“Matalife,” which was picked up for worldwide sale by Germany’s Picture Tree, will be screened at this year’s Guadalajara Construyer, one of the industry highlights of Latin America’s largest film festival.
The next film from director Gabriel Marino, who directed “Yesterday Wonder I Was,” and the much-talked-about film “Poor Daniel” will be added to the lineup.
Screened exclusively to the jury in this category, Matarifes is a follow-up to Uruguayan director brothers Rafael and Bernardo Antonaccio’s notable debut, the slow-boil but ultimately explosive thriller In the Quarry, which sold in most major markets around the world and marked the Antonaccio brothers as talents to follow.
A multinational co-production between three countries, which usually bodes well for Latin American titles, once again inspires a commitment to social issues in Matarifes, fueled by its thriller prowess and, here, the unusual setting of a meat ban in Uruguay in the 1970s.
Starring renowned director Claudia Sainte-Luce (The Amazing Catfish), “The Night Is About to Come” marks the return to filmmaking for Marinho, who burst onto the scene with the road movie “A Secret World,” which was selected by Berlin, and followed by the double Morelia Award-winning lo-fi fantasy romance “Yesterday Wonder I Was.”
There are also good words for esteemed Argentine actor and playwright Santiago Gobernoli’s debut feature, Poor Daniel.
Production partners for I Have To Leave include Animal de Luz, led by Inna Payan, principal producer of Cannes Un Certain Regard winner La Jaura de Oro.
“Swimming in the Blue” has won numerous screenplay awards and grants. “Where Dreams Sleep” by Daniel Rigros represents a 10-year journey from short to full-length.
If you take a closer look at the title,
“I have to leave” (“Me tengo que ir”, Hugo Arevillaga Serrano, Animal de Luz, Cine Acryrico, Mexico)
A drifting nurse finds an unexpected guide to help her cope with her grief and memories. Shot in Mexico City with a low-budget, new crew and first-time director from the theater, the film is “both risky and intimate. It’s an honest portrait of healing, of how holding on too long deepens the wounds, and learning to let go is the only way to move forward.”
“I have to go.”
“The Night Comes” (“Ya se quiere venir la noche”, Gabriel Marinho, Hunos Defectuosos, Jaibor Films, Pirexia, Mexico)
Lucero, who works in a lonely call center, attends a high school reunion and opens up old wounds. “In an impulsive act of defiance, she stages her own death, but a classmate’s hidden confession forces her to confront the only thing she can’t escape: herself,” the synopsis reads. “This film is a study of the character as he is,” says Marinho. “The film accepts her contradictions without trying to resolve them. The ambiguity becomes a way of seeing her rather than defining her. What remains is an attempt at empathy.”
“Night is coming”
“Matalifes” (Monalca Film, Uruguay, Blur Stories, Spain, Hein Cine, Argentina, La Mayor Cine, Uruguay, Nadador Cine, Uruguay)
José, a Galician immigrant, and his daughter Rosita, who are banned from eating meat, secretly set up a slaughterhouse. As their activities expand in the black market across the city, their ambitions collide with corrupt authorities, rival butchers, and a changing political landscape, pushing the family into dangerous alliances and violent consequences. “Matarifes explores how survival drives people to cross boundaries, and how ambition can become all-consuming in the process,” say Rafael and Bernardo Antonaccio.
“Matalife”
“Pobre Daniel” (“Pobre Daniel”, Santiago Governoli, Lucia Valdemoros, Blur Stories, Obol Film Club, Argentina, Spain)
Daniel and Elizabeth’s normal life is shattered by the arrival of Elizabeth’s brother, who has just been discharged from a psychiatric clinic, sparking an event that is both “unexpected and tender.” “It’s an attempt to combine the poetics of performance with the exploration of cinematic language,” says esteemed Argentine actor Santiago Gobernoli. He has adapted his own stage play. It is produced by Blurr Stories, a company based in Spain and Argentina, which has worked on works such as Ivan Foundation’s Berlin Festival Jury Prize winner “The Message” and Argentina’s Obol (“La Sudestada”).
“Poor Daniel”
“Swimming in the Blue” (Tempo Meio Azul Piscina, Sofia Federico, Benditas Projetos Criativos, Araçá Filmes, Mar Digital, Brazil)
“More than telling a story, my hope is to show the strength of relationships, how they are built and how they are a part of who we are. Unity, love, caring for each other, and especially the feelings between women, are very present in this plot and have an irreplaceable value,” director Sofia Federico told Variety. During development, it won two awards at Frapa 2020, including the Projeto Paradiso Award for Best Feature Screenplay.
“Where Dreams Sleep” (“Donde Duermen los Sueños”, Daniel Rigros, Bonzo Films, Animanita, Frontera Cine, Peru)
A remake of a short film by Rigros. Santiago, who falls into a coma after a car accident, connects with his deceased loved one Alina through memories and dreams. “Santiago must make the most painful decision of his life: embrace the woman he loves and disappear, or let her go and survive.” “It’s a personal exploration of memory and desire, based on a story that shows how the mind comes to terms with reality, fantasy, imagination, and dreams,” Ligros told Variety.
“A place where dreams sleep”
