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Fear doesn’t need subtitles, but some of the best horror films do. J-horror, the New French Extremity, and other foreign-language scary-movie movements have provided much in the way of terrified shrieks and heightened pulses. Although dialogue may get lost in translation, blood-curdling screams never do. Horror is an especially visual genre, and one of the most universal.

The world is dark and full of terrors, especially where the movies on this list are concerned. Here are our favorite foreign language horror flicks made since the year 2000.

20. “We Are What We Are” (2010)

Horror filmmakers ruthlessly mine for metaphor, often at the expense of credibility. The tricky balance in the Mexican cannibal drama “We Are What We Are” (“Somos lo que hay”) pairs a conventional family unit with the ludicrously grotesque to chilling and absurd effect. Writer-director Jorge Michel Grau’s feature debut has the goriest signifier for underclass strife this...

With its emphasis on practical production skills, Mexico's national film school - the Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica or, simply the Ccc - has become a breeding ground for high level talent. Jorge Michel Grau's Cannes selected cannibal film We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay), for example, was produced under the auspices and with the support of the school and with multiple shorts and features produced by the institution every year you can always find new work from the best and brightest of the coming generation there. Enter Eddie Rubio and Lucha. A 19 minute short film following a Mexican pro-wrestler returning to the gym where his father trained him as a child, a first teaser for Lucha has arrived online promising something...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: The Mexican genre auteur, involved in two projects at Ventana Sur, is weighing up his next directing gig for 2017.

Grau, who earned international acclaim with cannibal drama Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are – also the name of the 2013 English-language remake) directed the recent Mexican release 7:19 (pictured), an earthquake disaster drama that Elle Driver represents for international sales at the Buenos Aires market.

Grau is also producing San Buenaventura, a horror story about a young woman haunted by visions of a murder who begins to suspect everybody at the family ranch, including her father.

Alejandro Mares directs the project, which is one of the selections in the market’s Blood Window genre co-production and pitching sessions, Beyond The Window.

Grau and his Mexico City-based Velarium Arts partner Mayra Espinosa Castro produce alongside Rancho Pictures. The partners have partial backing through Mexico’s Eficine apparatus and are seeking a co-producer.

Meanwhile Grau, represented...

Exclusive: The Mexican genre auteur, involved in two projects at Ventana Sur, is lining up his next directing gig for 2017.

Grau, who earned international acclaim with cannibal drama Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are – also the name of the 2013 English-language remake) directed the recent Mexican release 7:19 (pictured), an earthquake disaster drama that Elle Driver represents for international sales at the Buenos Aires market.

Grau is also producing San Buenaventura, a horror story about a young woman haunted by visions of a murder who begins to suspect everybody at the family ranch, including her father.

Alejandro Mares directs the project, which is one of the selections in the market’s Blood Window genre co-production and pitching sessions, Beyond The Window.

Grau and his Mexico City-based Velarium Arts partner Mayra Espinosa Castro produce alongside Rancho Pictures. The partners have partial backing through Mexico’s Eficine apparatus and are seeking a co-producer.

Meanwhile Grau is...

Hey creeps, as ya know I gave my two cents on the action adventure romp (with strong horror biz roots) Camino a few columns back (click here if the use of a search function is too much for ya). Anyway, I’m bringin’ this whole thing up because none other than that films die-rector Josh C. Waller just strolled into the Crypt o’ Xiii!

Famous Monsters. Welcome to my humble hovel Josh! How did Camino come about, and were there any ass-paining elements to the shoot?

Josh C Waller. The original idea came about while shooting The Boy in Colombia, but the project itself came together as a result of Daniel [Noah] and I having a last-minute gap in our production schedule and needing to fill that gap. The challenges that faced us aren’t necessarily ones unique to our film. They were the same types of obstacles that all independent filmmakers face.

English language film has long been a place for some of the greatest horror film directors of all time. All the way back to Alfred Hitchcock, we have seen the genre grow and develop sub-genres, thanks to the public’s ongoing thirst for fear and the possibility of danger around every turn. But, for every Saw or Hostel or terrible remake of classic English-language horror films, there are inventive, terrifying films made somewhere else that inspire and even outdo many of our best Western world horror films. This list will count down the fifty definitive horror films with a main language that isn’t English; some may have some English-language parts in them, but they are, for the most part, foreign. Enlighten yourself. Broaden your horizons. People can get murdered and tortured in every language.

50. Kuroneko (1968)

English Title: Black Cat

Directed by: Kaneto Shindo

Japanese for “Black Cat,” Kuroneko is...

Like many sophomore features, Jorge Michel Grau's Big Sky suffers a bit by comparison with what came before. That's especially so because Grau debuted with the immensely impressive Somos lo que hay (We Are What We Are), an atmospheric character drama about a Mexican family of cannibals dealing with the death of a beloved parent. In the five years since then, Grau has kept busy directing for television as well as making short films for anthologies such as The ABCs of Death and Mexico Barbaro. Now Grau applies his skills as a director to an English-language script written by Evan M. Wiener. After a brief, foreboding tease, Big Sky introduces insolent teen Hazel (Bella Thorne) and her mother Dee (Kyra Sedgwick). Hazel suffers from a...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Los Cabos International Film Festival took place this month of November. It was a brave move to keep it going after Cabo had been so hard hit by Hurricane Odile with winds of 125mph less than a month earlier. The vast destruction in our part of town was quickly being repaired though traces remained visible and repairs still to be done necessitated cutting the normal invitation list by half and doubling up hotel rooms for a few unlucky journalists. That being said, there were 15,000 attending the festival. Volunteers wore the worthy words on their t-shirts: #Unstoppable, and they were that.

For all the infrastructure problems of the city in the midst of rebuilding itself, the festival seemed to thrive with all sorts of invitees showing up from all over the world. It seemed like gala events, panels, master classes, coproduction meetings, works in progress, screenings and interviews were constantly taking place. It was a great team and we all felt part of it.

The festival is overseen by the executive board members Eduardo Sánchez Navarro, Alfonso Pascal Barcenas, Scott Cross and Sean Cross (who also founded Vail Film Festival) and is organized by the festival team of Alonso Aguilar (General Director), Alejandra Paulin (General Coordinator) - who was a great market director in Guadajalara before coming here, Maru Garzon (Head of Programming), Ana Molinar Trujillo (Communication Manager), and Monica Herrera (Film Programmer). My friend from Guadalajara, normally an English teacher, Fabian Cruz was also there working for the festival.

When Eduardo Sánchez Navarro Redo remembers how he first came to Los Cabos, there is no doubt in his mind that destiny and luck played an important part. When he married his wife 30 years ago, he decided to travel along the entire Pacific Coast, from Acapulco to Mazatlan, where he crossed over to La Paz eventually driving to Los Cabos. The beauty of the area impressed him and it was during this trip that he and his wife decided to buy a vacation home in Los Cabos, thus beginning a distinguished career as a principal player and developer of what is Los Cabos today. Over the course of more than 20 years, his company, Grupo Questro, has emerged as one of the most highly respected developers in all of Mexico. He, together with Juan Gallardo Thurlow, Scott Cross, and Sean Cross, founded the festival in 2012.

My job as a journalist was to explore and write, hard to do when you are having such fun 24/7. We journalists were all in one hotel where we were given space and time to bond. Travel writers mixed with trade writers: from Film Journal David Noh, whose article is worth sharing here, my colleagues Peter Rainer from NPR and Christian Science Monitor, Anne Thompson from Thompson on Hollywood on Indiewire, Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com and many others met and mixed. Also Ira Deutchman of Colombia University Film School and Emerging Pictures and Robin Brock of Creative Coalition were there with time to share dinners.

The filmmakers, in another hotel, mixed by day and at the communal lunches and parties. I will write more on them in an upcoming blog! After all, filmmakers are the backbone of our industry. Without them, we have nothing!

