Anna Marie De-La: Last News

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Dominican Republic’s Bou Group is in production on its latest pic under its unprecedented multi-year distribution deal with The Walt Disney Company, “Cazatesoros.” According to the adventure caper’s director, Héctor Manuel Valdez, who co-founded Bou Group with José Ramón Alamá and Vicente Alamá, the pact with Disney came about following several years as regional box office leaders. “They contacted us in 2020 after our company had previously produced commercial successes such as ‘Todos los hombres son iguales,’ ‘Colao,’ ‘Trabajo sucio’ and ‘Que león,’ (the highest-grossing film in the history of the Dominican Republic), among others,” said Valdez.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Academy Award-winning producer Daniel Dreifuss (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) has boarded “Red Men,” the latest feature from Mexico’s Hari Sama, best known for his lauded autobiographical pic “This is not Berlin,” which world premiered at Sundance in 2019. Described as an “edgy and provocative coming-of-age story” about the life of Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele, “Red Men” hones in on Schiele’s role in reshaping European aesthetics through his intimate relationship with lover and muse, Dominik Van Osen.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Latin American companies have descended on the 60th LA Screenings, mindful of the ever-shifting panorama in content distribution and production.  The ongoing writers’ strike is viewed by some as a boon for international content. Take what Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at the company’s first quarter financials report presentation when the writers’ strike was looming: “If there’s a strike — and we want to work really hard to make sure we can find a fair and equitable deal so we can avoid one — but if there is one, we have a large base of upcoming shows and films from around the world.” “The global market is finally realizing that Latin America, with almost 700 million inhabitants that speak the same language, is a territory that has a huge penetration in terms of OTT and – still – pay tv subscribers,” says Mexico City-based Manuel Marti, Fremantle’s head of scripted development, Latin America. “At the same time, it has a long history of producing local content with a distinctive genre that’s slowly being embedded into American culture via the 62 million Latinos that live in the U.S.,” he adds.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Walt Disney Company Latin America team took to the stage at the 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria event in Madrid to unveil trailers or clips of their upcoming Star+ slate that includes “Nada,” with Robert de Niro playing a key role, “Ringo, el Campeon del Pueblo,” “Pancho Villa, El Centauro del Norte” and “How to Be a Carioca,” directed by “Rio” and “Ferdinand the Bull” director Carlos Saldanha. These were just a few of the upcoming original programs destined for the company’s fledgling Latin American streaming platform Star+, which features live sports, general and adult entertainment, particularly locally-produced content.  

Anna Marie de la Fuente Streaming media company Cinedigm has landed all North American rights to hit Latin horror movie “History of the Occult” from Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks. After a successful run across Latin America, Europe and Asia, it will debut in the U.S.

Anna Marie de la Fuente The Walt Disney Company and Starz have teamed up to offer a streaming subscription bundle, including Star Plus, Disney Plus and Starzplay, in Latin America.The latest development comes as competition continues to heat up in the region and more deep-pocketed players, led by streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple Plus, seek to further boost their subscriptions.The bundle, offered in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru on Disney Plus and Star Plus websites, will offer subscriptions to all three streaming services with one price in the local currency. Subscribers will need to download each platform’s app onto their compatible devices to access their programming.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Leading Italian sales company The Open Reel has snagged the international sales rights to Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara’s latest doc, “Born to be Born,” ahead of its world premiere at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin.Doc revolves around a progressive public school, the Escola Congrés-Indians, in Garcia’s native Barcelona, where preparations for an end-of-year trip of the school’s first graduating class are underway. Children learn at their own pace in the primary school which instills, above all, the values of respect and empathy for other people.“I was struck by the director’s ability to discreetly document the important educational role that the school and its educators play with these young students,” said The Open Reel founder Cosimo Santoro, adding: “They guide them through understanding and dialogue in every phase of their discussions and through any possible conflicts that may arise.” Garcia has trained his camera on children in many of his previous features and shorts.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Sales and distribution company Utopia, co-founded by filmmaker Robert Schwartzman, has swooped on the distribution rights to documentary “Unseen Skies” by Yaara Bou Melhem, a two-time UN Peace Award-winning filmmaker and investigative journalist.“Unseen Skies” follows conceptual artist Trevor Paglen, known for combining photography and large-scale art, on the final phase of his 10-year endeavor to launch a work of art into space via satellite. Paglen’s art often touches on the issues of mass surveillance and data collection.“Trevor’s work dispels myths about A.I., including that it is neutral and objective,” said Melhem, who also wrote and produced the feature-length doc.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Elo Company’s “You Are Not a Soldier,” which had its world premiere this week in Hot Docs’ Systems Down sidebar, is not just an ode to survival. It is also about coping with grief, about parenthood and the horrors of war.