Netflix Spain Launches Genre-Led Film Slate During San Sebastian Showcase

Netflix launched two new film titles and shared details on several projects currently in development at a buzzy showcase this afternoon at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The streamer announced at the event that it will back two new genre projects, Cortafuego directed by David Victori (Cross The Line), and The Black Widow from filmmaker Carlos Sedes (The Summer We Lived).

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The Black Widow will be produced by Ramón Campos, Bambú Producciones. The official synopsis shared by the streamer reads: August 2017. The body of a man appears in a parking lot in Valencia, stabbed seven times. Everything points to a crime of passion. The city’s Homicide Group, led by a veteran inspector, begins an investigation against the clock that soon leads them to a suspect that no one expected: Maje, the young widow, sweet and serene, who had been married to the victim for less than a year.

Cortafuego, produced by Anxo Rodríguez and Ferran Tomás of Espotlight Media will star Joaquín Furriel, Belén Cuesta, Enric Auquer and Diana Gómez. The film is described as a psychological thriller that tells the story of Mara, her daughter Lide, her brother Luis, her sister-in-law Elena, and her son, who, after the death of Mara’s husband, visit the summer house in the forest to prepare it for sale. The synopsis reads: What begins as an attempt to bring closure to their grief turns into a nightmare when Lide disappears just as a forest fire breaks out in the area. In a desperate race against time, the situation becomes even more tense when Santi, the forest guard, becomes the main suspect in the disappearance.

Alongside the new titles, Netflix shared info on a series of other Spanish-language projects:

  • The unknown, based on the novel by Rosa Montero and Olivier Truc, will be directed by Eva Vives (The Handmaid’s Tale, All about Nina) and produced by Matías Mosteirin, Pola Zito and Leticia Cristi of K&S Films. The adaptation will follow the steps of inspector Anna Ripoll, who must unravel the mystery of a woman who appeared unconscious inside a container in the port of Barcelona.

  • My dear lady, the adaptation of the film directed by Jaime de Armiñán in 1972 and which was a finalist for the Oscar® for Best Foreign Film, will be directed by Fernando González Molina. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi produce, Suma Content, and the script is written by Alana S. Portero.

  • 53 Sundays, the new project from director Cesc Gay, produced by Marta Esteban and Laia Bosch, from Imposible Films, and starring Carmen Machi, Javier Cámara and Javier Gutiérrez, tells the story of three brothers who meet to discuss what to do with their father, 86 years old, who has begun to show strange behavior. Will they take him to a residence? Will you go to live with one of them? What begins as a civilized family gathering ends up escalating into an uncontrolled and hilarious fight. Completing the cast is an actress well known by the industry and the public: Alexandra Jiménez.

  • A ghost in the battle, a political thriller written and directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, produced by Belén Atienza, Sandra Hermida and J.A. Bayona and starring Susana Abaitua, Andrés Gertrúdix, Iraia Elias, Raúl Arévalo and Ariadna Gil.

  • El hoyo 2, directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, produced by Carlos Juárez, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia and Raquel Perea, and starring Milena Smit and Hovik Keuchkerian, which will close the Culinary section (out of competition) of this same edition of the Festival of San Sebastián on September 27. The feature film, whose first installment is the fifth most popular non-English language film in Netflix history, will be released on October 4 worldwide.

Discussing her slate of pics at the event, Verónica Fernández, director of series and films at Netflix in Spain, said: “The originality and ambition of Spanish films make our viewers enjoy it, both inside and outside our country. We will continue investing and betting on great stories, in all their diversity and richness, and supporting creators both in their productions for Netflix and by participating in other industry projects.”

The San Sebastian Film Festival runs until September 28.

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