The agents, mostly from CAA, were placed in another hotel, luxurious and far away. As someone said, Cabos is like Cannes, only in November. If so, perhaps they were at the Eden Roc in Cap d’Antibes. (Actually they were at Hacienda Beach Club & Residences) CAA has always been an honored part of this festival. I have heard that that is because someone with lots of money from Mexico invests it in cinema through CAA and even started the festival. That is, however, pure conjecture. Under the guidance of CAA agent, Micah Green, people can be assured that the directions he sees and the decisions he makes about investing private individuals' capital into filmed entertainment is priceless. I could think of no one I would trust more --in this untrustworthy business we are in-- than Micah.

At least two other agents – Bec Smith and Rena Ronson from UTA -- were also there. Rena and Micah were on the Film Financing Panel moderated by Variety’s expert in all things Iberoamerican and my idol, John Hopewell. Other participants on the Film Finance Panel were Jonathan King, Evp of Production at Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media whose partnership with Canana formed Participant PanAmerican production fund. “No” by Pablo Lorrain was their first investment. Pp also financed "El Ardor" which played in Cannes and “Cesar Chavez”, directed by Diego Luna. Also on the panel were Mark Musselman of Canada’s 10X2yinc, the exec producer of “Eastern Promises” and most recently of “Remember” by Atom Egoyan which was also produced by Robert Lantos and son, also in Los Cabos. It went into production in 2014 and is tipped for Cannes. Other panelists included Raul Del Alto of Mexico’s Ag Studios (Itaca Films Mexico, Itaca Films USA, Itaca Films Colombia and Itaca Filkms Brazil, and Rena Ronson of UTA who, like Micah Green of CAA focuses on global film finance, distribution and marketing strategies for Independents and co-financed features and is fluent in Spanish because of her long time experience with Latin America.

At one point I looked up and found the European fund chiefs there as well, Laufey Gudjonsdottir from Iceland (where Interstellar was filmed), Katriel Schory from Israel Film Fund and Edith Sepp-Dallas from the Estonian Film Institute. They were there for Bpx. Best Practice Exchange is an initiative that brings together the leaders of film funding agencies from across the world to take part in high-level-workshops – one or two each year – designed to promote new standards of excellence in the provision of public funding for the support of film production, development and distribution. The aim of Bpx is to ensure that policies and procedures adopted by film funding agencies will act together, positively and proactively, to stimulate and sustain practices of international coproduction and cofinancing worldwide.

Triggered by the situation in which filmmaking outside the main production centers of Hollywood and Bollywood now finds itself, Bpx was created by Simon Perry, president of Ace (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen), in collaboration with Katriel Schory, executive director of the Israel Film Fund. It held its first workshop in February 2013 in Israel, and two further workshops in Toronto (September 2013) and Berlin (February 2014) and this was the third! Bravo!

Among the Mexican, Canadian and U.S. films that showed, the winners were as follow:

Mexico First

Mexico First winning film was ¨Llevate mis amores” ("All of Me") by Arturo Gonzalez. The film narrates the story of the generosity of the women of Las Patronas who feed the immigrants who ride La Bestia. The director was awarded a cash Prize of Usd $15,000. This film made me cry. I thought of it again when reading the L.A. Times article about the murder of Adrian Rodriguez and his assistant, Mexican good Samaritans who dedicated their scarce resources to feeding Central American migrants passing by on La Bestia, which is what the women in this movie do. And one of the women was at the festival too.

Los Cabos Competition

The Los Cabos Competition winner was “Güeros” by Alonso Ruizpalacios, also a winner at the Berlinale, Jerusalem Film Festival, Tribeca, Toronto and San Sebastian. Being sold internationally by Mundial, the joint venture of Canana (again!) and Im Global, the film has sold to Kino Lorber for U.S., Cannibal for Mexico, Dreams Hill for Italy, Noori for So. Korea and Maison Motion for Taiwan … "Güeros" is the undeniable triumph of a nouveau director who dares to pay homage the French New Wave on a wild detective hunt through Mexico City. In light of the 43 murdered students, this film, about students on strike, strikes a chord within the watcher. The film´s producer won a Usd $15,000 cash prize.

Work In Progress Mexico

The second Work in Progress Mexico prize was awarded to "Los Herederos," by Jorge Hernandez, a film that describes adolescent effervescence and idleness through a group of friends who spend their vacations adrenaline-seeking through parties, sex and alcohol. The winner received a Usd $10,000 cash prize.

Mexico-usa-canada Co-production Forum

The winner of the first Mexico- USA- Canada Co-production Forum was also announced: "Afronauts" by Frances Bodomo, based on the real life story of the Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Investigación Espacial e Investigación Astronómica of Zambia. Writer- Director Frances Bodomo received a Usd $8,000 cash prize. It also received funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Mexico First: Fox +

In its second year running the México Primero: Fox+ chose one of the films that participated to have its distribution rights pre-bought for the Latin American and Caribbean (Except Brazil) markets. The México Primero: Fox+ prize consists of Usd $40,000 and was awarded to Isaac Ezban´s "El Incidente" ("The Incident"), two M.C. Escher-maze-like parallel stories about characters trapped in illogical endless spaces: two brothers and a detective locked on an infinite staircase, and a family locked on an infinite road… for a very long time. The international sales agent, Shoreline, will be showing the film at Ventana Sur December 3rd at 17:00 at Cinemark 3.

Work In Progress Mexico Fox +

In its second year running as well, Work in Progress México Fox+ selected a participating film to have its distribution rights pre-bought for the Latin American and Caribbean (Except Brazil) markets. The Usd $30,000 prize was awarded to Katina Medina Mora’s "Sabras que hacer conmigo" aka "En Contraluz", produced by Gerardo Gatica and Alberto Muffelmann.

Work In Progress Mexico Chemistry

This Third edition of the Festival also witnessed the first Work In Progress México –Chemistry award. Chemistry post-production studios granted the winner, Jorge Hernandez’s "Los Herederos", $45,000 Usd in color correction services.

Mexico – USA – Canada Splendor Omnia Mantarraya Co-production Forum

On its first year running, the Coproduction Forum Mexico- USA- Canada Splendor Omnia – MANTArraya will be granting a $30,000 Usd equivalent prize worth 40 hours of color correction, 40 hours of sound mixing, as well as a paid stay in Tepoztlan Morelos, site of their studios, to the winner "Afronauts" by Francez Bodomo (U.S.).

The key phrase to understanding Cabo is "Seeing what the neighbors do" as the festival and market connects Canada, U,S, and Mexico in showing of films and exploring coproduction. And the mixing of filmmakers and journalists from all three Americas was exciting in the possibilities it offered to everyone.

As for the hard-core business done there:

Mark Kassen will be directing "Criminal Empire for Dummies" written by Cliff Dorman. Kassen will also be producing the film along with James Gibb of Cutting Edge Group and Greg Hajdarowicz of Gremi Films. The deal took place at the exclusive resort Hacienda Beach Club & Residences and was reported by Variety.

Actor and producer Luis Gerardo Mendez ("Nosotros Los Nobles") signed a representation agreement with Paradigm. Reported by Variety. So I guess Paradigm also sent agents to Los Cabos.

Pat Saperstein of Variety also attended Los Cabos and scooped a story, that “Wolverine Hotel” from director Patricia Chica who was participating in the Coproduction Forum, is closing in on production with a "recent financing commitment from Jean-Guy Després, who will serve as exec producer. The edgy crime thriller is produced by Canada-based Byron Martin. Looking to cast a Latino actor as co-star, Chica met with rising Mexican thesp Luis Gerardo Mendez ('We Are the Nobles') during Afm though he has not yet been attached. 'A Latino star opens up a market', said Martin."

Celebrated producer Monica Lozano announced the launch of Alebrije Distribución. She has had her hand in 23 productions since her first film, "Amores Perros". "Instructions Not Included" the Us$ 5.5 million film that grossed Us$ 100 million worldwide was also her production. With this Pan-American initiative, the company will acquire distribution rights for the Latin and North American markets. Reported by Variety again!! You would think John was the only real reporter there. Pinske should be proud of him! Most of us got no scoops, but then, I guess we have to prove ourselves worthy - which I am not because at heart, I am not a reporter hunting for news, but rather a gatherer of information and a writer.

Speaking of Monica Lozano, the Germany-based international sales agent, Media Luna, acquired world rights to Internet Junkie, directed by Alexander Katzowicz and produced by Monica Lozano. Variety reports on this again!

