The film is the debut feature by Argentinian directors Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
M-Appeal is to handle worldwide rights for Argentinian coming-of-age title Vera And The Pleasure Of Others, by Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
The Berlin-based sales agent picked up the title following its presentation in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte - Films in Progress, and will be introducing to buyers at the EFM this week.
Currently in post-production, Vera And The Pleasure Of Others follows the story of 17-year-old Vera who, in between school and volleyball classes, rents out an empty flat to teenagers looking for a place to have sex.
M-Appeal is to handle worldwide rights for Argentinian coming-of-age title Vera And The Pleasure Of Others, by Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
The Berlin-based sales agent picked up the title following its presentation in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte - Films in Progress, and will be introducing to buyers at the EFM this week.
Currently in post-production, Vera And The Pleasure Of Others follows the story of 17-year-old Vera who, in between school and volleyball classes, rents out an empty flat to teenagers looking for a place to have sex.
- 2/14/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The film is the debut feature by Argentinian directors Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
M-Appeal is to handle worldwide rights for Argentinian coming-of-age title Vera And The Pleasure Of Others, by Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
The Berlin-based sales agent picked up the title following its presentation in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte - Films in Progress, and will be introducing to buyers at the EFM this week.
Currently in post-production, Vera And The Pleasure Of Others follows the story of 17-year-old Vera who, in between school and volleyball classes, rents out an empty flat to teenagers looking for a place to have sex.
M-Appeal is to handle worldwide rights for Argentinian coming-of-age title Vera And The Pleasure Of Others, by Romina Tamburello and Federico Actis.
The Berlin-based sales agent picked up the title following its presentation in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte - Films in Progress, and will be introducing to buyers at the EFM this week.
Currently in post-production, Vera And The Pleasure Of Others follows the story of 17-year-old Vera who, in between school and volleyball classes, rents out an empty flat to teenagers looking for a place to have sex.
- 2/14/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
A lawyer and client pairing in Justine Triet’s In Bed with Victoria, Virginie Efira and Melvil Poupaud will team up as an admirer and author in Valérie Donzelli‘s sixth feature film. L’amour et les forêts is set to go into production this month in and around Paris. Rectangle Productions’ Edouard Weil, the production company behind most of Donzelli’s works, Gaspar Noé’s recent output and most recently the critically acclaimed Happening will produce. An adaption of Éric Reinhardt’s 2014 novel, in a nutshell this tells the story of the power of text and focuses on one woman’s survival the degradation at the hand’s of her former husband, and her eventual emancipation.…...
- 4/11/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
In the current crop of reggaetoneros, Rauw Alejandro has set himself apart as a modern day song-and-dance man, a performer defined by his natural showmanship and rigorous onstage choreography. With his second album Vice Versa, the Puerto Rican singer takes reggaeton into the future, flexing his versatility as he incorporates pop, drum ‘n’ bass, and other styles.
Reggaeton remains the king of the Latin music scene, but it’s reaching a point where the songs are becoming repetitive. With his debut album, last year’s Afrodisíaco, Alejandro was starting to test the genre-bending waters.
Reggaeton remains the king of the Latin music scene, but it’s reaching a point where the songs are becoming repetitive. With his debut album, last year’s Afrodisíaco, Alejandro was starting to test the genre-bending waters.
- 6/29/2021
- by Lucas Villa
- Rollingstone.com
When it comes to acting, Virginie Efira is truly a force to be reckoned with. Her professional career began in the late 90s, and since then she has built an outstanding resume. Her work has led to her becoming well-known all over the world and her versatility has allowed her to work across multiple genres. No matter what kind of project Virginie is working on, you can bet that she’s going to give an outstanding performance. Some of her most well-known roles include Justine in In Bed with Victoria and Rachel in An Impossible Love. On top of the great
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Virginie Efira...
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Virginie Efira...
- 6/3/2021
- by Camille Moore
- TVovermind.com
Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away.
While everyone's favorite subscription streaming service is adding a ton of awesome movies and TV shows in December, it's also yanking a huge list of popular titles from its library. Below is said list. I'm especially sad to see "Dirty Dancing" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" go. Those movies are the sh...
Watch them while you can!
Movies Being Dropped by Netflix on December 1st
"1941" (1979)
"The Apostle" (1997)
"Audrey Rose" (1977)
"The Believers" (1987)
"Better than Chocolate" (1999)
"Blood & Chocolate" (2007)
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (2008)
"Chaplin" (1992)
"The Choirboys" (1977)
"The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County" (1970)
"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003)
"The Cold Light of Day" (1996)
"The Constant Gardener" (2005)
"Count Yorga, Vampire" (1970)
"Cry-Baby" (1990)
"Dirty Dancing" (1987)
"Double Indemnity" (1944)
"En la Cama" (2005)
"Event Horizon" (1997)
"Eye for an Eye" (1996)
"Fairy Tale: A True Story" (1997)
"First Knight" (1995)
"Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
"Foreign Student" (1994)
"Free Men" (2011)
"Funny Lady" (1975)
"The Ghost and Mrs Muir" (1947)
"The Girl from Petrovka...
