Preeminent Spanish arthouse sales outfit Bendita Film Sales (“Memories of a Burning Body”) has acquired worldwide rights to the second offbeat feature from Chilean auteurs Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, “The Hyperboreans” (“Los Hiperbóreos”), which bows at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight program, running May 15-25.
“We’re excited to join forces with Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, visionary filmmakers renowned for their distinct perspective and captivating universe. Their body of work has long enthralled and inspired us, making this collaboration a truly special opportunity,” Luis Renart, CEO, sales & acquisitions at Bendita Film Sales, told Variety.
“The Hyperboreans encompasses a daring fusion of live-action and stop motion, speculative fiction and fabulated biography, that takes audiences on a mesmerizing journey through realms both familiar and fantastical, exploring the haunting echoes of history and the boundless potential of the human psyche. We’re excited to share this exceptional work with audiences worldwide,” he added,...
“We’re excited to join forces with Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, visionary filmmakers renowned for their distinct perspective and captivating universe. Their body of work has long enthralled and inspired us, making this collaboration a truly special opportunity,” Luis Renart, CEO, sales & acquisitions at Bendita Film Sales, told Variety.
“The Hyperboreans encompasses a daring fusion of live-action and stop motion, speculative fiction and fabulated biography, that takes audiences on a mesmerizing journey through realms both familiar and fantastical, exploring the haunting echoes of history and the boundless potential of the human psyche. We’re excited to share this exceptional work with audiences worldwide,” he added,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Going into Berlin’s European Film Market, Spain’s biggest sales agents are under no illusion just how tough international markets have become.
“Paradoxically, in one of the best moments for Spanish productions, we are finding that some of our top dramas are getting hard to sell unless selected in Cannes, Venice or Berlin,” says Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura.
Also, “If American productions dominate at least 80% of markets, and local productions claim about half what remains. You’re left with just 10% of markets for many wonderful films to try to find audience opportunities. Competition is fiercer than ever,” he says.
“Many newer platforms are insisting on revenue shares. This rarely works for us,” observes Feel Sales’ Yennifer Fasciani.
Yet companies are fighting back. “Either a film works very well or not at all. Our strategy is increasingly focusing on major titles, leaving no middle ground,” states Film Factory Entertainment’s Vicente Canales,...
“Paradoxically, in one of the best moments for Spanish productions, we are finding that some of our top dramas are getting hard to sell unless selected in Cannes, Venice or Berlin,” says Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura.
Also, “If American productions dominate at least 80% of markets, and local productions claim about half what remains. You’re left with just 10% of markets for many wonderful films to try to find audience opportunities. Competition is fiercer than ever,” he says.
“Many newer platforms are insisting on revenue shares. This rarely works for us,” observes Feel Sales’ Yennifer Fasciani.
Yet companies are fighting back. “Either a film works very well or not at all. Our strategy is increasingly focusing on major titles, leaving no middle ground,” states Film Factory Entertainment’s Vicente Canales,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Bendita Films Sales has taken worldwide rights outside Benelux to Jawad Rhalib’s social drama “Amal,” toplining award-winning Belgian actress Lubna Azabal, who appeared in Oscar-nominated films “Paradise Now” and “Incendies.”
Télescope has acquired the film’s distribution rights for the Benelux region.
“Amal” world premieres Nov. 17, competing in main competition at Tallinn’s 27th Black Nights Film Festival edition.
Set up at prolific, successful Belgian outfit Scope Pictures, “Amal” is produced by Geneviéve Lemal and co-produced by Ellen de Waele.
Azabal plays an idealistic and passionate French literature teacher in a suburban Brussels school, who becomes the target of intense hostility from students and colleagues tied to Islamic extremism when she chooses to help a teenage Muslim girl accused of homosexuality.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based Bendita Films Sales will make “Amal’s” market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market in February.
“We were completely dazzled by the film’s narrative strength,...
Télescope has acquired the film’s distribution rights for the Benelux region.
“Amal” world premieres Nov. 17, competing in main competition at Tallinn’s 27th Black Nights Film Festival edition.