"Yamaha 300", a participating project of the 1st Mexico – USA- Canada Coproduction Forum, produced by Valerium Arts (Mayra Espinosa y Jorge Michel Grau, producer and writer-director of the horror hit "Somos lo que hay" respectively, and Grau, the writer of the remake "We Are What We Are") and Uncorked Productions (Andrew Corkin, the producer of the horror film "What We Were"), will be one of the first projects to receive the development stage and postproduction support offered by The Good Film Fund, an initiative of Media Darling (Amy Darling) and The Chatanooga Film Festival. See Variety.

New York producer Dodgeville Films ("To Be Takei") will be joining Varios Lobos in Mexico to produce "Ya no estoy aquí", Fernando Frias’s second film, which was also a winner during Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund second edition. This film in the Coproduction Forum was reported on in Variety.

"Siete Horas" ("Seven Hours"), one of the winning projects of the second Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund edition, which will be directed by Chema Rodriguez and produced by Francisco Vargas, the renowned director of the film "El violin", made an alliance with the Spanish production companies Sin un Duro and Noodles Prods to co-produce the project. (Variety)

CineTren closed deals to handle Latin American distribution for Spring, a Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead film, whose Latin American Premiere was held at Los Cabos International Film Festival. Negotiations between Nate Bolotin and Marie Katz fromLos Angeles-based Xyz and Manuel Garcia from CineTren, took place at the Hotel Grand Solmar. Next time, I'll have to visit all the hotels!! See Variety article.

BH5 Group, which participates in the executive production of "Remember" by Atom Egoyan, will be working with Alonso Ruizpalacios, director of Güeros, in his second movie: Museo, a project that participated in the Ist Mexico- USA- Canada Co-production Forum. Even though Variety wrote about this, my blog on the three year old conglomerate of companies, BH5, was more complete:

BH5 Group Makes a Splash with Three Impressive Films at Los Cabos Int'l Film Fest

BH5, a conglomerate of five formerly independent production companies all run by various friends from the same film school, will be working the international markets much more. Besides the Toronto hit, Jodorowsky's "Dance of Reality", they are working with larger companies like Pathe now. Their work in progress, "You Will Know What To Do With Me" ("Sabras que hacer conmigo" aka "En Contraluz") which just won the The Usd $30,000 prize of Fox+, is seeking an international sales agent.

"Entrevero" by Max Zunino, also winner of the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund second edition, was selected in the development project category by Ibermedia. See Variety.

And though Colombian Ciro Guerra, whose "The Wind Journeys" was produced by our German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner at Razor Film Production and by Burning Blue's prolific Diana Bustamente -- who is now also heading the Carthagena Film Festival -- showed in 2009 Cannes Un Certain Regard and was sold by Paris’ Elle Driver to 19 countries including Film Movement for U.S., announced to Variety's John Hopewell that his next film, "Embrace of the Serpent" will star U.S. actor Brionne Davis (“Savaged”) and Belgium’s Jan Bijvoet, the lead in Cannes Competition entry “Borgman” a really creepy dark comedy, he did not discuss his next project "Taganga" in the Coproduction Forum. "Taganga" is about a fisherman from a small village by the Colombian coast where many foreign-owned scuba diving centers have been established. A new law requiring local fisherman to change the motors of their boats forces him to earn quick money, so he chooses to dynamite to fish. The owner of the largest scuba diving center opposes this use of explosives. When the fisherman receives a death threat if he continues the dynamiting of fish, he assumes the center's owner is behind the threat. In order to prove it, he begins a series of fateful actions.

Finally, while it seems like Variety wrote all the news, I have one item which no one has reported on. Reese Witherspoon stated at her press conference in Los Cabos, where her film "Wild" premiered in a red carpet gala, that she is talking to Eugenio Derbez ("Instructions Not Included") to make a movie with him. I heard her say it and later spoke of this to Ben Odell (my next blog on Los Cabos features him). Ben (now partners with Eugenio at 3Pas Studios) said, Actually that would be a great idea but they had not spoken about it. However, they are both represented by CAA, so it would seem like a natural and really exciting pairing. After all, aren't "Legally Blond" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" the same film? She is certainly on a role as a producer with "Wild" and David Fincher's "Gone Girl" as he is with his U.S. career. The studios are all courting her now, she said. More to come on this...

English language film has long been a place for some of the greatest horror film directors of all time. All the way back to Alfred Hitchcock, we have seen the genre grow and develop sub-genres, thanks to the public’s ongoing thirst for fear and the possibility of danger around every turn. But, for every Saw or Hostel or terrible remake of classic English-language horror films, there are inventive, terrifying films made somewhere else that inspire and even outdo many of our best Western world horror films. This list will count down the fifty definitive horror films with a main language that isn’t English; some may have some English-language parts in them, but they are, for the most part, foreign. Enlighten yourself. Broaden your horizons. People can get murdered and tortured in every language.

50. Kuroneko (1968)

English Title: Black Cat

Directed by: Kaneto Shindo

Japanese for “Black Cat,” Kuroneko is...

El Mercado Fantastico is back. The international co-production market for genre films is putting out a wide alert to find projects made by Latino filmmakers currently in development, pre-production or post. Finalists will go to Austin during this year’s Fantastic Fest (September 18-25) and be hooked up with potential production partners, sales agents, and distributors. The market is co-produced with Canana and El Rey so you know the platform will attract heavyweight investors and partners.

Seize this unique opportunity to fast track your film, and who knows, your film could be distinguished in a future Fantastic Fest program with as many uncouth visual reference icons that fit your crazy film’s themes i.e. Fishhook Violence, Puppet Sex, Pedophilia, Decapitation, Lactation…. You have until May 31′st to submit

Along with accepting classic genre staples like horror, action and fantasy, projects can run the genre gamut and include animation, westerns, dark comedies, sci-fi, basically anything other than your run of the mill drama. In its second year, the market will select 12-14 projects and new this year, will select four films in post to screen as works in progress.

Since 2005, Fantastic Fest has nailed its epic niche of being the ultimate festival for a ravenous movie geek audience who embraces the rigorously curated fantastic program. And the international film marketplace has taken note, snapping up rights to several film titles that have screened in the Fantastic Fest program. El Mercado Fantastico feels like a natural step for them to incubate their specialty and sustain their grip on all films fantastic.

Director of Programming Rodney Perkins, along with Festival Director Kristin Bell are and heavily scouting for submissions. They received around 100 submissions last year and Rodney told me that overall, the quality was very high. Out of the 16 participating projects, a majority were by directors and producers who have had previous films in the festival. Rodney says they are looking to mix it up with bringing new talent to the surface, but also choosing projects by filmmakers with proven track records in making good movies and the quality of their new projects.

Rodney commented, “Some of the most interesting genre directors in the world are based out of countries like Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Brazil and Uruguay. Fantastic Fest has featured numerous films from these and other countries. A lot of these talented people don’t get recognized globally, particularly in the U.S. We want to do what we can to help them make films and expose their work to a broader international audience.”

Like Rodney says, since its inception, Fantastic Fest has supported and premiered films from Spanish filmmakers like Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes, Open Windows), Eugenio Mira (Agnosia, Grand Piano), Chileans like Ernesto Diaz Espinosa (Kiltro, Mandrill), Nicolas Lopez (Santos, Aftershock) and Mexicans Adrian Garcia Bogliano (Here Comes The Devil), and Jorge Michel Grau (Somos Lo Que Hay), among other filmmakers from all over South America and the Caribbean.

A number of projects that were in pre-production when they participated in the inaugural market last September are already coming to fruition. Notably Isaac Ezban’s feature debut El Incidente, produced by Andrea Quiroz (Here Comes the Devil), is completed and will screen at Ventana Sur’s Blood Window showcase at Cannes Marche du Film. Edgar Nito’s project Tatewari is steadily advancing and recently announced a new associate producer. The team from Uruguayan project Small Town found the producing partners for their film, Dios Local from the market last year. Dios Local is almost complete and is represented for international sales by the French company Elle Driver.

