Mariana Sanjurjo

Productores ejecutivos: Juan José Campanella, Cindy Teperman, Camilo Antolini, Phin Glynn, Martino Zaidelis

Co productores: Roxana Dellochio, Fernando Rendón, Patricio Rabuffetti, Hernán Musaluppi, Santiago López

Distribuye: Warner Bros. Pictures Año de producción: 2022

Falklands War Drama Series In Works From UK & Argentinian Creative Team, Paul Telegdy, Lone Wolf & Infinity Hill

Deadline – May 19, 2022 6:00am

By Nellie Andreev Co-Editor-in-Chief, TV

The Islands, a 10-episode drama series, is in the works from BBC alum Stephen McDonogh’s Lone Wolf Pictures, Axel Kuschevatzky, Phin Glynn and Cindy Teperman’s Infinity Hill as well as The Whole Spiel, the company launched last year by former NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy and his cousin, Stefan Telegdy.

The series, which is being shopped to networks and streamers, tells the story of the Falklands-Malvinas War of 1982 from the point of view of the people who were there and with the involvement of writers and filmmakers from both UK and Argentina. Writing is already underway, with Argentine film and TV writer Sebastian Rotstein (El Presidente Season 2, Morir de Amor) on board.

The Islands is not a story of failed diplomacy or geo-politics — an angle recently explored on The Crown — but rather an epic portrayal of the brutal realities they brought to a group of extraordinary human beings in a geography that is as bafflingly remote as it is hostile. Using immersive filmmaking techniques, the series will depict firsthand personal experiences of those who fought in the war, ranging from professional soldiers to teenagers, some sent against their will and without any understanding of the dangers ahead.

The civilian stories include stranded French sailors confronting a real-life monster of the war, two intrepid female natural history filmmakers and the people who call these islands home trapped in the crossfire of war.

“Backed by a vast amount of research and a rich variety of sources, we have brought together an intricately weaved ensemble of inspiring, emotional and thrilling stories of those caught in an intense conflict of another age,” McDonogh said. “Forty years on, those events seem terrifyingly relevant to world affairs today. Guided always by truth, this definitive drama delivers a unique perspective of the human cost of war on all sides. We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Infinity Hill in realizing this ambitious cinematic miniseries.”

Lone Wolf Pictures has secured exclusive rights to a number of published works about the 74-day war, which will be used as source material for the series. The producers also are working with a number of military and civilian contributors, including Sir Max Hastings, War Correspondent, and Sir Simon Jenkins (“The Battle for the Falklands”), Cdr Sharkey Ward DSC, AFC, Sea Harrier Pilot (“Sea Harrier Over The Falklands”), Cpl. Mark Ashton, SAS and Stuart Tootal (“SAS: Sea King Down”), Lt Cmdr. David Morgan DSC, Sea Harrier Pilot (“Hostile Skies: Battle for the Falklands”), Pte. James O’Connell, 3 Para (“Three Days In June: 3 Para’s Battle for Mount Longdon”), Major Phil Neame, 2 Para (“Penal Company on the Falklands: A Memoir of the Parachute Regiment at War”), Cindy Buxton FRGS and Annie Price, Nature filmmakers (“Survival: South Atlantic”) and
Rear Admiral Chris Parry CBE, Naval Helicopter Observer (“Down South: A Falklands War Diary”).

“This war had an everlasting impact on my homeland, Argentina, in social and political terms,” said Kuschevatzky, “We feel the need to tell this properly through the view of the people who faced an unthinkable and unparalleled experience. Our biggest challenge is to do something no one else has done before: to create an authentic, dramatic story embracing both perspectives of such defining moment in time.”

Infinity Hill, which is based in the UK, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, is headed by Kuschevatzky, Glynn and Teperman, in association with Mexico’s Pedro Davila. The company is producing the upcoming Amazon Original feature Argentina, 1985, Paramount+’s El Gerente and La Hija De Dios for Discovery+.

The Islands is one of the first major projects for The Whole Spiel, which Paul Telegdy launched after his exit from NBCUniversal in 2020 after 12 years at the company. Before he left, he was involved in the controversy surrounding Gabrielle Union’s exit from America’s Got Talent and was the subject of an internal investigation. The company has offices in Los Angeles, London and Berlin and is active in film, television, gaming and music.

Read the article HERE.

Lone Wolf Pictures, Infinity Hill and The Whole Spiel are joining forces on THE  ISLANDS, an action-packed cinematic 10-episode landmark drama.    

THE ISLANDS tells the story of the Falklands-Malvinas War of 1982 from the point  of view of the people who were there. With combatants and civilians from both sides  of a conflict, this definitive drama will depict the true human consequences of a  conventional war. 

THE ISLANDS is a unique collaboration embracing a multi-lateral perspective,  utilising deeply immersive filmmaking techniques and will bring together writers and  filmmakers from both UK and Argentina. Writing is already underway with the  engagement of award-winning Argentine screenplay writer, Sebastian Rotstein (“El  Presidente” – Season II, “Morir de Amor”). 

This is not a story of failed diplomacy or geo-politics, rather an epic portrayal of the  brutal realities they brought to a group of extraordinary human beings in a geography  that is as bafflingly remote as it is hostile. The story will depict firsthand personal  experiences of those who fought in the war, ranging from professional soldiers to  teenagers, some sent against their will and without any understanding of the dangers ahead. 

The civilian stories include stranded French sailors confronting a real-life monster of  the war, two intrepid female natural history filmmakers and the people who call these  islands home trapped in the crossfire of war. 

Stephen McDonogh for Lone Wolf Pictures (LWPL) said, “Backed by a vast amount  of research and a rich variety of sources, we have brought together an intricately  weaved ensemble of inspiring, emotional and thrilling stories of those caught in an  intense conflict of another age. Forty years on, those events seem terrifyingly relevant  to world affairs today. Guided always by truth, this definitive drama delivers a unique  perspective of the human cost of war on all sides. We are delighted to announce our  collaboration with Infinity Hill in realising this ambitious cinematic miniseries.” 

“This war had an everlasting impact in my homeland, Argentina, in social, and  political terms,” adds Infinity Hills´ Axel Kuschevatzky, “We feel the need to tell it  properly through the view of the people who faced an unthinkable and unparalleled  experience. Our biggest challenge is to do something nobody did before: to create an  authentic dramatic story embracing both perspectives of such defining moment in  time.” 

The bravery and sacrifice of soldiers, airmen, sailors and submariners in this intense  74-day war has inspired a wealth of published works which LWPL has secured  exclusive rights to. A growing list of key military and civilian contributors are  working with the producer, including, at time of release: 

Sir Max Hastings (War Correspondent) and Sir Simon Jenkins 

“The Battle for the Falklands” 

Cdr Sharkey Ward DSC, AFC (Sea Harrier Pilot) 

“Sea Harrier Over The Falklands” 

Cpl. Mark Ashton (SAS) and Stuart Toole  

“SAS: Sea King Down”  

Lt Cmdr. David Morgan DSC (Sea Harrier Pilot) 

“Hostile Skies: Battle for the Falklands” 

Pte. James O’Connell (3 Para) 

“Three Days In June: 3 Para’s Battle for Mount Longdon” 

Major Phil Neame (2 Para) 

“Penal Company on the Falklands: A Memoir of the Parachute Regiment at War”  Cindy Buxton FRGS and Annie Price (Nature filmmakers) 

“Survival: South Atlantic” and 

“Down South: A Falklands War Diary”. 

Rear Admiral Chris Parry CBE (Naval Helicopter Observer) 

LONE WOLF PICTURES is an independent British based production venture founded  by long-standing BBC alumni and producer Stephen McDonogh (Walking With  Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie, Louis Theroux’s award-winning documentary feature My Scientology Movie, and multi-award-winning family nature feature, Earth: One  Amazing Day), with an eclectic slate of high-end, immersive feature film and TV  projects each with something important to say about (and to) the world, its people  and the nature within. 

INFINITY HILL is an international multilingual and multicultural film and TV  production company based in the UK, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, headed by Axel  Kuschevatzky, Phin Glynn and Cindy Teperman, in association with Mexico’s Pedro  Davila. Among the company’s features are The Doorman, A Bit of Light, and Berlin  Official Competition Contender The Intruder (El Prófugo). They are also producing  the forthcoming Amazon Original feature Argentina, 1985, with Ricardo Darin, Amor  es Amor, El Gerente for Paramount + and La Hija De Dios for Discovery+. Infinity  Hill also produced two seasons of the UK prime time TV hit Staged, starring Michael  Sheen and David Tennant. 

THE WHOLE SPIEL is an entertainment start up founded by Paul Telegdy and Stefan  Telegdy, focused on creative and commercial development in film, television, gaming  and music. With offices in Los Angeles, London and Berlin, provides creative and  strategic support for a diverse range of clients across the media and technology sectors. 

