News

FilmSharks has signed on to represent worldwide sales excluding Spain on Warner Bros’ local-language erotic drama Ask Me What You Want (Pideme Lo Que Quieras) based on the bestseller by Megan Maxwell.

Lucia Alemany directs the story of a man harbouring a secret who travels to Spain to oversee family matters following his father’s death and falls into an intense affair.Gabriela Andrada andMario Ermito star.

Versus Entertainment, LyO Media, and 4Cats Pictures are producing with Warner Bros Spain, which has scheduled a wide release in Spain later this month.

FilmSharks head Guido Rud noted the book TellMe What...

Scheduled for release in 2025, “Death of a Comedian” (“La Muerte de un Comediante”), renowned Argentine actor Diego Peretti’s first feature film as director, has been acquired for world sales by FilmSharks.

Breaking out in TV series “The Pretenders” (2001-04), directed by Damián Szifrón, Peretti won most immediate notice for comedy, such as “It’s Not You, But Me,” though he can be highly effective in drama or Lucía Puenzo’s “The German Doctor” or humour-laced thrillers like “The Heist of the Century.”

Peretti has directed alongside Javier Beltramino, a respected figure on Argentina’s animation scene (“Rice and Matchsticks”) and a former Telefonica Studios production manager.

Now in post-production, the film stars Peretti as Juan Debré, an actor who has played the hero of a TV series for his entire career, oblivious to his true self. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, he flees to Belgium, the land of his...

La película tuvo su premiere mundial en el Festival de Málaga. © Vértice360

Ya se ha publicado el tráiler de Puntos suspensivos, un thriller dirigido por David Marqués y escrito por el propio Marqués y Rafa Calatayud Cano (Parecido a un asesinato), que tuvo su estreno mundial, dentro de la Sección Oficial Fuera de Concurso, en el 27º Festival de Málaga de Cine Español y fue galardonada con el Black Raven al Mejor Thriller en el 42º Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico de Bruselas.

Puntos suspensivos sigue a Leo, un exitoso escritor de novelas de misterio que se esconde bajo el seudónimo de Cameron Graves. Mientras escribe su próximo libro en un chalet aislado, recibe la extraña visita de Jota, un inquietante personaje que dice ser periodista. Nadie conoce la identidad de Leo y solo Victoria, su agente, sabe que está allí, así que ¿cómo ha llegado Jota hasta él y cuáles son sus intenciones?...

The Kningdom is a series created by Marcelo Piñeyro and Claudia Piñeiro. With Diego Peretti and Chino Darín.

After his running mate’s murder, a controversial televangelist becomes Argentina’s presidential candidate. But nothing about him is as holy as he seems.

Release Date

March 22, 2023

Where to Watch The Kingdom

Netflix

Episode List Season 2

Gods or Monsters

Emilio is shocked by the violent protests against his government. Osorio plots to create a new public enemy to divert attention from the crisis.

The King’s Men

Candia is threatened and receives an unexpected visit. A vision of death haunts Osorio. Emilio fights to get back on his feet and take control.

A Plan

Julio warns Tadeo of the dangers surrounding him. The investigation of Emilio attracts attention. The Church of the Kingdom of Light prays for a miracle.

Divine Violence

The dirty war against Tadeo erupts in the media. The Praetorians,...

In an early market deal at this week’s Málaga Film Festival, Guido Rud’s sales house FilmSharks has nabbed worldwide sales rights to Spanish period thriller “Olvido” (“The Forgotten Killings”).

Directed by Inés París and written by Fermín P. Pina, “The Forgotten Killings” is produced by José Luis Rancaño at Madrid-based La Dalia Films.

Inés París’ “La noche que mi madre mató a mi padre,” also produced by Rancaño at La Dalia and starring Spain’s Belén Rueda and Argentina’s Diego Peretti, snagged the audience prize at the 2016 Málaga Film Festival.

In post-production, “The Forgotten Killings” is set in the Mediterranean city of Valencia in Oct. 1957. After the Turia River overflows its banks, journalist Olvido Granell and police sergeant Fermín Capilliure investigate the appearance of six bodies. But the bodies, which have not been victims of the fury of the river, appear with strange scars that point to a dark conspiracy.

Argentinian company also pacts on remake of 30 Nights With My Ex.

FilmSharks division The Remake Co. continues to report steady business with global producers on its slate of Argentinian titles led by a deal with Sony for a new version of Ten Days Without Mom.

Sony Pictures International Productions has picked up Middle East remake rights to Ariel Winograd’s 2017 comedy hit Ten Days Without Mom (Mama Se Fue De Viaje) starring Diego Peretti and Carla Peterson. Talks are ongoing for English-language, Korean and Chinese versions.

Dlo Producciones, owned by France-based Banijay Group, has optioned Spanish remake rights to Adrian Suar’s directorial debut,...

Barcelona-based sales shingle Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Ellipsis,” directed and co-written by Goya-nominated David Marqués.

“Ellipsis” toplines a slew of Spanish-language world stars, including Diego Peretti, José Coronado (“No Rest for the Wicked”), and iconic Mexican thesp Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”) and rising star Georgina Amorós (“Elite”).