So what are you waiting for? I know there has got to be more than 100 Latino made genre projects out there. They aren’t just looking for international Latinos but U.S. native Latinos to represent. At least one of the filmmakers/producers should be some kind of Latino. Get your application together to submit asap. I was on the documentary jury last year which awarded Best Documentary to Jodorowsky’s Dune and Best Director to Shaul Shwarz for (Now on Netflix and iTunes) so I know firsthand this festival is a vital film festival. Plus, there’s really nowhere else you’ll find such sanctioned festival shenanigans like Helicopter Hog Hunting, Filmmaker Shotgun outings, the Schlitz chuggin Award Ceremony rite, Nerd rap, Karaoke and Debates that are settled with a good ol boxing fight.

Hovering around the twenty-one to twenty-four feature film mark with at least a quarter of those films belonging to first time filmmakers, the Quinzaine des Realisateurs (a.k.a Directors’ Fortnight) has in the past couple of years, counted on a healthy supply of French, Spanish and Belgium produced film items, and has been geared towards the offbeat genre items as with last year’s edition curated by Edouard Waintrop and co. To be unveiled on the 22nd, as we attempted with our Critics’ Week predix, Blake Williams, Nicholas Bell and I (Eric Lavallee) are thinking out loud and hedging our bets on what the section might look like or what the programmers might be looking at for 2014. Here is our predictions overview:

Alleluia

Six years after presenting Vinyan at the Venice Film Festival, Fabrice Du Welz finally returns with potentially not one, but a pair of works for the ’14 campaign.

Echo of the Mountain also scoops a top prize at the film festival in Mexico.Scroll down for full list of winners

Matias Lucchesi’s debut feature Natural Sciences (Ciencias naturales) scooped a top prize, the Golden Mayahuel and €14,700 ($20,000) in cash, in the Ibero-American competition of the 29th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), March 21-30.

The Argentinian production follows an adolescent girl’s quest to reconnect with her estranged father and was launched last month at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Generation Kplus Grand Prix.

Sold by Urban Distribution, it beat competition from 18 other titles to take the top prize and also received the best screenplay award and the Feisal (Latin American Film Schools) trophy.

Lead stars Paula Herzog and Paola Barrientos shared the best actress prize.

Echo of the Mountain (Eco de la Montana), a documentary directed by veteran Nicolas Echevarria, won the prize for best Mexican film, which included...

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes details on a Wes Craven art exhibition, the first sighting of Megafoot, a 100 zombie films graphical print, first photos from Australian Horror film, Barrow, an interview with actor, writer, and filmmaker Sean Stone, and much more:

The Horror Legacy of Wes Craven Exhibit Details: “Wes Craven has been feeding our collective horror consciousness since 1972, when his first feature, “The Last House on the Left,” debuted. That film was gritty, raw and terrifying, it still causes a guttural reaction some 40 years later. In his career, Wes has created some of the most memorable moments in horror cinema, from the torture scene in “The Serpent and the Rainbow,” to the Johnny Depp’s explosive scene in “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” to the first glimpse of Michael Berryman’s savagery in “The Hills Have Eyes.

Mark Kermode: eating people runs in the family in this laudable Us remake

Americanised remakes of "foreign language" horror movies (from The Vanishing to The Ring to Let Me In et al) have tended too often to gut the cultural meat of the originals, leaving nothing more than a saleably glossy reanimated husk. While this English-language "companion piece" to a modern Mexican classic may not rival the fetid air or alarming impact of its source, it makes a firm fist of respectfully reinventing the key themes of Jorge Michel Grau's ravenous gem. The result is an ambitious (if somewhat uneven) slice of downbeat American gothic which interweaves grim melancholia with pointed satire, doomy portent and moments of gnawing revulsion.

Relocating the grim action of 2010's Somos lo que hay from the teeming, hot suburbs of Mexico City to remote sodden backwoods of the Catskills, this third feature from...

This Us version of Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau's satirical nightmare junks pretty much everything but the basic idea

When Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau released his movie Somos Lo Que Hay, or We Are What We Are, in 2010 – a macabre satirical nightmare about cannibalism – I predicted it would get an English-language remake, and the title would be It Tastes Like Chicken. Sadly the second thing didn't come to pass. Maybe the first thing didn't either. This new Us version from screenwriter Nick Damici and director Jim Mickle junks pretty well everything but the title and the basic idea. Grau's angry, complex movie about hunger, poverty and family dysfunction has been dumbed down into an ordinary genre horror with franchise possibilities – though it is well enough made on that basis. Grau's subversive proposal that cannibalism is a symptom of something horrible and psychologically plausible has been travestied, (the cause...

As our own Andrew Mack reported, México Bárbaro is an upcoming Mexican horror anthology featuring cinematic adaptations of traditional legends from this country. It was conceived by Lex Ortega (sound designer for Frankenstein's Army) and will be offering segments by such directors as Somos Lo Que Hay's Jorge Michel Grau, Alucardos, Retrato de un Vampiro's Ulises Guzmán, and The Incident's Isaac Ezban. The anthology instantly became one of the most anticipated and promising Mexican films of the year. I had the fortune and honor to interview for Twitch six of the eight directors involved: Ortega, Guzmán, Ezban, Rue Morgue's Aaron Soto, M is for Matador's Gigi Saúl Guerrero and Babtized's Laurette Flores. In the gallery below you can read each interview and learn more about...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

One of my favorite Mexican films of 2013 was Adrián Ortiz's documentary Elevator (Elevador), a really interesting look at the current decadent state of a Mexico City multi-family complex that once was a promised land. Now at Ambulante 2014, Elevator's cinematographer, Hatuey Viveros, is world premiering his first documentary (and second feature film overall as a director) with Coffee (Café). At first sight, Coffee seems to be more of the same, in terms of having another documentary that explores rural Mexico; it follows a family's life in a marginal zone of Cuetzalan (a Mexican town). Actually, Ambulante's synopsis puts it as the real-life, cannibal-free, Somos Lo Que Hay... well, sort of: a family loses its leader (the father) and "his absence transforms the lives that...

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We Are What We Are We Are What We Are begins with a gloriously overproduced storm, filled with clear raindrops and fallen leaves running into a small and muddy river, setting the tone for the drama to come. The rain stampedes through a forest and into a clearing, revealing a small, whitewashed farmhouse. The house belongs to the Parkers, and we are about to learn some of the family secrets. We Are What We Are is a horror film, but a beautifully rendered one, light on the gore and heavy on religious fervor and mood. It.s a reboot of the 2010 Mexican film Somos lo que hay, and while it maintains the general premise of the original story, director Jim Mickle has brought his tale into the United States and centered it around a domineering father figure (Bill Sage). During the torrential rainstorm at the beginning of the movie, tragedy...

Blood Window, the first Latin American Fantastic Film Market, has been attracting plenty of interest at the fifth edition of Ventana Sur (Dec 3-6) in Buenos Aires.

Dedicated to the genre in all of its diversity, the new section presents 56 films produced between 2011 and 2013, including works-in-progress and projects.

“The idea is to offer a space for Latin American ‘fantastic’ films where distributors, sales agents, directors and festival programmers from the five continents can have access to all the productions in different stages,” said Blood Window coordinator Javier Fernandez.

The so-called ‘fantastic’ cinema is particularly vibrant in Latin America. “In countries like Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, this genre grew strong thanks to the creation of film schools and specialised festivals such as Morbido in Mexico, Fantaspoa in Brazil and Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre in Argentina,” added Fernandez.

Renowned directors to come up through the movement, according to Fernandez, include Adrian Gracia Bogliano from Argentina who directed Ahi Va...

Thanks to the growth of the audience for horror, sci-fi, the bizarre and thrillers, Blood Window, the first Latin American Fantastic Film Market, has been added to this fifth edition of Ventana Sur that runs from December 3-6 in Buenos Aires.

Dedicated to the genre in all of its diversity, the new section presents 56 films produced between 2011 and 2013, including works-in-progress and projects.

“The idea is to offer a space for Latin American ‘fantastic’ films where distributors, sales agents, directors and festival programmers from the five continents can have access to all the productions in different stages,” said Blood Window coordinator Javier Fernandez.

