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The year is 1974. In Barcelona, Spain, brothers Fernando and Alberto find themselves caught between the conflicting political realities of Francisco Franco’s fascist regime and the growing opposition movement. By day, Alberto takes part in underground revolutionary activities. But at night, he assists Fernando in the kitchen, where he works under a head chef.

As authorities intensify their searches for activists like Alberto, Fernando sees an opportunity to escape the turmoil. He leaves Barcelona with Alberto and their friend Francois for the coastal town of Cadaqués. There, Fernando lands a job at El Surreal, an eccentric restaurant run by the flamboyant Jules.

Jules has set himself an ambitious goal—to attract the renowned surrealist Salvador Dalí to dine at his establishment. He believes Fernando’s skills in nouvelle cuisine can help make this dream a reality. Meanwhile, Fernando finds inspiration in the local cuisine and culture. But will the political...

"This is the passport to Dalí coming here." Music Box Films has revealed an official US trailer for a Spanish comedy called Waiting for Dalí, arriving to watch in US theaters this July. It first premiered and opened in Spain last summer. Yet another Dali-related comedy film to watch, with plenty others recently including Daaaaaali! and Dalíland (with Sir Ben Kingsley). This one involves mixing Dali with food, following a chef who starts working in a kitchen at a place called El Surreal, a whimsical restaurant run by Jules, a man with a consuming obsession for local resident Salvador Dalí. Fernando, a talented chef, arrives to the village of Cadaqués (Google Maps) during the 70s, residence of the internationally renowned Dalí. The paths of the chef and the artist will cross and cause the birth of a new culinary genius. Waiting for Dalí "is a fanciful tale of love, art,...

Mexico’s Monterrey Film Festival (ficmonterrey) is chasing new ambitions in a bid to raise its international profile. Buttressed by generous state, local and private backing as well as some federal funding, the festival, running Sept. 28 – Oct. 4, aims to become Mexico’s most prominent international film festival and a key creative hub in Mexico.

This year’s 19th edition boasts a new director, Janeth Aguirre, also its first female director, and new hires: Diana Cadavid, a programmer for Toronto (TIFF), LA Latino Int’l Film Fest (Laliff) and Colombia’s Cali, who has taken charge of the festival’s burgeoning industry section, and LA-based PR agent Alvar Carretero of Joshua Jason Public Relations.

In recognition of its country guest of honor, South Korea, the fest will open with “Little Forest” by Yim Soonrye, one of the few prominent women film auteurs in South Korean New Wave cinema. Five of her...

Madrid, Spain — Industry prizes will be announced on Friday, Festival awards one day later. Yet even by Thursday evening, as this year’s Malaga Festival’s Mafiz-Spanish Screenings headed into its home straits, Spain film and TV industry was sending strong signs of their consolidation as an international market power.

That cut multiple ways. Following, 10 provisional takes on this year’s event:

The Biggest Malaga Ever, By a Head

Final attendance has blasted past last year’s 1,600, in itself a massive hike on years prior, tracking by Thursday at 1,700 attendees from 61 countries at Mafiz, Malaga’s industry arm. The Spanish Screenings alone account for getting on half of those accreditations. “The market’s been very good,” said Vicente Canales at Film Factory. “There’s been enough buyers, spending more time watching Spanish films. At Berlin and Cannes, they just don’t have the time. And Screenings attendance has been high.

David Pujol, whose enchanting drama “Waiting for Dalí” premiered at the Malaga Film Festival on Sunday, has a new feature film project and an international TV series in the works.

Pujol has just completed the script for “Rehearsal for a Kiss,” the story of a passionate yet hapless movie theater owner in Barcelona whose love of classic movies has left his cinema in a precarious position. On the verge of losing the family business, he seeks help from his uncle in America, who has made a career for himself as a character actor in Hollywood. A flashy, larger-than-life personality, the uncle returns to his native city after 40 years to help his nephew save the theater while also reconnecting with his own past.

“The Flash Game,” meanwhile, is conceived as an eight-part series set in the 1960s world of paparazzi between Rome and London. It focuses on the rebellious son of a British publishing tycoon who,...

Bérénice Bejo, Oscar nominated for “The Artist,” and two-time Goya winner Antonio de la Torre are to star in “The Movie Teller,” which is to be directed by Lone Scherfig, a BAFTA nominee with “An Education.” Embankment is launching worldwide sales on the Spanish-language film at the virtual AFM.

Walter Salles, a BAFTA winner with “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Central Station,” and Rafa Russo have adapted Hernán Rivera Letelier’s novel, which is the story of life in a mining town in Chile’s Atacama Desert, and a tribute to the inspirational power of cinema, reminiscent of “Cinema Paradiso.”

The film is produced by Adolfo Blanco (“The Bookshop”) of A Contracorriente Films and Vincent Juillerat of Selenium Films and Al Tiro Films. Embankment is an executive producer, and co-represents Latin American rights with Latido Films. It shoots in the Atacama Desert in the first quarter of next year.

Bejo stars as María Magnolia,...

The culinary drama shoots on the Costa Brava and in Barcelona for six weeks.

Spanish director David Pujol’s feature debut has commenced shooting in Spain, with UK sales outfit Embankment representing global sales and serving as executive producer.

The film is produced by FishCorb Films’ Roger Corbi and Yan Fisher, plus Arlong Productions’ David Ortiz, with Pujol also writing the screenplay.

The shoot will take place for six weeks on the Costa Brava and in Barcelona, in Spanish and in French. Embankment has released this first-look image from the production.

Waiting For Dali takes inspiration from the art of...