PARAMOUNT+ BEGINS FILMING ITS NEW ORIGINAL MOVIE LOVE IS LOVE FEATURING ROB SCHNEIDER IN HIS SPANISH-LANGUAGE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, THE FILM STARS VADHIR DERBEZ, PAULINA DAVILA, AND CHRISTAN VAZQUEZ

MIAMI – APRIL 21, 2022 – Paramount+ announces the start of production of its new original movie Love Is Love, starring actor and producer Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Hot Chick, Grown Ups) in his Spanish-language directorial debut. The movie, produced by VIS in association with El Estudio and Infinity Hill, is filming in Mexico.

Love Is Love is a romantic comedy set in 1990s Mexico that tells the story of Enrique (Vadhir Derbez), a Mexican telenovela star who is about to sign a contract with a major television network. The company president, Roger (Rob Schneider), finds photos of Enrique with Marcelo (Christian Vazquez), his faithful gay partner. To move forward with the contract, Roger asks Enrique to fake a relationship with Sofía (Paulina Davila), a pop singer, to keep his public image intact. However, when he loses his memory in an accident, Enrique will be manipulated by others’ interests, and only love will be able to help him remember who he truly is.

EL GERENTE LA NUEVA PELICULA ORIGINAL DE PARAMOUNT+, PROTAGONIZADA POR LEONARDO SBARAGLIA Y DIRIGIDA POR ARIEL WINOGRAD

La comedia inspirada en una historia real y producida por VIS en asociación con Infinity Hill y Tresplanos Cine inicia producción en las próximas semanas.

MIAMI – JANUARY 18, 2022 – VIS, una división de ViacomCBS, confirmó que El Gerente, la primera película original de Paramount+ rodada en Argentina, contará con la dirección del reconocido Ariel Winograd (“El Robo del Siglo”, “Mamá se fue de viaje”) y estará protagonizada por el prestigioso actor Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Relatos Salvajes”, “Dolor y Gloria”) con un potente elenco que incluye a la actriz española Amaia Salamanca (“Gran Hotel”, “Tiempos de Guerra” y “Perdida”), Luis Luque (“El robo del Siglo”) y Cecilia Dopazo (“Pequeñas Victorias”).
El film estará basado en el libro El Gerente de Noblex cuyos derechos exclusivos mundiales fueron adquiridos por VIS, y será adaptado por Patricio Vega (“Hermanos y Detectives”, “Tesis sobre un homicidio”). E sta nueva comedia narra el detrás de escena de la memorable promoción lanzada para la venta de televisores durante las eliminatorias de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Rusia 2018 que mantuvo en vilo a la sociedad argentina y que fue ganadora de un Premio de Oro en los Cannes Lions.

“Es una enorme satisfacción anunciar la primera película que vamos a rodar en Argentina para Paramount+ y que relata un hecho tan popular, como único, donde una marca fue contra todos los pronósticos para marcar la diferencia entre los consumidores”. dijo Guillermo Borensztein, VP de Films de VIS Americas. “Trabajar esta comedia con Ariel Winograd, uno de los directores más taquilleros, y que combinen nuevamente en un proyecto con Leonardo Sbaraglia, uno de los actores más importantes de Argentina y España, nos ilusiona para lograr que esta gran historia local conecte con audiencias globales”. “Después de El Robo del Siglo, vuelvo a encontrarme con la oportunidad de contar en el cine otra curiosa historia real de los argentinos: esta vez, un famoso caso publicitario que seguí día a día en su momento, y ahora voy a reconstruir desde adentro, sacando a la luz los detalles más sorprendentes y simpáticos de esta saga que todos vimos por televisión”, agrega el realizador Ariel Winograd. 

Francella pronostica el tiempo para año nuevo en un video promocional delirante de Netflix

En la piel del meteorólogo Miguel Flores, el actor recurrió a la ficción y al humor para adelantar la llegada de “Granizo”, su nueva película.

Clarin (Argentina) – 29/12/2021 21:11

Guillermo Francella es el protagonista de Granizo, una película argentina original de Netflix que llegará muy pronto a la plataforma. Así lo anunció este miércoles el gigante del streaming a través de sus redes y de una manera muy particular.

“Miguel Flores, El infalible, te da el pronóstico del clima para la cena de fin de año, así no te agarra desprevenido una lluvia, un granizo, o una tía preguntona”, fue el mensaje que apareció en las cuentas de Twitter, Instagram y Facebook, acompañando un video donde Francella da el reporte para el viernes 31 de diciembre.

En plan meteorólogo standapero que ironiza sobre ciertos lugares comunes que suelen darse durante las mesas argentinas de fin de año, Ramos presenta el segmento: “Se viene la noche de fin de año, todos nos juntamos a cenar. Y es muy importante que tengan en cuenta este pronóstico para tomar los recaudos necesarios”.

En Granizo, Francella es el meteorólogo Miguel Flores, apodado “El infalible”.

“Hay que tener en cuenta que va a ser una jornada donde la temperatura va a ser agradable, salvo cuando en la mesa se empiece a hablar de política. Ahí probablemente el termómetro suba unos cuantos grados, así que es importante saberlo para prender el ventilador o cambiar de tema abruptamente”, aconseja.

“Eso sí, hay que tratar de evitar los temas futbolísticos porque ahí puede desencadenarse un frente fresco acá, en la zona del pechito”, grafica.

“Promediando la cena es conveniente regular la ingesta de alcohol por riesgo a una visibilidad limitada y posibles papelones y chubascos. Al acercarse a la medianoche las probabilidades de que la tía te pregunte por el novio o novia suben a un 75%, las de que la nona se duerma, bueno, suben a un 80%. Y las de que el tío borracho pase vergüenza, bueno, ahí se elevan a un 95%”, sigue Francella.

“Granizo”, ¿será un fenómeno meteorológico o cinematográfico?

“Pero lo que sí podemos asegurarles es que vamos a tener Granizo -hace una pausa-… la película, y llega muy prontito a Netflix. Yo, Miguel Flores, el infalible, lo garantizo”, cierra Francella en el video de poco más de un minuto.

Un meteorólogo que falla y se redescubre

“Un famoso meteorólogo de la televisión se convierte en el enemigo público número uno cuando falla al prevenir una terrible tormenta de granizo. Esto obligará al meteorólogo a huir de la gran Capital para encontrar refugio en su ciudad natal, lo que derivará en un viaje de redescubrimiento tan absurdo como humano”.

Ésa es la sinopsis oficial de esta comedia dramática en la que Francella es el personaje central y que se completa con un gran reparto: Romina Fernandes, Peto Menahem, Martín Seefeld, Laura Fernández, Nicolás Scarpino, Viviana Saccone, Pompeyo Audivert y Eugenia Guerty.

Granizo se estrena en 2022. Según Netflix y Francella, “muy pronto”.

Dirigida por Marcos Carnevale, y con guión de Nicolás Giacobone y Fernando Balmayor, Granizo es una producción de Kuarzo Entertainment y Leyenda Films, en asociación con Infinity Hill.

El rodaje de Granizo había empezado a principios de mayo en la ciudad de Córdoba. En ese entonces, la estrella de Casados con hijos y El secreto de sus ojos habló de su primer trabajo desde la llegada de la pandemia. “Estuve parado todo el tiempo (por el año pasado), pero estamos felices de volver, de generar fuentes de trabajo”, dijo.

Luego se refirió al impacto del streaming en el cine. “Las plataformas como Netflix están produciendo mucho y generando fuentes de trabajo. Hay varias series y películas en preproducción. El cine tradicional hoy está un poco olvidado para hacer, porque está muy cuesta arriba generar cine como se generaba antes”, reflexionó.

Click HERE to read the article.

Discovery preps docuseries on Diego Maradona, Hamptons real estate

Real Screen – By Andrew Jeffrey December 15, 2021

Discovery has unveiled details on a pair of new docuseries projects, with focuses on a sports legend and the luxury real estate business.

Discovery Latin America will produce a three-part series on the life of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona.

La Hija de Dios (w/t) is based on the account of his daughter Dalma (pictured), who is also an executive producer on the series. Dalma Maradona will relate her own experiences and narrate the series in first person, revisiting her father’s life and career. She’ll also meet people who were close to her father, and build a personal profile of Diego Maradona from her own insight.

The series also boasts privileged access to archive material and anecdotes of the Maradona family, describing moments they’ve never shared before. The series follows Diego Maradona’s death in 2020 at age 60.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity of rediscovering my father time and again and reliving people’s passion for him, discovering one-off anecdotes and feeling his passion for life, his commitment with his country, and his sense of justice, teamwork and sport spirit. It is a loving journey that is helping me understand him even better,” Dalma Maradona said in a news release.

The docuseries is directed by Lorena Muñoz (Gilda, No Me Arrepiento de Este Amor), and produced by Axel Kuschevatzky and Cindy Teperman for Infinity Hill. Karina Castellano, Helen Roca and Gabriela Galaretto executive produced the series for Nativa.

Read the article HERE.