Peretti plays protagonist Leo, a well-known author of mystery novels. He is paid a visit by a man claiming to be a journalist in a secret location where Leo is penning his next novel. But only his agent knows where he is. Could it be that a dark secret from Adriana ( Amorós), his lover, is behind the surprise visit?

The script was co-written by Rafael Calatayud Cano (“Tales of the Lockdown”) and Marqués, who is best-known for writing Spanish comedy-drama “Champions,” a box office and format smash hit directed by Javier Fesser.

Marqués said: “‘Ellipsis’ is an...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip) is set to remake Ariel Winograd’s Argentinian comedy Mama Se Fue De Viaje (Ten Days Without Mom) in Turkey and South Korea.

Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group’s local-language production arm has tapped FilmSharks’ subsidiary The Remake Co. for the rights, having previous remade the 2017 title in Spain.

The comedy follows Víctor and Vera Garbor, who have been married for 20 years with four children. Absorbed by his work Víctor largely ignores wife and kids until Vera, overwhelmed by domestic life, decides to take a vacation from her family. There the problems begin.

In Spain, the film was remade was Padre No Hay Más Que Uno (Father There is Only One) with Santiago Segura directing and has spawned two sequels. The original film took 15.8M, while the second grossed 15.3M and the third is set to release in theaters on July 15. Spip also...

Film Factory Entertainment has picked up international sales rights to Cristian Bernard’s thriller movie “Ecos de un crimen” (“Echoes”), successfully released in Argentina by Warner Bros Pictures and HBO Max.

Barcelona-based Film Factory, which previously handled hit Latin American titles such as “Wild Tales,” “La Llorona” and “The Clan,” will introduce “Echoes” to international buyers at next week’s Cannes Film Market.

After a Jan. 27 theatrical release, “Echoes” sold more than 105,000 tickets, becoming the biggest local hit at the Argentine box office since March 2020, the beginning of Covid-19 quarantine.

“Echoes” is produced by Particular Crowd, the original content label of WarnerMedia Latin America, alongside Buenos Aires-based Tieless Media, the production company founded by Fernando Abadi.

The film turns on Julian Lemar, an internationally renown suspense novel writer under pressure from his publisher to complete the last novel in his massively successful franchise, who goes on vacation with his family -– his supportive wife Valeria,...

Virtual presentation set for Tuesday in A Demain market.

Madrid-based Latido Films has launched talks at the virtual Cannes market on zombie horror Virus 32 from Gustavo Hernandez, director of the Uruguayan Quinzaine 2010 one-take horror sensation The Silent House (La Casa Muda).

Virus 32, which itself succumbed to the Covid-19 pandemic and halted shooting after one day, is a 50-50 Argentina-Uruguay co-production between Aeroplano (Sebastián Aloi) from Argentina and Mother Superior Films (Hernandez and Ignacio Garcia Cucucovich) from Uruguay.

Latido will discuss the project during a presentation in the A Demain Us agency-led virtual market on Tuesday (June 23) at 10.30am Cannes time,...

It looks like no coincidence that two of the biggest announcements concerning celebrated Argentine movie directors and producers this year were their moves into drama series creation. In February, Netflix announced that K & S, producers of “Wild Tales,” “The Clan” and “El Angel,” will produce a series adaptation of legendary Argentine sci-fi graphic novel “El Eternauta,” with Bruno Stagnaro directing.

In March, El Estudio announced two series with another founding father of the New Argentine Cinema, Pablo Trapero: a U.S. series remake

of his movie “Carancho” and bio-series “Galimberti.”

Appointed president of Argentina’s film agency Incaa in December, director Luis Puenzo does enjoy government backing, but he faces a perfect storm.

Even before Covid-19 struck, Argentina sustained crippling inflation: 50% last year and in 2018, plus a plunging peso, which lost 77% of its dollar value from April 2018 and studios’ lock on prime exhibition slots.

Last month, coronavirus had halted some 30 shoots,...

Sales for the Argentinian box-office hit spice up a busy Efm for the Madrid-based sales outfit .

Madrid-based sales outfit Latido Films has scored several key territory deals on Argentinian box office hit The Heist Of The Century (El robo del siglo) after market screenings at this year’s Efm.

The based on a true story comedy about a botched bank robbery has gone to France (Eurozoom), Spain (Syldavia), Greece (Rosebud), Switzerland (Trigon) and Australia (Palace). There are also offers on the table from Russia, Italy and China.

Released in Argentina this January, The Heist Of The Century is directed by...

Miami — Three of Latin America’s best known TV execs – José ‘Pepe’ Bastón, Jeff Symon, Carlos Martínez – have unveiled Elefantec Global, a content production-distribution house which adds a new and significant player to Latin America’s – and Turkey’s – content creation scene.

Based out of Los Angeles, Miami and Mexico City, Elefantec Global has also revealed its first talent relationships and a clutch of its first titles, as it made its official market bow at Natpe, hitting the ground running with over 50 original media properties in development, including dramas, biopics, comedies, thrillers and scripted reality.