While everyone's favorite subscription streaming service is adding a ton of awesome movies and TV shows in December, it's also yanking a huge list of popular titles from its library. Below is said list. I'm especially sad to see "Dirty Dancing" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" go. Those movies are the sh...
Watch them while you can!
Movies Being Dropped by Netflix on December 1st
"1941" (1979)
"The Apostle" (1997)
"Audrey Rose" (1977)
"The Believers" (1987)
"Better than Chocolate" (1999)
"Blood & Chocolate" (2007)
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" (2008)
"Chaplin" (1992)
"The Choirboys" (1977)
"The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County" (1970)
"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003)
"The Cold Light of Day" (1996)
"The Constant Gardener" (2005)
"Count Yorga, Vampire" (1970)
"Cry-Baby" (1990)
"Dirty Dancing" (1987)
"Double Indemnity" (1944)
"En la Cama" (2005)
"Event Horizon" (1997)
"Eye for an Eye" (1996)
"Fairy Tale: A True Story" (1997)
"First Knight" (1995)
"Five Easy Pieces" (1970)
"Foreign Student" (1994)
"Free Men" (2011)
"Funny Lady" (1975)
"The Ghost and Mrs Muir" (1947)
"The Girl from Petrovka...
- 11/28/2014
- by Tim Hayne
- Moviefone
Move that Thanksgiving feast to the couch, because you have a lot of Netflix-watching to do before December 1, when these movies will disappear from the streaming service. (But given how Netflix has worked in the past, they may be back at some point in the future.) Here they are, in alphabetical order, though if you only have a limited amount of time, can we steer you toward Spice World? No? Well, take your pick.1941 (1979)An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)The Apostle (1997)Audrey Rose (1977)The Believers (1987)Better Than Chocolate (1999)Blood & Chocolate (2007)The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)Chaplin (1992)The Choirboys (1977)The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County (1970)Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)The Constant Gardener (2005)Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)The Return of Count Yorga (1971)Cry-Baby (1990)Dirty Dancing (1987)Double Indemnity (1944) En la Cama (2005)Event Horizon (1997)Eye for an Eye (1996)Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997)First Knight (1995)Five Easy Pieces (1970)Free Men (2011)Funny Lady...
- 11/26/2014
- by Lindsey Weber
- Vulture
The Summer Of Flying Fish screened in the Discovery Section at Tiff after premiering in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes this past May. Two films from Chile at Tiff out of 16 Latin American films gives it an extra luster.
Read the review for the film Here
Also notable is the production company behind the film, Jirafa, which was founded in 2001 by one of Chile’s great minds of cinema, Bruno Betatti, whose book, Why Not, about the political policy for the film industry in Chile articulates today’s international film business issues of distribution and exhibition not just in Chile but throughout the world as it explores solutions to the problems most indie filmmakers face today. Betatti also is the Director of the Valdivia Film Festival, Chile’s top festival which I attended in 2005 and 2006 as a guest working with the then-young-now-mature generation of filmmakers whose films are now showing worldwide.
Director Marcela Said, however, was someone I never met. I had the feeling she was younger than the Sebastian Lelio/ Sebastian Silva/ Pablo Larrain/ Matias Bizes set, but on looking at her filmography, I see she is in fact in the same generation. However, she came to filmmaking from a different direction.
Filmmaking came out of Marcela’s love of politics. Born in Chile, she studied philosophy and moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. There she discovered that documentaries offered a way to discuss political issues, a favorite pastime of the French and a crucial one for Chileans.
Her first documentary, which she made in 1999 with the prestigious French production company Les Films d’ici was Valparaiso (the most beautiful city in Chile). In 2001, the 52 minute I Love Pinochet, began as an exploration of human rights. I Love Pinochet was a dialogue with Pinochet supporters, accompanied by images which lifted the film onto a metaphysical plane. The fact that it sold everywhere enabled her to make her next film in 2006, another 54 minute documentary, Opus Dei, which she co-directed with her French film editor husband, Jean de Certeau.
When I was in Chile, I was surprised at the visible marks left by Pinochet on society and by the continued fear of Opus Dei, the most influential and secretive organization of the Catholic Church, whose members many Chileans equate with Pinochet today. I heard people speak of this documentary, an unprecedented journey into the world of Christian fundamentalism in which the will to plant "the cross in the middle of the world" would remove all boundaries between religious and secular life.