Set up at prolific, successful Belgian outfit Scope Pictures, “Amal” is produced by Geneviéve Lemal and co-produced by Ellen de Waele.
Azabal plays an idealistic and passionate French literature teacher in a suburban Brussels school, who becomes the target of intense hostility from students and colleagues tied to Islamic extremism when she chooses to help a teenage Muslim girl accused of homosexuality.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based Bendita Films Sales will make “Amal’s” market premiere at Berlin’s European Film Market in February.
“We were completely dazzled by the film’s narrative strength,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
In standout results that suggests the strength of select Spanish arthouse films on the current international market, Bendita Films Sales, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based boutique world sales agency, has closed a formidable raft of deals to Galician auteur Lois Patiño’s multisensory journey film “Samsara.”
Winner of a Special Jury Award at Berlin’s 2023 major sidebar Encounters and the Audience Award at Mexico’s Ficunam festival, “Samsara” has just screened in main competition at the 68th Valladolid Intl. Film Festival (Oct. 21-28), running up more than a dozen international film festival selections.
Bendita Film Sales has clinched commercial release pacts in the U.K. and Ireland, with Curzon Film, scheduled for a Jan. 26 launch; with Films Sans Frontiéres in France, Mooov in Belgium and Netherlands – planned for May 15 and Feb. 15, respectively – and with Exit Media in Italy by June, among other markets.
Produced by Leire Apellaniz at San Sebastian-based Señor y Señora,...
Winner of a Special Jury Award at Berlin’s 2023 major sidebar Encounters and the Audience Award at Mexico’s Ficunam festival, “Samsara” has just screened in main competition at the 68th Valladolid Intl. Film Festival (Oct. 21-28), running up more than a dozen international film festival selections.
Bendita Film Sales has clinched commercial release pacts in the U.K. and Ireland, with Curzon Film, scheduled for a Jan. 26 launch; with Films Sans Frontiéres in France, Mooov in Belgium and Netherlands – planned for May 15 and Feb. 15, respectively – and with Exit Media in Italy by June, among other markets.
Produced by Leire Apellaniz at San Sebastian-based Señor y Señora,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
In times of dramatic change for the film-tv industry, Spanish auteur cinema is booming, goosed by multiple significant and high-quality titles, reaping prizes, critical praise and profile at international festivals.
Beyond the preeminent interest in established auteurs such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, J.A. Bayona, Isabel Coixet and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spanish sales agents and distributors celebrate the increasingly strong presence of young local film auteurs on the international scene. The big question is, however, how this profile can translate into box office impact and substantial sales.
“We are living a very sweet moment in terms of the recognition of our cinema at international festivals, with ever more filmmakers who are creating dazzling works,” says Luis Renart, founder of Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based sales company Bendita Films.
“There’s a generation of creators and producers who look to international auteur cinema when they build their projects, made with a European sensibility and a very marked identity,...
Beyond the preeminent interest in established auteurs such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, J.A. Bayona, Isabel Coixet and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spanish sales agents and distributors celebrate the increasingly strong presence of young local film auteurs on the international scene. The big question is, however, how this profile can translate into box office impact and substantial sales.
“We are living a very sweet moment in terms of the recognition of our cinema at international festivals, with ever more filmmakers who are creating dazzling works,” says Luis Renart, founder of Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based sales company Bendita Films.
“There’s a generation of creators and producers who look to international auteur cinema when they build their projects, made with a European sensibility and a very marked identity,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
“All of Us Strangers,” Andrew Haigh, U.K., U.S.)
Setting a high benchmark for Valladolid’s main competition, “a curious kind of ghost story, at once incredibly tender and profoundly devastating as it slowly reveals its secrets,” Variety wrote in its review. Written and directed by Haigh. behind an impressive body of work taking in “Weekend,” “45 Years” and HBO series “Looking.”
“Andrea’s Love,” (“El amor de Andrea,” Manuel Martín Cuenca, Spain)
Sold by Film Factory, the latest from the always interesting Martín Cuenca about Andrea, 15, attempting to reconnect with her estranged father. “A title opening up a new stage in Martín Cuenca’s career, his simplest, most tender and sincere of works,” Valladolid Festival notes run.