Paramount Plus Embraces Rob Schneider’s VIS-Produced ‘Love Is Love’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Ed Meza – Variety

Dec 2, 2021 5:00am

ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has boarded Rob Schneider’s “Love is Love,” a new Paramount Plus Original film which marks the multihyphenate’s Spanish-language directorial debut.

Schneider also stars in the movie, which VIS is producing in association with transatlantic film and TV production companies El Estudio and Infinity Hill. “Love is Love” will shoot in Mexico and is set to premiere on the streaming platform in 2022.

Set in the 1990s, the romantic comedy tells the story of Enrique, a Mexican telenovela star who is about to sign a contract with a major TV network when the president of the company, Julian (Schneider), reveals pictures of Enrique and his partner Marcelo. For the sake of good public relations, Julian encourages Enrique to have a fake relationship with Sofia.

“We are excited to begin work on this new film with such a talented actor and director as Rob Schneider,” said Guillermo Borensztein, VP of films at VIS Americas. “We have been looking forward to working with Rob and our partners at Infinity Hill and El Estudio on this project for a while now and are excited to embark on this enriching creative journey.”

Schneider likewise welcomed the opportunity to work with ViacomCBS and Paramount Plus on what he described as “this ridiculously funny and heart-warming film about love and acceptance in the telenovela world in the 1990s. Mexico is my second home and a chance to make a comedy that celebrates its extraordinary culture is a true blessing! ¡Muchas gracias!”

“Love is Love” marks the former Saturday Night Live star’s latest comedic work. In addition to roles in comedy hits like “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” “The Animal,” “The Hot Chick,” “The Benchwarmers,” and “Grown Ups,” Schneider directed two seasons of the TV series “Real Rob” and the movies “Big Stan” and “Daddy Daughter Trip.”

Axel Kuschevatzky, the former Telefonica Studios and Viacom exec who launched Infinity Hill in 2019, said his company collaborated closely with El Estudio on the project “to bridge local-language productions with Hollywood talent.”

El Estudio CEO Diego Suarez Chialvo added: “Both companies were born almost at the same time, with a very similar background of independent producers and studio executives, and were meant to work together with a great partner such as VIS.”

Infinity Hill is based in the U.K., Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, while El Estudio has offices in Madrid, Mexico, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.

Read the article HERE.

International Oscar Race: Australia Selects ‘When Pomegranates Howl’; Argentina Picks ‘The Intruder’

By Tom Grater – Senior Reporter & Deputy Film Editor, International @tomsmovies – Deadline

October 25, 2021 2:09am

Australia is sending Granaz Moussavi’s When Pomegranates Howl to the Academy as its submission for this year’s International Oscar race.

The Australia-Afghanistan co-production, from Iranian-Australian filmmaker Moussavi, is an anti-war drama. Shot in Afghanistan, the story follows Hewad, an irrepressible nine-year old boy who hustles on the streets of Kabul – selling everything from pomegranate juice to protection from the evil eye.

The film is up for Best Youth Feature Film at the 2021 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, which announces November 11.

Separately, Argentina has selected Natalia Meta’s horror-thriller The Intruder as its entry.

The film debuted at Berlinale last year. It is the story of Inés, a young woman who after a traumatic episode during a trip with her partner begins to confuse herself between the real and the imaginary.

Producers on the movie are Rei Cine and Picnic Producciones, with co-producers Infinity Hill and Barraca Producciones, in association with Piano, Televisión Federal (Telefe) and Viacom International Studios. Disney released locally.

Read the article here.

THE INTRUDER (EL PRÓFUGO) SUBMITTED BY ARGENTINA AS BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Written and directed by Natalia Meta

Starring Erica Rivas,
Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Daniel Hendler.

Special guest star Cecilia Roth.
Guillermo Arengo, Agustín Rittano, Gabriela Pastor, Flor Dyszel and Mirta Busnelli.

Available in HBOMax in the US.

THE INTRUDER (EL PRÓFUGO) was selected by the Argentinian Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as its official entry in the International Feature Film category at the upcoming Academy Awards.

The film, released locally in September 30, was written and directed by Natalia Meta, headlined by Erica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Daniel Hendler, with special guest star Cecilia Roth, alongside Guillermo Arengo, Agustín Rittano, Gabriela Pastor, Flor Dyszel and Mirta Busnelli.

The whole filmmaking team of the film wish to thanks the members of the Argentinian Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for the opportunity to share a movie directed by a female filmmaker.

Natalia Meta, helmer of The Intruder, said: “I´m extremely happy and touched by the selection and the fact, that after lockdown, local films were able to return to the cinema screens. I hope this will open more venues for Argentine features and will drive a wider audience to film theaters”.

The movie was produced by Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli and Matías Roveda from Rei Cine, in co-production with Picnic Producciones and in association with Infinity Hill, Piano, Barraca Producciones, Viacom International Studios and La Bestia Equilátera. It was distributed in Argentina by Star Distribution, international sales rep is Film Factory and it is currently available in the US in HBOMax.

“We want to fully thanks the Academy and its members for their support. We feel proud to become ambassadors of our country’s film industry. Working with Natalia Meta and this outstanding group of actors, team and producers it is a privilege on its own”.-added producer Benjamín Domenech from Rei Cine.

“We are ecstatic of having the chance to support Natalia Meta´s vision on personal and amazing film about identity. Joining her, Rei Cine and an awesome group of producers, a dreamy cast and a remarkable team is an act of pure joy. We want to thanks the Academy’s full membership for this opportunity”.-said producer Axel Kuschevatzky, from Infinity Hill.

The highly regarded film got excellent reviews, underlining the work of Erica Rivas, the cast, the directorial choices and the use of sound in a unique brand of thriller, te sophomore feature of the helmer that finds new ways to explore the genre.

Written and directed by Natalia Meta, The Intruder, combines thriller elements with some rom-com elements to create and unique take on the notions of sexuality. Inspired by the cult novel El Mal Menor, written by C.E. Feiling, the film tells the story of Inés (Erica Rivas), a chorus singer who dubs movies that, on vacations with her boyfriend, goes throughout a traumatic experience that alters her perception of reality.

The movie had it international premiere at the Oficial Competition at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. It was also screened at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the La Habana International Film Festival and the BFI London International Film Festival, among many others.
THE INTRUDER (EL PROFUGO)

Genere: Thriller
Length: 94 minutos.
Writer and director: Natalia Meta.
Collaborating writer: Leonel D’Agostino
Produced by: Rei Cine, Picnic Producciones.
Starring: Erica Rivas, Nahuel Pérez Biscayart y Daniel Hendler. Special guest star Cecilia Roth. Guillermo Arengo, Agustín Rittano, Gabriela Pastor, Flor Dyszel and Mirta Busnelli.
Producers: Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Natalia Meta, Fabiana Tiscornia.
Co-producers: Axel Kuschevatzky, Lorena Villarreal, Julio Chavezmontes.
Associated: Phin Glynn, Cindy Teperman, Luz Orlando Brennan, Ariel Rotter, Verónica Cura.
Cinematographer: Bárbara Álvarez.
Editing: Eliane Katz (SAE).
Production design: Aili Chen.
Sound: Guido Berenblum (ASA).
Original score: Luciano Azzigotti.
Line producer: Mercedes Tarelli.
First ADs: Adriana Vior, Marcello Pozzo.
Casting: Mariana Mitre, Laura Paredes.
Wardrobe design: Mónica Toschi.
Make up: Emma Miño.
Hair: Silvina Paolucci.
International sales: Film Factory

Press materials:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IEdsUSMRlzxgBes4KgzncYyQiMcPQcgp?usp=sharing

Playlist Spotify “El Prófugo”: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/59xCJVoCpW04nY2qF09BC4?si=0732a9a7b0a74f8f

Anna Paquin and Ray Winstone to Star in ‘A Bit of Light,’ Directed by ’True Blood’s Stephen Moyer

By Britta DeVore October 12, 2021 – Collider

The film will be the second directorial feature for Stephen Moyer.

Deadline reports that Oscar winner AnnaPaquin(TrueBlood) and Ray Winstone (BlackWidow) will be spearheading the cast of A Bit of Light, which will be directed by Stephen Moyer. Moyer, who rose to fame playing vampire Bill Compton on the hit HBO series True Blood, will be making his sophomore feature with A Bit of Light, after his directorial debut in The Parting Glass (which also starred Paquin).

In addition to his film directing background, Moyer also directed several episodes of True Blood as well as the Amazon show, Flack. Adding to the talent will be Youssef Kerkour (Home), who is a BAFTA nominee, and Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London).