The so-called ‘fantastic’ cinema is particularly vibrant in Latin America. “In countries like Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, this genre grew strong thanks to the creation of film schools and specialised festivals such as Morbido in Mexico, Fantaspoa in Brazil and Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre in Argentina,” added Fernandez.

Renowned directors...

“When I saw his movie,” said director Jim Mickle at Cannes earlier this year, in his opening thank you to Jorge Michel Grau, the director of “Somos Lo Que Hay,” “I was jealous of everything: the idea, the plot, the style, and jealous that it was playing at Cannes in Director’s Week.” And so Mickle went about securing the rights to remake the hit Mexican film, co-opting the idea, the plot and elements of the style for his English-language “We Are What We Are," co-written with frequent collaborator Nick Damici, which also landed in the Cannes Directors' Fortnight earlier this year. It’s a nice narrative to have surround your picture, and the admiration between the directors is mutual, with Grau giving Mickle’s take fulsome, glowing praise, even calling it “an improvement of my story.” We admired the original, so could that dirtiest of concepts, the U.S.

It contains a thicker premise with perhaps a more “fleshed” out backstory than the original on which it is based on (Jorge Michel Grau’s 2010 Somos lo que hay) and its prequel and sequel potential will be exploited fairly soon: helmer Aj Annila has been signed to go back in time with the saga/family tree.

Jim Mickle’s third film after 2006′s Mulberry Street and Stake Land, eOneFilms has provided us (here’s the official site too) with some exclusive set of pics for the Sundance preemed, internationally launched in Cannes We Are What We Are. The psychological horror flick features the Parker family comprised of possible indie queen it-girl Julia Garner, the always awesome Michael Parks (see him in Red State) and supporting players in Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Wyatt Russell and Mickle-muse Kelly McGillis lands in theaters September 27th.

The first trailer for writer/director Jim Mickle's "We Are What We Are," a remake of a 2010 Spanish film "Somos Lo Que Hay" about a small town religious family maintaining their long tradition of ritual cannibalism, has landed. Well-reviewed at Sundance and Cannes, the film stars Kelly McGillis, Ambyr Childers and Odeya Rush as members of the flesh-eating sect. After the matriarch dies, the family struggles to preserve normalcy when a mysterious religious zealot (played by Bill Sage) becomes head of the household. If this trailer is any indication, perhaps such a thing as a smart horror film that doesn't rely solely on jump scares exists after all. We'll find out when Entertainment One opens the elegantly shot film in limited release on September 27. Read our Toh! interview with Mickle here; Indiewire's enthusiastic review from Sundance here.

Following its premiere at Sundance earlier this year as well as a spot at the Cannes Director's Fortnight, a full preview for Jim Mickle's "We Are What We Are" has hit the web ahead of its release next month. The trailer emanates a deeply unsettling atmosphere, as it opens with talk of a storm and a woman coughing up blood and collapsing, expiring shortly after. We go on to learn that she was the matriarch of the Parker family, and with her gone it is now up to the oldest daughter to carry on "their tradition," their father insists. With storms around the town causing what appear to be human bones to wash up in the creek igniting the town doctor and police department to investigate, the grotesque secret tradition of the Parker family becomes increasingly as risk of being found out. A remake of the Jorge Michel Grau...

With a new “Paranormal Activity” entry not arriving until next year, this fall looks to be devoid of any scares that audiences flock to as the nights grow longer. That’s where the Sundance and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry, “We Are What We Are,” comes in. IGN has dropped the moody first trailer for the English-language remake and it looks to live up to its promise. Based on the 2010 Jorge Michel Grau-helmed Mexican film “Somos Lo Que Hay,” this new remake follows the old-fashioned and deeply religious Parker family after their mother dies and as the eldest daughters assume the responsibility of putting food on the table. However, the Parkers don’t have a normal diet and what they crave can’t be found in a grocery store. As a storm threatens to destroy their small town and a doctor investigates a human bone found in a creek, their...

Organisers have announced the 16 projects selected for the inaugural edition of its international co-production market: Fantastic Market | Mercado Fantastico.

The market runs from Sept 19-21 in Austin, Texas. The festival proper runs from Sept 19-26.

The projects are: Belzebuth (Mexico) by Emilio Portes; Club Panico (Mexico) by Adrian Garcia Bogliano; Compulsion (Us) by Batan Silva; Cross Of Souls (Brazil) by Dennison Ramalho; El Duende (Colombia) by Jorge Navas; El Plata (Argentina) by Tamae Garateguy; El Arbol Del Olvido (The Tree Of Oblivion) (Canada) by Rodrigo Gudiño; and Greedy Beasts (Spain) by Juan Martínez Moreno.

The list includes The Incident (Mexico) by Isaac Ezban (first feature); Small Town (Uruguay) by Gustavo Hernández Ibáñez; The Summer Hit (Uruguay-Chile-Brazil) by Pablo Stoll; and Tatewari (Mexico) by Edgar Nito; Us Visitor (Argentina) by Nicolas Goldbart; The Wrong Place (Cuba-us) by Alejandro Brugués; Violent Rider (Chile) by Ernesto Diaz Espinosa; and Yamaha 300 (Mexico) by Jorge Michel Grau (Somos Lo Que Hay).

Horror remakes are nothing new, but "We Are What We Are" is something different. Jim Mickle, whose "Stake Land" brought an evocative feel to a post-apocalyptic vampire story that garnered comparisons to Terrence Malick, was hardly selling out by taking the opportunity to remake "Somos lo que hay," the acclaimed horror drama from Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau. In Grau's 2010 film, a family of Mexican cannibals deal with mounting suspicions of their antics. Mickle's version, which premiered at Sundance's midnight section before traveling to Cannes, transplants the action to upstate New York, but that's not the only change. In his version, a pair of daughters cope with their psychotic father and other mounting problems that endanger their secret lifestyle. Mickle's creepy approach has paid off: "We Are What We Are" was picked up for distribution by EOne which plans to release the movie this fall. Meanwhile, the producers have planned...

We Are What We Are (Jim Mickle, USA)

Quinzaine Des RÉALISATEURS

Critics' praise went to Jim Mickle's film after its premiere at Sundance for the cleverness and the—yes—delicate hand of his remake of Mexican Jorge Michel Grau's urban middle-class cannibal horror Somos lo que hay. Quinzaine has therefore an excellent point here "following up" its 2010 programming.

Praise is totally deserved considering the remarkable job done in transposing the horrific Mexican family story in the context of a crisis- and climate- stricken Catskills community, and in reversing the story's parental figure. So here is Mickle's dark family, the Parkers: after the death of the mother, the grieving father remains alone with his two daughters and younger son. The fatum hanging over the girls is to take on the family tradition and perform the ritual that allows the whole family to feed.

Even more maybe than the cannibal...

“When I saw his movie,” said director Jim Mickle in his opening thank you to Jorge Michel Grau, the director of “Somos Lo Que Hay,” “I was jealous of everything: the idea, the plot, the style, and jealous that it was playing at Cannes in Director’s Week.” And so Mickle went about securing the rights to remake the hit Mexican film, co-opting the idea, the plot and elements of the style for his English-language “We Are What We Are,” which played yesterday in Cannes, as part of, oh yes, Director’s Week. It’s a nice narrative to have surround your picture, and the admiration between the directors is mutual, as we reported recently, with Grau giving Mickle’s take fulsome, glowing praise, even calling it “an improvement of my story.” We admired the original, so could that dirtiest of concepts, the Us remake, possibly live up to all the excited chatter?...

"I wish we were like everyone else." Ah, what young girl hasn't said that to her older sister at one time or another? But the family at the bloody heart of Jim Mickle's We Are What We Are really is different, and they'll never be like everyone else. Because they're cannibals. Maybe. Mickle's "reimagining" of Jorge Michel Grau's Somos Lo Que Hay bowed at Sundance this year, and our own Sean Smithson observed: Let's get this out of the way right off the bat: We Are What We Are is not a remake. Differing greatly from the original Jorge Michel Grau Spanish language version, the creative team of Jim Mickle (writer/director) and Nick Damici (writer/co-star) have taken the original concept of ritual cannibalism and inverted...

