Callum Maclennan: Last News

Callum McLennan “Tequila, Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll,” from Goya Award-winning producer-helmer Alvaro Longoria, has been acquired for international sales by Latido Films.  Set up at Madrid’s Morena Films, which Longoria co-founded, doc marks a return to directing for Longoria, whose 2012 debut, “Sons of the Clouds,” produced by Javier Bardem, scored a Spanish Academy Goya while 2015’s “The Propaganda Game” nabbed a nomination. Meanwhile, just in the last few years, Longoria has produced Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes opener “Everybody Knows” and Spanish box office juggernaut “Champions.”   “I produce, that is how I make a living, but I direct documentaries as a passion.’ said Longoria.

Callum McLennan Petra Volpe‘s “Late Shift” – which plays at this year’s Special Gala in Berlin – plunges into the high-pressure world of an understaffed Swiss hospital, unfolding close to real-time through the eyes of a dedicated nurse. Produced by Zodiac Pictures, Swiss Radio and Television SRF, with world sales handled by TrustNordisk, the film marks a departure from Petra Volpe’s acclaimed suffrage comedy “The Divine Order,” Switzerland’s submission for best international film.

Callum McLennan Julio Medem, one of Spain’s most distinctive cinematic voices, returns to the spotlight at Berlin’s European Film Market with “8,” an ambitious and formally daring film that spans 90 years of Spanish history through the intertwined lives of Octavio and Adela. Javier Rey (“Cocaine Coast”) stars as Octavio, while Ana Rujas, acclaimed for her role in Los Javis’ “La Mesías,” plays Adela.

Callum McLennan “The Virgin of Quarry Lake,” the latest feature from “The Returned” helmer Laura Casabé, sets Argentina’s 2001 economic collapse against a mix of adolescent angst, unbridled desire and supernatural forces. Written by top Argentinean filmmaker Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo,” “Puan”) and drawn from Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mariana Enríquez’s short stories, the film is set to premiere at Sundance in the World Cinema Dramatic strand. It’s a global affair, co-produced by Spain, Argentina and Mexico involving Mostra Cine, Ajimolido Films, Caponeto and Mr.

Callum McLennan In July, José Luis Rebordinos, director of the San Sebastián Film Festival, highlighted the growing prominence of documentaries at this year’s event. Among the notable examples he cited were Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” and the New Directors opener “La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés,” the directorial debut of Antón Álvarez, better known to date as singer-songwriter C. Tangana.

Callum McLennan Gabriel Guevara, the breakout star of the huge hit film saga “My Fault” (“Culpa Mía”) on Amazon Prime Video, is now set to lead Atresplayer‘s new series, “Mar afuera.” This project marks a significant collaboration between Atresmedia TV and Beta Fiction Spain, taking on the adaptation of the smash Italian series “Mare Fuori,” (“The Sea Beyond”) which added 300,000 new subscribers to RAI Play when Season 3 launched, and sold to over 20 territories. The eight-episode series follows the life of Álvaro, played by Guevara, a young seventeen year old from an affluent background whose life spirals after an accident finds himself in a juvenile detention center.

Callum McLennan “House of Gods,” a Matchbox Pictures six-part series, boasting an entirely Arab Australian cast, presents a perspective seldom seen on screen, a Muslim community in Fairfield, Australia. “You can’t manufacture authenticity. Audiences are so intuitive and adept, they can smell if something is off a mile away.

Callum McLennan ZDF, one of Germany’s leading broadcasters, has announced its co-production involvement ,via ZDF–Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, in the upcoming feature “Marriage by Abduction” (“Brautraub”). The film is directed by Sophia Mocorrea and builds on her short “The Kidnapping of the Bride” which took accolades at both Berlin and Sundance. It is now one of the high profile projects at Ventana Sur’s Proyecta lineup, its main arthouse project platform.

Callum McLennan A San Sebastian competition contender, Isabel Herguera’s awaited debut feature film, animated feature “Sultana’s Dream,” (“El sueño de la sultana”), has a first trailer, which Variety can share exclusively. Seen at Annecy as a work in progress, the feminist film will world premiere at Spain’s 71st San Sebastian, becoming the first animation feature directed by a woman to garner selection. Producers of “Unicorn Wars” Abano Producións and UniKo, join El Gatoverde Producciones, Sultana Films and Fabian & Fred, to bring this three-part animated feature, recounting the modern-day vicissitudes of a Spanish artist in India; the travails of real-life feminist thinker Rokeya Hossain; and the story she published remarkably as early as 1905 about Ladyland, where women hold the dominant power.

Callum McLennan Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands will set the stage for a conference on European video game policy and virtual environments on July 12-13. The move acknowledges the Islands’ growing status as a hub for digital arts and video games and, alongside economic benefits, a growing recognition of the sector’s cultural influence and its potential for greater integration within a broader creative and cultural ecosystem including film and TV. This year saw a video-game-based feature, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” punch for the first time ever over $1 billion at the global box office, grossing $1.35 billion worldwide, making it the biggest movie hit of 2023. Based on the video game, HBO’s “The Last of Us” became one of the service’s most critically lauded series of the last decade, while breaking HBO Max viewership records in Europe.  

Callum McLennan “Girl, Unknown,” the sophomore feature from Spanish director Pablo Maqueda (“Dear Werner”), currently ranks as one of the early buzz titles at the Málaga Film Festival, even before its world premiere. The film adapts Paco Bezerra’s stage play “Grooming.”  Maqueda, Bezerra and Haizea G. Viana wrote the script, which retains the play’s unsettling cat-and-mouse element. It delves into the recesses of desire, raising questions on depravity, sexuality, and the drive to be fulfilled. The story unfolds a pendulum swinging power dynamic between the seemingly innocent 16 year old Carolina, and a middle aged man she meets in a park named Leo. What begins and is a case of grooming morphs into something far more complex due to Carolina not being all she seems. Maqueda shows a Hanekesque talent in balancing the disturbing with the thrilling. On the film, Maqueda told Variety: “I feel the film as a kaleidoscope and the characters as masks. I like stories that navigate in the daily terror of everyday life,” 

Callum McLennan Laura Ferrés’ “The Permanent Picture” has been acquired by Be For Films. The deal is announced a fortnight before the film screens at Malaga WIP where it ranks as the most buzzed of the section’s titles.  The debut follows Ferrés success with short “The Disinherited,” which won the 2017 Cannes Critics’ Week Leica Cine Discovery Prize, in addition to grabbing Goya and Gaudi gongs. It depicts the director’s own father reluctantly facing the end of the family business. “The Permanent Picture” is produced by Spain’s Fasten Films, in co-production with Le Bureau (France), and Volta Production (Spain).