French auteur filmmaker Claire Denis returns to Panama to open the 11th Panama Int’l Film Festival Dec. 2 with her Cannes Grand Prix winner “Stars at Noon.”
While set in Nicaragua, the drama shot primarily in Panama last year and is associate produced by Hypatia Films, run by Pituka Ortega Heilbron and Marcela Heilbron, which provided production services. Fest – the Iff Panama as it is also known – closes Dec. 4 with “Tito, Margot y Yo,” an intriguing documentary about the 20th century’s greatest ballerina, Dame Margot Fonteyn, and her marriage to Panamanian politician, Tito Arias.
Some changes are afoot at the festival where, starting this year, Bernardo Ordás Guardia takes over festival duties from Ortega Heilbron who is now chair of the festival board and foundation. Ortega Heilbron plans to devote more time to directing and producing although she will continue to be involved with programming, guests and expanding the festival’s reach.
While set in Nicaragua, the drama shot primarily in Panama last year and is associate produced by Hypatia Films, run by Pituka Ortega Heilbron and Marcela Heilbron, which provided production services. Fest – the Iff Panama as it is also known – closes Dec. 4 with “Tito, Margot y Yo,” an intriguing documentary about the 20th century’s greatest ballerina, Dame Margot Fonteyn, and her marriage to Panamanian politician, Tito Arias.
Some changes are afoot at the festival where, starting this year, Bernardo Ordás Guardia takes over festival duties from Ortega Heilbron who is now chair of the festival board and foundation. Ortega Heilbron plans to devote more time to directing and producing although she will continue to be involved with programming, guests and expanding the festival’s reach.
- 11/30/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Steve Gravestock, longtime Toronto Film Festival programmer of Canadian and Nordic films, is set to step down.
The TIFF senior programmer will leave the festival at the end of 2022. “It was always a thrill to see Canadian filmmakers — from every corner of the country — bring our stories to the screen,” Gravestock said in a statement on Monday.
His retirement from TIFF comes amid a continuing programming shakeup in Toronto, with Diana Sanchez, senior director of film, stepping down at the end of 2021, and Anita Lee recently being named as the new chief programming officer.
Lee along with Kelly Boutsalis, associate international programmer of Canadian features, and Ravi Srinivasan, senior manager of festival programming, will take the lead on TIFF’s Canadian film programming.
In addition, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey was promoted to the top post at Toronto after fellow co-head Joana Vicente stepped...
Steve Gravestock, longtime Toronto Film Festival programmer of Canadian and Nordic films, is set to step down.
The TIFF senior programmer will leave the festival at the end of 2022. “It was always a thrill to see Canadian filmmakers — from every corner of the country — bring our stories to the screen,” Gravestock said in a statement on Monday.
His retirement from TIFF comes amid a continuing programming shakeup in Toronto, with Diana Sanchez, senior director of film, stepping down at the end of 2021, and Anita Lee recently being named as the new chief programming officer.
Lee along with Kelly Boutsalis, associate international programmer of Canadian features, and Ravi Srinivasan, senior manager of festival programming, will take the lead on TIFF’s Canadian film programming.
In addition, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey was promoted to the top post at Toronto after fellow co-head Joana Vicente stepped...
- 6/6/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Toronto Film Festival said Thursday that it is planning a return to an in-person festival for this year’s edition, which it confirmed will run September 8-18. The festival had been all but virtual the past two years because of the global pandemic.
Plans call for a return of TIFF’s networking and events as well including the TIFF Opening Night Party, the Industry Conference, Filmmaker Dinners, Industry Networking Events, Press & Programmers Events and the TIFF Tribute Awards Gala.
TIFF also said it has added five members to its curating team including Robyn Citizen, who has been at TIFF since 2018 and has been appointed Director of Festival Programming & Cinematheque. She most directly Diana Sanchez, who exited her role as Senior Director, Film in January after three years. Other additions include Jane Schoettle returning to lead programming in the Special Presentations section; imagineNative’s Jason Ryle in the new role...
Plans call for a return of TIFF’s networking and events as well including the TIFF Opening Night Party, the Industry Conference, Filmmaker Dinners, Industry Networking Events, Press & Programmers Events and the TIFF Tribute Awards Gala.
TIFF also said it has added five members to its curating team including Robyn Citizen, who has been at TIFF since 2018 and has been appointed Director of Festival Programming & Cinematheque. She most directly Diana Sanchez, who exited her role as Senior Director, Film in January after three years. Other additions include Jane Schoettle returning to lead programming in the Special Presentations section; imagineNative’s Jason Ryle in the new role...
