Screen profiles nine Spanish and Latin American works in progress being showcased at Mafiz, the industry programme of the Malaga Film Festival.
The Aspirant (Spain work in progress)
Dir. Juan Gautier
A follow-up to Gautier’s short filmm of the same name, The Aspirant is a psychological thriller about the cruel hazing suffered by Carlos and Dani, who feel compelled to accept a 24-hour challenge to fit in at their new university. Produced by Smiz and Pixel, Kabiria Films, La Bestia Produce and Featurent, it was showcased at project stage at Sitges Pitchbox, an event organised by Filmarket Hub platform and Catalonia’s Sitges Festival.
Contact: produccion@kabiriafilms.es
A Yard Of Jackals (Latin America work in progress)
Dir. Diego Figueroa
Figueroa’s feature debut is about an unassuming man, who spends his time building models and taking care of his ill mother, who is suddenly being threatened by his new neighbours. The project is a co-production between Chile’s Infractor Films and France’s Promenades. Infractor is also producing another LatAm WIP selection, Juan Cáceres’s Kaye.
Contact: ugarte@infractor.cl
Criminal Body (Latin America work in progress)
Dir. Martín Boulocq
The fifth feature of Bolivian director Bouloucq, a best screenplay winner at Tribeca for The Visitor in 2022, Criminal Body tells of an Indian farmer, Marcos, and a body bodybuilder, Miguel. and revolves around their relationship while the latter is working on a horror film. Produced by Bolivia’s CQ Film in co-production with Argentina’s Maravillacine and France’s L’Oeil Vif, Criminal Body is documentary-fiction hybrid that spotlighst the neo-colonial bonds between Bolivia and US.
Contact: andre.camponovo@gmail.com
Jone, Sometimes (Spain work in progress)
Dir. Sara Fantova
Jone lives with her younger sister Marta and their father who has had to quit his job because of his Parkinson’s disease. When Bilbao’s festivities kick off, the stage is set for Jone’s first experience of love. Escac Studio, the production arm of Barcelona’s Escac film school, one of Spain’s utmost new-talent hubs, is behind the feature debut of Fantova, one of the co-directors of La filla d’algú, which won the Movistar+ Award at Málaga in 2019.
Contact: aintza.serra@escac.es
Mum, I Am The Boss (market premiere)
Dir. Federico Moccia
Italian best-selling writer Moccia directs this family comedy co-produced by Spain’s Neo Art Producciones and Italy’s Alexandra Cinematográfica. The story begins when a judge assigns a disputed family home to a nine-year-old boy, with his divorcing parents having to share on alternate weekly basis. Italian-Spanish casting includes Aida Folch, Pep Munné, Ana Caterina Morariu and Maurizio Mattioli. Barcelona’s newly formed label Neo Art International handles international sales.
Contact: antonia@neoartprod.com
The Simple Life (Co-production forum)
Dir. Abner Benaim
The Simple Life centres on a Panamanian director returning to his country to shoot his next film, but faces a creative block, marital problems, and anxiety attacks. It will be the sixth feature from Panama’s Benaim who previousy won a youth jury award at Málaga for Invasion, a documentary about the memory of the 1989 invasion of Panama by the US which was Panama’s best foreign film entry at Oscars. Benaim was also Oscar-shortlisted for 2012’s Plaza Catedral. Apertura Films’ Malu Zayon will produce.
Contact: abner@aperturafilms.com
Still Life With Ghosts (Spain work in progress)
Dir. Enrique Buleo
Buleo’s first feature was cooked at the ECAM Madrid Film School’s Incubator, a six-month producer mentorship initiative, and the TIFF Filmmaker Lab, among others. The dark comedy drama follows both the living and the dead in a small town in La Mancha. It is produced by Spain’s Quatre Films and Cuidado con el Perro, and France’s Ikki Films.
Contact: amora@quatrefilms.com
Suçuarana (Latin America work in progress)
Dirs. Clarissa Campolina and Sérgio Borges
This Brazilian eco-project follows a woman who travels through a forgotten mining region searching for her identity and new ways of cohabiting with the earth. The film participated in the 3 Puertos, Brazil Cinemundi and CineMundi WIP, where it was selected for Málaga. It is being produced by Campolina, Marília Rocha and Luana Melgaço’s Belo Horizonte-based Anavilhana. Campolina co-directed Girimunho, which premiered at Venice in 2011, winning the Fipresci prize.
Contact: luana@anavilhana.art.br
The Violinist (project)
Dir. Raúl García, Ervin Han
This feature will be the first animated co-production between Spain (TV On Producciones) and Singapore (Robot Playground Media) and will be presented at the Animation Hub. It will be directed by García, a former Disney animator whose credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Aladdin and whose short The Fall Of The House Of Usher was shortlisted for the 2012 Oscars. Han co-directs and produces this romantic drama which is based on his short The Violin about a young Spanish reporter who discovers the twisted lives of two lovers while researching the provenance of an old violin.
Contact: palomamora@tvonproducciones.com
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