22/09/2006

Contrary to the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, which will screen a considerable number of European films (see news), Spain's distributors seem to have saved many Northern American releases for this weekend, leaving little space for European titles.

Of the nine titles hitting screens today, six are American, one is Japanese, one is a local comedy and one is a German production.

UIP is behind the theatrical release of La máquina de bailar (lit. "The Dancing Machine"), directed by Óscar Aibar and produced by Amiguetes Entertainment, Ensueño Films and Chapuzas Audiovisuales. The film is expected to make a splash at the box office as local audiences tend to have a positive attitude towards domestic comedies, particularly those featuring Santiago Segura, whose latest film, Torrente 3, which he directed and in which he stars, became the most successful Spanish production of 2005. La máquina de bailar also stars Jordi Vilches, Bárbara Muñoz and Eduardo García.

On a less comic note, indie distributor Karma Films is releasing The Cave of the Yellow Dog [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Byambasuren Davaa. The Mongolian-born director went back to her home country, where she had already filmed the Oscar-nominated title The Story of the Weeping Camel, and this time followed a local nomad family.

A mix of fiction and documentary, the film tells the story of a young girl who adopts an abandoned dog. Her father believes the pet is responsible for attacking his sheep and refuses to take it along with them once they move on. The Cave of the Yellow Dog was produced by Schesch Filmproduktion, Hochschule für Fernsehen and München Film and international sales are handled by Munich-based Telepool.

The non-European releases of the week are Locarno winner Nine Lives (distribution: Versus Entertainment), Thank You For Smoking (Hispano Foxfilm), Hoodwinked (Manga Films), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (Hispano Foxfilm), The Lazarus Child (Aurum), The Groomsmen (DeAPlaneta) and Japanese film Love Letter (Notro Films).