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Heavy on the French film items and with a side dish of Chilean influence, this year’s Directors’ Fortnight also known as the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs is offering “double” Alejandro Jodorowosky, and the highly anticipated titles we predicted from the likes of Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) and Serge Bozon (Tip Top). Repping Chile, we have Sebastián Silva’s Magic Magic (review) which is joined by another Sundance preemed title in Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are (fittingly this is the remake of Somos lo que hay (which was featured in the section in 2010). Upping the sci-fi quotient by joining the already announced The Congress, we find Ruairi Robinson highly anticipated feature debut with Last Days On Mars. Anurag Kashyap makes it two for two years, after unloading the almost six hour Gangs of Wasseypur, he returns with Ugly, while Tehilim (Main Comp in 2007) helmer Raphaël Nadjari returns...

Now that Sundance and Berlin are over, what do we have to look forward to? Cannes of course. However, in terms of continuing business, I want to put a spotlight on what to look forward to next Sundance (and Berlin) as an example of long lasting effects of filmmakers/ actors/ buyers and sellers. I will begin this depiction of a long journey beginning with my friend, Rodrigo Bellot -- writer, director, producer and casting agent . Rodrigo made his first film, Sexual Dependency, in 2003 with producers Ara Katz and Sam Engelbart who brought us on to find festival and international representation. Rigo was pleased with the work and we have become fast friends since then. When I first spoke with Rigo about We Are What We Are, he referred me to Memento, his international sales agent.

During Cannes 2012, I went to Memento to write more about this film which is the first remake in a long time of a film from Mexico, Somos lo que hay by Mexican director Jorge Michel Grau. At Memento, Tanja Meissner ♀ and Emilie Georges ♀ referred me to their American colleague and producer of the film, Nicholas Shumaker who gave me more of the film's history. During Afm 2011, Rodrigo and his professional partner Andrew D. Corkin who previously produced Martha Marcy May Marlene had come to Memento with the idea of remaking the English language version of this Mexican (Spanish language) film about a family of cannibals. They were, predictably, looking for financial partners. Memento said they would support the remake. They had wanted to work with the director Jim Mickle since seeing the Tiff 2010 Midnight Madness Audience Award winner, Stake Land which has become a cult vampire picture. Mickle has transposed the story to a poor part of the Catskills region in New York State. Memento sees the horror genre as an ambitious genre when it is created with good ideas, not exploitative but an elevated sort of horror, along the lines of Let the Right One In. Memento wants to do horror films only with directors and authors they like. It has taken seven years to establish their brand, and the principals Emilie Georges and Tanja Meissner are not looking for horror per se. They long for smart horror because there is a consistent market for intelligent horror stories. Their horror films will stand out for their buyers because of the director-driven aspect, not for the horror itself. Memento is putting together two other films with bigger budgets for Jim which will go over the next six to nine months. These next two, Night Hunter and Cold in July were announced during by Screen International around the time of Cannes 2012 and are both being produced with Linda Moran's ♀ and Rene Bastian's New York company Belladonna. To hear Jim Mickle speak about the use of Adobe technology in the making We Are What We Are, visit Adobe TV at Sundance. More on Mickle is in Screen. We Are What We Are will costar Ambyr Childers ♀ who was the milk skinned blonde in Gangster Squad and played Elizabeth Dodd in The Master, and Julia Garner ♀, who recently picked up rave reviews for her performance as a naïve Morman girl in Rebecca Thomas’ Electrik Children, a Berlinale 2012 hit. She will next be seen in Stephan Chobsky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and is in StudioCanal’s The Last Exorcism 2. Film industry veteran Jack Turner is also producing. Mfi chief Emilie Georges and international sales head Tanja Meissner are executive producing alongside Mo Noorali and Linda Moran ♀ of Belladonna Productions, who previously produced Mickle’s other films, and Brett Fitzgerald. Mfi’s Nicholas Kaiser has a co-producer credit. We Are What We Are was shot in the Catskills, starting May 29, 2012 for a January 2013 delivery in time for its projected Sundance premier. With that intent, Mfi began carefully preselling the film, first at Berlin’s Efm 2011 where it was prebought by Entertainment One for U.K, Scandinavia, South Africa and France. Koch Media prebought Germany. New York and Los Angeles-based Three Point Capital and Hsbc provided additional funding. At Afm 2013, the film sold to Transformer for Japan and Zamie for So. Korea. Middle East is also been sold along with Turkey (Callinos Films). Memento's marketing and finance plan allowed for the U.S. to be sold during Sundance 2013 and as we all know now, (From Deadline Hollywood): "In a low seven-figure deal for U.S. rights, eOne acquired the Jim Mickle-directed We Are What We Are, which premiered last Friday at the Library Center Theatre in the Park City At Midnight section. The plot: a devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer to unraveling the dark secrets of the Parker family, who are cannibals. That premise is Not treated as slasher fare, it’s far more stylish and the buyer crowd and audience at the premiere screening ate it up and feel they’ve found a director with a voice worth hearing. The film stars Ambyr Childers, Bill Sage, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell and Kelly McGillis. It has gotten strong reviews beyond the genre crowd, and it gives eOne a good theatrical offering. Deal was finished on the flight back to Los Angeles. I’ve heard both the Wme Global and eOne teams were on the same flight back from Park City. They haggled but by the time the plane landed, eOne hit the asks made by the agents, who denied this colorful story. Somehow, it fits with the frenzied pace of deals due to the influx of new buyers. eOne will put it out in a platform theatrical release." Since Cannes 2012, eOne acquired Alliance and is poised to make a very splashy release of this film. EOne had not pursued the film for U.S. until Sundance and the deal was verifiably finalized and upped on the plane as described above. Memento has consistent relations with its directors. It is now transitioning though natural growth into handling larger films. It will still handle about 8 films a year and it will maintain the same strategy, though films of second and third time directors will be larger. Memento still wants newcomers and so it has 2 divisions with Artscope aiming more for the festival circuit for new directors like Natalia Smirnoff ♀ of The Puzzle which premiered in '09 at San Sebastian and was picked up for U.S. by IFC, Circles (see my past blog), In the Name Of by Malgorzata Szumowska ♀ which won the 2013 Teddy Award for daring to “challenge the stereotypes of homosexuality versus religion with a personal story, told in a deeply humane way”. It was picked up in Berlin where it premiered in Competition by Film Movement, and Lore by Cate Shortland ♀.

It has yet to premiere at a major film festival, but Markus Blunder’s Autumn Blood starring up-and-comer actress Sophie Lowe (Two Mothers) and vet Peter Stormare (Fargo) will have drawn some early support from Mark Urman’s Paladin as Variety reports that the indie label picked up the alp set thriller over the weekend at the Efm. A theatrical release will occur later in the year.

Gist: High in the mountains, a widowed mother dies, leaving her two children alone and orphaned (Sophie Lowe & Maximilian Harnisch). Fearing being split up they keep their mother’s death a secret. They survive together until the mayor’s son and his friends brutally destroy their innocence when they assault and rape the girl. A social worker from a distant city arrives to investigate, but ultimately it is the siblings who must come of age to protect each other and survive.

Worth Noting:...

Yes, the Sundance Film Festival is a temple to the glory of independent film and the purity of the art of cinema and blah blah blah. But it is also a vital marketplace for indie distributors to find the next blockbuster Little Miss Sunshine, or acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild, or wildly overpriced Happy, Texas. With the festival drawing to a close, Sundance 2013 has already proven to be one of the biggest deal-making festivals in recent memory, producing several major sales of movies that will either go on to become some of the buzziest films of the year, or,...

Yes, the Sundance Film Festival is a temple to the glory of independent film and the purity of the art of cinema and blah blah blah. But it is also a vital marketplace for indie distributors to find the next blockbuster Little Miss Sunshine, or acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild, or wildly overpriced Happy, Texas. More than halfway through, Sundance 2013 has already proven to be one of the biggest deal-making festivals in recent memory, producing several major sales of movies that will either go on to become some of the buzziest films of the year, or, you know, not.

