Ben Lobato, co-showrunner of Alice Braga-starrer “Queen of the South,” a top-three Nielsen ratings performer for USA Network, has boarded “Hot Sur,” a fast-moving thriller set up at Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula and at Fremantle Mexico, the burgeoning Mexican production hub of the global production-distribution giant.
Lobato will showrun the TV series, which will be helmed by Gabriel Ripstein, writer-director of acclaimed Mexican Amazon Original “An Unknown Enemy.”
Shaping up as one of the biggest new projects being brought on the market at Content Americas, “Hot Sur” will be presented at Content Americas Copro Pitch on Tuesday, one of the TV market and forum’s industry centerpieces.
In it, Maria Paz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant looking after her bipolar sister, becomes a fugitive after being falsely accused of murder. Hunted by a determined U.S. Marshal – also Latinx – and María Paz’s vengeful former lover,...
Lobato will showrun the TV series, which will be helmed by Gabriel Ripstein, writer-director of acclaimed Mexican Amazon Original “An Unknown Enemy.”
Shaping up as one of the biggest new projects being brought on the market at Content Americas, “Hot Sur” will be presented at Content Americas Copro Pitch on Tuesday, one of the TV market and forum’s industry centerpieces.
In it, Maria Paz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant looking after her bipolar sister, becomes a fugitive after being falsely accused of murder. Hunted by a determined U.S. Marshal – also Latinx – and María Paz’s vengeful former lover,...
- 1/23/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Xavier López Rodríguez, known as “Chabelo,” died at the age of 88.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Andrew Lloyd Webber Announces Son Nick's Death Related Story Lady Gaga Turns Heads In NYC As Harley Quinn In First Look For 'Joker: Folie à Deux'
“This is a very sad morning, Xavier Lopez Chabelo, father, brother and husband has left us suddenly due to abdominal complications,” read a message on his official Twitter feed.
López was best known for hosting the long-running children’s Sunday variety show En Familia con Chabelo. The Televisa show made its debut in 1967 and ran for 48 years, ending its run in 2015.
Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who shares a last name with the television host but has no relation, took to social media to express his condolences.
“Hugs to family and friends for the death of Xavier López “Chabelo.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Andrew Lloyd Webber Announces Son Nick's Death Related Story Lady Gaga Turns Heads In NYC As Harley Quinn In First Look For 'Joker: Folie à Deux'
“This is a very sad morning, Xavier Lopez Chabelo, father, brother and husband has left us suddenly due to abdominal complications,” read a message on his official Twitter feed.
López was best known for hosting the long-running children’s Sunday variety show En Familia con Chabelo. The Televisa show made its debut in 1967 and ran for 48 years, ending its run in 2015.
Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who shares a last name with the television host but has no relation, took to social media to express his condolences.
“Hugs to family and friends for the death of Xavier López “Chabelo.
- 3/25/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
“Rebellion,” from José Luis Rugeles whose “Alias María” competed at Cannes Un Certain Regard and was Colombia’s Oscar entry, has been acquired for international sales by Latido Films.
Latido will be bringing the title onto the market at Toronto.
In the film, Rugeles takes a non-linear approach to the narrative drifting through moments in Arroyo’s life and psyche from childhood through to the end of his life. “Rebellion” explores memory, addiction and Arroyo’s deep connection to the composition of song.
It shows the birth of legendary melodies being recorded obsessively by Arroyo into multiple tape recorders as he layers ideas upon each other. These fragments infiltrate the soundtrack throughout, at times bursting into full band performances of Arroyo’s famous songs. The authenticity of the music is aided by some of the musicians involved having played with Arroyo.
Lead producer Federico Durán of Rhayuela said: “When we...
Latido will be bringing the title onto the market at Toronto.
In the film, Rugeles takes a non-linear approach to the narrative drifting through moments in Arroyo’s life and psyche from childhood through to the end of his life. “Rebellion” explores memory, addiction and Arroyo’s deep connection to the composition of song.
It shows the birth of legendary melodies being recorded obsessively by Arroyo into multiple tape recorders as he layers ideas upon each other. These fragments infiltrate the soundtrack throughout, at times bursting into full band performances of Arroyo’s famous songs. The authenticity of the music is aided by some of the musicians involved having played with Arroyo.
Lead producer Federico Durán of Rhayuela said: “When we...