“Gasoline Rainbow,” (Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross, U.S.)
Produced by Mubi and sold by The Match Factory, the Venice Horizons world premiere follows five teens who pile into a van...
Setting a high benchmark for Valladolid’s main competition, “a curious kind of ghost story, at once incredibly tender and profoundly devastating as it slowly reveals its secrets,” Variety wrote in its review. Written and directed by Haigh. behind an impressive body of work taking in “Weekend,” “45 Years” and HBO series “Looking.”
“Andrea’s Love,” (“El amor de Andrea,” Manuel Martín Cuenca, Spain)
Sold by Film Factory, the latest from the always interesting Martín Cuenca about Andrea, 15, attempting to reconnect with her estranged father. “A title opening up a new stage in Martín Cuenca’s career, his simplest, most tender and sincere of works,” Valladolid Festival notes run.
“Gasoline Rainbow,” (Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross, U.S.)
Produced by Mubi and sold by The Match Factory, the Venice Horizons world premiere follows five teens who pile into a van...
- 10/20/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In the lead-up to Cannes, Spanish film sales continue to show resilience despite shifting market trends and global challenges. The market signals suggest an enduring preference for genre movies and high-concept films, while the sale of arthouse fare remains tough.
Antonio Saura, director general of Latido Films, tells Variety, “The trends we are seeing confirm the trends we identified last year — movies with a strong concept, genre in general, generate interest, [whereas] drama and ‘art house’ is more complicated and requires a different type of attention and positioning.”
While there are signs of interest for movies with top talent attached, smaller films without a significant festival presence face an uphill battle.
This trend is underscored by the Spanish films selected for Cannes, which range from Benito Zambrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Roya Sadat’s “Sima’s Song,” to Pau Calpe’s “Werewolf.” These films, part of the Spanish Screenings Goes to Cannes section,...
Antonio Saura, director general of Latido Films, tells Variety, “The trends we are seeing confirm the trends we identified last year — movies with a strong concept, genre in general, generate interest, [whereas] drama and ‘art house’ is more complicated and requires a different type of attention and positioning.”
While there are signs of interest for movies with top talent attached, smaller films without a significant festival presence face an uphill battle.
This trend is underscored by the Spanish films selected for Cannes, which range from Benito Zambrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Roya Sadat’s “Sima’s Song,” to Pau Calpe’s “Werewolf.” These films, part of the Spanish Screenings Goes to Cannes section,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Bendita Film Sales has grown its slate acquiring Itsaso Arana’s directorial debut “The Girls Are Alright,” (“Las chicas están bien”).
The acquisition marks the latest pick up by the Tenerife based-outfit following recent announcements on Juan Sebastián Torales’ “Almamula,” and Lois Patiño’s “Samsara,” both featuring at the Berlinale. The film has already secured domestic distribution in Spain with Elástica Films.
“Itsaso gave us the chance to read one of the first versions of the script for ‘The Girls Are Alright.’ We immediately fell in love and realized that we were dealing with a singular talent, with a unique vision,” said Luis Renart, head of Bendita Film Sales. “It has been a pleasure to follow the evolution of this project and to finally discover this beautiful, festive and unique film, which we are thrilled to bring to audiences around the world,” he added.
Arana has built a strong reputation in film,...
The acquisition marks the latest pick up by the Tenerife based-outfit following recent announcements on Juan Sebastián Torales’ “Almamula,” and Lois Patiño’s “Samsara,” both featuring at the Berlinale. The film has already secured domestic distribution in Spain with Elástica Films.
“Itsaso gave us the chance to read one of the first versions of the script for ‘The Girls Are Alright.’ We immediately fell in love and realized that we were dealing with a singular talent, with a unique vision,” said Luis Renart, head of Bendita Film Sales. “It has been a pleasure to follow the evolution of this project and to finally discover this beautiful, festive and unique film, which we are thrilled to bring to audiences around the world,” he added.