Her next film, also codirected with her husband, The Young Butler (El Mocito in Spanish), focuses on the story of Jorgelino Vergara, a man who, from the age of 16, worked in a torture center during the Chilean military regime.
Making these films moved her from the spoken word to images, and as she began to appreciate cinematographic storytelling, and she moved into making her first fiction feature, The Summer of Flying Fish.
This film retains her concerns which are expressed by an atmosphere of fear and tension between the Mapuche people and a particularly incursive white landowner. The film was inspired by a trip she took to the south of Chile where she found a house whose inhabitants lived in an unspoken fear the Mapuche, the native people of the land who were setting fires on trains. The constant silent threat of violence grew as their acts became worse. The invisible threat of violence plays a part in this drama of a determined sixteen year old on a family vacation who is the darling daughter of a rich Chilean landowner who devotes his vacations to a single obsession: the extermination of carp fish that invade his lake. As he resorts to ever more extreme methods over the course of the summer, Manena experiences her first deception in love and discovers a world that silently co-exists alongside her own: that of the Mapuche Indian workers who claim access to these lands… and who stand up to her father.
She co-wrote this script with Julio Rojas, another member of the pivotal generation who also wrote La vida de los peces (2010),Habitación en Roma (2010) and En la cama (2005). She shot it in 24 days in Chile and did sound and post in Paris. It was in the Berlin Co-Production Market where Jirafa found its French co-producer, Cinéma de facto. It screened in Toulouse as a work in progress and won the Ciné+ Special Prize at Cinéma en Construction at the end of March, which enabled the movie to finalize its post-production. ( Read more at Cineuropa). It was finished 2 days before its premiere in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2013 where it was very warmly received. Here at Tiff it was also very well received; “no one left the room” as Marcela put it.
Its international sales agent, Alpha Violet has entered it into many festivals, including Biarritz, Open Doors in Locarno.
It received funds initially from Corfo, Ffa and Cnca of Chile. Fons Sud also supported it and it received finishing funds from the Region Ile de France and Arte’s Cofinova.
Marcela’s next film is a politically incorrect story about the friendship of a woman with a master teacher of dressage. She discovered this true story while working on El Mocito. She herself loves horses and took lessons from The Master until he went to prison for human rights violations during the time he served in Pinochet’s government. He becomes her mentor and she becomes his confidante as he promises to teach her to jump before he goes to prison. It all takes place in the Horse Club. There is much more in the emotional side of the story.
I asked Marcela how with a husband and a 9 year old son she finds time to write.
“I write three hours minimum every day. I also work on other projects.”
Is it hard to be a female director?
“Gender was never a problem. I was raised knowing I could do whatever I wanted. However, a woman always has to prove herself.”
“I must travel and shoot, like for 2 months in Paris and that takes some negotiating with my husband. It helps that I put my son in the films.”
The Summer Of Flying Fish
Chile – 88min – In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Marcela Said
Producers Jirafa and Cinema Defacto
Sales Contact: Alpha Violet – Virginie Devesa
http://www.alphaviolet.com/the-summer-of-flying-fish/
http://www.alphaviolet.com/toronto/...
Read the review for the film Here
Also notable is the production company behind the film, Jirafa, which was founded in 2001 by one of Chile’s great minds of cinema, Bruno Betatti, whose book, Why Not, about the political policy for the film industry in Chile articulates today’s international film business issues of distribution and exhibition not just in Chile but throughout the world as it explores solutions to the problems most indie filmmakers face today. Betatti also is the Director of the Valdivia Film Festival, Chile’s top festival which I attended in 2005 and 2006 as a guest working with the then-young-now-mature generation of filmmakers whose films are now showing worldwide.
Director Marcela Said, however, was someone I never met. I had the feeling she was younger than the Sebastian Lelio/ Sebastian Silva/ Pablo Larrain/ Matias Bizes set, but on looking at her filmography, I see she is in fact in the same generation. However, she came to filmmaking from a different direction.
Filmmaking came out of Marcela’s love of politics. Born in Chile, she studied philosophy and moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. There she discovered that documentaries offered a way to discuss political issues, a favorite pastime of the French and a crucial one for Chileans.
Her first documentary, which she made in 1999 with the prestigious French production company Les Films d’ici was Valparaiso (the most beautiful city in Chile). In 2001, the 52 minute I Love Pinochet, began as an exploration of human rights. I Love Pinochet was a dialogue with Pinochet supporters, accompanied by images which lifted the film onto a metaphysical plane. The fact that it sold everywhere enabled her to make her next film in 2006, another 54 minute documentary, Opus Dei, which she co-directed with her French film editor husband, Jean de Certeau.