- 9/9/2022
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Just one song into Eddie Vedder’s Earthling tour launch at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Thursday night, he paused the festivities to look out at the capacity crowd and soak in the fact that he was finally back on the road after two endless years of waiting. “It’s great to be playing a show, but especially great to be playing show in a theater and especially a show at this particular cathedral so aptly named,” he said. “It feels like a sanctuary tonight, and it does feel like a beacon.
- 2/4/2022
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Musical biopic “Rebellion” has wrapped after a four-week shoot in Bogota, Colombia, making it one of the few pics to have filmed in the country since the Covid-19 pandemic breakout in 2020. The film about Afro-Colombian salsa icon Joe Arroyo is directed by Jose Luis Rugeles, whose previous drama “Alias María,” about a pregnant 13-year-old member of a guerrilla unit, competed in the 2015 Cannes Un Certain Regard sidebar and represented Colombia at the 89th Academy Awards.
“Rebellion’s” compelling soundtrack, produced by Alacran Records and recorded at Alacran Studios in Miami, will feature a new single cover of his biggest hit, the titular “Rebellion,” by popular Colombian hip hop band, ChocQuibTown. Its lead singer Gloria “Goyo” Martínez will sing the anthem, marking the first time a woman sings it. Soundtrack and single will be released in time for the film’s world premiere next year. Rugeles will also helm the track’s music video,...
“Rebellion’s” compelling soundtrack, produced by Alacran Records and recorded at Alacran Studios in Miami, will feature a new single cover of his biggest hit, the titular “Rebellion,” by popular Colombian hip hop band, ChocQuibTown. Its lead singer Gloria “Goyo” Martínez will sing the anthem, marking the first time a woman sings it. Soundtrack and single will be released in time for the film’s world premiere next year. Rugeles will also helm the track’s music video,...
- 7/12/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid-based sales company Feel Content has picked up international sales rights to black comedy “El cuento del tío” (“Pigeon Drop”), the feature debut of Argentine writer-director Ignacio Guggiari.
An Argentina-Chile co-production, produced by Gastón Klingenfeld at Buenos Aires’ outfit Gancho, Agustín Gosende at Cooperativa Mental and Picardía Films’ Diego Rougier, “El cuento del tío” world premieres on March 5 at the 2021 Miami Film Festival edition.
The feature, which also adds doses of suspense and drama to the mix, is set in a luxurious house during a Christmas dinner, when Rodo, the family’s millionaire uncle, accidentally dies.
His relatives, in pronounced dire straits, speculate about his lavish inheritance, but everything changes when at 12 o’clock the doorbell of the house rings and a woman introduces herself as the wife of the deceased.
Mario, the family’s head, desperate at the possibility of losing everything, hides the body and forces the others...
An Argentina-Chile co-production, produced by Gastón Klingenfeld at Buenos Aires’ outfit Gancho, Agustín Gosende at Cooperativa Mental and Picardía Films’ Diego Rougier, “El cuento del tío” world premieres on March 5 at the 2021 Miami Film Festival edition.
The feature, which also adds doses of suspense and drama to the mix, is set in a luxurious house during a Christmas dinner, when Rodo, the family’s millionaire uncle, accidentally dies.
His relatives, in pronounced dire straits, speculate about his lavish inheritance, but everything changes when at 12 o’clock the doorbell of the house rings and a woman introduces herself as the wife of the deceased.
Mario, the family’s head, desperate at the possibility of losing everything, hides the body and forces the others...
- 2/26/2021
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
‘Hawkeye’ Series at Disney Plus Adds Six to Cast, Including Vera Farmiga and Tony Dalton (Exclusive)
The upcoming “Hawkeye” series at Disney Plus has cast a number of key roles, Variety has learned exclusively from sources.
Along with series leads Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld, Vera Farmiga, Florence Pugh, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Alaqua Cox, and Zahn McClarnon will all appear in the series.
Reps for Disney and the actors did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Farmiga is attached to play the Marvel character Eleanor Bishop, the mother of Kate Bishop (Steinfeld).
Farmiga was previously nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in “Up in the Air.” She is also known for her starring role in the A&e series “Bates Motel” and in films like “The Departed” and “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2.” She is repped by CAA, Authentic Talent & Literary Management, and Peikoff Mahan.
Fee will play a character named Kazi, most likely short for Kazimierz Kazimierczak,...
Along with series leads Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld, Vera Farmiga, Florence Pugh, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Alaqua Cox, and Zahn McClarnon will all appear in the series.
Reps for Disney and the actors did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
Farmiga is attached to play the Marvel character Eleanor Bishop, the mother of Kate Bishop (Steinfeld).
