Isabel Coixet, the Spanish director of My Life Without Me, Things I Never Told You, The Bookshop and It Snows in Benidorm, will be honored by the European Film Academy with this year’s European Achievement in World Cinema award for her life’s work.
Coixet has carved out an impressive career in what could be called pan-Atlantic cinema, making mainly English-language features with international casts but with a strongly European sensibility. She followed up her promising 1989 debut Demasiado viejo para morir joven (which won the best new director prize at Spain’s Goya awards) with the U.S.-shot drama Things I Never Told You, starring Andrew McCarthy and Lili Taylor. The film premiered in Berlin, a favorite launching pad for Coixet, who returned the German festival in 2003 with My Life Without Me, a romantic drama starring Sarah Polley as a young mother diagnosed with terminal cancer who decides...
Coixet has carved out an impressive career in what could be called pan-Atlantic cinema, making mainly English-language features with international casts but with a strongly European sensibility. She followed up her promising 1989 debut Demasiado viejo para morir joven (which won the best new director prize at Spain’s Goya awards) with the U.S.-shot drama Things I Never Told You, starring Andrew McCarthy and Lili Taylor. The film premiered in Berlin, a favorite launching pad for Coixet, who returned the German festival in 2003 with My Life Without Me, a romantic drama starring Sarah Polley as a young mother diagnosed with terminal cancer who decides...
- 11/15/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The negotiations of adult sexual relationships, as well as the demands forced upon single women in society, are recurring fascinations in the work of Spanish writer-director Isabel Coixet, albeit to erratic effect: In recent years, particularly in such English-language efforts as “It Snows in Benidorm” and “The Bookshop,” her voice has felt unconfident, even a little stifled. But Coixet strikes with a renewed sense of conviction in “Un Amor,” an adaptation of Sara Mesa’s Spanish-language bestseller that plays to her unusual strengths as a full-blooded feminist filmmaker. Making no cozy compromises in its portrayal of a young woman socially and sexually exploited by rural patriarchy — while still foregrounding the consuming strength and autonomy of her desire — it’s a tricky balancing act that mostly works, thanks also to a crackling lead performance by Laia Costa.
The combined draws of Costa and popular, much-translated source material should ensure “Un Amor...
The combined draws of Costa and popular, much-translated source material should ensure “Un Amor...
- 9/27/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Isabel Coixet recounts that she vowed to never to do another literary adaptation after her 2017 English-language feature The Bookshop based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s critically acclaimed 1978 novel of the same name.
Then the Spanish director read compatriot writer Sara Mesa’s dark 2021 novel Un Amor at the tail-end of the pandemic.
The unsettling work follows troubled translator Nat who quits life in the city for a dilapidated, leaky house in a remote village in Spain’s depopulated rural interior.
It is not exactly clear what prompted the move but she appears to be suffering from some sort of vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder connected to the harrowing refugee accounts she translates for her job.
A figure of curiosity as a lone woman, Nat lives as an outsider and then embarks on an unexpected and inexplicable passionate affair with a local social outcast.
“Sara Mesa is one of the most powerful voices in young Spanish literature.
Then the Spanish director read compatriot writer Sara Mesa’s dark 2021 novel Un Amor at the tail-end of the pandemic.
The unsettling work follows troubled translator Nat who quits life in the city for a dilapidated, leaky house in a remote village in Spain’s depopulated rural interior.
It is not exactly clear what prompted the move but she appears to be suffering from some sort of vicarious post-traumatic stress disorder connected to the harrowing refugee accounts she translates for her job.
A figure of curiosity as a lone woman, Nat lives as an outsider and then embarks on an unexpected and inexplicable passionate affair with a local social outcast.
“Sara Mesa is one of the most powerful voices in young Spanish literature.
- 9/26/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Ahead of the release of thriller It Snows in Benidorm, the actor is taking your questions on his life, career and bizarre way of making tea
It’s a measure of a great actor that the characters they play are so convincing, it’s easy to think that’s what they’re like in real life. Timothy Spall found fame as dim builder Barry in 80s comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. But before that, he’d been in the National Youth Theatre, trained at Rada, worked for the RSC and starred in his first Mike Leigh film, Home Sweet Home.
Obviously he can’t turn into a rat like he can in Harry Potter, but neither is he from from Birmingham, which will confuse fans of Red Dwarf (where he infamously invents the word “twonk”).
It’s a measure of a great actor that the characters they play are so convincing, it’s easy to think that’s what they’re like in real life. Timothy Spall found fame as dim builder Barry in 80s comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. But before that, he’d been in the National Youth Theatre, trained at Rada, worked for the RSC and starred in his first Mike Leigh film, Home Sweet Home.
Obviously he can’t turn into a rat like he can in Harry Potter, but neither is he from from Birmingham, which will confuse fans of Red Dwarf (where he infamously invents the word “twonk”).
- 8/25/2022
- by Rich Pelley
- The Guardian - Film News
HBO Max’s Sex and the City revival And Just Like That... continues taking shape with the addition of Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, and Karen Pittman joining the cast.