- 2/24/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Toronto Film Festival on Wednesday unveiled its lineups for the Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery programs as it ramps up toward the kickoff of its 46th edition September 9-18. The festival also solidified additional Gala and Special Presentation titles and took the wraps off TIFF Rewind, a new block that highlights memorable films from previous TIFF editions along with conversations and Q&As with directors and casts.
This comes after the festival last week announced that Dear Evan Hansen will be the opening-night film, while Zhang Yimou’s One Second will close it. It also revealed a portion of the Gala and Special presentation titles that featured films from directors Edgar Wright, Melanie Laurent, Barry Levinson, Antoine Fuqua, Jacques Audiard and Ted Melfi.
Today, TIFF added world premieres for Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky’s The Good House and Camille Griffin’s Silent Night to its Gala lineup, and...
This comes after the festival last week announced that Dear Evan Hansen will be the opening-night film, while Zhang Yimou’s One Second will close it. It also revealed a portion of the Gala and Special presentation titles that featured films from directors Edgar Wright, Melanie Laurent, Barry Levinson, Antoine Fuqua, Jacques Audiard and Ted Melfi.
Today, TIFF added world premieres for Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky’s The Good House and Camille Griffin’s Silent Night to its Gala lineup, and...
- 7/28/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Toronto International Film Festival has revealed the slate of titles that will round out its contemporary world cinema and discovery programs.
Among the films playing in the contemporary world cinema lineup include director Wen Shipei’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” Lorenzo Vigas’ “The Box,” Manuel Martín Cuenca’s “The Daughter” and Bouli Lanners’ “Nobody Has to Know.” The discovery program will host Tea Lindeburg’s “As In Heaven,” filmmaker Hong Sung-eun’s “Aloners” and Anatolian Leopard from director Emre Kayış.
“TIFF Programmers continue discovering compelling and diverse stories from around the globe,” said Diana Sanchez, TIFF’s senior director of film. “With these two programmes, Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery, audiences can look forward to this stellar lineup to immerse themselves in. TIFF is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black and Indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers of colour, emerging Canadian talent, and powerful storytellers who identify as women, and...
Among the films playing in the contemporary world cinema lineup include director Wen Shipei’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” Lorenzo Vigas’ “The Box,” Manuel Martín Cuenca’s “The Daughter” and Bouli Lanners’ “Nobody Has to Know.” The discovery program will host Tea Lindeburg’s “As In Heaven,” filmmaker Hong Sung-eun’s “Aloners” and Anatolian Leopard from director Emre Kayış.
“TIFF Programmers continue discovering compelling and diverse stories from around the globe,” said Diana Sanchez, TIFF’s senior director of film. “With these two programmes, Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery, audiences can look forward to this stellar lineup to immerse themselves in. TIFF is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black and Indigenous filmmakers and filmmakers of colour, emerging Canadian talent, and powerful storytellers who identify as women, and...
- 7/28/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Funny Boy, Posessor, Inconvenient Indian also make cut.
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its list of top 10 Canadian films for 2020, with Beans, The Nest, and Nadia, Butterfly among the selection.
The list includes Canada’s international feature film submission Funny Boy from Deepa Mehta and is compiled by the TIFF programming team comprising artistic director and TIFF co-head Cameron Bailey, senior director, film, Diana Sanchez, and TIFF programmer Steve Gravestock.
In order to qualify, selections must have screened at a Canadian or international film festival.
The list appears below, followed by TIFF’s top 10 Canadian shorts of the year,...
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its list of top 10 Canadian films for 2020, with Beans, The Nest, and Nadia, Butterfly among the selection.
The list includes Canada’s international feature film submission Funny Boy from Deepa Mehta and is compiled by the TIFF programming team comprising artistic director and TIFF co-head Cameron Bailey, senior director, film, Diana Sanchez, and TIFF programmer Steve Gravestock.
In order to qualify, selections must have screened at a Canadian or international film festival.
The list appears below, followed by TIFF’s top 10 Canadian shorts of the year,...
- 12/9/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Cameron Bailey, Joana Vicente and Diana Sanchez to talk about preparing slimmed-down, hybrid event.
The latest in our ScreenDaily Talks webinar series takes place on Tuesday August 25 at 15.45 BST/10:45 Edt and will look at how Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) top brass are preparing to stage the festival during the pandemic.