Unveiled to Variety Wednesday at the Natpe conference in Miami – where the executives took discreet one-to-one meetings with targeted potential clients – Elefantec sees Bastón, a former president of Mexican TV giant Televisa, join forces with Symon, who previously headed up the Global Content, Distribution & Licensing & Merchandising Business for Grupo Televisa, and Martínez, ex-president of Fox Networks Group Latin America,...

Madrid — Adding to a powerful and still growing talent roster, Viacom International Studios (Vis) has clinched a first-look deal with Argentine writer-director Ariel Winograd whose latest movie, “The Heist of the Century,” has just become one of the biggest Argentine openers in history.

The multi-year pact takes in the development and production of not only feature films – where Winograd has had a large impact- but also drama series.

With Winograd, Viacom International Studios has landed one of Argentina’s most popular auteurs who melds romantic comedy or heist movies (“Wine to Steal”) with contemporary social commentary, whether on Jewish communities in Argentina (“Cheese Face: ‘My First Ghetto’”), women’s choosing not to have children or open relationships.

On recent form, he also one of Argentina’s biggest commercial directors. Premiering in the winter holidays of 2017, ‘Mom Went on a Trip’, starring Diego Peretti (“En terapia”) and Carla Peterson, became the No.

Buenos Aires — Ever incorporating ever bigger titles to its slate, Latido Films has boarded the Viacom-backed, Telefe co-produced “El Robo del Siglo” (“The Theft of the Century”), acquiring international rights outside the U.S. to a title which is shaping up as one of Argentina’s biggest bows of early 2020.

Multiple factors elevate it to that category.

“El Robo” is based on Argentina’s most celebrated heist ever, as true crime booms in Argentina. It stars a powerful cast, led by Guillermo Francella (“The Secret in Their Eyes” and “The Clan”) and Diego Peretti (“En terapia”).

“The Theft of the Century” is also produced by Az Films, MarVista Ent., Viacom International Studios (Vis) and Telefe, with DirectTV in associate production.

Viacom-owned Telefe has backed and promoted most of Argentina’s big hits this last decade, including “The Secret in Their Eyes” and “Wild Tales.”

Headed by Alex Zito, and...

Ryan Kampe to show teaser footage fromupcoming adventure doc The Sanctity Of Space, punk rock doc White Riot.

Ryan Kampe’s Visit Films heads to the Croisette with a bumper sales slate led by Tribeca Film Festival Nora Ephron Award winner Initials S.G.

The roster includes Tribeca selection Crshd, SXSW winners Alice, Saint Frances and Tito, SXSW selection The Wall Of Mexico, and Sundance selection Adam.

Visit will screen Lucía Garibaldi’s Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Competition best award-winner The Sharks, about a girl’s sexual awakening in a small beach town. Kampe will also present teaser footage from...

The 18th edition of Tribeca Film Festival will get underway next month, featuring 103 films from 124 filmmakers, with 50% women-directed films in the three competition sections. Highlights include world premieres directed by Abel Ferrara, Werner Herzog, Christoph Waltz, as well as films by Sebastian Schipper, Mary Harron, Peter Strickland, and Andrew Ahn.

Check out the lineup below for the festival taking place April 24 – May 5.

U.S. Narrative Competition

Tribeca’s U.S. Narrative Competition showcases extraordinary work from breakout independent voices and distinguished filmmaking talent. These ten world premieres will vie for the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Last year, the award for Best Narrative Feature went to Kent Jones’ Diane while Jeffrey Wright was awarded Best Actor for his role in O.G. Other previous films from this section include Reed Morano’s Meadowland (2015), Ingrid Jungermann’s Women Who Kill (2016), and...

Exclusive: Stuart Ford’s Agc Studios has nabbed English-language remake rights to hit Argentine family-comedy Mama Se Fue Viaje (10 Days Without Mom) from Buenos Aires sales outfit FilmSharks.

Agc will finance and produce the remake under the title 10 Days Without Mom with a screenplay from writing-producing team Eduardo Cisneros (Instructions Not Included) and Jason Shuman (Bangkok Dangerous).

The 2017 feature, produced by Disney-backed Patagonik, tells the story of a mom who takes off on a solo holiday sending her family into chaos as the father tries to take over the household duties. Diego Peretti starred in the original, which was directed by Ariel Winograd. The film took more than $10M in South America, accounting for a huge 1.8M tickets. It was picked up by HBO Latino for U.S. and North American pay TV and Svod.

Cisneros was an associate producer on Eugenio Derbez’s box office smash Instructions Not Included,...

Disney-backed Argentinian powerhouse Patagonik produced Ariel Winograd’s 2017 original.

FilmSharks has struck an English-language remake deal with Agc Studios on LatAm comedy smash 10 Days Without Mom (Mama Se Fue de Viaje), days after Screendaily announced the Buenos Aires-based sales agent had brokered a Spanish remake with Sony Pictures International Productions.

Writer-producer team Eduardo Cisneros (associate producer on Mexican crossover hit Instructions Not Included) and Jason Shuman will write the screenplay about a man who takes care of his four childrenwith disastrous results when his wife goes on a liberating solo trip after 20 years of marriage.

Disney-backed Argentinian powerhouse Patagonik...