#5. Concussion

Who: Having begun her ascension via her work as a commercials director/producer, 2012/2013 has turned out to be fairly kick ass in terms of receiving support. From the guidance of producer Rose Troche (helmer of Go Fish), being chosen by Independent Feature Project’s narrative lab to grabbing grants in the shape of the Adrienne Shelly Director’s Grant and Gothams Award’s Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers Live the Dream Grant.

What: Sight unseen, with a high libido, this might be compared to Steve McQueen’s Shame as it also centers on a Manhattanite whose midlife crisis includes a character with a double life of sorts.

Where: You can find more info on the facebook page and the official website should start getting into gear shortly.

When: The Rose Troche produced drama was shot in New York City in March of last year.

Why: Premise alone for...

American remakes of foreign movies have been a consistent part of both indie and mainstream filmmaking for a while now. But not many of those imports feature flesh-eating cannibals. Pennsylvania native and Nyu grad Jim Mickle is ready for his third feature "We Are What We Are" to hit Sundance, an adaptation of Jorge Michel Grau's "Somos lo que hay." After his last film "Stake Land" premiered at Tiff's MIdnight Madness back in 2010, Mickle tells us about his continued attempts to rework the genre and his on-the-job training in filmmaking. What It's About: "Two teenage sisters in upstate New York are forced to deal with the dark, age-old rituals of their seemingly normal family. A re-imagining of Jorge Michel Grau's film Somos Lo Que Hay." Now What It's Really About: "It's about tradition and the power of faith and how easily that can all be harnessed for some bad,...

Glad you asked. Now that the entire programming slate has been announced for the 2013 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, let’s take a look at the representation of Latinos in the broadest, most diverse sense, because that is what that ill-defined lump category encompasses. {Full disclosure: I work as a Programming Associate for the Festival. These are not reviews but an insider breaking-it-down preview}

At first glance the Latino representation may not seem obvious. Nor may it seem as strong as the films and filmmakers from the African-American and Lgbt community representing, or the record breaking number of female directors’ – each group highly visible by their nature. We may not have a Mosquita y Mari or Filly Brown, two fiction films, which broke out of the festival this past year, but we do have two hugely relevant and urgent documentaries, Narco Cultura which explores the phenomenal music and social culture being shaped and perpetuated by the influence of Mexico’s violent drug cartels, and Who Is Dayani Cristal? an innovative doc-fiction hybrid produced by Gael Garcia Bernal that will hopefully re-divert much needed attention back to the Us/Mexico border. By the way, Who is Dayani Cristal? screens in the high profile Day One slot.

What’s Latino anyway?

I personally embrace the responsibility of changing the conversation as to what constitutes representing American Latinos. First, by focusing on both the above-the- line-talent (filmmaker or actor) And storyline/subject. The second part is highlighting the second, third, fourth and so-on generations of filmmakers. What about the filmmakers in the festival like Kyle Patrick Alvarez (C.O.G), Liz W. Garcia (The Lifeguard) and Eduardo Sanchez (S-vhs horror anthology and co-director of the infamous Blair Witch Project)? I don’t know these filmmakers personally so I can’t speak to how they might view their cultural identities and how it informs their work, if at all. But I do believe it is worth pointing out and feeling good about these last names being out there as part of the mainstream fabric. It is similar to how Robert Rodriguez does not identify himself as a Mexican-American yet his last name has been key to driving the younger Latino generation in feeling a proud connection as an American and not just “dash” American.

Chile is still hot

There are three films from Chilean filmmakers. In unprecedented fashion – because that’s how Sundance likes to roll- there is a repeat of last year with two in competition, El Futuro by Alicia Scherson (mostly taking place in Italy) and Magic Fairy by Sebastian Silva, an alumnus who broke out in 2009 with La Nana. In the section Spotlight aka “Movies we love and don’t care if they’ve traveled the festival circuit”, is Pablo Larrain’s No starring Gael Garcia Bernal. Chilean cinema is hot and king of engrossing character-driven fare. What we are seeing is a boom on two fronts; an invigorating new generation of provocateurs (Marialy Rivas’s Young & Wild comes to mind) and a slightly older generation of equally exciting filmmakers who continue to sustain their careers with their distinct voice (like Pablo Larrain along with Andres Wood).

So now lets dive in and look at the list. Loglines copied from official press release – Bold Italics are my comments.

Us Dramatic Competition

Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.

Puerto-Rican Diaz delivers a fiercely moving performance embodying the girlfriend of Oscar Grant who was with him that fateful day. Diaz is no stranger to the festival. She’s previously been at the festival with four films including seminal indie American Latino story, Raising Victor Vargas 2002 and comedies like Hamlet 2 20008. Why homegirl hasn’t gotten more props for her mad acting skills I don’t know, but this girl is wildly talented and Fruitvale showcases her dramatic chops.

Us Documentary Competition

Narco Cultura / U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.

Absolutely arresting photography that works in giving weight to the violent images the public has become numb from seeing. I predict some of my hard core brown and proud friends might focus and hence diminish this film based on the fact that this bi-cultural, Mexican-American subject is made by non-Latino filmmakers. It could be argued as a valid point. When it comes to documentaries a legit question to make when evaluating is “What makes This person the right one to tackle This subject? What is their connection?” Let’s watch it to find out, then give consideration to what other docs are currently out there on this same timely topic made by Latinos, and without bias regard their depth and artistic merit.

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film

This marks Sebastian’s third appearance at the festival following La Nana and Gatos Viejos. Remember what I said about character driven? Silva excels at getting at spilling out the insides of his protagonists.

The Future / Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere

Scherson’s last film, Turistas screened at various film festivals including the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009. Shot in another country and in a different language, The Future continues the filmmaker’s incisive capturing of the strong female led journey.

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere. Day One Film

An extraordinary cinematic and symbolic approach to the border crossing genre, this meta reflexive journey retraced by none other than Gael Garcia Bernal imagines the grueling experience of a migrant and who he might have been. Bernal has been lending his star power to the social justice causes that move him and you can tell its genuine.

New Frontier

Halley / Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores

As unsettling it is watch, its as deep to ponder, this incredibly-shot first feature had its world premiere at the Morelia Film Festival and its inclusion in the most daring section of the festival speaks to the highly diverse and radical new cinema coming from Mexico.

Spotlight

No / Chile, U.S.A. (Director: Pablo Larraín, Screenwriter: Pedro Peirano) — When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet calls for a referendum to decide his permanence in power, the opposition persuades a young advertising executive to head its campaign. With limited resources and under scrutiny, he conceives a plan to win the election. Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Antonia Zegers, Luis Gnecco, Marcial Tagle, Néstor Cantillana.

There have been many films about the Pinochet regime and its wide-reaching after effects. But none have had as unique an entry point as No. Trust.

Midnight

We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.

Okay, I only include this because this is based on the Mexican cult hit, Somos Lo que Hay by Jorge Michel Grau. Jim Mickle of Stakeland has promised to “Not Fuck it Up per Twitch interview

To cap off the features; Stalwart Spanish actor Alfred Molina is in Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes by Francesca Gregorini in Us Dramatic Competition, and we have a strong acting splash by Marcus DeAnda, a co-lead in Pit Stop directed by Yen Tan and co-written by David Lowery. The film about two gay working class lovers in small town Texas is in the Next section.

And lets not forget about shorts!

Short Film Competition

Broken Night / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga) — A young woman and her four-year-old daughter drive across desolated hills. Everything looks fine and they seem to enjoy the ride, until an accident sends them into the nightmare of darkness.

Ever since writing and directing team Arriga and Innaritu broke up (Amores Perros, Babel) Arriaga has been trying to make his stamp directing his own material.

The Companion / Peru (Director and screenwriter: Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio) — On the outskirts of Lima, a young prostitute tends to his father, a fallen-from-grace artisan. However, the young man feels that his efforts are never enough. He tries to break free, but his father’s dependence is stronger than his son’s will.

Intriguing and highly atmospheric gem from Peru!

Chicago? Check. Mexicans check! No, but really this intimate glimpse is poetic and moving.

A Story for the Modlins / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriter: Sergio Oksman) —The tale of Elmer Modlin, who, after appearing in Rosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years.

Must see. Fascinating and inventive ‘Found family photos’ yarn.

#PostModem / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, #PostModem is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets.