Register here
As the industry grapples with how to host events safely in a year when many festivals have either cancelled their physical events or gone online, the fall festivals are taking a stand.
Chief among them is TIFF, where co-heads Cameron Bailey (artistic director) and Joana Vicente...
The latest in our ScreenDaily Talks webinar series takes place on Tuesday August 25 at 15.45 BST/10:45 Edt and will look at how Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) top brass are preparing to stage the festival during the pandemic.
Register here
As the industry grapples with how to host events safely in a year when many festivals have either cancelled their physical events or gone online, the fall festivals are taking a stand.
Chief among them is TIFF, where co-heads Cameron Bailey (artistic director) and Joana Vicente...
- 8/19/2020
- by 14¦Screen staff¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The Panama Film Festival (Iff Panama), with support from the Inter-American Development Bank, is unspooling a five-day online festival, running May 22-26, which includes film screenings and round tables.
Held on May 22, 23 and 24, three online round-tables – two moderated by festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and one by Tiff’s senior director, film, Diana Sanchez – questioned leading international talent, based in Latin America and Europe, about what film festivals and film production and distribution will look like after Covid-19.
The panelists were Jayro Bustamante (“Ixcanul”), Nicolás Celis (“Roma”), Cristina Gallegos (“Embrace of the Serpent”) Elena Manrique (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), production designer Enrique Caballero (“Roma”), and actors Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), Luis Tosar (“Cell 211”), Ricardo Darín (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Geraldine Chaplin (“Talk to Her”), Daniela Vega (“A Fantastic Woman”) and Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).
Several innovative new projects adapted to the lockdown period were discussed. For example, Spanish actor Luis Tosar...
Held on May 22, 23 and 24, three online round-tables – two moderated by festival director Pituka Ortega Heilbron and one by Tiff’s senior director, film, Diana Sanchez – questioned leading international talent, based in Latin America and Europe, about what film festivals and film production and distribution will look like after Covid-19.
The panelists were Jayro Bustamante (“Ixcanul”), Nicolás Celis (“Roma”), Cristina Gallegos (“Embrace of the Serpent”) Elena Manrique (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), production designer Enrique Caballero (“Roma”), and actors Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”), Luis Tosar (“Cell 211”), Ricardo Darín (“The Secret in Their Eyes”), Geraldine Chaplin (“Talk to Her”), Daniela Vega (“A Fantastic Woman”) and Marina de Tavira (“Roma”).
Several innovative new projects adapted to the lockdown period were discussed. For example, Spanish actor Luis Tosar...
- 5/26/2020
- by Martin Dale and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Costa Rican documentary “Los Últimos,” by Álvaro Torres Crespo, won the $10,000 Iff Panama Film Match Award, in the first edition of Iff Panama Film Match – the Panama Film Festival’s Cinematographic Co-Production Forum for Central America and the Caribbean, supported by the Idb Lab.
Initially planned as an integral part of the on-site film festival, the event was restructured as a virtual forum, with 10 projects in development – from Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Panama, including four Panamanian projects.
The jury members – top Colombian producer Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel, one of France’s key co-producers with Latin America, and Inti Cordera, director of DocsMX, one of Latin America’s key doc events – said that “Los Últimos” was chosen “due to the relevance of its issues, history and central character, [as] ever more than before, messages from drawn from the knowledge of our indigenous peoples must be disseminated and promoted through...
Initially planned as an integral part of the on-site film festival, the event was restructured as a virtual forum, with 10 projects in development – from Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Panama, including four Panamanian projects.
The jury members – top Colombian producer Diana Bustamante, Thierry Lenouvel, one of France’s key co-producers with Latin America, and Inti Cordera, director of DocsMX, one of Latin America’s key doc events – said that “Los Últimos” was chosen “due to the relevance of its issues, history and central character, [as] ever more than before, messages from drawn from the knowledge of our indigenous peoples must be disseminated and promoted through...
- 5/22/2020
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Tiff Industry Conference to hear from Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Fernando Meirelles.
World premieres of crime drama Briarpatch starring Rosario Dawson and Nicole Holofcener’s empty nest drama Mrs Fletcher are among six series to screen in Toronto International Film Festival’s (Tiff) Primetime television line-up.
Tiff brass also announced on Thursday (Aug 15) the Tiff Industry Conference line-up, as well as the four international Tiff Rising Stars, each of whom stars in at least one of the festival’s selections this year.