Initials S.G.

Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia sanguinely moved into production in January of 2018 with their fourth feature film, Initials S.G. A wink to Serge Gainsbourg, the enigmatic personality of the character embodied by Argentinian actor Diego Peretti is at the core of what is a widely unpredictable storyline. Selected for the Us in Progress in Wrocław, this is produced by the filmmakers alongside Iván Eibuszyc, Shruti Ganguly and Georges Schoucair. The project received some support via the 2018 Music and Sound Design Lab and became film fest darlings with their third feature in 2014’s H. (read review) which was showcased at fest heavyweights Venice, Sundance and Berlin.…...

Recently featuring their film at the American Film Festival’s Us In Progress in Wroclaw, the team of Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia look to be at the completion stages with Initials Sg after receiving some Sundance Institute love via the 2018 Music and Sound Design Lab. The duo were winners of the “Someone to Watch Award” at the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards and saw their third feature film H. (read review) receive a rare Venice and then Sundance Film Fest showing. This stars Diego Peretti and includes the surprise presence of a noteworthy U.S tourist.

Gist: An aging Argentine and Serge Gainsbourg (Diego Peretti) wannabe struggles with an acting career he can’t seem to get on track, an affair he doesn’t want and a dead man he didn’t mean to kill.…...

Exclusive: Argentinian sales outfit FilmSharks, which has plied a profitable trade in the increasingly popular market of local-language remakes, has closed deals on hit Spanish-language movies to companies in France, Italy, Mexico, China, Brazil and India.

FilmSharks has closed deals with French outfit Soyouz Films and Brazilian company Glaz Entertainment for rights to local-language versions of comedy Ten Days Without Mom (Mama Se Fue De Viaje), which scored big at the Argentine box office last year for Disney. Diego Peretti stars in Ariel Winograd’s movie about how a mother’s sudden and shocking departure for holiday sends her family into tailspin as the father takes over domestic duties.

Successful Chilean export No Filter (Una Mujer Sin Filtro) is being lined up for an Italian remake with Colorado Film while a Paraguayan version has been sold to Lemon Films. The Chilean box office success, which was picked up for U.

Exclusive: FilmSharks seals multi-territory deal on comedy.

Buena Vista International has licensed multiple territories from FilmSharks to Patagonik’s Ten Days Without Mom directed by Argentinian comedy specialist Ariel Winograd.

The studio typically distributes films from local production powerhouse Patagonik in Argentina and has also acquired Colombia, Chile, Peru and Uruguay, as well as Latin American TV and VoD rights.

Ten Days Without Mom (Mama Se Fue De Viaje) tells of parents of an overworked mother of four who takes a break from the family, forcing her husband to take charge with chaotic results.

Winograd is one of Argentina’s most famous comedy directors currently at work and directed the hits No Kids (Sin Hijos) and That’s Not Cheating (Permitidos).

Diego Peretti from No Kids and Carla Petterson from hit comedy 2+2 star in Ten Days Without Mom, which will open in Argentina in July.

“This is like Home Alone… without mom,” FilmSharks...

Chicago – It has been two weeks of films and culture for the 32nd Chicago Latino Film Festival, but all great things come to a conclusion. Thursday, April 21st, 2016, will be the final film gathering of the festival, at the Chicago History Museum, with a showing of “No Kids,” from Argentina.

’No Kids’ (Argentina) is the Closing Night Film at the 32ndst Chicago Latino Film Festival

Photo credit: Chicago Latino Film Festival

“No Kids” was the third highest grossing Argentinian film of 2015. This delightfully energetic comedy from Ariel Winograd (“My First Wedding,” “To Fool a Thief”) centers on Gabriel (Diego Peretti) a divorced father who dotes on his 9-year-old daughter Sofía (Guadalupe Manent, who steals the movie in her big screen debut). Their relationship is disrupted when he falls in love with the child-hating Vicky (Maribel Verdú, “Y Tu Mamá También”), forcing Gabriel to jump through hoops to conceal his daughter.

Chicago – It’s Week Two of the 32nd Edition of the Chicago Latino Film Festival, and the films, programs and filmmakers are creating a big buzz over at the AMC River East 21 Theatre, where all the festival films are being shown. The huge variety of movies from Latino countries all over the world has brought in the film buffs and fans, making Chicago again the place to be for film.

The week culminates with the Closing Night film and festivities at the Chicago History Museum. For specific details regarding that night and to purchase tickets click here.

’No Kids’ (Argentina) is the Closing Night Film at the 32ndst Chicago Latino Film Festival

Photo credit: Chicago Latino Film Festival

The highlights of Week Two films are as follows…

”Landfill Harmonic”

Hundreds were inspired and amazed by their performance last year at the Closing Night concert of the 10th Annual Chicago Latino Music Festival.

Exclusive: FilmSharks has inked multiple sales and remake rights deals for Ariel Winograd’s film.

FilmSharks has licensed a raft of sales and remake rights on Ariel Winograd’s smash Argentina-Spain comedy Sin Hijos (No Kids).

Guido Rud – who has hired returning staffer and former Primer Plano executive Valeria Fanego as senior vice-president of international sales – has closed a deal with Palace Cinemas for Australia.