Farmiga was previously nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in “Up in the Air.” She is also known for her starring role in the A&e series “Bates Motel” and in films like “The Departed” and “The Conjuring” and “The Conjuring 2.” She is repped by CAA, Authentic Talent & Literary Management, and Peikoff Mahan.
Fee will play a character named Kazi, most likely short for Kazimierz Kazimierczak,...
- 12/3/2020
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Earlier this week, Journey and the Pretenders rolled out dates for an exhaustive 2020 co-headlining tour that will take them all over America between May and September. According to a press release, the show will feature “all new production and hits from start to finish.” It goes on to list exactly which Pretenders songs will likely feature in the show, including “I’ll Stand By You,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “2000 Miles,” “My City Was Gone,” “Middle of the Road,” and “Brass in Pocket.”
The latter...
The latter...
- 11/7/2019
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
We have an interesting new trailer for you to check out from the film previously known as The Pretenders, now being released as Pretenders. The film is written by The Fault in Our Stars director — and New Mutants writer — Josh Boone, and directed by director and Golden Globe-winning actor James Franco, of The Disaster Artist.
The film follows the love triangle of a photographer, a director, and an actress. Here’s the synopsis:
Pretenders, life imitates deadly arts as a French New Wave obsessed film student, Terry, finds his muse in mysterious and beguiling actress, Catherine. Both Terry and his best friend, Phil, fall under the spell of this beautiful woman. But they soon realize that the more time they spend with her, the more enigmatic she becomes. After years of sex, betrayal, and collateral damage, the three end up in a dangerous situation that leaves one of them fighting for his life.
The film follows the love triangle of a photographer, a director, and an actress. Here’s the synopsis:
Pretenders, life imitates deadly arts as a French New Wave obsessed film student, Terry, finds his muse in mysterious and beguiling actress, Catherine. Both Terry and his best friend, Phil, fall under the spell of this beautiful woman. But they soon realize that the more time they spend with her, the more enigmatic she becomes. After years of sex, betrayal, and collateral damage, the three end up in a dangerous situation that leaves one of them fighting for his life.
- 8/26/2019
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
"Was their love something real? He has to find out." Cleopatra Entertainment has released the first full trailer for an indie drama titled Pretenders, also otherwise known as The Pretenders, but they're officially releasing it as just Pretenders. Yet another new film directed by James Franco, in addition to Zeroville also out in the next few months. He's making so many films these days it's hard to keep track of them. And does anyone even watch them? Who knows. Pretenders is about a love triangle involving a photographer, his best friend who is a "French New Wave-obsessed" film student, and a beautiful actress who entrances both of them. Starring Jack Kilmer (Val Kilmer's son), Shameik Moore, and Jane Levy as the main three, with James Franco, Dennis Quaid, Brian Cox, Juno Temple, Antoni Porowski, Mustafa Shakir, Tyler Alvarez, and Reema Sampat. This seems particularly wacky and super artsy, almost...
- 8/23/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Sometimes there’s a film that falls between the cracks and doesn’t make much of an impact when it debuts at a film festival, even if the project is written by a big-time filmmaker, directed by a huge name, and has an impressive cast. Case in point — “The Pretenders.”
The plot for ‘Pretenders’ is pretty easy to sum up. A film student meets a girl that makes a huge impact on his life.
Continue reading ‘The Pretenders’ Trailer: We Just Can’t Keep Up With All These James Franco-Directed Films Anymore at The Playlist.
The plot for ‘Pretenders’ is pretty easy to sum up. A film student meets a girl that makes a huge impact on his life.
Continue reading ‘The Pretenders’ Trailer: We Just Can’t Keep Up With All These James Franco-Directed Films Anymore at The Playlist.
- 8/22/2019
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Val Kilmer‘s son Jack is entering the family business.
24-year-old Jack stars as Terry in Pretenders — a drama about the changing dynamic in a group of friends. The movie, directed by James Franco, also stars Shameik Moore and Jane Levy and follows a dangerous love triangle between a photographer, his director best friend and the actress they both end up falling for.
“She needs us. I give her the bad boy that she will never tame, and you give her true, unrequited love she can feel wistful about on rainy days,” Moore’s Phil tells Kilmer’s Terry near the end of the trailer,...
24-year-old Jack stars as Terry in Pretenders — a drama about the changing dynamic in a group of friends. The movie, directed by James Franco, also stars Shameik Moore and Jane Levy and follows a dangerous love triangle between a photographer, his director best friend and the actress they both end up falling for.