The trio will join returning franchise leads Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis as their respective characters, Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbs, and Charlotte York, as they begin a new journey navigating the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s. The 10-episode series began production in the Big Apple last week.
The incoming stars will portray three powerful New York women whose connection to Carrie and the gang is as yet unclear.
Choudhury stars as single, self-made powerhouse Manhattan real estate broker, Seema Patel. Parker, who most recently had a recurring role in NBC’s Chicago P.D., will bring to life Lisa Todd Wexley,...
The trio will join returning franchise leads Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis as their respective characters, Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbs, and Charlotte York, as they begin a new journey navigating the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s. The 10-episode series began production in the Big Apple last week.
The incoming stars will portray three powerful New York women whose connection to Carrie and the gang is as yet unclear.
Choudhury stars as single, self-made powerhouse Manhattan real estate broker, Seema Patel. Parker, who most recently had a recurring role in NBC’s Chicago P.D., will bring to life Lisa Todd Wexley,...
- 7/14/2021
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
The first slate of Paramount Plus Originals for Latin America will feature new series from “The Hateful Eight’s” Demián Bichir, “Luis Miguel” lead Diego Boneta, and Brazilian online phenom Porta Dos Fundos.
Paramount Plus and ViacomCBS International Studios on Thursday also confirmed that their new slate of premium original content is set to premiere in Latin America, including Brazil, from early as third quarter 2021.
Expanding the streaming service’s vast global content lineup, the slate is produced by ViacomCBS’s global studio Vis, rolling off partnerships with a growing bevy of world-renowned content creators and producers.
Bichir, whose acting credits take in “Land,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “The Hateful Eight,” and “A Better Life,” will star, executive produce and direct “Jg Ballard Adaptation” – a working title. It is written by novelist Juan Villoro and produced by Frida Torresblanco, an Academy Award winner for “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The limited...
Paramount Plus and ViacomCBS International Studios on Thursday also confirmed that their new slate of premium original content is set to premiere in Latin America, including Brazil, from early as third quarter 2021.
Expanding the streaming service’s vast global content lineup, the slate is produced by ViacomCBS’s global studio Vis, rolling off partnerships with a growing bevy of world-renowned content creators and producers.
Bichir, whose acting credits take in “Land,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “The Hateful Eight,” and “A Better Life,” will star, executive produce and direct “Jg Ballard Adaptation” – a working title. It is written by novelist Juan Villoro and produced by Frida Torresblanco, an Academy Award winner for “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The limited...
- 5/27/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Project development platform to take place virtually, ahead of physical FIDMarseille
French festival FIDMarseille has revealed the projects set to be presented at project development event FIDLab, including upcoming features from the UK’s Ben Rivers and last year’s grand prix winner Carolina Moscoso.
The 13th edition of the incubator event, known for its focus on experimental films spanning both documentary and fiction, will take place online – as it did for the first time last year – from June 14-18. The main FIDMarseille festival is planned to go ahead in-person from July 19-25.
FIDLab will include 16 projects, selected from 502 submissions,...
French festival FIDMarseille has revealed the projects set to be presented at project development event FIDLab, including upcoming features from the UK’s Ben Rivers and last year’s grand prix winner Carolina Moscoso.
The 13th edition of the incubator event, known for its focus on experimental films spanning both documentary and fiction, will take place online – as it did for the first time last year – from June 14-18. The main FIDMarseille festival is planned to go ahead in-person from July 19-25.
FIDLab will include 16 projects, selected from 502 submissions,...
- 5/10/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Carmen Machi stars in this political drama with hints of comedy, which is being filmed in Barcelona and Athens, co-produced by Fasten Films’ Adrià Monés. Ever since María (and Everybody Else) was presented in the New Directors section of the San Sebastián Film Festival in September 2016, there has been a big buzz around the follow-up by its director, Nely Reguera. At last, the beginning of the shoot for El nieto (lit. “The Grandson”) in Barcelona a few days ago confirms that her sophomore effort is under way. From mid-April, it will continue for six weeks in the Malakasa refugee camp (Athens), and its lead actress is popular thesp Carmen Machi, who appeared recently in It Snows in Benidorm and An Optical Illusion. Its cast is rounded off by Itsaso Arana (The August Virgin), Arnau Comas (Yesterday’s Two Nights), Dèlia Brufau, Yohan Levy and Henrietta Rauth. According to the screenplay,...