Rights have gone in: Scandinavia and Cis (Maywin Media) HBO Ce (central Europe pay TV), Bolivia (Multicines), and airlines (Global Eagle and Inflight Dublin).

Patagonik and Tornasol produced the story about a romance between a divorced father and a woman who advocates child-free living. Spanish superstar Maribel Verdú stars alongside Diego Peretti.

France’s Albertine Productions in association with Selective Films has taken French remake rights, while Colorado Films has optioned Italy, and Elisa Salinas Mexico. A Us studio is preparing to announce Indian remake rights.

Buenos Aires-based...

Exclusive: Film Sharks International has licensed Papers In The Wind to Disney in a pan-Latin American deal.

Guido Rud plans a work-in-progress screening at next month’s Ventana Sur market in Buenos Aires.

Juan Taratuto will direct from a screenplay that The Secret In Their Eyes screenwriter Eduardo Sacheri has adapted from his own novel.

Papers In The Wind (Papeles En El Viento) is a comedy about three men who take care of their recently deceased friend’s daughter and try to turn his investment in a football player into a lucrative piece of business.

Diego Peretti, Pablo Rago, Pablo Echarri and Diego Torres star.

“We are so happy being on board on this film, which has so much international crossover potential and layers comedy, thriller, love and passion,” said Rud.

In many territories, Lucía Puenzo’s third feature film – to follow the critically acclaimed Xxy and The Fish Child – actually goes by the name of ‘The German Doctor’. Here, in the UK, it’s called Wakolda, which represents a more fitting, symbolic title to truly capture the essence of this moving, disquieting drama. Wakolda is the name of our 12 year old protagonist’s doll, and is therefore emblematic of her innocence, which is far more poignant. After all, this picture is not about the doctor, as such, but his relationship with the young Lilith, finding a strand of intimacy amidst an otherwise comprehensive, implicative narrative.

Lilith is played by the newcomer Florencia Bado, who is remarkably small for her age, and is often the victim of much teasing at school as a result. However there appears to be a cure for her lack of growth, as a local German doctor...

The subtle veil of horror draped over things we take for granted as good and wonderful aspects of humanity is deeply unsettling… I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

South America, 1960. You can probably guess at the background of the eponymous German doctor (Àlex Brendemühl) who befriends a Patagonian family and slowly inveigles his way into their very heart. Impressionable 12-year-old Lilith (Florencia Bado) falls for his seeming charm the moment they meet, though her mom, Eva (Natalia Oreiro), isn’t far behind. Soon he is living in the lakeside hotel the family operates, investing in dad Enzo’s (Diego Peretti) custom dollmaking business, and making medical suggestions for how undersized Lilith — who looks like an eight-year-old and is teased at school as a “dwarf” — might jumpstart her growth and kickstart her delayed adolescence.

Following the fall of the Third Reich and the liberation of the German Nazi concentration camps, many of the leaders directly involved fled to South America. One of the most famous of those officers was Josef Mengele, a physician in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Due to his barbaric and deadly human experiments performed on prisoners as well as role in the section process for the gas chamber executions, Mengele was known as "The Angel of Death."

Argentian filmmaker Lucia Puenzo's novel Wakolda focuses on this infamous man and the true story of an Argentinian family who unknowingly boarded Mengele at their home, now adapted by Puenzo as the movie The German Doctor. Whereas the novel is told through Mengele’s point of view during his exile in South America, the film instead relies more on 12-year-old Lilith (Florencia Bado). Born premature and having suffered from several illnesses at an early age,...

Exclusive: Guido Rud’s Buenos Aires-based Film Sharks International has picked up sales on two Disney-backed Patagonik titles that the studio will release in Latin America.

Comedy Volley will open in Argentina in the third quarter 2014, while the family-oriented rom-com Without Children (Sin Hijos) is set for the first quarter of 2015.

Martín Piroyansky directs Volley, about six friends who spend the New Year’s Eve holiday together when one of the group cannot keep his hands off the girls.

Piroyansky stars alongside Violeta Urtizberea, Inés Efrón, Chino Darín, Vera Spinetta and Justina Bustos.

Ariel Winograd is scheduled to shoot Without Children in July from Mariano Vera’s screenplay based on an original idea by Pablo Solarz.

Diego Peretti-Celeste Cid will star in the story of a divorced man whose eight-year-old daughter is his pride and joy.

When the man finally falls for a new lover who does not want children, he conceals...

The German Doctor, Argentina's Submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. U.S. :Samuel Goldwyn Films. International Sales Agent: Pyramide International

In the quest for perfection humanity has gone to great lengths to alter and manipulate physical processes or unaesthetic features. Striving to improve and increase the species' adaptability is the basis for evolution. Traits and defects are passed on through generations engraved in the DNA. Aware of this, and in an attempt to justice their heinous crimes and bless them as 'scientific purification of the Aryan race', the Nazis fabricated their own branch of Social Darwinism. They pursued a type of homogenous beauty based on phony symmetrical genetics, with which they aimed to craft a special breed of super humans.