When I was in Chile, I was surprised at the visible marks left by Pinochet on society and by the continued fear of Opus Dei, the most influential and secretive organization of the Catholic Church, whose members many Chileans equate with Pinochet today. I heard people speak of this documentary, an unprecedented journey into the world of Christian fundamentalism in which the will to plant "the cross in the middle of the world" would remove all boundaries between religious and secular life.
Her next film, also codirected with her husband, The Young Butler (El Mocito in Spanish), focuses on the story of Jorgelino Vergara, a man who, from the age of 16, worked in a torture center during the Chilean military regime.
Making these films moved her from the spoken word to images, and as she began to appreciate cinematographic storytelling, and she moved into making her first fiction feature, The Summer of Flying Fish.
This film retains her concerns which are expressed by an atmosphere of fear and tension between the Mapuche people and a particularly incursive white landowner. The film was inspired by a trip she took to the south of Chile where she found a house whose inhabitants lived in an unspoken fear the Mapuche, the native people of the land who were setting fires on trains. The constant silent threat of violence grew as their acts became worse. The invisible threat of violence plays a part in this drama of a determined sixteen year old on a family vacation who is the darling daughter of a rich Chilean landowner who devotes his vacations to a single obsession: the extermination of carp fish that invade his lake. As he resorts to ever more extreme methods over the course of the summer, Manena experiences her first deception in love and discovers a world that silently co-exists alongside her own: that of the Mapuche Indian workers who claim access to these lands… and who stand up to her father.
She co-wrote this script with Julio Rojas, another member of the pivotal generation who also wrote La vida de los peces (2010),Habitación en Roma (2010) and En la cama (2005). She shot it in 24 days in Chile and did sound and post in Paris. It was in the Berlin Co-Production Market where Jirafa found its French co-producer, Cinéma de facto. It screened in Toulouse as a work in progress and won the Ciné+ Special Prize at Cinéma en Construction at the end of March, which enabled the movie to finalize its post-production. ( Read more at Cineuropa). It was finished 2 days before its premiere in the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2013 where it was very warmly received. Here at Tiff it was also very well received; “no one left the room” as Marcela put it.
Its international sales agent, Alpha Violet has entered it into many festivals, including Biarritz, Open Doors in Locarno.
It received funds initially from Corfo, Ffa and Cnca of Chile. Fons Sud also supported it and it received finishing funds from the Region Ile de France and Arte’s Cofinova.
Marcela’s next film is a politically incorrect story about the friendship of a woman with a master teacher of dressage. She discovered this true story while working on El Mocito. She herself loves horses and took lessons from The Master until he went to prison for human rights violations during the time he served in Pinochet’s government. He becomes her mentor and she becomes his confidante as he promises to teach her to jump before he goes to prison. It all takes place in the Horse Club. There is much more in the emotional side of the story.
I asked Marcela how with a husband and a 9 year old son she finds time to write.
“I write three hours minimum every day. I also work on other projects.”
Is it hard to be a female director?
“Gender was never a problem. I was raised knowing I could do whatever I wanted. However, a woman always has to prove herself.”
“I must travel and shoot, like for 2 months in Paris and that takes some negotiating with my husband. It helps that I put my son in the films.”
The Summer Of Flying Fish
Chile – 88min – In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Marcela Said
Producers Jirafa and Cinema Defacto
Sales Contact: Alpha Violet – Virginie Devesa
http://www.alphaviolet.com/the-summer-of-flying-fish/
http://www.alphaviolet.com/toronto/...
- 9/17/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Gloria, which just finished playing Tiff, directed by Sebastian Lelio and starring Paulina Garcia has been selected to represent Chile in the Foreign Language race for the 86th Academy Awards ®
Fresh off its highly successful North American premiere at The Telluride Film Festival, Gloria was Special Presentation at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival.
I was lucky to be able to spend an hour speaking with director Sebastián Lelio and
2013 Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award winner Paulina Garcia, the film’s star.
Paulina Garcia in real life barely resembled Gloria who is a seemingly comfortable “woman of a certain age” who still feels young…like me, and also like me, she enjoys dancing. Her children have lives of their own as does her former husband, she has a job and while comfortable, she is a bit at a loss for a place and for love. I had not realized that in fact those people I dance with are perhaps also looking for love – all I ever see them do is dance.
But like Gloria, though lonely, they are making the best of their situation. Her fragile happiness changes the day she meets Rodolfo. Their intense passion, to which Gloria gives her all, leaves her vacillating between hope and despair - until she uncovers a new strength and realizes that, in her golden years, she can shine brighter than ever.
Speaking with Paulina Garcia, I was first struck with how unlike the character Gloria she was. Sophisticated and refined, speaking perfect English, we related on a different level from how I related to her in the film, and I had related intimately; I had identified completely with Gloria and I had thought I would, in fact, be meeting Gloria herself.
