Spanish version of MGM HD channel launch in Argentina and Mexico

The channel launches in Spanish in HD for subscribers across Cablevision Argentina, Cablevision Mexico and Sky Mexico this month. A Portuguese-language version of MGM HD launched in Brazil last year. The channel boasts a library of more than 4,100 film titles, along with a variety of original productions, recent releases and exclusive special events such as American Film Institute: Life Achievement Award, World Music Awards and its latest production MMA on MGM: Battle of the Americas in high definition.

“MGM Channels continue to expand and thrive across the global multichannel marketplace,” said Bruce Tuchman, the president of MGM Worldwide Networks. “High definition has become a particularly hot area of growth for us as this new HD launch follows our recent launch of MGM HD in the U.K., and the slew of vibrant MGM HD channels that we have launched in rapid succession over the last few years in the U.S., Europe and the Mid-East.”

Melvin Perez, the president of MGM Networks Latin America, added: “The MGM HD channel arrived in Brazil in May 2009 and our strategy remains to offer a channel with programming that is separate from our standard signal, presenting different genres of films without commercial interruptions and without traditional advertising. With the strengthening of our portfolio in the region, MGM Networks Latin America strengthens its market position by taking leadership in launching new trends and presenting the first truly basic movie channel in high definition.”

Source: www.worldscreen.com

Dallas International Film Festival – 8th to 18th April

The Dallas International Film Festival opens Thursday and runs through April 18. This is a critical year for the fest, the first since its partnership with the American Film Institute expired. The big question is whether the event will be able to maintain the momentum that it built over the past three years without the cachet of the AFI brand.

One notable change this year: There won’t be a single opening-night gala film but, instead, four features and one program of short films that will unfold simultaneously at the Angelika Film Center. (The fest will take over the entire multiplex on opening night.)

The opening titles include Skateland, a coming-of-age drama set in East Texas that premiered at Sundance; Bill Cunningham New York, a documentary about The New York Times photographer; and Multiple Sarcasms, a drama with Stockard Channing and Timothy Hutton.

It’s an eclectic group of films, though those who had grown accustomed to the star-studded galas of years past are probably going to be disappointed.

Four filmmakers are being honored with the Dallas Star Award: Guillermo Arriaga, the writer-director whose The Burning Plain was one of the festival’s strongest entries last year (it will have an encore screening); cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight); the late Mexican director Pedro Infante (part of a special program on Mexican cinema); and writer-director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side). Oscar-winning animator Pete Docter (Up) also will come to town to receive the fest’s Tex Avery Animation Award.

Among the other highlights of the lineup, which includes 153 features and shorts:

Brotherhood: Directed by Arlington native Will Cannon.

Wake: This thriller marks the feature debut of another local, Cowtown-reared Chad Feehan.

Carried Away: Tom Huckabee, former artistic director of the Lone Star Film Festival, directs this tale of an older woman who takes off on a cross-country adventure with her grandson.

A Surprise in Texas: A documentary about the most recent Cliburn competition.

More information about the festival visit: http://dallasfilm.org/

Read more: star-telegram.com By CHRISTOPHER KELLY