Rid of any genetic imperfections or miscegenation these individuals would become the pinnacle of their efforts. Spearheading this research and its consequential experimentation was Josef Mengele, a physician and one of the most notorious German SS officers. Following Germany’s defeat the world was learning of the horrors that took place in the concentration camps. Many Nazi officers and supporters, Mengele included, escaped to South America to avoid facing justice. Lucía Puenzo’s magnificent historical fiction film The German Doctor tries to reconstruct the time the so-called “Angel of Death” spent in Argentina and the moral implications of the unexplored complicity of the locals.

Set in 1960 against the breathtaking scenery of the Patagonian town of Bariloche, the story focuses on a family that serendipitously crosses paths with Mengele (Àlex Brendemühl) on their way to the family owned hostel. Upon meeting Lilith (Florencia Bado), the family’s daughter, the doctor is instantly captivated by the girl’s size and physical features. She is a 12-year-old girl that appears extremely underdeveloped and fragile for her age. He immediately considers her the perfect specimen to test his theories, and to his advantage she seems to be equally intrigued by the foreign man. Her pregnant mother, Eva (Natalia Oreiro), fluent in German, seems to like the doctor who easily gains her trust, despite her husband Enzo’s (Diego Peretti) noticeable suspicion of his intentions.

Once in Bariloche the doctor convinces the family to let him rent a room at their place, clearly part of his plan to stay close to his interest. The city exudes a heavily German influence, including Eva’s old Nazi-supported school where she enrolls Lilith and her two siblings. There, her tall and blond classmates of German descent bully the young girl because of her size. This represents a prime opportunity for Mengele to interfere. He persuades Eva to let him inject Lilith with hormones that will make her grow, and he provides her with pills to help with her pregnancy, all of it behind the patriarch’s back.

Mindful of Enzo’s growing uneasiness towards him, the conniving German doctor shows interest in the man’s passion for designing dolls. With Lilith’s father now distracted with his own project, Mengele has free range to experiment after discovering Eva is expecting twins. Increasingly curious about the doctor’s stories, Lilith begins reading about the Aryan pseudo-mythology in her school’s library where she meets photographer Nora Eldoc (Elena Roger). As the family starts to grapple with the motives behind the doctor’s unsolicited help, Eldoc will prove to be a crucial character when the Israeli secret police, the Mossad, comes hunting down the runaway Nazis.

Conceived with incredible moral complexity and a mysteriously alluring tone, the film doesn’t simply crucify Mengele as the source of all evil, but it instead questions the willing collaboration of others. There is a shared responsibility for his acts occurring between him and the participants. He doesn’t kidnap Lilith or forces Eva to accept any treatment, but they grant him permission. In the same manner, the replication of artificial beauty is not only expressed via Mengele’s vision of what Lilith and the twins can become, but also in Enzo’s obsessive interest in creating the perfect human-like doll.

“Wakolda”, Lilith’s rag doll made by the native Mapuche Indians is not good enough in his eyes, and it must be improved. Just like with Mengele’s grueling fixation with engineering a utopian race, all individuality must be suppressed and replaced by identical flawlessness. This absurd aspiration is shared by both of the their enterprises. Such tacit complicity mirrors that of the entire community, which aware of the numerous Nazis and their supporters, prefers to let them live in obscurity.

Puenzo’s fascinating period piece, based on her own novel, revisits familiar stories of Nazism with a particular focus on the Argentinean involvement. Executed with outstanding attention to detail, a prodigious ensemble cast, and splendid cinematography, the film is a window into a time lost in history. Despite the secrecy surrounding the doctor’s time in her country, the writer/director incorporates the facts available to formulate her own informed version of the story. Her great artistic achievement might be the most plausible retelling of the events one might ever get to see. Evoking a sense impending danger, The German Doctor is a challenging and enthralling masterwork.

The German Doctor opens in L.A. and New York on April 25th, 2014

Read Sydney Levine's Case Study on The German Doctor (Wakolda)

Read more about all the 76 Best Foreign Language Film Submission for the 2014 Academy Awards...

The promise of perfection leads to disaster for an Argentinean family in 1960 Patagonia in The German Doctor, a fictionalized account of one clan's run-in with notorious Auschwitz psychopath Dr. Josef Mengele.

Adapting her own novel, writer-director Lucía Puenzo keeps the evil physician's identity a secret for the first half of her story, in which Mengele (Àlex Brendemühl) meets and takes a liking to Lilith (Florencia Bado), a 12-year-old girl with a growth disorder, and consequently decides to stay at the hotel run by her father, Enzo (Diego Peretti), and pregnant-with-twins mother, Eva (Natalia Oreiro).

Soon, Mengele is experimenting on both Lilith and Eva, with Puenzo insinuating that Eva welcomes these hormone trials because her indoctrina...

A Nazi At My Table: Puenzo’s Latest an Eerie Reimagining

Argentinian director Lucia Puenzo once again adapts one of her own novels for her latest offering, an intriguing period piece, The German Doctor. Whereas her 2009 adaptation of The Fish Child unraveled itself with a series distracting narrative flourishes, her latest effort is a bit more reserved, a simple and straightforward tale that manages to build a sinister simmer, even distracting us from what audiences familiar with historical accuracy already know will happen. While avoiding the use of Nazism and the perverse case of Dr. Mengele as an exploitative element, the rather demure narrative only hints at the possibility of the notorious and despicable terrors residing underneath the calm visage of a stranger that upends one unremarkable family’s livelihood.