“She needs us. I give her the bad boy that she will never tame, and you give her true, unrequited love she can feel wistful about on rainy days,” Moore’s Phil tells Kilmer’s Terry near the end of the trailer,...
- 8/22/2019
- by Ale Russian
- PEOPLE.com
At the beginning of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers,” his 2003 tribute to the French New Wave, Matthew, the naïve American studying in Paris, refers to true lovers of cinema as “the insatiables.” James Franco, with his 150 acting credits, 39 directing credits, 25 writing credits, and single credit as “boom operator,” is one of the industry’s most insatiable insatiables. So it’s fitting that his peripatetic career has led him to direct “Pretenders,” essentially a remake of “The Dreamers,” that combines Bertolucci’s decadent appreciation of New Wave cool with the love triangle from François Truffaut’s 1962 touchstone, “Jules and Jim.”
Moving the action to 1980s New York adds an urban-contemporary feel and an identifiable environment for events to unfold. But while the film’s sense of experimentation carries a fair amount of intrigue, it traps its central threesome in an Easter egg-filled intellectual exercise punctuated by melodramatic strokes. It’s skillful...
Moving the action to 1980s New York adds an urban-contemporary feel and an identifiable environment for events to unfold. But while the film’s sense of experimentation carries a fair amount of intrigue, it traps its central threesome in an Easter egg-filled intellectual exercise punctuated by melodramatic strokes. It’s skillful...
- 6/27/2019
- by Mark Keizer
- Variety Film + TV
Within the carefully constructed codes of conduct that most of us abide by, acting on impulse and the unpredictability of human nature are not welcomed. We are trained to rationalize our negative emotions in order to keep our civilization from collapsing into an ocean of chaos and anarchy. Obey the system and play by the rules. Of course, there are times in our lives when these parameters become obsolete and we give in to rage, violence, and revenge. It’s a terrifying quality of our species, but sometimes we believe getting retribution is the only way to quench our anger. In the Oscar-nominated film “Wild Tales” (Relatos Salvajes), Damián Szifron’s deranged and inventive ode to madness, we are confronted with the animal instincts that we so desperately try to hide - until we can’t. Betrayal, injustice, and even the need to avenge a loved one, drive Szifron’s characters into losing control. With pitch black comedy that is as universal as the situations it explores, his film is a hilarious and smart vehicle for sharp social commentary.
We had the chance to talk to Damián Szifron at the most recent AFI Film Festival where the film had its L.A. premier after touring the world from Cannes to Toronto.
"Wild Tales" opens today February 20, 2015 in Los Angeles (Arclight Hollywood/Landmark Theater) and in NYC (Lincoln Plaza Cinemas/Sunshine Cinema), a national roll-out will follow.
On March 6, 2015 the film will open the Miami International Film Festival
Aguilar: Although some people might just be becoming aware of your work via “Wild Tales,” you’ve work on TV and film for many years in Argentina.
Damián Szifron: I did two TV series and two films before "Wild Tales." The Simulators (Los Simuladores), Brothers and Detectives (Hermanos y Detectives,) “The Bottom of the Sea” (El Fondo del Mar) and “On Probation” ( Tiempo de Valientes,) after these projects I spend a long time writing and developing a lot of material, among them was “Wild Tales”
Aguilar: “Wild Tales” really shows us that anyone could simply renounce all rationality and act upon our most terrible instincts.
Damián Szifron: We are animals. We have our strong instincts just like wild beasts have them, but we, as humans, acquire an extra quality: repression. We can repress our instincts, which is something animals can't do. They are ruled by their instincts. We have conscience, memory, and we know that if we do "this" the consequences are "these." However, the price one pays for repressing these instincts is very high. It creates a lot of frustration and anguish. Sometimes we spend years thinking about what we should have said or what we should have done in a certain situation. But when we are confronted with situations in which repressing those instincts is almost impossible, we can definitely lose control. All of us can lose control of ourselves or at the very least we can all understand why someone loses it.
Each time I see or learn of an individual that has committed a barbaric act, I don’t see it as something that’s completely foreign or alien to me. I recognize myself in the potentiality that it could be anyone. If I see a person getting in a car and crashing it against a bank, I try to understand what could have taken that person to that point. It could have been me. Thankfully as a screenwriter or as a filmmaker, I can do something with the certain frustration that can be caused by a system that is so generous when it comes to producing situations that could drive you crazy. I can transform it into valuable material that I can share with others. Through cinema I can exorcise these issues, which is something that a lot of people can’t do.