Paulina told me how unusual it is to be in every scene. Playing such a character focused so deeply into life forced her to move the center of herself to a different point. After the movie had been shot, she felt the pain in her very bones from the different positions and motions of Gloria’s person. When it was over, she felt like she had emerged from a very deep ocean dive. Acting is on the surface, but the character played is really more like an iceberg.
Sebastian added that the relationship between Gloria and everyone else is not the action but in the air around them. It is the anti-matter you experience in the film, not the plot. The spotlight was always upon her. There was not a single frame in which Gloria’s body was not present. Every single scene is about how she is feeling about people, things and the world. And she reflects the world, as it is today in Santiago, Chile – discontented and seeking ways to take action against the discontent.
The relationship built between Sebastian and Paulina prior to filming was not based on the film, but on aligning their minds. It was an unusual friendship that was built between the director and actress. He gave her things to read unrelated to the film, she read Cassavetes on Cassavetes, (the name Gloria was not spurious); he gave her quotes, information on vortexes and whatever else interested him in those days. He was very clear about how personal the film would be, creating layers of emotion and artistry. Once they began working together, they shared a sort of mindful shorthand. He might say, “Do your own vortex” and she would define the world in her own terms so she could do her part. Paulina/Gloria was the point of the film and everything had to go around her, as if she were the vortex.
The other character in the film – whom we did not discuss at all, but who was an extraordinary counterweight to Gloria, was Sergio Hernandez who played Rodolfo. Very sexy and very soulful, he is dogged in his pursuit of Gloria and is dogged by his “ex-wife” and daughters. He has played in Sebastian Lelio’s previous films La Sagrada Familia in 2006 which I caught during my first trip to Chile as an guest of the Valdivia Film Festival in ‘05 and in El Ano del Tigre, his third film which played Locarno in 2011. Both these were also “insistent observations of characters going through evolutionary crossroads: family as a sacred trap; the interest in the tension that exists between a person and character; and the conviction that film is a face-on battle”, to quote Sebastian.
La Sagrada Familia was shot in 3 days in 35mm, a true indie film. It was a sort of “punk” film and it met with great success and so Sebastian could access national funds to make his second film Navidad which along with some private investment was finally paid off two months ago. Navidad was about teenage runaways going through a sort of initiation into the carney world. He directed Year of the Tiger just after Chile’s major earthquake and Fabula put in the money ($100,000) for this urgent film. It is a testament to the Year Zero and was shot in 12 days. It went on to play Toronto and Locarno. These are all available along with interviews on Festival Scope.
The year 2005 was the year that a new generation of filmmakers was beginning to create Chilean cinema as we know it today. Not only Sebastian Lelio withLa Sagrada Familia, but the producer of Gloria and Year of the Tiger, Fabula’s Pablo Larrain (along with his brother Juan de Dios Larrain) was developing his breakout film, Tony Manero and had just finished Fuga. Pablo also wrote and directed Post Mortem , produced El año del tigre , produced and directed No and produced this year’s Sundance hit Crystal Fairy. It was Diego Izquierdo whose Sexo con Amor we were repping who brought us to Valdivia that year as he was working on El rey de los huevones . It was the year En la Cama by Matias Bizes ( La vida de los peces ) was the most popular film in Chile and films were finally breaking from the post-Pinochet trauma. The “other Sebastian”, Sebastian Silva, was the inspiration behind the writers of Mala Leche and La Sagrada Familia, and was writing the first film he would also direct, La vida me mata (Life Kills Me).
Gloria was such a fine work of art that it was developed in the Cannes Residency (Cinefondation) program and garnered national funds for its production. It was screened as a Work in Progress first in Chile’s Sanfic and then in San Sebastian in 2012 where it won the Cine in Construccion Award. Sebastian has recently received a Guggenheim fellowship and support of the Daad Berliner Kunstlerprogram for the development of his new projects.
To be witness to Chile’s spectacular growth in the international business gives me such a thrill. I can’t wait to see Sebastian’s next film which he is working on now in the Berlinale Residency (September – December), writing it with an eye toward co-production. The new film explores masculine emotions. Perhaps it will once again star Paulina Garcia.
Gloria
Directed by: Sebastián Lelio
Tiff 2013 - Special Presentation
Chile - 109 minutes - In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Starring: Paulina García
Producer: Fabula - Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín
Tiff 2013: Special Presentation
U.S. Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Canadian Distributor: Mongrel Media
The film will be released by Roadside Attractions and is being sold internationally by Funny Balloons, who has already sold it to
Australia
Rialto Distribution (Australia)
Austria
Thimfilm Gmbh
Brazil
Imovision
Canada
Métropole Films Distribution
Colombia
Babilla Cine
France
Funny Balloons
Germany
Alamode Film
Greece
Strada Films
Israel
New Cinema Ltd.
