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RELEASES Spain

Defeating Cruise: An impossible mission?

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J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III, released by UIP, is the inevitable title of the week, threatening to eclipse potentially good box office performances of the four European co-productions that also hit the screens this Friday.

Will a Spanish film, a musical documentary, a romantic comedy and a French animation feature be able to defeat Cruise's new adventures? The task seems tough, particularly if one takes into account the box office results from the previous weekend, in which the top five was completely dominated by US productions: Eight Below (€777,622, 142,435 admissions, distributed by Buena Vista), followed by Take the Lead, Inside Man, Ice Age 2 and Bee Season.

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One local title emerges from the European releases. Un franco, 14 pesetas marks the directorial debut of actor Carlos Iglesias, in a tale about two families that immigrate to Switzerland in the 1960s, facing the clashes between the Spanish mentality and Swiss culture. Based on the director's own childhood, Un franco, 14 pesetas was one of the most successful titles presented in the latest Malaga Spanish Film Festival, and received the Audience Award as well as the Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay prizes. Produced by Drive Cine, Adivina with the participation of TVE, the film is being distributed locally by Alta Classics, with Grupo Pi handling international sales.

Aquelarre is distributing the Brazilian/Swiss\/Finnish co-production Brasileirinho, a musical documentary and tribute about "chorinho", an old style of playing that forms the foundation of all Brazilian music, including samba and bossa nova. Screened at the 2005 Berlinale, Brasileirinho was directed by Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki, whose new musical documentary, Sonic Mirror, is currently in post-production.

The other two European releases are Ol Parker's Imagine Me & You (UK/US/Germany), distributed by TriPictures, and Kaena: The Prophecy by Pascal Pinon and Chris Delaporte, an animation feature co-produced by Chaman Productions, Canal+ and Canada's TVA International.

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