Ventana Sur’s Proyecta Highlights Projects from ‘Great Freedom,’ ‘Employer and Employee’ & ‘Land and Shade’ Producers

Flash, flicker, flash, cut to black. We’re watching grainy film of men walking in and out of the stalls in a West German public toilet, casting glances at each other, maybe a fumbling feel; a reverse angle shows us the camera behind the mirror. The men can’t see it, but some of them must surely guess it’s there and defy the odds anyway. Because without defiance, without desire, what are they? Without those things, they know they will only ever be half-alive.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAs new COVID protocols bedeviled travel to the U.K. and other parts of Europe, 3,000 lucky souls, including several hundred execs from Europe, were able to enjoy summer sun and post-lockdown reunions at Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur.

Jamie Lang Ventana Sur’s genre-dedicated sidebar Blood Window hosted a special panel this year, The Phenomenon of Fantasy Genre in an Ibero-American Environment: New Content, Formats and Trends.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentArgentina’s “Ayelén and the Forest Shadow,” Uruguay’s “The Eagle Heist,” Mexico’s “Journey to the Land of the Tarahumara,” Brazil’s “Berg’s Books”and Spain’s “Upiro” proved top winners at a Ventana Sur prize ceremony which in its very form stressed just how much the biggest film-TV market in Latin America has expanded.Prior to the pandemic, prize winners were allowed acceptance speeches.This year, with more awards than ever to doll out, recipients

Emilio Mayorga “Ray and Manny,” “Witch’s Business” and “Worldoscope” feature among the five animation projects chosen for the 2nd Women Animation Directors Mentoring Program, run by Ventana Sur’s Animation!Launched with the aim to boost gender parity and build a more equitable and diverse animation industry, the initiative has been launched in alliance with the Annecy Festival’s MIFA market, Argentina’s Institut Français and, for the first time, the Quirino Ibero-American Animation Awards.Five

Emiliano Granada Peruvian, Colombian and French co-production “Diogenes” has played at Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte selection, for films in post-production.It marks Leonardo Barbuy’s debut after he garnered attention with his first short film “Alana” (2017), winning Peru’s National Short Film Award.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentGrowing up is never easy. Especially if you’re a parent.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBrazilian Gregorio Graziosi’s “Tinnitus” is co-written by Andrés Julian Vera and Marco Dutra, a Locarno best director winner for “Good Manners”; its DP is Rui Poças, whose credits include Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama” and upcoming “Tabu.”Its score is from David Boulter, who played keyboard on Claire Denis’ “Bastards,” collaborated on the score of her “High Life.”Such credentials will make, almost inevitably, for one of the most polished of entries at

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent“Now, we’re producing over 100 projects, we’ve calculated we’ll be working on nearly 130 projects next year to supply both our platform networks,” The Walt Disney Company LatAm’s Leonardo Aranguibel commented at a Ventana Sur panel on Tuesday.How can Disney try to ensure quality at such a massive production levels? “We look for the best talents, not only in front of the cameras but also behind,” Aranguibel answered.Most streaming platform execs

Meikincine has acquired the international rights to “Sublime,” the first feature film from Argentine director Mariano Biasin,A coming-of-age drama, the title screened at Buenos Aires’ Cinemark Puerto Madero cinema to sales agents, fest heads and buyers on Tuesday.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentOstinato Cine, one of the high-energy company hubs on Ecuador’s burgeoning film scene, is teaming with Germany’s Rohfilm Productions to co-produce “Alfredo Larón,” the feature film debut as a writer-director of Benjamin Mirguet, an editor on Carlos Reygadas’ “Battle in Heaven” and João Paulo Miranda Maria’s “Memory House.”Developing and financing features for the international crossover arthouse sector, Rohfilm Productions’ credits include Cannes’

Jamie Lang M-Appeal has closed deals for two of its Ventana Sur titles: Marcela Lordy’s “The Book of Delights” to Pigeon Co. in Taiwan and “The Night of the Beast” from Mauricio Leiva Cock to HBO in Eastern Europe.“The Book of Delights” is an Argentina-Brazil co-production between Cinematográfica Marcela and bigBonsai which had already sold in the U.S.

Holly Jones Production heavyweights from international markets converged on Monday afternoon to talk talent as part of Ventana Sur’s SoloSerieS.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn Dec. 2018, two years after he had picked up “Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” at the first edition of Ventana Sur’s Animation!, Edward Noeltner’s Cinema Management Group (CMG) announced he had pre-sold it to over half the planet.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentParis-based MPM Premium is bringing onto the market “Eami,” the latest film from Paraguay’s Paz Encina whose debut “Hamaca Paraguay” won a Cannes Un Certain Regard Fipresci Prize.A timely ecological fable and tale of the pain of exile, “Eami” will be presented to select buyers in person at Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur this week as well as online by MPM Premium’s Quentin Worthington.He used 2020’s Ventana Sur market to unveil “The Pink Cloud,” from

Jamie Lang Rome-based 102 Distribution is placing two of its key upcoming catalog titles on the open market at this year’s Ventana Sur market and festival: Argentine Soccer doc “Xeneizes – Boca: the Origins” and Mexican coming-of-age drama “Oliver and the Pool.”L.A.’s 1844 Entertainment will handle U.S.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentThe Cannes Festival’s greatest industry achievement in the last decade, apart from maintaining the global preeminence of its Riviera-set meet, is Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur. Launched in 2009 by the Cannes Festival and Market, in partnership with Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency, it became from its very get-go the biggest film industry event in Latin America.Running Nov.

Almost a decade has passed since Austria won an Oscar with Michael Haneke’s Amour, but Sebastian Meise’s well-received third feature Great Freedom is gaining global acclaim after bagging the Un Certain Regard jury prize earlier this year at Cannes.