Italy
Lucky Red
Japan
Respect
Korea (South)
Pancinema
Netherlands
Wild Bunch Benelux
Portugal
Alambique
Sweden
Atlantic Film Ab
Switzerland
Filmcoopi Zurich Ag
Turkey
Bir Film
United Kingdom
Network
USA
Roadside Attractions...
Fresh off its highly successful North American premiere at The Telluride Film Festival, Gloria was Special Presentation at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival.
I was lucky to be able to spend an hour speaking with director Sebastián Lelio and
2013 Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award winner Paulina Garcia, the film’s star.
Paulina Garcia in real life barely resembled Gloria who is a seemingly comfortable “woman of a certain age” who still feels young…like me, and also like me, she enjoys dancing. Her children have lives of their own as does her former husband, she has a job and while comfortable, she is a bit at a loss for a place and for love. I had not realized that in fact those people I dance with are perhaps also looking for love – all I ever see them do is dance.
But like Gloria, though lonely, they are making the best of their situation. Her fragile happiness changes the day she meets Rodolfo. Their intense passion, to which Gloria gives her all, leaves her vacillating between hope and despair - until she uncovers a new strength and realizes that, in her golden years, she can shine brighter than ever.
Speaking with Paulina Garcia, I was first struck with how unlike the character Gloria she was. Sophisticated and refined, speaking perfect English, we related on a different level from how I related to her in the film, and I had related intimately; I had identified completely with Gloria and I had thought I would, in fact, be meeting Gloria herself.
Paulina told me how unusual it is to be in every scene. Playing such a character focused so deeply into life forced her to move the center of herself to a different point. After the movie had been shot, she felt the pain in her very bones from the different positions and motions of Gloria’s person. When it was over, she felt like she had emerged from a very deep ocean dive. Acting is on the surface, but the character played is really more like an iceberg.
Sebastian added that the relationship between Gloria and everyone else is not the action but in the air around them. It is the anti-matter you experience in the film, not the plot. The spotlight was always upon her. There was not a single frame in which Gloria’s body was not present. Every single scene is about how she is feeling about people, things and the world. And she reflects the world, as it is today in Santiago, Chile – discontented and seeking ways to take action against the discontent.
The relationship built between Sebastian and Paulina prior to filming was not based on the film, but on aligning their minds. It was an unusual friendship that was built between the director and actress. He gave her things to read unrelated to the film, she read Cassavetes on Cassavetes, (the name Gloria was not spurious); he gave her quotes, information on vortexes and whatever else interested him in those days. He was very clear about how personal the film would be, creating layers of emotion and artistry. Once they began working together, they shared a sort of mindful shorthand. He might say, “Do your own vortex” and she would define the world in her own terms so she could do her part. Paulina/Gloria was the point of the film and everything had to go around her, as if she were the vortex.
The other character in the film – whom we did not discuss at all, but who was an extraordinary counterweight to Gloria, was Sergio Hernandez who played Rodolfo. Very sexy and very soulful, he is dogged in his pursuit of Gloria and is dogged by his “ex-wife” and daughters. He has played in Sebastian Lelio’s previous films La Sagrada Familia in 2006 which I caught during my first trip to Chile as an guest of the Valdivia Film Festival in ‘05 and in El Ano del Tigre, his third film which played Locarno in 2011. Both these were also “insistent observations of characters going through evolutionary crossroads: family as a sacred trap; the interest in the tension that exists between a person and character; and the conviction that film is a face-on battle”, to quote Sebastian.
La Sagrada Familia was shot in 3 days in 35mm, a true indie film. It was a sort of “punk” film and it met with great success and so Sebastian could access national funds to make his second film Navidad which along with some private investment was finally paid off two months ago. Navidad was about teenage runaways going through a sort of initiation into the carney world. He directed Year of the Tiger just after Chile’s major earthquake and Fabula put in the money ($100,000) for this urgent film. It is a testament to the Year Zero and was shot in 12 days. It went on to play Toronto and Locarno. These are all available along with interviews on Festival Scope.
The year 2005 was the year that a new generation of filmmakers was beginning to create Chilean cinema as we know it today. Not only Sebastian Lelio withLa Sagrada Familia, but the producer of Gloria and Year of the Tiger, Fabula’s Pablo Larrain (along with his brother Juan de Dios Larrain) was developing his breakout film, Tony Manero and had just finished Fuga. Pablo also wrote and directed Post Mortem , produced El año del tigre , produced and directed No and produced this year’s Sundance hit Crystal Fairy. It was Diego Izquierdo whose Sexo con Amor we were repping who brought us to Valdivia that year as he was working on El rey de los huevones . It was the year En la Cama by Matias Bizes ( La vida de los peces ) was the most popular film in Chile and films were finally breaking from the post-Pinochet trauma. The “other Sebastian”, Sebastian Silva, was the inspiration behind the writers of Mala Leche and La Sagrada Familia, and was writing the first film he would also direct, La vida me mata (Life Kills Me).
