'Calle Malaga'

Source: Films Boutique

‘Calle Malaga’

The Venice Film Festival’s new Spotlight section includes films by Maryam Touzani, Stephan Komandarev and Daniel Hendler. The festival runs August 27-September 6.

Calle Malaga (Mor-Fr-Sp-Ger-Belg)

Dir. Maryam Touzani
This Spanish-language drama marks Touzani’s follow-up to 2022’s The Blue Caftan and 2019’s Adam, which both premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and were Morocco’s Oscar entries. It stars famed Spanish actress Carmen Maura as a 79-year-old enjoying the quietness of her daily life in Tangier, who must fight to keep her apartment when her daughter tries to sell her home against her will as she rediscovers love and sensuality along the way. Touzani co-wrote the script with her filmmaker husband Nabil Ayouch, who produces alongside Amine Benjelloun and Jean-Rémi Ducourtioux.
Contact: Films Boutique 

Hijra (Saudi-Iraq-Egy-UK)

Dir. Shahad Ameen
Saudi filmmaker Ameen directs her second feature, about a grandmother’s search for her missing granddaughter during her journey to Mecca. Her first feature, Scales, premiered in Venice Critics’ Week in 2019 where it won the Verona prize for most innovative work. Hijra is produced by Iraq-born filmmaker Mohamed Al Daradji, working alongside Egypt’s Film Clinic, Saudi production companies Ideation Studios and Biet Ameen Production, and Iraqi Independent Film Center.
Contact: Ali Aldaradji, Iraqi Independent Film Center   

It Would Be Night In Caracas (Mex-Ven)

Dirs. Mariana Rondon, Marité Ugas
Natalia Reyes, whose credits include 2018 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight opening film Birds Of Passage, stars alongside Edgar Ramirez in the Venezuela-set drama about a woman who risks everything to survive a violent militia in a crumbling Caracas. Mexico’s Redrum produces the feature, which will get its North American premiere in Special Presentations at TIFF. Co-director Rondon’s Zafari premiered in San Sebastian in 2024, while Ugas’s last film Contactado debuted at Tribeca in 2020.
Contact: Redrum

A Loose End (Uru-Arg-Sp)

Dir. Daniel Hendler
Uruguayan Berlin Silver Bear-­winning actor Hendler (2004’s Lost Embrace) continues to build his directing career with his third feature. A Loose End (aka Un Cabo Suelto) follows Santiago, an Argentinian police officer who flees into Uruguay and begins a new life with a chance of love. Sergio Prina stars. The project went through the 2024 San Sebastian WIP LatAm showcase, and the festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2023. Production companies are Cordon Films of Uruguay and Wanka Cine of Argentina.
Contact: Meikincine Entertainment

Made In EU (Bul-Ger-Czech)

Dir. Stephan Komandarev
Bulgarian filmmaker Komandarev’s latest feature tells the story of a small town where inhabitants turn against a seamstress after contracting the first case of Covid. Komandarev’s previous features include Directions (2017), which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, and his 2008 festival hit The World Is Big And Salvation Lurks Around The Corner, which was shortlisted for the best foreign-language film Oscar. Producers include Komandarev’s Argo Film with Katya Trichkova, Czech Republic’s Negativ and Germany’s 42Film.
Contact: TBC  

Motor City (US)

Dir. Potsy Ponciroli
Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley and Ben Foster star in Ponciroli’s second feature to appear at Venice after 2021 out-of-­competition entry Old Henry. Set in 1970s Detroit, the action thriller revolves around a man who is framed and sent to prison after falling in love with a local gangster’s girl, and then seeks revenge on the man who has ruined his life. Chad St John’s screenplay appeared on the 2009 Black List; was in early development with Allen Hughes to direct; was then set up with Timur Bekmambetov directing; and finally landed with Ponciroli.
Contact: WME Independent (US); Black Bear (international)

Silent Rebellion (Switz-Fr-Belg)

Dir. Marie-Elsa Sgualdo
This drama set in neutral Switzerland during the Second World War follows a 15-year-old girl who gets pregnant after being raped and goes on to defy her repressive rural Protestant community to carve a path of self-determination. Lila Gueneau, who starred in Cannes 2024 Directors’ Fortnight breakout film Eat The Night, plays the protagonist alongside a European ensemble cast including Grégoire Colin, Thomas Doret and Aurélia Petit. The three-nation co-production (aka À Bras-Le-Corps) is the debut feature for Sgualdo, whose shorts have played Cannes, Locarno and Tallinn Black Nights.
Contact: Marie Lamboeuf, Salaud Morisset  

Tired Of Killing (It-Ger)

Dir. Daniele Vicari
A prolific Italian director who has long alternated between documentary and fiction, Vicari is no stranger to Venice. Tired Of Killing (aka Ammazzare Stanca) is based on a memoir written in prison by a member of the ‘Ndrangheta’, the Calabrian mafia, who became a police informant in the 1980s. German co-producer Beta Film, which is also handling sales, must be hoping Vicari can repeat the success of his highest profile film to date, 2012 drama Diaz — Don’t Clean Up This Blood, about the police crackdown on protesters at the 2001 Genoa G8 summit.
Contact: Beta Cinema  

Venice profiles by Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Charles Gant, Nadiya Jackson, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Lee Marshall, Tara Nimmoneser, Orlando Parfitt, Jonathan Romney, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong

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