Alicia Scherson: Celebs Rumors

Federico Veiroj, Theo Court, Alicia Scherson and Daniel Hendler head a muscular project lineup at September’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the Spanish festival’s industry centerpiece which underscores this year a welling sea-change in the region’s filmmaking. “The Moneychanger,” the latest film from Uruguay’s Veiroj, was selected for Toronto’s 2019 Platform; “White on White,” from Chile’s Court, won a best director Silver Lion at 2019’s Venice Horizons; Chile’s Alicia Scherson’s debut “Play” snagged new narrative director at Tribeca in 2005: multi-hyphenate Hendler, from Uruguay, scooped best director at Miami for “The Candidate” in 2017.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The 10th edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, organized as part of the Venice Film Festival’s industry program Venice Production Bridge, has selected 62 projects in the final stages of development and funding. Filmmakers taking projects to Venice include Jim Sheridan, an Oscar nominee with “In America,” “In the Name of the Father” and “My Left Foot”; Annemarie Jacir, whose credits include Cannes’ “Salt of This Sea,” Berlin’s “When I Saw You” and Locarno’s “Wajib”; Aisling Walsh, who directed “Maudie” with Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, and “Elizabeth Is Missing” with Glenda Jackson; and Kim Mordaunt, who won best debut at Berlin with “The Rocket.”

Anna Marie de la Fuente Camila José Donoso (“Naomi Campbel”) is gearing up to shoot her fourth pic, “Antitropical,” with Roberto Doveris’ Niña Niño Films producing. The docu-fiction hybrid will be filmed much like a documentary over various months, starting late October, that will stretch into the next year.

Holly Jones Focusing on Chile’s large cinematic prowess, Sanfic’s Chilean Film Competition is set to hone in on national filmmaking and a few promising co-productions from budding and established Latin American talent.Efforts backed by industry leaders Roberto Doveris, Alicia Scherson and Mexico’s Inti Cordera illustrate that Chilean filmmakers are pulling in further support by relaying poignant, far-reaching narratives.The Chilean FilmCompetition were announced by Sanfic Industria, which will run Aug.11-19 as a hybrid event.Highly-anticipated projects include “Villa Olímpica,” produced, in part, by Cordera, who’s previously partnered with the likes of National Geographic and Discovery to bring engaging documentary series to the fore, and fantasy feature “Piedra Noche,” which reunites ingenious Argentine filmmaking duo Santiago Loza (“Extraño”) and Iván Fund (“Hoy No Me Tuve Miedo”) Young talents bowing their first feature attempts are also represented in projects like Fernando Saldivia Yañez’s “Sobre Las Huellas del Tiempo,” and Agustina San Martín’s “Matar a la Bestia.”Culturally significant documentaries that chronicle environmental and political themes mix with fantastic fiction works that carry an air of mystery and the supernatural, creating a well-curated and nuanced roundup. Films that question the concept of home and tradition are also keenly represented, doling out solidarity in a world significantly isolated by the pandemic and ever-increasing uncertainty.Speaking to the final selections, Sanfic artistic director Carlos Nuñez noted, “There are ten films, three world premieres, two Latin American and five national projects, with diverse themes that connect with different audiences.

Holly Jones Prestige French distribution house Dulac Distribution has closed rights to France on “1976,” one of the most awaited of films to come out of Chile this year, which will world premiere next month at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The buzzed up title represents the first feature from young Chilean actor-turned-director Manuela Martelli, star of Andrés Wood’s “Machuca” and Alicia Scherson’s “Il Futuro.”  Worldwide sales rights on “1976” are represented by Paris-based Luxbox, adding to its lengthening list of high profile pick-ups from Latin America which include Nathalie Alvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola,” Alejandra Márquez’s “The Good Girls,” Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses” and Benjamín Naishtat’s “Rojo.” The acquisition in a key territory for non English-language art films comes just weeks after “1976” walked off with three of the biggest awards at the Toulouse Latin American Festival’s Films in Progress, including the pix-in-post competition’s Grand Prix and Cine Plus Award from French pay TV giant Canal Plus.   In a statement, producer Michel Zana, head of distribution for Dulac relayed he was “very proud to distribute Manuela Martelli’s first film! Through its main character’s intimate evolution, in an impressionistic way, ‘1976’ offers a subtle and contemporary look on one of the darkest times of Chile’s recent history.”The film mixes humanity, radical empathy and reinvention as our protagonist Carmen, played by Aline Kuppenheim (“Fugitives”), cares for a young man branded a political extremist, harbored by the priest of a small beachside town.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Women’s History Month could not be more significant for Chile’s fledgling Academy of Cinematographic Arts, which is proud to have selected Maite Alberdi’s acclaimed documentary “The Mole Agent” to fly the Chilean flag at the Oscars.“Our first year of operation has been auspicious,” said Academy founder-president Giancarlo Nasi who pointed out that this was only the second time in Chile’s film history that it has sent a woman-directed film to represent the country, following Alicia Scherson’s “Play” in 2005.“The Mole Agent” was also submitted to Spain’s prominent Goya awards, where it vies for the best Ibero-American film prize, and to Mexico’s Ariel awards.