Set in early 1960’s Patagonia, a man by the name of Helmut Gregor (Alex Brendemuhl), becomes fascinated with an underdeveloped...

Check out the first English-subtitled trailer for "The German Doctor," Argentina selection for the 2014 foreign language Academy Award. Though it didn't make the final Oscar five, the film was also a commercial and critical success in its home country, winning 10 Sur Awards from the Argentine Film Academy, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. It was up for the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes 2013. Based on filmmaker Lucia Puenzo's (the wonderful "Xxy") fifth novel, "The German Doctor" follows an Argentinean family in 1960 who takes in a mysterious German doctor, who becomes especially interested in the family's young daughter Lilith, unusually small for her age. Well that doctor, uh, turns out to be a Nazi, and one in particular whose identity we won't spoil. It's creepy stuff. The film stars Alex Brendemuhl, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Elena Roger, Guillermo Pfening, Alan Daicz and Florencia Bado. It opens April 25th via Samuel Goldwyn.

Abu Dhabi, Nov 1: Veteran Hollywood talent Judi Dench and Argentinian performer Diego Peretti clinched the best actress and best actor awards respectively in the Narration Feature Competition of the seventh Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Adff), it was announced at the gala's closing ceremony here Thursday night.

Indian actress Tillotama Shome won the best actress title in another competition category.

Dench was awarded here for her role in British drama "Philomena", which is based on the true story of Philomena Lee, an Irish woman who spent decades searching for the son taken from her by Catholic nuns and sold into adoption overseas.

The.

Actor prizes go to Dame Judi Dench and Jesse Eisenberg; Enough Said, starring the late James Gandolfini, wins audience award.Scroll down for full list of winners

The 7th Abu Dhabi Film Festival handed out its Black Pearl awards at a closing ceremony tonight (Oct 31), including cash prizes amounting to around $700,000.

The Black Pearl for Narrative Feature, worth $100,000, went to A Touch of Sin (Tian zhu ding) directed by Jia Zhangke.

The film, which played in competition at Cannes where it won the best screenplay award, revolves around four threads set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China and features random acts of violence.

The Narrative jury, presided over by two-time Oscar nominated actress Jacki Weaver, gave the special jury award ($50,000) to Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land, centred on a law man in a small town on the border of Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

In addition, Dame Judi Dench won best...

Pyramide International holds sales rights to Lucia Puenzo’s thriller and recently closed a raft of deals. Samuel Goldwyn will release in the Us in spring 2014.

The German Doctor (Wakola) is based on true events as recounted in Puenzo’s fifth novel and takes place in Patagonia in 1960 as an Argentinean family encounters a German physician and invites him into their new lakeside guesthouse. What the hosts do not know is he is the fugitive Nazi Josef Mengele.

Alex Brendemühl, Natalia Orieroa and Diego Peretti star in the Spanish and German-language thriller.

Click here for Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award submissions 2013

The deadline for foreign language submissions is October 1.

The Academy will announce the nominations on Jan 16, 2014. The 86th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2014.

Pyramide International holds sales rights to Lucia Puenzo’s thriller and recently closed a raft of deals. Samuel Goldwyn will release in the Us in spring 2014.

The German Doctor (Wakola) is based on true events as recounted in Puenzo’s fifth novel and takes place in Patagonia in 1960 as an Argentinean family encounters a German physician and invites him into their new lakeside guesthouse. What the hosts do not know is he is the fugitive Nazi Josef Mengele.

Alex Brendemühl, Natalia Orieroa and Diego Peretti star in the Spanish and German-language thriller.

Click here for Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award submissions 2013

The deadline for foreign language submissions is October 1.

The Academy will announce the nominations on Jan 16, 2014. The 86th Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, 2014.

Thriller inspired by Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele’s time in Argentina competes at San Sebastian this week.

Pyramide International continues to tot up sales on Argentine writer and filmmaker Lucia Puenzo’s The German Doctor (Wakolda), some four months after the film first premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

Review: The German Doctor (Wakolda)

The Paris-based company has unveiled a batch of sales into Central and Southern America including to: Brazil (Imovision), Bolivia and Chile (Los filmes De La Arcadia), Colombia (Cine Colombia), the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (Wiesner Distribution), Peru (Pucp) and Panama and Costa Rica (Palmera International).

In Europe, Sarajevo’s Obala Art Centre has acquired the picture for multiple territories including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Montenegro.

The film has also sold to Hungary (Vertigo), Poland (Hagi), Israel (Nachshon) and South Korea (Company L) since Cannes.

As previously announced, Peccadillo acquired the film for the UK and...

Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up Us rights from Pyramide International to Lucía Puenzo’s Argentinian thriller The German Doctor, set to screen in San Sebastian on Monday night (September 23).