Moyer said about working on A Bit of Light:

“From the moment I started reading A Bit of Light I knew I wanted it to be my second film. It is a stunning piece of writing by my old friend Rebecca Callard whom I first met 25 years ago playing opposite each other as actors. We’ve assembled a quite extraordinary cast led by Anna and Ray who are wonderful together. I can’t wait to get into the edit”

Written by Rebecca Callard, and based on her own stage play, the film follows Ella (Paquin) who is newly sober and currently living with her father, Alan (Winstone). Ella has been forced to give up custody of her young daughters for the time being as they are now staying with Ella’s ex-husband, Joseph (Kerkour), and his new partner, Bethan (Bennet-Warner). Living in this new, scary world, Ella becomes friends with an unlikely person – a teenage boy played by Luca Hogan. With the help and support of this young man, Ella starts to put the pieces of her life back together.

There is currently no release date set for A Bit of Light.

You can read the article here.

Anna Paquin & Ray Winstone Starring In Stephen Moyer-Directed ‘A Bit of Light’

By Tom Grater – Deadline.com – October 12, 2021

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Anna Paquin and International Emmy winner Ray Winstone are leading the cast of A Bit of Light, the sophomore feature from director Stephen Moyer, who is best known for playing vampire Bill Compton in HBO series True Blood.

Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London) and BAFTA nominee Youssef Kerkour (Home) are also starring in the movie, which is now shooting in the UK. Deadline can reveal a first image from the set above.

The film was written by Rebecca Callard, based on her own stage play. It follows Ella (Paquin), now living with her father Alan (Winstone) and newly sober having temporarily given up custody of her young daughters to her ex-husband Joseph (Kerkour) and his new partner Bethan (Bennett-Warner). She strikes up an unlikely friendship with a mysterious teenage boy (newcomer Luca Hogan) whose belief in her as a mother helps her rediscover her self-worth.

Moyer, who also helmed several episodes of True Blood as well as Amazon show Flack, made his feature directing debut on The Parting Glass, which also starred Paquin.

Phin Glynn and Axel Kuschevatzky are producing A Bit of Light through their Infinity Hill banner, alongside Moyer and Paquin with Isabelle Georgeaux producing through her production company Pont Neuf Productions. The project is an Infinity Hill and Pont Neuf Productions film, produced in association with Shorelight Pictures and Great Point Media.

Executive Producer’s include Anja Murmann and Sabine Schenk of Shorelight Pictures, Egor Noskov, Victor Glynn and Geoff Iles of GCB Films and Rebecca Callard, as well as Jim Reeve and Robert Halmi of Great Point and Cindy Teperman of Infinity Hill.

The film was packaged and financed by Janne Barklis and Jay Cohen of Gersh and ICM Partners. They will co-rep the sale of the film.

Moyer said: “From the moment I started reading A Bit of Light I knew I wanted it to be my second film. It is a stunning piece of writing by my old friend Rebecca Callard whom I first met 25 years ago playing opposite each other as actors. We’ve assembled a quite extraordinary cast led by Anna and Ray who are wonderful together. I can’t wait to get into the edit.”

“We’re delighted to be working with such an amazing and inspiring team, supporting Stephen’s unique and personal vision”, jointly said the producers. “We are privileged to have Anna and Ray bringing warmth, tenderness and depth to this unique story of love and redemption. Youssef, Pippa and Luca round out the cast, adding vivacity to the film”.

Anna Paquin is repped by Leslie Siebert at Gersh, Ray Winstone is repped by Michael Wiggs and Lucy Doyle at Creative Artists Management, Youssef Kerkour is repped by Nick Errington at Grantham-Hazeldine, Pippa Bennett-Warner is repped by Independent Talent, CAA and Luber Roklin Entertainment, Luca Hogan is repped by Carleen McCarthy at Alphabet and Stephen Moyer is repped by ICM Partners and Luber Roklin Associates.

Yo can read the article here.

Amazon Studios Sets First Argentine Original Film: Ricardo Darin Starrer ‘Argentina, 1985,’ from Santiago Mitre (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell (Variety) – Aug 25, 2021

Amazon Studios, La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films and Infinity Hill have teamed to produce Argentina’s first Amazon Original film, Santiago Mitre’s “Argentina, 1985,” which looks set to become a banner Argentine big fest title and release in 2022.

Headlining arguably the foremost Argentine stars of their generations – Ricardo Darín (“The Secret in Their Eyes,” “Wild Tales”) and Peter Lanzani (“The Clan”) – the feature film has just started shooting in Argentina.

It focuses on an extraordinary but real life event of which Argentineans can feel proud: the true story of how a public prosector, Julio Strassera, a young lawyer, Luis Morena Ocampo, and their inexperienced legal team dared to prosecute the heads of Argentina’s bloody military dictatorship in a battle against odds and a race against time, braving bomb and death threats.

The so-called Trial of the Juntas is described as the biggest prosecution process for war crimes since the 1946 Nuremberg Trails after WWII.

“Argentina, 1985” is directed and co-written by Mitre, one of Latin America’s most highly-regarded film directors whose feature debut, 2011’s “The Student,” brought him instant attention and a Special Jury Prize in Locarno’s Cineasti del Presente.  Mitre’s“Paulina” won Cannes 2015 Critics’ Week Grand Prize.

Co-written by Mariano Llinás (“La Flor,” “Extraordinary Stories”), Mitre’s career-long co-scribe, “Argentina, 1985” will shoot on the same locations where the real-life action took place. It will receive a theatrical release in Argentina before being made available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.

“Argentina, 1985’s” producers are Axel Kuschevatzky, Federico Posternak, Agustina Llambi-Campbell, Ricardo Darín, Santiago Mitre, Santiago Carabante, Chino Darín and Victoria Alonso. Cindy Teperman and Phin Glynn serve as executive producers.

“It’s exciting to be part of such an ambitious project that will take audiences on a journey through a pivotal point in Argentina’s history,” said Javiera Balmaceda, Amazon Studios’ head of local originals for Spanish-speaking Latin America.

“The amazing and internationally recognized Argentine cast, director and entire Argentinean production team are sure to bring us one of the most compelling and well-produced of films, that will keep our audience talking.”

“We’re excited to support Santiago Mitre’s unique perspective in this real-life emotional thriller which reflects a trial that changed justice,” the producers said. They added. “It’s been a joy to work on a project that will finally share this breathtaking Argentinean story all around the world.”

Founded in 2011 by producers Agustina Llambi Campbell and Fernando Brom and writer-directors Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui and Santiago Mitre, La Unión de Los Rios has produced all of Mitre’s features, plus, among other films, Fadel’s “The Wild Ones” and “Murder Me, Monster,” both selected for the Cannes Festival.

Kenya Films is Darín’s production label, founded in 2016 with son Chino Darín and Federico Posternak. It has co-produced “An Unexpected Love,” which opened the San Sebastian Festival, and “Heroic Losers,” which won a Spanish Academy Goya for best Latin American film.

Based out the U.K., Los Angeles and Buenos Aires and headed by Kuschevatzky, Glynn and Teperman, Infinity Hill’s first productions take in “The Doorman,” starring Jean Reno and Ruby Rose, Berlin competition player “The Intruder” and UK prime-time TV hit “Staged,” starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.

Read the article here.

David Tennant visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at CBS to talk about Staged.

March 22, 2021

Staged, the series exclusively broadcasted by OnDIRECTV

This month of March, OnDIRECTV entertainment channel will broadcast the comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, all filmed during lockdown. The series will also be available on DIRECTV GO

March, 2021 – OnDIRECTV will be broadcasting Staged as of Thursday, March 11 at 11 PM. The series starring British actors David Tennant (Broadchurch) and Michael Sheen (Masters of Sex) tells the story of their own lives: two actors challenging one another’s egos, which in turn challenges everyone to keep play rehearsals on track.

Filmed by videoconference during the lockdown in the United Kingdom, we find David Tennant and Michael Sheen playing the roles of two actors on furlough due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though director Simon Evans persuades them to keep on rehearsing on line while facing home chores and the anxiety of lockdown.

The cast includes guest stars Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love) and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), among others. Staged is an Infinity Hill production owned by Axel Kuschevatzky, Cindy Teperman and Phin Glynn.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to bring this innovative and hilarious series to our viewers,” said Willard Tressel, GM of OnDIRECTV. Tressel added, “Argentina’s Axel Kuschevatzky, and his partners at Infinity Hill, enlisted two great stars and their friends to produce a series that became an absolute hit in the UK.  We have no doubt it will be a Latin America hit, as well.”

“We are thrilled by Staged reaching Latin America thanks to our dear OnDIRECTV friends”, assures Axel Kuschevatzky, “This our first TV series and, being a company rooted in our region, it feels like being back home. He hope the Latin American audiences have as much fan as we did making it and the UK viewers watching it!”.

The 6 episodes of this series will be exclusively broadcast on OnDIRECTV, as of Thursday, March 11 at 11 PM with two episodes. Also available on DIRECTV GO streaming service. The remaining episodes will be broadcasted on the following Thursdays, March 18 and 25 at 11 PM. The full series will later be available as On Demand content, on DIRECTV GO.

OnDIRECTV presents Staged.

As of Thursday, March 11 at 11 PM (channels 201 & 1201 HD)

Also available on DIRECTV GO streaming service!