Primetime
Five of the Primetime series, nearly two-thirds of which are created and directed by women, will...
World premieres of crime drama Briarpatch starring Rosario Dawson and Nicole Holofcener’s empty nest drama Mrs Fletcher are among six series to screen in Toronto International Film Festival’s (Tiff) Primetime television line-up.
Tiff brass also announced on Thursday (Aug 15) the Tiff Industry Conference line-up, as well as the four international Tiff Rising Stars, each of whom stars in at least one of the festival’s selections this year.
Primetime
Five of the Primetime series, nearly two-thirds of which are created and directed by women, will...
- 8/15/2019
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Sorry We Missed You, The Traitor, A Hidden Life among Masters selection.
Toronto International Film Festival top brass announced on Tuesday (13) The Aeronauts and Wasp Network among a cluster of additions to Galas and Special Presentations, and also unveiled Contemporary World Cinema, which Our Lady Of The Nile will open, as well as Masters, and Wavelengths.
Tom Harper’s ballooning adventure The Aeronauts starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones will receive its Canadian premiere in Galas, suggesting a Telluride world premiere slot, while Olivier Assayas’ spy saga Wasp Network with Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez gets a North American premiere...
Toronto International Film Festival top brass announced on Tuesday (13) The Aeronauts and Wasp Network among a cluster of additions to Galas and Special Presentations, and also unveiled Contemporary World Cinema, which Our Lady Of The Nile will open, as well as Masters, and Wavelengths.
Tom Harper’s ballooning adventure The Aeronauts starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones will receive its Canadian premiere in Galas, suggesting a Telluride world premiere slot, while Olivier Assayas’ spy saga Wasp Network with Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez gets a North American premiere...
- 8/13/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Cannes Competition line-up of 50 years ago was an extraordinary one; a who’s who of iconic filmmakers. Among the 26 competing for the Palme d’Or were Sidney Lumet, Louis Malle, Andrzej Wajda, Pierre Étaix, Lindsay Anderson, Volker Schlöndorff, Costa-Gavras, Éric Rohmer, Glauber Rocha, Ronald Neame and Dennis Hopper.
While it wouldn’t have seemed unusual at the time, today the maleness of that line-up really stands out. Festival selections hold a mirror up to those who select them as well as the society and culture within which they exist.
50 years on, a zero count of women filmmakers in Competition has haltingly increased to four—a joint-record for the festival, which has still only once awarded its main prize to a woman. Just 86 women directors have played in Competition compared to more than 1,600 men. And it’s not only in Competition that Cannes struggles. Of 24 films in Directors’ Fortnight this year,...
While it wouldn’t have seemed unusual at the time, today the maleness of that line-up really stands out. Festival selections hold a mirror up to those who select them as well as the society and culture within which they exist.
50 years on, a zero count of women filmmakers in Competition has haltingly increased to four—a joint-record for the festival, which has still only once awarded its main prize to a woman. Just 86 women directors have played in Competition compared to more than 1,600 men. And it’s not only in Competition that Cannes struggles. Of 24 films in Directors’ Fortnight this year,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Colombian drug war saga Birds Of Passage from Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra is among more than 20 selections in the eighth Iff Panama’s Iberoamerican line-up.
Colombian drug war saga Birds Of Passage from Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra is among more than 20 selections in the eighth Iff Panama’s Iberoamerican line-up.
“This year we bring Iff Panama a creative and intelligent section with the best productions of our cinema,” said Iff artistic director Diana Sanchez. “It is a selection that includes works internationally celebrated by critics and audiences. They are very different films, in genre and theme and countries of production.
Colombian drug war saga Birds Of Passage from Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra is among more than 20 selections in the eighth Iff Panama’s Iberoamerican line-up.
“This year we bring Iff Panama a creative and intelligent section with the best productions of our cinema,” said Iff artistic director Diana Sanchez. “It is a selection that includes works internationally celebrated by critics and audiences. They are very different films, in genre and theme and countries of production.
- 2/26/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Fans of Mexican cinema, and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro are in for at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to a new announcement, del Toro will work with collaborator Diana Sanchez to curate a special program of 25 films spanning six decades that will be shown at Tiff’s year-round theater, Bell Lightbox.