Madrid — Flushed by Netflix success with “Below Zero,” Spain brings an extraordinary gamut of movie titles to Berlin. Some highlights:
“All the Moons,” (Igor Legarreta)
A France-Spain co-production, “All the Moons” tracks two vampires in the northern Spain during the last Carlist war. S.A. Filmax
“Ane is Missing,” (David Pérez Sañudo)
A 2021 best picture Goya nominee, Patricia López Arnáiz dominates as a mother looking for her teenage daughter. S.A. Latido
“Alcarrás,” (Carla Simon)
Much anticipated after Simon’s “Summer 1993,” “Alcarrás” tracks the final harvest at a multi-generational family farm. Co-produced with Italy. S.A. MK2 Films
“Baby,” (Juanma Bajo Ulloa)
This dialogue-free thriller follows an upper-class drug addict trying to track down her baby after selling it to a child trafficker.S.A. Latido
“Beyond the Summit,” (Ibon Cormenzana)
Javier Rey (“Fariña”) & Patricia Lopez Arnaiz (“Ane”) star in this mountain climbing metaphor for self-realization.
S.A. Filmax
“Brothers-In-Law,...
“All the Moons,” (Igor Legarreta)
A France-Spain co-production, “All the Moons” tracks two vampires in the northern Spain during the last Carlist war. S.A. Filmax
“Ane is Missing,” (David Pérez Sañudo)
A 2021 best picture Goya nominee, Patricia López Arnáiz dominates as a mother looking for her teenage daughter. S.A. Latido
“Alcarrás,” (Carla Simon)
Much anticipated after Simon’s “Summer 1993,” “Alcarrás” tracks the final harvest at a multi-generational family farm. Co-produced with Italy. S.A. MK2 Films
“Baby,” (Juanma Bajo Ulloa)
This dialogue-free thriller follows an upper-class drug addict trying to track down her baby after selling it to a child trafficker.S.A. Latido
“Beyond the Summit,” (Ibon Cormenzana)
Javier Rey (“Fariña”) & Patricia Lopez Arnaiz (“Ane”) star in this mountain climbing metaphor for self-realization.
S.A. Filmax
“Brothers-In-Law,...
- 3/2/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Salvador Calvo’s “Adú” leads the way at Spain’s annual Goya Awards nominations with 14 nods, including for best film and best director.
“Las niñas” and “Akelarre” followed with nine nominations each, while “Rosa’s Wedding” has eight.
In the running for the best film Goya are “Adú,” a Netflix acquisition; “Ane” by David Perez Sanudo; “La boda de Rosa” by Iciar Bollain; “Las niñas” by Pilar Palomero; and “Sentimental” by Cesc Gay.
Competing for the best direction Goya will be Salvador Calvo for “Adú”; Juanma Bajo Ulloa for “Baby”; Iciar Bollain for “La boda de Rosa”; and Isabel Coixet for “Nieva en Benidorm.”
In the running for best European film are Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi”; Florian Zeller’s “The Father”; Viggo Mortensen’s “Falling”; and Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy.”
Mortensen was the big draw at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival where “Falling” played, and where he received the Donostia Award.
“Las niñas” and “Akelarre” followed with nine nominations each, while “Rosa’s Wedding” has eight.
In the running for the best film Goya are “Adú,” a Netflix acquisition; “Ane” by David Perez Sanudo; “La boda de Rosa” by Iciar Bollain; “Las niñas” by Pilar Palomero; and “Sentimental” by Cesc Gay.
Competing for the best direction Goya will be Salvador Calvo for “Adú”; Juanma Bajo Ulloa for “Baby”; Iciar Bollain for “La boda de Rosa”; and Isabel Coixet for “Nieva en Benidorm.”
In the running for best European film are Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi”; Florian Zeller’s “The Father”; Viggo Mortensen’s “Falling”; and Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy.”
Mortensen was the big draw at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival where “Falling” played, and where he received the Donostia Award.
- 1/18/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Barcelona-born filmmaker Isabel Coixet arrived at the San Sebastian Film Festival to receive the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s National Cinematography Prize at a prestigious event hosted at the Tabakalera’s Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporánea.
Coixet, 60, arrived straight from the post-production suite, where last week she finished work on her thirteenth feature film, “It Snows in Benidorm,” starring Timothy Spall. She revealed that she was shocked when told about the award. “I thought that in ten years they might give me the prize.”
A popular and prolific figure in Spanish film, Coixet helmed Goya-winning movies, “My Life Without Me” the Northern Ireland set “The Secret Life of Words,” and the “The Bookshop,” an adaptation of the Penelope Fitzgerald book.
Coixet’s most recent movie, for Netflix, the black-and-white “Elisa & Marcela,” tells the real story of two women in Galicia who tricked a priest into marrying them in 1901. It was released last year.
Coixet, 60, arrived straight from the post-production suite, where last week she finished work on her thirteenth feature film, “It Snows in Benidorm,” starring Timothy Spall. She revealed that she was shocked when told about the award. “I thought that in ten years they might give me the prize.”
A popular and prolific figure in Spanish film, Coixet helmed Goya-winning movies, “My Life Without Me” the Northern Ireland set “The Secret Life of Words,” and the “The Bookshop,” an adaptation of the Penelope Fitzgerald book.
Coixet’s most recent movie, for Netflix, the black-and-white “Elisa & Marcela,” tells the real story of two women in Galicia who tricked a priest into marrying them in 1901. It was released last year.
- 9/19/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
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