About DIRECTV 

DIRECTV delivers the best entertainment experience. Every day, DIRECTV subscribers in Latin America enjoy 100% digital quality and sound, industry leading customer service, superior technology, unmatched HD content that includes original and exclusive series and complete coverage of the most important sport events, leagues and packages, and the possibility of watching shows and content on different screens whenever and wherever the users want it. For more information, visit directvla.com 

About DIRECTV GO 

With DIRECTV GO, users can access the best of national and international live and On Demand content how and when they want across devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, computers, or Smart TVs. DIRECTV GO is an over-the-top (OTT) subscription service that offers online access to a variety of programming in different Latin American countries. Includes access to linear, live channels, On Demand and sports content, and premium programming subscription option. DIRECTV GO is a Vrio service offered by its affiliated companies Latam Streamco Inc. in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, DIRECTV Argentina S.A. in Argentina and Streamco Distribuição de Vídeo Brasil Ltda. in Brazil. DIRECTV GO and the pay TV service DIRECTV are different offers that require independent subscription fees and taxes. DIRECTV GO is available at no additional cost to DIRECTV subscribers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay as per an agreement with Vrio and DIRECTV’s satellite television service providers. More information at: www.DIRECTVGO.com [directvgo.com]. ©️2020 AT&T Intellectual Property. DIRECTV, DIRECTV’s logo and all other DIRECTV brands are property of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliate companies.

Interview: Staged’s Anna Lundberg and Georgia Tennant: ‘Scenes with all four of us usually involved alcohol’

Michael Hogan – The Guardian – Sun 3 Jan 2021

The hit BBC sitcom Staged started when actors and friends David Tennant and Michael Sheen began messing about on Zoom. On the eve of series two, we talk to their scene-stealing partners

Not many primetime TV hits are filmed by the show’s stars inside their own homes. However, 2020 wasn’t your average year. During the pandemic, productions were shut down and workarounds had to be found – otherwise the terrestrial schedules would have begun to look worryingly empty. Staged was the surprise comedy hit of the summer.

This playfully meta short-form sitcom, airing in snack-sized 15-minute episodes, found A-list actors Michael Sheen and David Tennant playing an exaggerated version of themselves, bickering and bantering as they tried to perfect a performance of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author over Zoom.

Having bonded while co-starring in Good Omens, Amazon’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, Sheen, 51, and Tennant, 49, became best buddies in real life. In Staged, though, they’re comedically reframed as frenemies – warm, matey and collaborative, but with a cut-throat competitiveness lurking just below the surface. As they grew ever more hirsute and slobbish in lockdown, their virtual relationship became increasingly fraught.

It was soapily addictive and hilariously thespy, while giving a voyeuristic glimpse of their interior decor and domestic lives – with all the action viewed through their webcams.

Yet it was the supporting cast who lifted Staged to greatness,Their director Simon Evans, forced to dance around the pair’s fragile egos and piggy-in-the-middle of their feuds. Steely producer Jo, played by Nina Sosanya, forever breaking off from calls to bellow at her poor, put-upon PA. And especially the leading men’s long-suffering partners, both actors in real life, Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg.

Georgia Tennant comes from showbiz stock, as the child of Peter Davison and Sandra Dickinson. At 36 she is an experienced actor and producer, who made her TV debut in Peak Practice aged 15. She met David on Doctor Who 2008, when she played the Timelord’s cloned daughter Jenny. Meanwhile, the Swedish Lundberg, 26, is at the start of her career. She left drama school in New York two years ago and Staged is her first big on-screen role.

Married for nine years, the Tennants have five children and live in west London. The Lundberg-Sheens have been together two years, have a baby daughter, Lyra, and live outside Port Talbot in south Wales. On screen and in real life, the women have become firm friends and frequent scene-stealers.Advertisement

Staged proved so successful that it’s now back for a second series. We set up a video call with Tennant and Lundberg to discuss lockdown life, wine consumption, home schooling (those two may be related) and the blurry line between fact and fiction…

Was doing Staged a big decision, because it’s so personal and set in your homes?
Georgia Tennant: We’d always been a very private couple. Staged was everything we’d never normally say yes to. Suddenly, our entire house is on TV and so is a version of the relationship we’d always kept private. But that’s the way to do it, I guess. Go to the other extreme. Just rip off the Band-Aid.

Watch a trailer for Staged series two.

Anna Lundberg: Michael decided pretty quickly that we weren’t going to move around the house at all. All you see is the fireplace in our kitchen.

GT: We have five children, so it was just about which room was available.

AL: But it’s not the real us. It’s not a documentary.

GT: Although some people think it is.

Which fictional parts of the show do people mistake for reality?
GT: People think I’m really a novelist because “Georgia” writes a novel in Staged. They’ve asked where they can buy my book. I should probably just write one now because I’ve done the marketing already.

AL: People worry about our elderly neighbour, who gets hospitalised in the show. She doesn’t actually exist in real life but people have approached Michael in Tesco’s, asking if she’s OK.

Michael and David squabble about who’s billed first in Staged. Does that reflect real life?
AL: With Good Omens, Michael’s name was first for the US market and David’s was first for the British market. So those scenes riffed on that.Advertisement

Should we call you Georgia and Anna, or Anna and Georgia?
GT: Either. We’re super-laidback about these things.

AL: Unlike certain people.

How well did you know each other before Staged?
GT: We barely knew each other. We’ve now forged a friendship by working on the show together.

AL: We’d met once, for about 20 minutes. We were both pregnant at the time – we had babies a month apart – so that was pretty much all we talked about.

Did you tidy up before filming?
AL: We just had to keep one corner relatively tidy.

GT: I’m quite a tidy person, but I didn’t want to be one of those annoying Instagram people with perfect lives. So strangely, I had to add a bit of mess… dot a few toys around in the background. I didn’t want to be one of those insufferable people – even though, inherently, I am one of those people.

Was there much photobombing by children or pets?
AL: In the first series, Lyra was still at an age where we could put her in a baby bouncer. Now that’s not working at all. She’s just everywhere. Me and Michael don’t have many scenes together in series two, because one of us is usually Lyra-wrangling.

GT: Our children aren’t remotely interested. They’re so unimpressed by us. There’s one scene where Doris, our five-year-old, comes in to fetch her iPad. She doesn’t even bother to glance at what we’re doing.

How was lockdown for you both?
AL: I feel bad saying it, but it was actually good for us. We were lucky enough to be in a big house with a garden. For the first time since we met, we were in one place. We could just focus on Lyra . To see her grow over six months was incredible. She helped us keep a steady routine, too.

GT: Ours was similar. We never spend huge chunks of time together, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At least until David’s career goes to shit and he’s just sat at home. The flipside was the bleakness. Being in London, there were harrowing days when everything was silent but you’d just hear sirens going past, as a reminder that something awful was going on. So I veered between “This is wonderful” and “This is the worst thing that ever happened.”

And then there was home schooling…
GT: Which was genuinely the worst thing that ever happened.

You’ve spent a lot of time on video calls, clearly. What are your top Zooming tips?
GT: Raise your camera to eye level by balancing your laptop on a stack of books. And invest in a ring light.Advertisement

AL: That’s why you look so much better. We just have our sad kitchen light overhead, which makes us look like one massive shiny forehead.

GT: Also, always have a good mug on the go [raises her cuppa to the camera and it’s a Michael Sheen mug]. Someone pranked David on the job he’s shooting at the moment by putting a Michael Sheen mug in his trailer. He brought it home and now I use it every morning. I’m magically drawn to drinking out of Michael.

There’s a running gag in series one about the copious empties in Michael’s recycling. Did you lean into lockdown boozing in real life?
AL: Not really. We eased off when I was pregnant and after Lyra was born. We’d just have a glass of wine with dinner.

GT: Yes, definitely. I often reach for a glass of red in the show, which was basically just an excuse to continue drinking while we were filming: “I think my character would have wine and cake in this scene.” The time we started drinking would creep slightly earlier. “We’ve finished home schooling, it’s only 4pm, but hey…” We’ve scaled it back to just weekends now.

How did you go about creating your characters with the writer Simon Evans?
AL: He based the dynamic between David and Michael on a podcast they did together. Our characters evolved as we went along.

GT: I was really kind and understanding in the first draft. I was like “I don’t want to play this, it’s no fun.” From the first few tweaks I made, Simon caught onto the vibe, took that and ran with it.

Did you struggle to keep a straight face at times?
AL: Yes, especially the scenes with all four of us, when David and Michael start improvising.

GT: I was just drunk, so I have no recollection.

AL: Scenes with all four of us were normally filmed in the evening, because that’s when we could be child-free. Usually there was alcohol involved, which is a lot more fun.

GT: There’s a long scene in series two where we’re having a drink. During each take, we had to finish the glass. By the end, we were all properly gone. I was rewatching it yesterday and I was so pissed.