Read More: Guillermo del Toro Says His Netflix Stop-Motion ‘Pinocchio’ Film Isn’t “For All The Family”
“The series not just explores some of the films that most influenced myself and the current generation of filmmakers working today in Mexico, but it also reflects the depth and the richness of my country’s cinema: genre, auteurist efforts, and independent film,” del Toro said (via THR).
Continue reading Guillermo del Toro To Curate A Mexican Film Retrospective Program For Tiff at The Playlist.
Read More: Guillermo del Toro Says His Netflix Stop-Motion ‘Pinocchio’ Film Isn’t “For All The Family”
“The series not just explores some of the films that most influenced myself and the current generation of filmmakers working today in Mexico, but it also reflects the depth and the richness of my country’s cinema: genre, auteurist efforts, and independent film,” del Toro said (via THR).
Continue reading Guillermo del Toro To Curate A Mexican Film Retrospective Program For Tiff at The Playlist.
- 12/6/2018
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Oscar-winning The Shape of Water director Guillermo del Toro is set to co-program a Mexican film retrospective for the Toronto Film Festival.
The auteur and co-curator Diana Sanchez will select 25 films that span six decades to screen at Tiff's year-round headquarters, Bell Lightbox, in Toronto.
After he and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) have produced films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers, del Toro said the Sui generis: An Alternative History of Mexican Cinema program will showcase the masters that inspired him and new generations of Mexican auteurs.
"The series not just explores some of the ...
The auteur and co-curator Diana Sanchez will select 25 films that span six decades to screen at Tiff's year-round headquarters, Bell Lightbox, in Toronto.
After he and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) have produced films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers, del Toro said the Sui generis: An Alternative History of Mexican Cinema program will showcase the masters that inspired him and new generations of Mexican auteurs.
"The series not just explores some of the ...
- 12/5/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Oscar-winning The Shape of Water director Guillermo del Toro is set to co-program a Mexican film retrospective for the Toronto Film Festival.
The auteur and co-curator Diana Sanchez will select 25 films that span six decades to screen at Tiff's year-round headquarters, Bell Lightbox, in Toronto.
After he and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) have produced films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers, del Toro said the Sui generis: An Alternative History of Mexican Cinema program will showcase the masters that inspired him and new generations of Mexican auteurs.
"The series not just explores some of the ...
The auteur and co-curator Diana Sanchez will select 25 films that span six decades to screen at Tiff's year-round headquarters, Bell Lightbox, in Toronto.
After he and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) have produced films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers, del Toro said the Sui generis: An Alternative History of Mexican Cinema program will showcase the masters that inspired him and new generations of Mexican auteurs.
"The series not just explores some of the ...
- 12/5/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Toronto Film Festival has revealed its annual list of top ten Canadian films. Compiled by Tiff’s team of programmers in collaboration with Canadian critics, the ‘Canada’s Top Ten’ list includes Tiff titles Freaks, which scored a significant deal with Well Go, and Giant Little Ones. Scroll down for the full list.
The feature list was curated by Cameron Bailey, Kerri Craddock, Steve Gravestock, Danis Goulet, Ming-Jenn Lim, and Kathleen Drumm, in collaboration with the Vancouver Film Critics Circle and the Association Québécoise des Critiques de Cinéma.
“Tiff is thrilled to present its uniquely Canadian list that offers a richness of voices, perspectives, and insights into adolescent identity,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of Tiff. “These films expertly examine heritage, family, the fragility of friendships, and the importance of challenging the current state of our world, and are testament to the fact that our Canadian filmmakers...
The feature list was curated by Cameron Bailey, Kerri Craddock, Steve Gravestock, Danis Goulet, Ming-Jenn Lim, and Kathleen Drumm, in collaboration with the Vancouver Film Critics Circle and the Association Québécoise des Critiques de Cinéma.
“Tiff is thrilled to present its uniquely Canadian list that offers a richness of voices, perspectives, and insights into adolescent identity,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director and Co-Head of Tiff. “These films expertly examine heritage, family, the fragility of friendships, and the importance of challenging the current state of our world, and are testament to the fact that our Canadian filmmakers...
- 12/5/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Panama City — Colombian Laura Mora’s vengeance drama “Killing Jesus” took the Copa Airlines Audience Award for Ibero-American fiction feature; and Ernesto Daranas’ “Sergio and Sergei” topped the Central America and Caribbean section.
In further plaudits, Fernando Muñoz’s “A Calypso Night” scooped best documentary, in prizes announced at the closing ceremony of Iff Panama, that wrapped Wednesday night in Panama City.