Arana has built a strong reputation in film,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Spain boasts a bullish presence at the Berlinale. Following, short profiles of its features that have made the festival cut and a selection of top titles being moved at the European Film Market:
20,000 Species Of Bees
Director: Estíbaliz Urresola
Spain’s Berlin competition player is from Urresola, director of Cannes Critics’ Week short “Chords.” Film takes place in a Basque Country village and is a celebration of female sexual diversity. Catalonia’s Inicia Films (“La Maternal”) produces with Gariza Films (“Nora”).
Sales: Luxbox
21 PARAÍSO
Director: Nestor Ruiz Medina
A couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Set in an Andalusian idyll, a rich portrait of the challenges of love. Screened at Seville and Tallinn.
Sales: Begin Again Films.
Anqa
Director: Helin Celik
A Forum doc feature from Vienna-based Kurd Celik, the films tells the harrowing story of three Jordanian women, survivors of male near-fatal violence.
20,000 Species Of Bees
Director: Estíbaliz Urresola
Spain’s Berlin competition player is from Urresola, director of Cannes Critics’ Week short “Chords.” Film takes place in a Basque Country village and is a celebration of female sexual diversity. Catalonia’s Inicia Films (“La Maternal”) produces with Gariza Films (“Nora”).
Sales: Luxbox
21 PARAÍSO
Director: Nestor Ruiz Medina
A couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Set in an Andalusian idyll, a rich portrait of the challenges of love. Screened at Seville and Tallinn.
Sales: Begin Again Films.
Anqa
Director: Helin Celik
A Forum doc feature from Vienna-based Kurd Celik, the films tells the harrowing story of three Jordanian women, survivors of male near-fatal violence.
- 2/17/2023
- by John Hopewell, Douglas Wilson and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Over the past 20 years or so, a surfeit of arthouse titles and an older demographic turning away from theaters have worn away at the sales of non-English language films.
Currently, cinema across the world, and especially arthouse, is stuck between a rock — global streamers often paying less, striking fewer worldwide deals and buying fewer finished movies — and a hard place: a pandemic-drained theatrical business for all but a few tentpoles.
“A few years ago, even if a film wasn’t perfect and had limited festival play, it sold at least a little,” says Film Factory founder Vicente Canales. “Now, either a film works, and sells pretty much the world, or it doesn’t work at all.”
Yet Spain’s top sales agents remain broadly optimistic about the future.
For one thing, some films do still do business, led by new titles from star auteurs that have A-festival play, such as...
Currently, cinema across the world, and especially arthouse, is stuck between a rock — global streamers often paying less, striking fewer worldwide deals and buying fewer finished movies — and a hard place: a pandemic-drained theatrical business for all but a few tentpoles.
“A few years ago, even if a film wasn’t perfect and had limited festival play, it sold at least a little,” says Film Factory founder Vicente Canales. “Now, either a film works, and sells pretty much the world, or it doesn’t work at all.”
Yet Spain’s top sales agents remain broadly optimistic about the future.
For one thing, some films do still do business, led by new titles from star auteurs that have A-festival play, such as...
- 2/17/2023
- by John Hopewell and Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish sales company to handle Spanish director’s third feature.
Spanish sales company Bendita Films has acquired international rights to Lois Patiño’s third feature Samsara, which plays in the Berlinale’s Encounters section
Samsara is a Sanskrit word referring to the cycle of birth, life, death and re-incarnation. Patiño’s film travels from the temples of Laos to the beaches of Zanzibar, accompanying a soul in transit from one body to another.
Patiño’s Red Moon Tide premiered in the Berlinale Forum in 2020 while Coast of Death won the best emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013. His short film...
Spanish sales company Bendita Films has acquired international rights to Lois Patiño’s third feature Samsara, which plays in the Berlinale’s Encounters section
Samsara is a Sanskrit word referring to the cycle of birth, life, death and re-incarnation. Patiño’s film travels from the temples of Laos to the beaches of Zanzibar, accompanying a soul in transit from one body to another.
Patiño’s Red Moon Tide premiered in the Berlinale Forum in 2020 while Coast of Death won the best emerging director prize at Locarno in 2013. His short film...