What else can you tell us about series two?
GT: Everyone’s in limbo. Just as we think things are getting back to normal, we have to take three steps back again. Everyone’s dealing with that differently, shall we say.Advertisement

AL: In series one, we were all in the same situation. By series two, we’re at different stages and in different emotional places.

GT: Hollywood comes calling, but things are never as simple as they seem.

David had a bob at one point. Turns out he’s got annoyingly excellent hair. Quite jealous

There were some surprise big-name cameos in series one, with Samuel L Jackson and Dame Judi Dench suddenly Zooming in. Who can we expect this time around?
AL: We can’t name names, but they’re very exciting.

GT: Because series one did so well, and there’s such goodwill towards the show, we’ve managed to get some extraordinary people involved. This show came from playing around just to pass the time in lockdown. It felt like a GCSE end-of-term project. So suddenly, when someone says: “Samuel L Jackson’s in”, it’s like: “What the fuck’s just happened?”

AL: It took things to the next level, which was a bit scary.

GT: It suddenly felt like: “Some people might actually watch this.”

How are David and Michael’s hair and beard situations this time?
AL: We were in a toyshop the other day and Lyra walked up to these Harry Potter figurines, pointed at Hagrid and said: “Daddy!” So that explains where we’re at. After eight months of lockdown, it was quite full-on.

GT: David had a bob at one point. Turns out he’s got annoyingly excellent hair. Quite jealous. He’s also grown a slightly unpleasant moustache.

Is David still wearing his stinky hoodie?
GT: I bought him that as a gift. It’s actually Paul Smith loungewear. In lockdown, he was living in it. It’s pretty classy, but he does manage to make it look quite shit.

Staged returns to BBC One on Monday 4 January at 9.45pm

Click here to read the article.

David Tennant hints at ‘bit of a twist’ for Staged series two

‘Staged’ star David Tennant promises “a bit of a twist” for the second series of the BBC One lockdown comedy

The List – Bang Showbiz – 30 December 2020

David Tennant has promised “a bit of a twist” for the second series of ‘Staged’.

The 49-year-old actor – who stars in the BBC One lockdown comedy with Michael Sheen – has opened up on what viewers can expect for season two.

As quoted by RadioTimes.com, David said: “It’s the same set up as before. Michael Sheen and I talking rubbish to each other over the internet from our respective homes, with Georgia and Anna, our other halves, keeping us from becoming too self-indulgent, not always successfully.

“But there is a bit of a twist to it all, which I’m not going to reveal here…”

‘Staged’ sees the actors playing fictional versions of themselves during the first UK lockdown.

The duo – who also starred together in Amazon Prime Video fantasy series ‘Good Omens’ in 2019 – are excited for the new series to launch on January 4, and Michael has teased some “surprise” cameos after the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Judi Dench appeared in the first run.

He added: “We have a lot of amazing surprise appearances which I hope people will enjoy as much as David and I enjoyed doing the scenes with them.

“Having lovely surprises like Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson, we have lots more of those surprises in this new series.”

The upcoming episodes will see the two actors navigating their ‘new normal’ at home with their families, while also trying to tackle the world of ‘virtual Hollywood’.

Michael previously said: “It’s been so great to see how much people enjoyed the first series. Seemed like the laughs were much appreciated.

“It made us really excited about taking it further and going in some surprising and hopefully enjoyable directions this time.”

Georgia Tennant – who returns alongside Anna Lundberg, Lucy Eaton, Nina Sosanya and Simon Evans – added: “The prospect of getting my husband back into employment alongside the divine Ben Schwartz and the hairy, Welsh legend that is Michael Sheen all makes me very happy to be back for series two!”.

Click here to read the article.

Top 10 New TV Shows Of 2020 Part I: Dominic Patten On Some Lockdown, Some Politics, Some Genre Bursting & Some Pretty Deft Moves

SPOILER ALERT: This video contains details of some very good TV series that aired in 2020.

By Dominic Patten – Deadline – December 30, 2020

There is no other way to say it: 2020 has been a horrible year full of great television.

As you can see in the video above, the first part of Deadline’s Top 10 New TV Shows of the year has a different tone from the past. Going through my picks for number 10 to 6 this year became much more an appreciation than a celebration.

Now, you have to watch the video to see who made the cut in this first round. However, I will tell you that if you are looking for Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, look elsewhere.

Yes, I know it was a touchstone for millions in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, as  my review of April 7 made clear – I hated the Red State porn and exploitation of the blockbuster docuseries from directors Rebecca Chaikin and Eric Goode.

Joe Exotic and crew aside, on this second to last day of our mutual annus horribilis, the fact is it was the small screen that provided a lifeline to the world for many of us in 2020. Cut off from each other in trying to contain a virus that is now spreading faster and deadlier than ever before, TV in all its variants and platforms was both confessor and comfort in what seems like a terrible dystopian drama we are all still trapped in.

With the economy crashing around us due to the fallout from the virus and a distinct lack of national leadership from the now outgoing Donald Trump, offerings from streamers new and old, broadcast and cable provided a reprieve from the bleak news that continues to pile up.

As well, this year of a bitterly fought election saw the rules of game literally change as political fact and fiction merged and went virtual towards a deep-fake future. The Olympics was postponed as live sport disappeared for a while internationally and at home under Covid-19 lockdowns. Production on films and TV came to a halt in mid-March too. One of many results was that suddenly hours of programming was left empty. The equally suddenly, outliners and newcomers flooded in to fill the void.

All of which, as today’s list reveals, led to some ambitious faceplants, some blasts from the past and some wonderful surprises.

Keeping with past Top 10 traditions, there’ll be more to come on January 1 with Part 2 of our best New TV Shows of 2020. Before that, send me some suggestions you have if you feel like it. As always, you can reach me at dominicpatten@deadline.com or via my Twitter feed at @DeadlineDominic.

Stay safe on NYE and if you have to go out, maintain social distance and please wear a mask.

Click here to see the article.

Best TV shows of the year 2020, 10-1: Our no. 1 series revealed

Our countdown of the year’s very best small-screen entertainment continues – which series has won the top spot?

Radio Times – December 29, 2012

6. Staged

Available on BBC iPlayer, Netflix and Sky Go

Innovative, funny, and above all, just what we needed, Staged set the standard for lockdown television, striking just the right balance between humour and occasional poignancy. Starring David Tennant and Michael (not Martin) Sheen as exaggerated, comedic versions of themselves, the chemistry and balance between the lackadaisical, peace-making Scot and the rather shouty Welshman is just right.

The premise for season one is that the pair are rehearsing for a play via Zoom, but inevitably their conversations drift towards more pressing topics: chiefly, what time in the day is it acceptable to start pouring out the red wine. – Flora Carr, Drama Writer

Click here to see the article.

Column: Most TV made in quarantine was forgettable. But ‘Staged’ should go in a time capsule

By Mary McNamara, Culture Columnist and Critic – Los Angeles Times, Dec. 29, 2020

Once upon a time, way back in the early days of the pandemic (which is to say eight months ago), many makers of television scrambled to create shows to both reflect the experience of isolation and distract viewers who were experiencing it. Casts of classic shows and films reassembled via Zoom, John Krasinski offered “Some Good News” and A-list music performers remotely created televised concerts. These valiant efforts were closely followed by scripted series with titles like “Love in the Time of Corona” and “Social Distance,” which attempted to capture this very strange, scary and creatively unique time. Though novel and welcome, most were fatally ephemeral, even self-consciously so — stopgaps designed, like much of television before streaming, to be enjoyed and then forgotten.

And then there’s “Staged,” a BBC series starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen that captures the wild-eyed numbness and panicked lethargy of the first round of stay-at-home orders so well it probably should be put in a time capsule.

Written by and also costarring British theatrical director Simon Evans, “Staged” follows a fictionalized version of Evans as he attempts to wrangle fictionalized versions of Tennant and Sheen into remote-rehearsing a production of “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” which they had all been scheduled to do before the pandemic hit.

The result is a gently pointed send-up of the theater — all the world may be a stage but those who actually work on one often display a very special mix of ego and insecurity — but it’s also an exploration of the self-doubt many experienced when suddenly cut off from the shared rituals and rigors of their professions.

It’s a small show, only six episodes (though it, like the lockdown, just got a second season) and, while it debuted on Hulu in September, it hasn’t gotten a ton of attention here. Fittingly, I discovered “Staged” through one of those internet wormholes many of us have been falling into with alarming regularity during our work-from-home days.

I had been rewatching “Doctor Who” and had just gotten to “The Doctor’s Daughter,” an episode in Season 4 that has one of the most remarkable behind-the-scenes pedigrees of any television episode ever. In it the Doctor (Tennant) is granted, through true Whovian clonishness, a “daughter,” who is played by Georgia Moffett. Moffett is the actual daughter of Peter Davison, who played the Doctor in the early 1980s. After filming, she began dating, and then married, Tennant.

That’s right, the daughter of one Doctor became the wife of another Doctor after starring in “The Doctor’s Daughter.”

