International Sales Agents and Producers at Ventana Sur Wrap Up
My thanks to Screen International who covered Ventana Sur and is allowing me to republish their series of articles on Ventana Sur.
From Screen Daily December 7, 2010:
One of the buzziest titles was Absent (Austente) by Marco Berger. France-based sales company Rendez-Vous picked up rights outside Latin American to the Primer Corte title, after having previously worked with Berger on his first feature Plan B. Carlotta subsequently acquired French rights. Before further licensing the Argentine drama, Rendez-Vous must plan its festival strategy. Produced by Argentina’s Oh My Gomez! the story is of a high school boy who has ulterior motives for spending time with his swim coach.
Other hot titles in Primer Corte included Hernan Belon’s In the Open (El Campo) , about a wife who gets strange feelings when she visits a country house, from Argentina/ Italy/ France; Nacho Garassino’s prison break story Tunnel of Bones (“ title=”El Tunel De Los Huesos”>El Tunel De Los Huesos), also from Argentina; and Mexico-Dutch production Paraísos Artificiales, dir. Yulene Olaizola ♀, about a young heroin addict who befriends a peasant man in Veracruz; as well as The Clown (O Palhaco) from Brazil.
The Ventana Sur market in Buenos Aires had about 2,000 admissions as of the start of its closing day. About 25% of those were for the festival’s popular Primer Corte screenings of works-in-progress. In the video room as of Monday morning, there had been 2,900 viewings by 180 people. Buyers said that the quality of Latin American films on offer at Ventana Sur was high, but that there wasn’t necessarily one breakout title this year that was sparking lots of bidding. Guests from outside Latin America rose to more than 300, up 20% over the first edition. Still, attendees praised the intimate atmosphere. Paillard said: “People say it’s the right size, you have to have time to meet people. Some sellers said they had met buyers here they had never had time to talk to in any other market.” Most of the international buyers and sellers get their travel and accomodation provided by the festival, which may shift slightly if funding for the event changes. “[The invites] will continue but not to the same extent, we will need to be a little bit more careful,” Paillard said. “But will will continue to invite people who are interested in Latin America, who provide us with results.” This year’s Ventana Sur had several changes made since the inaugural edition: a fourth day, plus screenings and market meetings all in the same area, and more screenings overall.
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Outside of Primer Corte, viewings were busy for Phase 7 (Fase 7), and 2010 Cannes title The Invisible Eye (La miradainvisible) being sold by Pyramidej. Buyers were bullish on Florian Cossen’s The Day I Wasn’t Born (Das Lied In Mir) as well (sold by Beta). Also, The Match Factory picked up Tania Hermida’s En el nombre de la hija ♀ , a family comedy-drama from Ecuador.
One big theme of Ventana Sur this year is that of Latin American countries needing to work together more (see previous story here if you subscribe to Screen). Buenos Aires Film Commissioner Ana Aizenberg said that several Latin American film commissions have formed a new network. “We need to share info and projects. We’re presenting South Smerica as one thing, from Mexico to Argentina.” The new co-production agreement, between Argentina and Brazil, was signed during Ventana Sur, and its fund — backed by Brazil’s Ancine and Argentina’s INCAA — will initially back two films from each country; selections of the first projects are expected to be unvieled by March 2011. Each film will get a $200,000 grant.
Buyers on Cinando will be able to view almost all of the Ventana Sur selections instantly via the website where a special section of Cinando is devoted to Ventana Sur. Also, other users of Cinando can send a simple request to producer/sales company to view films. The Primer Corte titles, which are works in progress, will not be online, but the majority of the Ventana Sur library will be.
From Screen Daily November 20, 2010: 10 Latin American films in post, are presented in Primer Corte. Teresa Toledo, director of Casa America in Madrid, will present the selections. One will win an award sponsored by Argentine film magazine Haciendo Cine. The 10 were selected from more than 100 submissions. Michael Rowe’s Ano bisiesto, which was presented in Primer Corte last year, went on to win the Camera d’Or in Cannes after being picked up by Pyramide for international sales.
The participants include Cannes Cinefondation Residence alumni Hernan Belon from Argentina, Mexican director Yulene Olaizola ♀ who previously directed Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo, 2009 Sundance Lab alum Alejandro Landes from Colombia, and another Argentine film-maker, Marco Berger, who previously directed Plan B.
The selections are:
El Campo, dir. Hernán Belón (Argentina)
El túnel de los huesos, dir. Nacho Garassino (Argentina)
Ausente, dir. Marco Berger (Argentina)
O Palhaco, dir. Selton Melo (Brasil)
Chuva, dir. Marcelo Toledo y Paolo Gregori (Brasil)
Ulises, dir. Oscar Godoy (Chile)
Porfirio, dir. Alejandro Landes (Colombia)
Fe, dir. Alejo Crisóstomo (Guatemala-Chile)
Asalto al Cine, dir. Iría Gómez Concheiro ♀ (Mexico)
Paraísos Artificiales, dir. Yulene Olaizola ♀ (Mexico)
And these two films will screen a 30 minute section:
Mono con gallinas, dir. Alfredo León León (Ecuador)
Querida, salí a comprar cigarrillos y vuelvo, dirs. Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat (Argentina)
Ventana Sur (December 3–6 2010) was organized by the INCAA in partnership with the Marche du Festival de Cannes, and has EC support.