My favorite locos from Miami. After making the rounds with Life & Freaky Times of Uncle Luke, which played last year, these rump-shakers have been busy with their work in and out of their funky audiovisual collective Borscht Corp.

If you are heading to Park City I highly recommend you register to purchase Advance tickets here. See you on the mountain!

Twitch's love for Jorge Michel Grau's Somos Lo Que Hay is well documented and so you would think that any adaptation of the Mexican cannibal film to Us soil would be met with a bit of trepidation. And you'd be right. Or, you would have been right but for the fact that the task of handling said adaptation fell to Stake Land director Jim Mickle and his writing partner Nick Damici. And if there's an American indie horror film from the last few years that we love more than Stake Land then we're very hard pressed to say what it is.Mickle has clearly made some changes to the story rather than just aping the original and fans curious to see what he's been up to...

Having steadily built his career in the genre with Mulberry Street (’06), Stake Land (’10), Jim Mickle is still treading the indie horror course and his third outing either falls into unnecessary remake category or in the “I didn’t think the remake of Let the Right One In would turn out the way it did.” We think it might be the latter and that the summer production will indeed be primed for a January film fest splash. Re-teaming with Kelly McGillis (Stake Land lead), perhaps the festival’s next “it” actress in Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Michael Parks who received tons of cred for Red State, and Ambyr Childers fresh off The Master, We Are What We Are will begin a long film festival life that will probably be a hit among buyers. Exclusive pic above: Jim Mickle on left, Nick Damici (co-writer and co-star) and Michael Parks on the right.

2010’s Mexican cannibal horror film, We Are What We Are, has been in the running for an American English-language remake after Memento picked up the rights to develop the project earlier this year.

Eager to get underway, after the first film found substantial success and critical acclaim internationally (not often a cannibal horror film does that), the rising star Riley Keough (the upcoming Jack & Diane and Magic Mike) has been set as one of the leading sisters, as well as Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene) opposite.

Here’s the synopsis for writer-director Jorge Michel Grau’s original film, Somos lo que hay:

Three teenagers are wary about holding up a rather disturbing family tradition in writer and director Jorge Michel Grau’s unusual blend of horror, suspense and family drama, We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay). Alfredo (Francisco Barreiro), Julian (Alan Chavez) and Sabina (Paulina Gaitan...

At the end of last year we reported that the Fantasia Film Festival is gearing up to become the next hot spot to acquire unproduced projects being sold as part of its film market - the Frontières International Co-Production Market. And now we have additional details.

From the Press Release

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is embarking on its 16th edition with a major new industry-driven venture: the Frontières International Co-Production Market. Frontières is the first international co-production market to connect North American with Europe and Australasia in an environment focused specifically on genre film production.

The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers.

Blood Borne (Australia) Director / Writer:...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, (also known as Sound On Sight’s favourite film festival world wide), as well as widely acclaimed as one of the largest and most influential genre film festivals in the world, is embarking on its 16th edition with a major new industry-driven venture: the Frontières International Co-Production Market. Frontières is the first international co-production market to connect North-American with Europe and Australasia, in an environment focused specifically on genre film production.

The projects to be presented in the market have now been chosen and feature an exciting array of filmmakers, from gifted newcomers to world-renowned maestros, as well as numerous established international producers. Fantasia just announced the selection of the first fourteen projects and there is plenty of reason to be excited.

Here is the press release:

Four of the 14 projects hail from Canada and Quebec: Adored maverick trail-blazer Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo 1 & 2, This Movie Is Broken,...

Just yesterday Twitch ran an interview with Cold Sweat and Penumbra director Adrian Garcia Bogliano in which the Argentinian director revealed that his next picture would be a Spanish language horror picture backed by American outfit Mpi / Dark Sky Pictures titled Here Comes The Devil. And today Fangoria brings further word on the project, due to shoot around Tijuana in the coming months.The biggest news comes on the casting front with word that Mexican star Francisco Barreiro will be in the lead. Barreiro delivered a standout performance in Jorge Michel Grau's We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay) and is widely regarded as one of the brightest young up and comers in Mexican cinema. His presence here is a very good...

Miss Bala

Directed by Gerardo Naranjo

2011, Mexico

You may not know it, but Mexican cinema is alive and has something to tell us. Overshadowed by the big wigs of the American studio system, foreign markets are endlessly trying to compete with the big budgeted, CGI saturated, sequel profiteering that has blindsided artistic talents to go forth and pursue the American cinematic dream: think board and spend big for the sake of mass hysteria. Swedish cinema has become a frontrunner in recent years with commercial and critical success with such examples as Let the Right One In and The Millennium Trilogy, now garnering American attention and adaptations. Although these films like many other foreign favorites are masterful and grand within their own respects, the fact is there’s simply no stopping the Hollywood studios from looking elsewhere to bank on ideas that aren’t their own. As Hollywood rummages outside its...

Mexico's Jorge Michel Grau won a lot of love in these pages with his debut film We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay) and we have been keeping an eye on the talented director as he enters into a remarkably busy stretch.Grau is currently one of the ABCs Of Death directors, is developing in the script for his next feature, and is in post on another feature done as a for hire job but before we get to see any of these we get his short film 72.Produced by TNT's Latin American arm as part of an eight director series titled Fronteras, Grau's effort is based on the real story of seventy two innocent civilians kidnapped and slaughtered seemingly for sport by...

You'll be hearing a lot from Mexico's Jorge Michel Grau in 2012. The director of We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay) is part of the ABCs Of Death anthology project and has just wrapped a for-hire feature directing project while also preparing his next self-penned project but before any of those roll out he will - surprisingly - be turning up on American television.Grau is part of the Turner commissioned Fronteras project, a collection of eight short films put together by The Secret Behind Their Eyes producer Federico Posternak set on different frontiers of Mexico and Latin America. Due to air just before Christmas - the last date I've heard is December 22nd, though that may not be one hundred percent...

Miss Bala

Directed by Gerardo Naranjo

2011, Mexico

You may not know it, but Mexican cinema is alive and has something to tell us. Overshadowed by the big wigs of the American studio system, foreign markets are endlessly trying to compete with the big budgeted, CGI saturated, sequel profiteering that has blindsided artistic talents to go forth and pursue the American cinematic dream: think board and spend big for the sake of mass hysteria. Swedish cinema has become a frontrunner in recent years with commercial and critical success with such examples as Let the Right One In and The Millennium Trilogy, now garnering American attention and adaptations. Although these films like many other foreign favorites are masterful and grand within their own respects, the fact is there’s simply no stopping the Hollywood studios from looking elsewhere to bank on ideas that aren’t their own. As Hollywood rummages outside its...

Oscar's foreign film submission announcements will be flying at us for the next month and you can keep track of the whole list at my foreign oscar predictions pages. A short time ago I told you that South Korea had narrowed down their Oscar submissions. That news was shortlived as the competition is over and they've gone with the battlefield drama The Front Line. [Thanks to faithful Tfe reader Jin for the info.]

Here's the warry trailer.

Excuse me but I barely see any actressing! I mean other than Kim Ok-bin. Shouldn't there be a rule against films light on actressing in South Korean cinema? They have so many good ones and their one representative film for AMPAS is practically bereft of them? sigh.

To make up for their sudden xy departure, here's a recent photoshoot starring Kim Ok-bin, who you'll recall was a Film Bitch nominee right here in 2009 for Thirst.

I feel much better already...

Three other selections were announced last week.

Drafthouse Films, Magnet Pictures and Timpson Films have announced the full roster of directors signed on to participate in their international co-production The ABCs Of Death, an anthology horror film featuring segments directed by over two dozen leading talents in contemporary genre film from around the world.

The feature is comprised of 26 individual episodes, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet inspiring a single word about death. Currently in pre-production, the film's producers reserved the 26th director slot for a worldwide contest to find tomorrow's next great horror filmmaker.

The contest ends October 1st. More submission information here.

In May 2011, the film's producers announced that enlisted directors were to include Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Ti West (House Of The Devil and the upcoming The Innkeepers), Ben Wheatley(SXSW 2011 favorite Kill List), Srdjan Spasojevic of A Serbian Film infamy, and 18 others. Joining the roster...