– The latest works by filmmakers such as Pedro Almodóvar, Hugo Ruiz, Patricia Ortega, Víctor García León and Lucía Puenzo headline the catalogue that the Catalan agency is taking to Berlin
Bitter Christmas by Pedro Almodóvar
The sales agency Film Factory Entertainment arrives at the European Film Market (EFM) at the Berlinale with a diverse slate of Spanish-language titles, where established filmmakers sit alongside others who are just beginning to make a name for themselves. Among them, one title stands: the new film by the maestro Pedro Almodóvar. Bitter Christmas [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Bárbara Lennie, Victoria Luengo, Patrick Criado, Aitana Sánchez Gijón, Quim Gutiérrez, Milena Smit and Leonardo Sbaraglia, is currently in its final stages of post‑production. The film will open in Spain on 20 March.
At Film Factory’s market screenings on 13 and 14 February, audiences will get their scare on with Evil Dress, directed by Frank Ariza and Jacob Santana starring Spain’s queen of horror, Belén Rueda (The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]). Also in the horror genre are Killer Cut, written and directed by debut filmmaker Stiff Sullivan, now in post-production, featuring Pedro Casablanc, Eva Llorach and Amaia Aberasturi; as well as Tied Up, directed by Ángel de la Cruz, starring Jaime Lorente, in post-production and based on the novel by David Jasso. In the fertile territory of psychological thrillers is Watch Your Dreams by Gonzalo Bendala, also in post-production, with a cast led by Óscar Casas, José Coronado and Najwa Nimri.
Other Spanish titles currently in post-production handled by the company include Dante, Hugo Ruiz‘s second feature film following the award-winning and tense One Night with Adela [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hugo Ruiz
film profile], a dark thriller starring Chino Darín and Ester Expósito (read more); Operation Cronos, directed by Fernando González Molina, an anti-terrorist action thriller starring Enric Auquer, Diana Gómez and Mónica López; The Devil Within, a thriller by Rubén Pérez Barrena starring Tamar Novas and Marina Salas; the biopic Caballé, a co-production with Belgium about the famous opera singer, directed by Patricia Ortega (Mamacruz [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]); and the drama The Bad Son, the directorial debut of Jaime Lorente, starring Susi Sánchez (read more).
Also noteworthy are the dramatic comedy Better Class by Víctor García León (The Europeans), starring Marian Álvarez, Israel Elejalde and Juan Diego Botto (read more); the black comedy The Professor, the eagerly awaited return of Daniel Castro, with Javier Gutiérrez in the title role (read more); Cool Books, by the Argentine duo Andrés Salmoyraghi and Rafael López Saubidet, featuring Marcel Borràs as a grumpy writer in his forties in bohemian Madrid; and the commercial comedies Uncle Trouble + 2, by Joaquín Mazón, and My Wife Is a Ghost, a Belgian co-production directed by María Ripoll, starring Javier Rey and Loreto Mauleón, which opens in Spanish cinemas next week.
Finally, Film Factory’s catalogue also includes titles from across the Atlantic, such as Pepita the Gunslinger, directed by Argentine filmmaker Lucía Puenzo (XXY [+see also:
trailer
film profile]); and the romantic comedy The Man in my Head, a Mexican production by Pitipol Ybarra.
(Translated from Spanish)