Gloria was such a fine work of art that it was developed in the Cannes Residency (Cinefondation) program and garnered national funds for its production. It was screened as a Work in Progress first in Chile’s Sanfic and then in San Sebastian in 2012 where it won the Cine in Construccion Award. Sebastian has recently received a Guggenheim fellowship and support of the Daad Berliner Kunstlerprogram for the development of his new projects.
To be witness to Chile’s spectacular growth in the international business gives me such a thrill. I can’t wait to see Sebastian’s next film which he is working on now in the Berlinale Residency (September – December), writing it with an eye toward co-production. The new film explores masculine emotions. Perhaps it will once again star Paulina Garcia.
Gloria
Directed by: Sebastián Lelio
Tiff 2013 - Special Presentation
Chile - 109 minutes - In Spanish with English subtitles
Director: Sebastián Lelio
Starring: Paulina García
Producer: Fabula - Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín
Tiff 2013: Special Presentation
U.S. Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Canadian Distributor: Mongrel Media
The film will be released by Roadside Attractions and is being sold internationally by Funny Balloons, who has already sold it to
Australia
Rialto Distribution (Australia)
Austria
Thimfilm Gmbh
Brazil
Imovision
Canada
Métropole Films Distribution
Colombia
Babilla Cine
France
Funny Balloons
Germany
Alamode Film
Greece
Strada Films
Israel
New Cinema Ltd.
Italy
Lucky Red
Japan
Respect
Korea (South)
Pancinema
Netherlands
Wild Bunch Benelux
Portugal
Alambique
Sweden
Atlantic Film Ab
Switzerland
Filmcoopi Zurich Ag
Turkey
Bir Film
United Kingdom
Network
USA
Roadside Attractions...
- 9/17/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Berlinale Residency, Berlin International Film Festival’s new international fellowship programme, is inviting six filmmakers with their latest projects to Berlin for four months, beginning in September 2012.
The selected participants can finalize their scripts, and develop production and distribution strategies at the Residency. Mentors will advise participants on developing and revising their scripts. In a “Script to Market” seminar with market experts, the producers and directors will explore the audience potential of their works.
The selected projects will be presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 10-12, 2013) and/or at the Guadalajara Ibero-American Co-production Meeting in March 2013.
Selected projects
Matías Bize, Chile: The Memory of Water
Screenwriters: Matías Bize and Julio Rojas
Producers: Adrian Solar, Ceneca Producciones, Chile, and Nicole Gerhards, NiKo Film, Germany
Born in 1979, this director and screenwriter first attracted international attention in 2003 with his feature film debut, Sábado, una película en tiempo real. In 2005 his drama En la cama,...
The selected participants can finalize their scripts, and develop production and distribution strategies at the Residency. Mentors will advise participants on developing and revising their scripts. In a “Script to Market” seminar with market experts, the producers and directors will explore the audience potential of their works.
The selected projects will be presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market (February 10-12, 2013) and/or at the Guadalajara Ibero-American Co-production Meeting in March 2013.
Selected projects
Matías Bize, Chile: The Memory of Water
Screenwriters: Matías Bize and Julio Rojas
Producers: Adrian Solar, Ceneca Producciones, Chile, and Nicole Gerhards, NiKo Film, Germany
Born in 1979, this director and screenwriter first attracted international attention in 2003 with his feature film debut, Sábado, una película en tiempo real. In 2005 his drama En la cama,...
- 6/12/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
It's always fun to guess how the jury might end up voting and whether the head of juror will indeed sway the final vote. Last year The White Ribbon won and the wave of reactions obviously pointed to Huppert and Haneke's well-known rapport. The previous year, Sean Penn gave the Palme d'Or to The Class, not a politically-themed picture, but a social drama that represents a common pandemic. This year we have Tim Burton as the master of ceremonies -- knowing him he has a taste for noir and fantasy. - It's always fun to guess how the jury might end up voting and whether the head of juror will indeed sway the final vote. Last year The White Ribbon won and the wave of reactions obviously pointed to Huppert and Haneke's well-known rapport. The previous year, Sean Penn gave the Palme d'Or to The Class, not a politically-themed picture,...