Aguilar: The film is a like a book in which there are six different stories, but all of them are united by a single thematic threat. Tell me about the writing process.
Damián Szifron: I find a big connection between my film and literary anthologies. When I think about the film I realize that when I wrote it, I was thinking more about these anthologies than about other films. I was also thinking about musical concerts, rock shows, and even the way circus performances are arranged. I liked the idea that you have different musical numbers or performances, but they all exist within the context of the same show. There is the juggler, the lion tamer, and many others. There is something about this variety that I think the film showcases. It wasn’t like I thought about the title of the film first and then about the stories that conform this anthology. No, the stories each appeared separately. When I had four or five already developed, I noticed that they were related and that they departed from the same DNA. I feel like the film has many nuances, and sometimes I think that if I explain them too much I do it a disservice.
Aguilar: You had to cast actors for six different films, including one of Argentina’s most famous actors Ricardo Darin. What was the casting process like for a film like this?
Damián Szifron: It was one of the most beautiful parts of the preproduction process. I imagined the film with a lot of different faces. It was a really creative time. The nature of this project allowed us to invite actors that are really renowned in Argentina and that you don’t usually see together in the same film. Each one of them is usually the protagonist of their own film, but in this case each one of them is the protagonist of a particular episode.
Aguilar: One of the great aspects of the film is the music by Gustavo Santaolalla. Tell me about working with him on this visceral score.
Damián Szifron: He is a very talented musician. Gustavo was a producer for several rock bands for many years. He became very famous late in his career, and then he won two Oscars, but this was only after a lifetime of work. He can recognize what’s the energy of a certain show or a certain album, and in this film he helped me a lot to create the musical identity of the film. We met when I was in Europe to show Almodovar the first cut of the film, and Gustavo was in Belgium giving a lecture. I took a plane to meet him and we talked for an entire night. He knew the film by memory and he told me loved the screenplay. Two weeks later he sent me the music that used for the opening credits, and I loved it. I thought it was powerful but it was also very emotional. He completely understood the wavelength we were in and he condensed the DNA of the film in those two minutes of music. Then I came to Los Angeles and we worked on the rest of the score.
Aguilar: Wild Tales is representing your country at the Academy Awards, what does this mean to you?
Damián Szifron: I have the satisfaction that the film was chosen as the Argentine Oscar entry, which great because my colleagues, directors and producers in Argentine chose the film. There were even some that also had films that could have been selected, but they voted for my film, and that’s an honor.
Aguilar: The film has screened all over the world by now, and everywhere it goes the reactions are overwhelmingly positive. Why do you think your film connects with everyone regardless of their background?
Damián Szifron: We’ve screen the film in Cannes, Toronto, Telluride, San Sebastian, Sao Paulo, Karlovy Vary, and the film also won the Audience Award in several of these festivals. It was well received in diverse places, and I think it can be understood anywhere. During Cannes the film’s rights were bought for most territories around he globe and when you see the reaction of those who distribute films, it somewhat reflects what the audiences in those place might like. Distributors are part of the audience as well. The film can be understood anywhere because the conflicts that it tries to process are primitive and they are familiar to all human beings. Each episode deals with issues with which we can all identify regardless of the country we were born, because they talk about a man against the system, about competitiveness between two individuals, about a woman who has been betrayed during her wedding night, or about someone who plans to take revenge on all those who attempted against his success. I think these things get under the skin without much explanation.
We had the chance to talk to Damián Szifron at the most recent AFI Film Festival where the film had its L.A. premier after touring the world from Cannes to Toronto.
"Wild Tales" opens today February 20, 2015 in Los Angeles (Arclight Hollywood/Landmark Theater) and in NYC (Lincoln Plaza Cinemas/Sunshine Cinema), a national roll-out will follow.
On March 6, 2015 the film will open the Miami International Film Festival
Aguilar: Although some people might just be becoming aware of your work via “Wild Tales,” you’ve work on TV and film for many years in Argentina.
Damián Szifron: I did two TV series and two films before "Wild Tales." The Simulators (Los Simuladores), Brothers and Detectives (Hermanos y Detectives,) “The Bottom of the Sea” (El Fondo del Mar) and “On Probation” ( Tiempo de Valientes,) after these projects I spend a long time writing and developing a lot of material, among them was “Wild Tales”
Aguilar: “Wild Tales” really shows us that anyone could simply renounce all rationality and act upon our most terrible instincts.