Furthermore, they were married on New Year’s Eve 2011 and had a reception the next day in Shakespeare’s Globe theater, and I know this not because I was invited (though clearly I should have been) but because my family and I were in London that Christmas. When we tried to visit the Globe around that time, we were told it was closed for a private event. Being arrogant American tourists, we found this irritating, until we learned what the event was, and then it was fine because everyone in our family loves “Doctor Who” and it was just so damn romantic.

So as I watched “The Doctor’s Daughter,” I wondered, not that it’s any of my business, if the marriage had lasted. A Google search revealed that indeed it has, and now includes five children, thanks. Not only that but the couple was currently starring in a pandemic-related series called “Staged,” available on Hulu.

So obviously, there was nothing else to do but spend the next three hours of my life watching versions of three households — the Tennants, Sheen and girlfriend Anna Lundberg (also an actor), and Evans and his sister, Lucy— cope with life in lockdown. (Also appearances by Nina Sosanya, as a very tense agent, and guests so Very Special I’m not going to name them and spoil the surprise.)

In other words, it was altogether divine.

Tennant and Sheen are always terrific, separate or together, as proven by their marvelous chemistry in “Good Omens,” an Amazon show that’s mentioned several times in “Staged.” Georgia Tennant gives a pitch-perfect performance as a working mother who has decided that gentle humor, while not precluding pointed observation about things like the division of labor, is the best setting for survival. And Evans’ nervous wreck of a director nearly steals the show at times.

It is a scripted series but there is a lot of improvisation, and though the plot may be a bit thin, it is built like a genuine television show, with multiple storylines and scene-placing exteriors.

Much of it consists of Zoom conversations between the main characters, with both Tennant and Sheen slowly disappearing into their pandemic beards and exhibiting increasingly obsessive behavior. (Tennant spells words backward in his head and refuses to change his hoodie; Sheen believes the birds are conspiring against him and admits to drinking perhaps a bit more than is good for him.)

But there is also footage of a shut-down London, sweeping vistas of the British countryside and, more important, remotely or self-filmed scenes from many rooms in two of the three homes. All of which makes it feel like an actual television series, a blur between reality and sitcom.

While David mopes around, wallowing in his angst, Georgia is a model of multitasking, caring for the kids, finishing a novel and, at one point, helping a friend give birth. Evans, fretting over having his big break yanked out from under him, has moved into his sister’s home, with the understanding that she is in France with her boyfriend. When Lucy returns, the two revert to basic adult-sibling behavior; they are the only cohabitants in the show who do not have to try to be patient with each other.

There are just enough references to the actual pandemic to keep “Staged” from being pure fantasy, but it’s hilarious, endearing and all very resonant, especially for those of us lucky enough to work from home.

Well, maybe not the bits in which Sheen and Tennant try to one-up each other with past Shakespearean roles. Or the moments when they wax nostalgic for the star treatment they received on sets. But in general, the meltdowns, listlessness and inevitable friction between those isolating together are as universal as it’s going to get with celebrities involved. Sheen especially captures the wild-eyed lunacy of those early days; as Tennant observes, he would make a very good Lear.

Maybe that will happen in Season 2.

‘Staged’

Where: Hulu

When: Any time

Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

Click Here to See the Article.

Staged Season 1 – Best comedy series – TV Zone Best Of 2020 Awards

Click here to see the article.

Staged Season 2 – interview with David Tennant and Michael Sheen

TV Guide – January 2020

Staged Season 2, Pick Of The Day for Monday 4th January

TV Times – January 2021

Staged Season 2 cover story and interviews – TV choice

January 2021

Staged: BBC One – Bleeding Cool TV Top 10 of 2020

Bleeding Cool – By Ray Flook – 24 Dec 2020

Welcome back to Bleeding Cool TV’s Top 10 of 2020- a look at the year in broadcast, cable, streaming, and online television with our focus on the best and brightest in what continues to be an ever-growing pool of quality content. This year, it’s important for us to recognize just how much Television stepped up in the face of a global pandemic as other mediums left their audiences to go it alone. Not Television. Television stepped up to make our lockdown times a little more sane- a bit more bearable. From live-streaming table reads to tweet-a-longs with shows’ best and brightest offering fans new content to productions going into massive “bubble modes” to knock out as much content as possible. In 2020, Television proved once again what it’s always been. A reflection of what we’ve been, who we are, and who we have the potential to be in the toughest of times. A series that found a way to reflect our current pandemic times while still giving viewers a moment to smile was Simon Evans and Phin Glynn‘s Staged.

Premiering on BBC One in June 2020, the series used video-conferencing technology to offer viewers “meta fictionalized” versions of Michael Sheen (Prodigal Son) and David Tennant (Doctor Who) as they attempt to rehearse a performance of Luigi Pirandello‘s Six Characters in Search of an Author– without driving director Simon Evans (playing themselves) totally off the rails in the process. Here’s what Bleeding Cool writer Adi Tantimedh had to say as to why Staged was deserving of making the cut:

“‘Staged’ is arguably the most successful TV show conceived, shot, and broadcast in Lockdown. British TV has leaned in on addressing and portraying life in lockdown than anywhere else. They produced more dramas during and set in Lockdown than the US did, and without treating it as a gimmick. ‘Staged’ on the BBC is the only lockdown sitcom to not only be a bonafide hit but also get a second season,” Tantimedh explained.

“With David Tennant and Martin Sheen playing exaggerated versions of themselves, the show is a spiritual sequel to Good Omens. It’s not enough to just slap these actors on a zoom screen and expect them to deliver. There needs to be a script, plots, B plots, arcs, and comedy. Tennant and Sheen’s chemistry and ability to bounce jokes off each other. It’s a glorious satire of social faux pas, of actor insecurity, of the classic British fear of embarrassment and small acts of bad faith and dishonesty that blow up in people’s faces,” he continued. “It’s the kind of comedy you get from ‘The Larry Sanders Show’ where the real and fictional blur and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ where minor embarrassing situations escalate into social disasters. The supporting cast also becomes perfect foils for the stars: Sheen and Tennant’s real-life spouses Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg, Nina Sosonya as an intimidating producer, series creator Simon Evans as a nervous, snivelly and disastrous version of himself all add to the mix as well as the unexpected celebrity cameos. ‘Staged’ is that rare lockdown comedy that leans into its lockdown gimmick and creates something unique and hilarious.”

Click Here to See the Article.

The 10 Best British TV shows of 2020

Mashable – 24 Dec 2020 (UK)

5. Staged: “If there was a show that embodied the feelings of being at home during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic more than Staged, I’ll eat my hat. Good Omens buddies David Tennant and Michael Sheen teamed up to create a show filmed entirely over video call, and it hit the experience of working from home during this anxious time on the head. 

The premise is simple: Tennant and Sheen basically play themselves, as two actors whose West End play has been paused due to COVID-19. Their wildly intimidated, long-suffering director has them continue rehearsing online, which leads to constant down-the-camera bickering and some relatable awkward moments with the exceptional support cast — mainly the ever-excellent Nina Sosanya. Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson also make hilarious appearances. But among all the at-home jokes, the show deliberately catches you in lighthearted moments with subtle reminders of the severity of the situation we all continue to inhabit — a silly row with a neighbour over invaded recycling bins becomes chillingly real in an instant with one line of dialogue.” -S.C.

Where to watch: BBC iPlayer or Netflix

Click Here to See the Article.

State of the Arts: From folklore to Tenet to Kitchen Disco – the year the arts became more necessary than ever

Covid changed everything in 2020, but artists, musicians and writers set out to inspire, guide and comfort us, says Rupert Hawksley, and we discovered new ways of interacting with them.

The Independent – 25 Dec 2020 (UK)

“But the diminishing of the big screen allowed the small screen to thrive. BBC Two comedy Staged, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, was filmed entirely over Zoom and was an unexpected triumph: intense and weird and claustrophobic. In fact, the pandemic ushered in a whole new genre of television, characterised by short episodes, shot remotely, often on shaky cameras.”

Click Here to See the Article.

From Jude Law in the sea to bemused vampires: readers’ TV hits of lockdown

For all the bingeing time it afforded, this has been a testing year. Here are the shows that did most to cheer you up.

The Guardian – 25 Dec 2020 (UK)

It came at a perfect time in lockdown, when we could all connect with Zoom gaffes and boredom. The chemistry between David Tennant and Michael Sheen is incredible and even the credits became a running joke. Mari Nowell, Bridgend

Click Here to See the Article.

