EXCLUSIVE: Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures in the US and Antoine Zeind’s A-Z Films in Canada have acquired The Condor Daughter, The Portuguese House and Vanilla in a package deal struck with Spain’s Bendita Film Sales.
All three features first participated at the 2024 edition of Ventana Sur in Montevideo and premiered at major festivals this year. Vanilla screened in Primer Corte, The Condor Daughter took part in Copia Final, and The Portuguese House was a market screening.
“With these deals we feel we are closing a circle that began here at Ventana Sur one year ago. When we presented two of these films they received key awards,” Luis Renart of Bendita said.
Directed by Álvaro Olmos Torrico, The Condor Daughter won the Cine+ Award at Ventana Sur 2024 in the Copia Final strand. It premiered in TIFF’s Centrepiece programme this year, followed by screenings at Biarritz and FIC Cali, where it won best feature and best international film, respectively.
Produced by the Bolivian outfit Empatía Cine alongside Buenos Aires-based Maravilla Cine, the film centres on a mother–daughter relationship drama against the backdrop of rural depopulation in the Andes. It is Torrico’s second feature after Viñay.
Written, directed and produced by actress-turned-filmmaker Mayra Hermosillo, Vanilla premiered in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori and won the Best Screenplay for Authors Under 40 Award, and also earned praise from Guillermo Del Toro.
Set in late-1980s Mexico, it portrays several generations of women bound by love and adversity. The film won awards at Ventana Sur 2024 and at Cinélatino Toulouse. As an actress, Hermosillo is known internationally for Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico.
The Portuguese House is the second fiction feature by Avelina Prat (Vasil) and presents an intimate reflection on identity, dislocation and personal reinvention. Maria de Medeiros and Manolo Solo star in the film, which premiered at Málaga Festival and was produced by Distinto Films and Jaibo Films (Spain) in co-production with O Som e a Fúria.
Paul Hudson of Outsider Pictures told Screen: “I first saw Vanilla and Condor’s Daughter in Primer Corte Ventana Sur last year and it’s been great to see the films grow from there to Venice and TIFF. The Portuguese House is the sleeper surprise of the year.”
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