Selection of WIP Latam

El mensaje / The Message, by Iván Fund; Un cabo suelto / A Loose End by Daniel Hendler; Cuerpo Celeste, by Nayra Ilic; Muña Muña, by Paula Morel Kristof; Si no ardemos, cómo iluminar la noche / If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light up the Night, by Kim Torres, and Piedras preciosas / Gemstones, by Simón Vélez, are the six Latin American feature films at the post-production stage to screen for an audience of professionals at the 72nd edition of the San Sebastian Festival. The six titles, four of which are first or second films, will compete for the WIP Latam Industry Award and the EGEDA Platino Industry Award.

The Argentinian Iván Fund returns to San Sebastian with El mensaje / The Message, which participated in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2023. The film is a road movie through the Argentinian countryside, where a girl and her guardians get by thanks to the girl’s ability to communicate with animals. Marcelo Subiotto, winner ex-aequo of the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Puan (2023), features in the cast alongside Mara Bestelli and Anika Bootz. Fund’s earlier film, Piedra Noche / Dusk Stone (2021), participated in Horizontes Latinos after winning the WIP Latam Industry Award in 2020 and having its premiere in the Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice Festival.  

This is also the case of the Uruguayan actor and director Daniel Hendler, who will show Un cabo suelto / A Loose End, a Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum project in 2023. This will be his fifth participation in the Festival following La emboscada / The Ambush (Films in Progress, 2015), selected for the Forum in 2012 with the title El palomar, and Norberto apenas tarde / Norberto’s Deadline (Films in Progress, 2009). Starring Sergio Prina, the lead character of Un cabo suelto is a low-ranking police officer who arrives at the border between Uruguay and Argentina as he escapes from a hidden past.

Cuerpo Celeste, second feature from the Chilean Nayra Ilic, participated in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2021. The film follows the coming of age of Celeste, a teenager mourning her father’s death while dealing with a mother in crisis. Her first movie, Metro cuadrado (2011), was selected for the Palm Springs Festival.

Muña Muña, first feature from the Argentinian short films director Paula Morel Kristof, narrates the love story between a nurse and a French tourist younger than herself while preparing her son’s move abroad.

Piedras preciosas / Gemstones is the first inroads to feature-length films by the Colombian producer Simón Vélez whose shorts have played to international acclaim at festivals including Locarno, Valdivia and the Viennale. The film follows Machado, a Colombian migrant and seasonal worker commissioned by a gemstone collector to come home and steal a valuable emerald.

In the debut feature from the Costa Rican Kim Torres, which participated Proyecta 2022, Si no ardemos, cómo iluminar la noche / If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light up the Night, an introverted teenager is forced to start a new life in a secluded rural town with a chilling legend about a beast that preys on women. Her short films have been selected for Cannes, Locarno and Mar del Plata, among other festivals.

Many of the films recently presented in WIP Latam have gone on to enjoy a successful international career: La piel en primavera / Skin in Spring (formerly Sandra), by Yennifer Uribe Alzate, and Reas, by Lola Arias, premiered in the Forum at the Berlinale in 2024. In addition, the following films will participate in Horizontes Latinos: Quizás es cierto lo que dicen de nosotras / Maybe It’s True What They Say About Us, by Sofía Paloma Gómez and Camilo Becerra, and Los domingos mueren más personas / Most People Die on Sundays, by Iair Said, WIP Latam Industry Award and Egeda Platino Industry Award in 2023, which premiered at the ACID Cannes, among other titles to be announced in the coming days. 

AWARDS

WIP Latam Industry Award. Bestowed by the companies Best Digital, Deluxe Content Services Spain, Dolby Labs, Laserfilm Cine y Vídeo, Nephilim Producciones, No Problem Sonido and Sherlock Films, the prize consists of the post-production of one of the films presented a DCP subtitled in English and the distribution in Spain of the winning film.

EGEDA PLATINO INDUSTRY Award for Best WIP Latam. Coming with 30,000 euros for the main production company of the winning film.

Source:  San Sebastian Film Festival