Staged: Television of the Year

Sight & Sound – winter 2020/2021 (UK)

“Staged managed to provide something joyful, distinctive and reflective of the global situation just when we needed it most, and was turned round to broadcast in mere weeks. We should not just be thanking the TV series and dramas of this year. We should also praise the TV programme-makers who had to reinvent the ways they make their programmes so that shows could continue to air”. (Scott Bryan)

Staged: The 20 Best TV Shows of 2020

Junkee (Australia), December 16, 2020

One of the very few good things that came out of the pandemic. Staged forces David Tennant and Michael Sheen (playing themselves) to rehearse a play over video chat due to you-know-what. Director Simon Evans (also playing himself) tries to keep things on track but his cast want to do anything but rehearse. Staged avoids being exploitative because it’s a witty and cathartic exploration of lockdown life with a huge heart.

You can stream it on ABC iView.

Click Here to See the Article.

Staged: The 20 Best TV Shows of 2020

The List (UK), December 16, 2020

Probably the best lockdown series of the summer, Michael Sheen and David Tennant played, we assume, accurate versions of themselves as jocular then warring acting buddies brought together over Zoom to rehearse the play that they will put on stage once life gets back to normal. Nothing, though, quite ever goes to plan. In short, snappy 15-minute instalments, this was a genuine treat amid the gloom.

Click Here to See the Article.

David Tennant and Michael Sheen join Graham Norton Show guests

A good omen for next month.

November 23rd, 2020

By Dan Sedon (Digital Spy)

Good Omens duo David Tennant and Michael Sheen will grace The Graham Norton Show with their presence next month.

In the episode airing Friday, December 18, the two popular actors join Hollywood icon George Clooney, Oscar-winner Viola Davis and Vanessa Kirby to promote their latest joint endeavour: Staged series two.

Michael Ball and Alfie Boe have been given the musical spot, where they’ll get us in the festive spirit with a performance of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

Starring opposite Felicity Jones (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Kyle Chandler (The Wolf of Wall Street), Clooney will be chatting about his new Netflix sci-fi flick The Midnight Sky, which is based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel Good Morning, Midnight.

Other movies set to be the topic of discussion that night are Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – featuring the last-ever performance from the late Chadwick Boseman – and awards-hopeful Pieces of a Woman.

Despite his ability to “zone out” during superstar interviews, Norton’s wonderfully talented guests in this episode certainly shouldn’t pave the way for that to happen.

“You zone back in and they’re still talking and you think: ‘I wonder if I’ve missed anything?’ But, you probably haven’t,” he previously confessed, according to The Sun‘s Bizarre TV column.

“That’s the trick. It’s just yakkety yak. If I’m on it, I’m listening. I’m still bored.”

The Graham Norton Show continues this Friday (November 27) on BBC One.

Click Here to See the Article.

Michaela Coel, Lenny Abrahamson, ‘The Masked Singer’ Win at Royal Television Society Craft and Design Awards

November 23rd, 2020

By Naman Ramachandran (Variety)

Michaela Coel, Lenny Abrahamson’s “Normal People” and “The Masked Singer” were among the winners of the U.K.’s Royal Television Society (RTS) Craft & Design Awards.

Coel won the 2020 RTS special award for her groundbreaking BBC/HBO show “I May Destroy You.” In presenting the award to Coel, the judges said: “This piece sits in the true spirit of the craft and design Awards. The astonishing level of detail in all aspects of this production was humbling to see. A truly distinctive, highly creative and exemplary piece of work, in which the winner had also corralled outstanding demonstrations of expert craft skills across all the production disciplines.”

Lenny Abrahamson won best director of drama for smash hit BBC/Hulu show “Normal People.” “Beautiful, stylish and confident. This was the work of an elite director, skilfully providing the space for his actors to shine and their chemistry to transmit through the lens. Nuanced, but always sophisticated, Abrahamson was magnificent in conjuring up all the angst, confusion and excitement of a first love. His portrayal of class and adolescence was thoughtful, cliché-free and totally captivating from start to finish,” said the judges. “Normal People” also won the photography for drama and comedy category for Suzie Lavelle.

Elsewhere, “The Masked Singer” team won the costume design category, while veteran casting director Nina Gold (“Game of Thrones,” “The Crown”) won the outstanding achievement award.

Winners

Casting Award
Yoko Narahashi, Shaheen Baig & Layla Merrick-Wolf – “Giri/Haji” (Duty/Shame)
SISTER for BBC Two & Netflix

Costume Design – Drama
Lynsey Moore – “I May Destroy You”
Various Artists & FALKNA for BBC One & HBO

Costume Design – Entertainment & Non Drama
Tim Simpson, Derek McLean, Daniel Nettleton & Claire Horton – “The Masked Singer” (series 1)
Bandicoot Scotland & Plunge Creations for ITV

Design – Program Content Sequences
Made in Colour “My World – Dadaab Refugee Camp”
BBC World

Design – Titles
Titles Team “His Dark Materials”
Bad Wolf for BBC One & HBO

Director – Comedy Drama/Situation Comedy
Ella Jones – “Enterprice” (series 2)
Fudge Park Productions for BBC Three

Director – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama
Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts – “For Sama”
ITN Productions for Channel 4 & PBS

Director – Drama
Lenny Abrahamson – “Normal People”
Element Pictures for BBC & Hulu

Director – Multicamera
Bridget Caldwell – “The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance”
BBC Studios for BBC One

Editing – Documentary/Factual
Abraham Teweldebrhan – “Tyson Fury: The Gypsy King”
Optomen Television for ITV

Editing – Drama
Pia Di Ciaula – “Quiz”
Left Bank Pictures for ITV

Editing – Entertainment and Comedy
Dan Gage – “Staged”
Infinity Hill & GCB Productions for BBC One

Editing – Sport
Joe Snell, Kevin Evans & Paul Roberts ‘ “Time for a new season BT Sport Europa League final & BT Sport Champions League final”
BT Sport

Effects
Framestore, Russell Dodgson, Dan May & Danny Hargreaves – “His Dark Materials”
Bad Wolf for BBC One & HBO

Lighting for Multicamera
Nigel Catmur – “VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute”
BBC Studios for BBC One

Make Up Design – Drama
Shabana Latif and Avan Contractor – “A Suitable Boy”
A Lookout Point Production for BBC One

Make Up Design – Entertainment & Non Drama
Sheldon Wade – “Frayed”
Merman Television in association with Guesswork Television for Sky One

Multicamera Work
Suri Krishnamma & Camera Team – “Performance Live: The Way Out”
Battersea Arts Centre for BBC Four

Multicamera Work – Sport
IGBS Camera Team ‘ “The Rugby World Cup Semi Final 2019 England v New Zealand”
IGBS (JV between IMG and HBS) for ITV

Music – Original Score
Nainita Desai – “For Sama”
ITN Productions for Channel 4 & PBS

Music – Original Title
H. Scott Salinas – “Baghdad Central”
Euston Films for Channel 4

Photography – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama
Olivier Sarbil – “On The President’s Orders”
Mongoose Pictures for BBC Storyville

Photography – Drama & Comedy
Suzie Lavelle – “Normal People”
Element Pictures for BBC & Hulu

Picture Enhancement
Adam Dolniak “Rise of the Nazis”
72 Films for BBC Two

Production Design – Drama
Joel Collins – “His Dark Materials”
Bad Wolf for BBC One & HBO

Production Design – Entertainment & Non Drama
Dennis De Groot – “The Goes Wrong Show” (series 1)
Mischief Screen & Big Talk Productions for BBC One

Sound – Drama
Howard Bargroff, Tim Barker, Steve Browell & Marc Specter – “Baghdad Central”
Euston Films for Channel 4

Sound – Entertainment & Non Drama
Nick Fry, Mick Duffield & James Evans – “The Last Igloo”
Swan Films for BBC Four

RTS Special Award
Michaela Coel – “I May Destroy You”
Various Artists & FALKNA for BBC One & HBO

Click Here to See the Article.

‘Staged’: BBC Renews David Tennant & Michael Sheen Lockdown Comedy; Ben Schwartz Joins Cast

October 22nd, 2020

By Jake Kanter (Deadline)

The BBC has commissioned a second season of Staged, the lockdown comedy starring Good Omens actors David Tennant and Michael Sheen that secured pick-up from Hulu in the U.S.

The first season of the Infinity Hill, GCB Films and No Mystery-produced show featured Tennant and Sheen mounting Zoom rehearsals for their furloughed West End theatre production during the pandemic.

Season 2 sees the pair attempt to navigate the world of “virtual Hollywood” while keeping their increasingly fragile egos intact. Parks and Recreation star Ben Schwartz joins the cast as an assistant to their American agent.

Georgia Tennant, Anna Lundberg and Lucy Eaton, Nina Sosanya and Simon Evans also return for the second run of the show, which was created by Evans and Phin Glynn.

Evans writes and directs. The producers are Glynn, Victor Glynn and Georgia Tennant. Tennant and Sheen are executive producers alongside Axel Kuschevatzky and Cindy Teperman for Infinity Hill, and Geoff Iles for GCB.

Sheen said: “It’s been so great to see how much people enjoyed the first series. Seemed like the laughs were much appreciated. It made us really excited about taking it further and going in some surprising and hopefully enjoyable directions this time

Click Here to See the Article.