All articles by Jennifer Green – Page 38
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News
Palm Pictures takes Sex & Lucia for North America
Palm Pictures has picked up North American rights to Spanish director Julio Medem's drama Sex And Lucia (Lucia Y El Sexo), which recently screened in the World Cinema sidebar at Sundance. The film is produced by Spain's Sogecine and is represented internationally by Sogepaq. Medem's previous effort, 1999's The Lovers ...
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Spanish producers lobby for quota increase
The Spanish Producers' Federation FAPAE is lobbying for an increase in the country's controversial screen quota system, calling for one day of European cinema for every two of third-country films exhibited in Spain. Current law requires one for every three. The recently re-elected president of FAPAE Eduardo Campoy said the ...
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Spain's MediaPro buys French VCF
Barcelona-based producer and rights broker MediaPro has acquired French production services outfit Video Communication France (VCF) for Euros 15m.The purchase forms part of MediaPro's international expansion. VCF is one of France's leading mobile TV production service providers.MediaPro has offices in Spain, Portugal, Argentina and the US, where it offers production ...
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Reviews
The Son Of The Bride (El Hijo De La Novia)
Dir: Juan Jose Campanella. 2001. Arg-Sp. 123mins.Argentinian director Juan Jose Campanella's The Son Of The Bride (El Hijo De La Novia) is a tender, beautifully acted dramatic comedy that centres on a middle-aged man in crisis. Language may be a hindrance to the film's international aspirations, but the universality ...
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Spanish pay-TV merger talk resurfaces
Spanish media and publishing giant Grupo Prisa has played down local reports that it is negotiating the sale of its 21.3% stake in media subsidiary Sogecable to Vivendi Universal. The move would double the French giant's stake to 42.54%.An article published in Spanish newspaper El Mundo suggested that Vivendi Universal ...
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Spanish production's 'endemic structural problems'
Despite record production levels and a near-doubling of the domestic market share to 19%, a report on the Spanish film industry describes the production sector as suffering from "endemic structural problems" and an enormous gap between the haves and have-nots.In its annual report on the industry, the Spanish Film Academy ...
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Reviews
Intact (Intacto)
Dir: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Spain. 108mins.Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has crafted an accomplished feature debut with Intact (Intacto), a thriller characterised by slick visuals and an imaginative storyline. The film has done well, although not spectacularly, in its home market, earning $1.17m (pts218.6m) in its first five weeks. International prospects, ...
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News
Spain's Auna posts encouraging 2001 results
Spanish telecoms group Auna posted better-than-expected year-end financial results for 2001 amid continued uncertainty about the future of its stake in struggling DTT platform Quiero TV and its various cable interests.Auna reported before tax earnings (EBITDA) of Euros 93m, a 35% improvement on anticipated figures and well above year 2000 ...
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News
Kirch close to finalising 25% Telecino sale
German giant Kirch may close a sale on its 25% stake in Spanish broadcaster Telecinco in a matter of days, according to local Spanish news sources.The stake could be split among current Telecinco shareholders: Italy's Mediaset and Spain's Grupo Correo as well as any of three Spanish investors approached individually. ...
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News
Spanish films' home market share up by 90%
Spanish films came close to doubling their local market share last year, with a record three films breaking through the watershed Euros 6m (pts1bn) mark, while national cinema admissions set a new global (post-war) record of 13 years' consecutive growth.The annual industry report released by the Spanish Cinema Academy also ...
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News
Sudden, major changes announced at Spain's Admira
Spanish powerhouse Admira underwent a radical shake-up Friday (Jan 11) when parent company Telefonica announced the replacement of executive president Juan Jose Nieto by Luis Abril, who was appointed secretary general of Telefonica last year.Likewise, Juan Ruiz de Gauna, CEO of Admira's digital satellite TV platform Via Digital, was replaced ...
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News
Javier Bardem tipped for Scott's Pancho Villa role
Oscar-nominated Spanish actor Javier Bardem is in the running to play Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa in a forthcoming film for director Tony Scott.Scott told Mexican newspaper La Jornada that he is considering Bardem for the role of the turn-of-the-century icon in a project he hopes to begin shooting in ...
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Reviews
Tricky Life (En La Puta Vida)
Dir: Beatriz Flores Silva. Belg-Uru-Sp-Cuba. 97mins.This ambitious Uruguayan tragi-comedy took its home box office by storm last year, as well as gleaning the top prize at Spain's Iberoamerican Film Festival in November. Uruguay's first-ever nomination to the foreign language Oscar, Tricky Life may also serve to re-ignite the country's ...
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News
Gomez to take back Lolafilms stake from Admira
Spanish heavyweight producer Andres Vicente Gomez is in negotiations to take back the 70% stake in his production powerhouse Lolafilms which he sold two years ago to Admira (Telefonica Media).Local press reports suggest that Admira, the media subsidiary of telecoms giant Telefonica, presided over by Juan Jose Nieto, is considering ...
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News
Spain launches French-style cinema loyalty cards
Spanish exhibition major, CAEC, has launched the territory's first cinema loyalty pass, two weeks after French film support body, CNC, concluded that the introduction of the card system has benefited both exhibitors and distributors in that country, where UGC, Gaumont and Pathe have all launched versions. (Screendaily Dec 20, 2001) ...
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Spain's Goya nods dominated by The Others
Alejandro Amenabar's international box office hit The Others is up for 15 of Spain's Oscar-equivalent Goya Awards in the 16th annual ceremony to be held February 2, leading a competitive pack of four titles vying for most of the major prizes.In the list of nominees by the Spanish Cinema Academy ...
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News
Catalunya to back Spain/Argentina co-productions
The Spanish autonomous regional government of Catalunya has signed an agreement to back TV co-productions between Spain's national public television network Television Espanola (TVE) and Argentine firms Pramer and Tranquilo Producciones. The first two productions out of the accord will be Perfiles Catalanes, a 26-chapter series of 26 minutes each ...
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Prisa may acquire Quiero TV stake
Spanish multimedia conglom Prisa, backer of audiovisual powerhouse Sogecable, may buy a stake in troubled digital terrestrial television platform Quiero TV. In an interview published Friday in the on-line financial magazine Invertia, Prisa general manager of operations and vp of internet division Prisacom Ignacio Santillana is quoted as saying that ...
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News
Spain's Manga strikes deal with Admira platforms
Barcelona-based Manga Films has inked a five-year partnership with Admira (Telefonica Media) TV holdings Via Digital and Antena 3.Admira had originally intended to buy out a 60% stake in Manga, a deal which fell through last summer. In its stead the new agreement, developed over several months, will see Manga ...
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Quiero TV shake-up likely after Auna stake sale
Telecom Italia looks set to finally sell off its 26.9% stake in Spanish telecoms operator Auna, majority backer of pay digital terrestrial pay-TV (DTT) platform Quiero TV.The Spanish shareholders Endesa, Fenosa and Banco Santander are understood to be paying an estimated Euros2bn (Ptas333bn) for the Auna stake. While the long-anticipated ...