- 2/7/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Tenerife-based Bendita Films has pounced on international rights to “Almamula,” a buzzy debut, mixing folklore, sexuality and fantasy. From helmer Juan Sebastián Torales, the film will have its world premiere as part of the Generation 14plus’ strand at this month’s Berlinale. The film is nominated for the Gwff Best First Feature Award 2023 and has seen wins already with the Ciné+ Award for distribution at Ventana Sur 2022 and the Eurimages Development Co-production Award at the San Sebastian Co-Production Forum in 2019.
“We have been following this project since 2019, when we had the opportunity to attend Juan Sebastián Torales impressive pitch at the san Sebastian Co-Production Forum,” says Luis Renart, CEO of Bendita Film Sales.
He added: “We were immediately captivated by the director’s singular vision and that delicate combination of coming-of-age sexuality and fantasy, rooted in the legends and folklore of the Argentine countryside. Now, we are excited to be...
“We have been following this project since 2019, when we had the opportunity to attend Juan Sebastián Torales impressive pitch at the san Sebastian Co-Production Forum,” says Luis Renart, CEO of Bendita Film Sales.
He added: “We were immediately captivated by the director’s singular vision and that delicate combination of coming-of-age sexuality and fantasy, rooted in the legends and folklore of the Argentine countryside. Now, we are excited to be...
- 2/7/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
L.A.-based Outsider Pictures has boarded Jonás Trueba’s “You Have to Come and See It” and “The Romantic Exiles.” Both films – produced by Madrid-based Los Ilusos Films – will be released in the U.S. in late Spring 2023.
“Outsider Pictures has already released [Trueba’s previous film] ‘The August Virgin’ in the U.S. in 2020,” points out producer Javier Lafuente, Praising the idea of a unique double-bill that should certainly satisfy arthouse lovers.
“You Have to Come and See It,” about two couples in their thirties pondering life and clocking in at just 64 minutes, premiered at Karlovy Vary in July to appreciative reviews, with Variety calling it “a rich and refreshing meditation on friendship, philosophy, art and ping-pong that suggests no film needs to run much longer than an hour.”
“As sociable and swiggable as a draught or 10 of sweetly fortified wine,” continued the review.
“In fact, it’s an aperitif that proves so satisfying,...
“Outsider Pictures has already released [Trueba’s previous film] ‘The August Virgin’ in the U.S. in 2020,” points out producer Javier Lafuente, Praising the idea of a unique double-bill that should certainly satisfy arthouse lovers.
“You Have to Come and See It,” about two couples in their thirties pondering life and clocking in at just 64 minutes, premiered at Karlovy Vary in July to appreciative reviews, with Variety calling it “a rich and refreshing meditation on friendship, philosophy, art and ping-pong that suggests no film needs to run much longer than an hour.”
“As sociable and swiggable as a draught or 10 of sweetly fortified wine,” continued the review.
“In fact, it’s an aperitif that proves so satisfying,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Tenerife-based Bendita Film Sales, headed by Luis Renart, has acquired Matías Bize’s “The Punishment,”, ahead of its international premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival this Saturday.
Produced by Ceneca Producciones and Leyenda Films, it is the second film to see the light in 2022 for the multi-prized director of “In the Bed,” “The Life of Fish,” and “The Memory of Water,” having won at Malaga with lockdown inspired “Private Messages.” Bendita’s buy signifies confidence in this latest title, which heads to Ventana Sur for its market premiere on Dec 1.
In the film, a couple’s seven year old son is missing, having been left momentarily by the side of the road as punishment. Set in a forest and played out in real time, the boy’s parents search for him. Helmer Matias Bize dissects the subtle shifts in the couple’s reactions to this crisis as questions...
Produced by Ceneca Producciones and Leyenda Films, it is the second film to see the light in 2022 for the multi-prized director of “In the Bed,” “The Life of Fish,” and “The Memory of Water,” having won at Malaga with lockdown inspired “Private Messages.” Bendita’s buy signifies confidence in this latest title, which heads to Ventana Sur for its market premiere on Dec 1.
In the film, a couple’s seven year old son is missing, having been left momentarily by the side of the road as punishment. Set in a forest and played out in real time, the boy’s parents search for him. Helmer Matias Bize dissects the subtle shifts in the couple’s reactions to this crisis as questions...
- 11/17/2022
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
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