Damián Szifron: We are animals. We have our strong instincts just like wild beasts have them, but we, as humans, acquire an extra quality: repression. We can repress our instincts, which is something animals can't do. They are ruled by their instincts. We have conscience, memory, and we know that if we do "this" the consequences are "these." However, the price one pays for repressing these instincts is very high. It creates a lot of frustration and anguish. Sometimes we spend years thinking about what we should have said or what we should have done in a certain situation. But when we are confronted with situations in which repressing those instincts is almost impossible, we can definitely lose control. All of us can lose control of ourselves or at the very least we can all understand why someone loses it.
Each time I see or learn of an individual that has committed a barbaric act, I don’t see it as something that’s completely foreign or alien to me. I recognize myself in the potentiality that it could be anyone. If I see a person getting in a car and crashing it against a bank, I try to understand what could have taken that person to that point. It could have been me. Thankfully as a screenwriter or as a filmmaker, I can do something with the certain frustration that can be caused by a system that is so generous when it comes to producing situations that could drive you crazy. I can transform it into valuable material that I can share with others. Through cinema I can exorcise these issues, which is something that a lot of people can’t do.
Aguilar: The film is a like a book in which there are six different stories, but all of them are united by a single thematic threat. Tell me about the writing process.
Damián Szifron: I find a big connection between my film and literary anthologies. When I think about the film I realize that when I wrote it, I was thinking more about these anthologies than about other films. I was also thinking about musical concerts, rock shows, and even the way circus performances are arranged. I liked the idea that you have different musical numbers or performances, but they all exist within the context of the same show. There is the juggler, the lion tamer, and many others. There is something about this variety that I think the film showcases. It wasn’t like I thought about the title of the film first and then about the stories that conform this anthology. No, the stories each appeared separately. When I had four or five already developed, I noticed that they were related and that they departed from the same DNA. I feel like the film has many nuances, and sometimes I think that if I explain them too much I do it a disservice.
Aguilar: You had to cast actors for six different films, including one of Argentina’s most famous actors Ricardo Darin. What was the casting process like for a film like this?
Damián Szifron: It was one of the most beautiful parts of the preproduction process. I imagined the film with a lot of different faces. It was a really creative time. The nature of this project allowed us to invite actors that are really renowned in Argentina and that you don’t usually see together in the same film. Each one of them is usually the protagonist of their own film, but in this case each one of them is the protagonist of a particular episode.
Aguilar: One of the great aspects of the film is the music by Gustavo Santaolalla. Tell me about working with him on this visceral score.
Damián Szifron: He is a very talented musician. Gustavo was a producer for several rock bands for many years. He became very famous late in his career, and then he won two Oscars, but this was only after a lifetime of work. He can recognize what’s the energy of a certain show or a certain album, and in this film he helped me a lot to create the musical identity of the film. We met when I was in Europe to show Almodovar the first cut of the film, and Gustavo was in Belgium giving a lecture. I took a plane to meet him and we talked for an entire night. He knew the film by memory and he told me loved the screenplay. Two weeks later he sent me the music that used for the opening credits, and I loved it. I thought it was powerful but it was also very emotional. He completely understood the wavelength we were in and he condensed the DNA of the film in those two minutes of music. Then I came to Los Angeles and we worked on the rest of the score.
Aguilar: Wild Tales is representing your country at the Academy Awards, what does this mean to you?
Damián Szifron: I have the satisfaction that the film was chosen as the Argentine Oscar entry, which great because my colleagues, directors and producers in Argentine chose the film. There were even some that also had films that could have been selected, but they voted for my film, and that’s an honor.
Aguilar: The film has screened all over the world by now, and everywhere it goes the reactions are overwhelmingly positive. Why do you think your film connects with everyone regardless of their background?
Damián Szifron: We’ve screen the film in Cannes, Toronto, Telluride, San Sebastian, Sao Paulo, Karlovy Vary, and the film also won the Audience Award in several of these festivals. It was well received in diverse places, and I think it can be understood anywhere. During Cannes the film’s rights were bought for most territories around he globe and when you see the reaction of those who distribute films, it somewhat reflects what the audiences in those place might like. Distributors are part of the audience as well. The film can be understood anywhere because the conflicts that it tries to process are primitive and they are familiar to all human beings. Each episode deals with issues with which we can all identify regardless of the country we were born, because they talk about a man against the system, about competitiveness between two individuals, about a woman who has been betrayed during her wedding night, or about someone who plans to take revenge on all those who attempted against his success. I think these things get under the skin without much explanation.
- 2/21/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
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