- 2/18/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Still working on the same themes of sexual awareness and self-discovery, hopefully this is closer in quality to Sex and Lucia than Chaotic Ana. - #42. Room in Rome Director/Writer: Julio MedemProducers: Medem and Alvaro Longoria (La zona)Distributor: IFC Films. The Gist: This is a remake of Chilean Matias Bize’s “En la cama” with a Spanish girl who indulges in a night of casual sex in Rome. This sees two strangers (Elena Anaya and Natasha Yarovenka) who meet and spend a passionate physical encounter in a hotel room.....(more) Cast: Elena Anaya, Natasha Yarovenko and Enrico Lo Verso. Why is it on the list?: Still working on the same themes of sexual awareness and self-discovery, hopefully this is closer in quality to Sex and Lucia than Chaotic Ana. Release Date/Status?: IFC Films made the rare move to get this while in production.
- 2/3/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Avatar is showing no signs of letting up, and with last night's Best Drama Golden Globes win (ugh), it's sure to keep staying on the headlines. We'll start off this edition with a couple of things Avatar-related that—unlike last week's Na'Vi suicide/sex dreams—don't make you question humanity. Fancy that. And then, of course, I counter that sanctuary with another Wtf entry about those Avatar fans (are they the new Twilight fans?). Take a look-see.
The Good
• Of the (already thinning) good sketches that SNL does these days, very few of them seem to be good enough to be recurring. While Will Forte is the one heading to the big screen with MacGruber, I think my favorite remains Laser Cats. Last Saturday, we were treated to the fifth episode of Laser Cats, this time with the added backing of James Cameron and guest starring Sigourney Weaver.
Gamechanger.
The Good
• Of the (already thinning) good sketches that SNL does these days, very few of them seem to be good enough to be recurring. While Will Forte is the one heading to the big screen with MacGruber, I think my favorite remains Laser Cats. Last Saturday, we were treated to the fifth episode of Laser Cats, this time with the added backing of James Cameron and guest starring Sigourney Weaver.
Gamechanger.
- 1/18/2010
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Sd reports that IFC has acquired Us rights to Julio Medem’s Room In Rome ahead of its eventual world premiere that would take place at the Berlin Film Festival of 2010. - Sd reports that IFC has acquired Us rights to Julio Medem’s Room In Rome ahead of its eventual world premiere that would take place at the Berlin Film Festival of 2010. Having discovered some of Medem's earlier work in film school, I can say that I'm a fan of his work and a fan of Elena Anaya, a national treasure from Spain who appeared in Lucía y el sexo (Medem's most popular title in the U.S.). Anaya toplines this pic which would most likely receive a release date next summer. This is a remake of Chilean Matias Bize’s “En la cama” and sees two strangers (Anaya and Natasha Yarovenka...
- 12/13/2009
- by Ioncinema.com Staff
- IONCINEMA.com
A Work In Progress: Halls and the lobby of Loews remained bare and quiet until Monday when the final day approaches and buyers began congregating in final deals. Surprisingly to all multiple sales had already been made by day 2 and sales for some, if not all were better than expected even if prices were lower. At the Thursday evening European Film Promotion reception, where all friends in the biz meet with welcoming smiles, Marcus Hu of Strand said he was already packing up to go as he had made his purchases..they were already screening Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before AFM began he said. One sales agent remarked that Toronto was the zero level and AFM looked like level 1 had been reached. One sales agent said only theatrical films were selling. Jonathan Wolf says AFM has are 10% fewer sellers (369 vs. 412 in 2008) but 4% more buyers with 13 new buyers from South Korea,...
- 11/7/2009
- by Sydney@SydneysBuzz.com (Sydney)
- Sydney's Buzz
MPAA ratings: Feb. 11, 2009. The following feature-length motion pictures have been reviewed and rated by the Classification and Rating Administration pursuant to the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program. Each of the designated ratings is defined as follows under the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program.
G -- General Audiences. All ages admitted.
PG -- Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG -13 --Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Nc-17 -- No One 17 And Under Admitted.
Film Distributor Reason Rating Asylum
Lightning Home Entertainment
Rated for strong bloody violence, graphic sexual content and pervasive language.
R Bart Got A Room*
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rated on Appeal for sexual content, thematic elements and brief strong language.
PG-13 Big Man Japan
Magnolia Pictures Rated for sci-fi action and crude humor.
PG-13
Born Of...
G -- General Audiences. All ages admitted.
PG -- Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
PG -13 --Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Nc-17 -- No One 17 And Under Admitted.
Film Distributor Reason Rating Asylum
Lightning Home Entertainment
Rated for strong bloody violence, graphic sexual content and pervasive language.
R Bart Got A Room*
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Rated on Appeal for sexual content, thematic elements and brief strong language.
PG-13 Big Man Japan
Magnolia Pictures Rated for sci-fi action and crude humor.
PG-13
Born Of...
- 2/11/2009
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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