At a press conference, artistic director Diana Sanchez announced that in 2019 Iff Panama will complement the audience awards with a Fipresci prize for best film from Central America and the Caribbean. Next year’s fest edition will also hold a film criticism training workshop, in a new initiative agreed with Fipresci president, Klaus Eder, who attended this year’s Iff Panama.
Festival guest Geraldine Chaplin said that the Fipreci prize is an important step forward: “Whenever I go to a festival, I can’t see all the films,...
In further plaudits, Fernando Muñoz’s “A Calypso Night” scooped best documentary, in prizes announced at the closing ceremony of Iff Panama, that wrapped Wednesday night in Panama City.
At a press conference, artistic director Diana Sanchez announced that in 2019 Iff Panama will complement the audience awards with a Fipresci prize for best film from Central America and the Caribbean. Next year’s fest edition will also hold a film criticism training workshop, in a new initiative agreed with Fipresci president, Klaus Eder, who attended this year’s Iff Panama.
Festival guest Geraldine Chaplin said that the Fipreci prize is an important step forward: “Whenever I go to a festival, I can’t see all the films,...
- 4/12/2018
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Hurricanes be damned. Film production is surging in the Caribbean and Central America despite natural – and some political – turmoil.
“The region’s film industry indeed feels more effervescent,” said Iff Panama artistic director Diana Sanchez.
Puerto Rico was the hardest hit by Hurricane Maria last September but that didn’t stop some projects from resuming production about a month later. First among them was Nick Hamm’s 1970s-set thriller “Driven,” starring Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace and Corey Stoll, about auto maverick John DeLorean and the FBI drug sting operation that sought to take down the exec.
Co-produced by seasoned Puerto Rican producer Luillo Ruiz of the Pimienta Film Co., it took a good dose of creativity and vital connections to overcome myriad logistical issues. Just getting diesel, food and water was a challenge. With cell towers down, crew members were visited personally at their homes to get them back on board.
“The region’s film industry indeed feels more effervescent,” said Iff Panama artistic director Diana Sanchez.
Puerto Rico was the hardest hit by Hurricane Maria last September but that didn’t stop some projects from resuming production about a month later. First among them was Nick Hamm’s 1970s-set thriller “Driven,” starring Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace and Corey Stoll, about auto maverick John DeLorean and the FBI drug sting operation that sought to take down the exec.
Co-produced by seasoned Puerto Rican producer Luillo Ruiz of the Pimienta Film Co., it took a good dose of creativity and vital connections to overcome myriad logistical issues. Just getting diesel, food and water was a challenge. With cell towers down, crew members were visited personally at their homes to get them back on board.
- 4/7/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The 4th Iff Panama’s Primera Mirada pix-in-post sidebar has selected five features – from Cuba, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama – and an omnibus film, “Dias de Luz” (Days of Light), produced by six Central American countries.
The number of films submitted to the Central America and Caribbean sidebar has risen by almost 50% this year – 32 films were submitted in 2015, 46 in 2016, 48 in 2017 and 67 this year.
Sales agents attending the work-in-progress creenings – which run April 9-10 – include FiGa Films, Habanero Film Sales, Weisner Distribution, the Havana Film Festival, Berlinale and OpenReel.
Projects will be screened in exclusive private sessions for sales agents, distributors, and film festival programmers. The jury members are Mexican producer, Laura Imperiale, Panamanian writer, Daniel Domínguez Z., and veteran Peruvian director, Francisco J. Lombardi.
The sidebar is particularly important for the region’s filmmakers who often desperately require post-production completion finance and mentoring advice. Three out of last year’s...
The number of films submitted to the Central America and Caribbean sidebar has risen by almost 50% this year – 32 films were submitted in 2015, 46 in 2016, 48 in 2017 and 67 this year.
Sales agents attending the work-in-progress creenings – which run April 9-10 – include FiGa Films, Habanero Film Sales, Weisner Distribution, the Havana Film Festival, Berlinale and OpenReel.
Projects will be screened in exclusive private sessions for sales agents, distributors, and film festival programmers. The jury members are Mexican producer, Laura Imperiale, Panamanian writer, Daniel Domínguez Z., and veteran Peruvian director, Francisco J. Lombardi.
The sidebar is particularly important for the region’s filmmakers who often desperately require post-production completion finance and mentoring advice. Three out of last year’s...
- 4/2/2018
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.