The film premiered in Un Certain Regard under its original title Wakolda. Sources did not comment at time of writing on whether the film would be named Argentina’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

Samuel Goldwyn Films plans a spring 2014 release for The German Doctor, based on Puenzo’s novel about a family in post-WW2 Argentina who unwittingly entrust their daughter into the care of the notorious Nazi fugitive Josef Mengele as Israeli agents close in.

Alex Brendemuhl, Florencia Bado, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Elena Roger and Guillermo Pfening star.

Samuel Goldwyn Films vp and general counsel Ian Puente negotiated the deal with Lucero Garzon and Valentina Merli of Pyramide International.

Which films will Denmark and Argentina submit for Oscar consideration this year? Both countries have won the Best Foreign Film prize in the recent past and could compete again this year.

Denmark

They've announced their three finalists for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission. I think the likeliest of their three finalists is The Hunt, directed by Thomas Vinterberg (A Celebration) which won Mads Mikkelsen Best Actor at Cannes a year plus ago as a teacher under attack due to false allegations from a child. It's currently in release in the States which means it's eligible for the Oscars in general if not for this specific category (which requires official submission... and each country may only choose one film). The major obstacle to its submission might be its lack of newness. It played in Cannes during last year's eligibility period (Oct 11- Sept 12) but not in its home country (making...

The tenth edition of Venice Days has announced its lineup of 12 films in the official selection, three special events, two shorts in Women’s Tales and two special screenings (pre-opening and closing night).

Venice Days is presided over by Roberto Barzanti and directed by Giorgio Gosetti.

Official Selection

Alienation by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria), world premiere, first film

A dialogue-light contemporary fairytale about a lost generation, seen through a middle aged man crossing the border between Greece and Bulgaria, collecting a child for illegal adoption.

La Belle Vie by Jean Denizot (France) world premiere, first film

Based on the true story of a French father who takes his two sons on the run.

Bethlehem by Yuval Adler (Israel) world premiere, first film

A political thriller about an Israeli secret service officer and a Palestinian informant.

Gerontophilia by Bruce Labruce (Canada) world premiere

A modern romantic comedy about an 18 year old who bonds with an 82 year old.

Kill Your Darlings by [link...

The tenth edition of Venice Days has announced its lineup of 12 films in the official selection, three special events, two shorts in Women’s Tales and two special screenings (pre-opening and closing night).

Venice Days is presided over by Roberto Barzanti and directed by Giorgio Gosetti.

Official Selection

Alienation by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria), world premiere, first film

A dialogue-light contemporary fairytale about a lost generation, seen through a middle aged man crossing the border between Greece and Bulgaria, collecting a child for illegal adoption.

La Belle Vie by Jean Denizot (France) world premiere, first film

Based on the true story of a French father who takes his two sons on the run.

Bethlehem by Yuval Adler (Israel) world premiere, first film

A political thriller about brothers in the West Bank.

Gerontophilia by Bruce Labruce (Canada) world premiere

A modern romantic comedy about an 18 year old who bonds with an 82 year old.

Kill Your Darlings by [link...

The tenth edition of Venice Days has announced its lineup of 12 films in the official selection, three special events, two shorts in Women’s Tales and two special screenings (pre-opening and closing night).

Venice Days is presided over by Roberto Barzanti and directed by Giorgio Gosetti.

Official Selection

Alienation by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria), world premiere, first film

A dialogue-light contemporary fairytale about a lost generation, seen through a middle aged man crossing the border between Greece and Bulgaria, collecting a child for illegal adoption.

La Belle Vie by Jean Denizot (France) world premiere, first film

Based on the true story of a French father who takes his two sons on the run.

Bethlehem by Yuval Adler (Israel) world premiere, first film

A political thriller about brothers in the West Bank.

Gerontophilia by Bruce Labruce (Canada) world premiere

A modern romantic comedy about an 18 year old who bonds with an 82 year old.

Kill Your Darlings by [link...

#84. Lucia Puenzo’s Wakolda

Gist: Starring Alex Brendemuhl, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti and Elena Roger, this is based on Puenzo’s own novel detailing the true story of an Argentine family who lived with Josef Mengele without knowing his true identity, and of a girl who fell in love with one of the biggest criminals of all times.

Prediction: Un Certain Regard. Despite Lucía Puenzo making waves when she had Xxy unfold in 2007′s Critics’ Week, by appearances, Wakolda might have a a narrower chance of showing in Cannes as this stylistically looks too mainstream for the Directors’ Fortnight. In between films she premiered El niño pez (2009) in Berlin and this 2013 feature is set to be released in Argentina less than a week before the Croisette opens for business.

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MADRID -- Spanish distribution house Notro Films announced Tuesday it has picked up Spanish rights to the Argentine hit Tiempos de Valiente, set to open the new Latin American showcase next week at the 9th Malaga Spanish Film Festival. Directed by Damian Szifron and produced by Shok Films Argentina, Tiempos is an action comedy that stars Diego Peretti as a psychoanalyst who is forced to help a police officer -- devastated by his wife's infidelity -- investigate a crime. Tiempos, released in Argentina at the end of 2005, continues Notro's interest in Argentine cinema, following its recent release of No sos vos, soy yo.