Final five nominations to be announced on November 2.
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Todd Haynes’ May December are among the titles on the latest British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) longlists, for Best Feature Documentary and Best International Independent Film.
15 films are on the documentary longlist, with five of them by first-time directors; with 17 films on the international list.
Scroll down for the longlists
Alongside McQueen’s film combining analysis of Amsterdam during the Second World War with the present day, documentary titles include Kevin MacDonald’s High & Low: John Galliano about the...
- 10/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Mubi to release in US, Latin America, UK, other regions.
Argentina’s selection committee has submitted Rodrigo Moreno’s Cannes Un Certain Regard entry The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes) as this season’s international feature film contender.
The Delinquents: Cannes review
Mubi acquired rights for North America, UK & Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, Italy, India, and Benelux from Magnolia International.
The Delinquents stars Argentinian actors Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi and Margarita Molfino and follows a Buenos Aires bank employee who dreams up a plan to free himself and his co-worker from the humdrum routine of their working lives.
Laura Paredes, Mariana Chaud,...
Argentina’s selection committee has submitted Rodrigo Moreno’s Cannes Un Certain Regard entry The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes) as this season’s international feature film contender.
The Delinquents: Cannes review
Mubi acquired rights for North America, UK & Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, Italy, India, and Benelux from Magnolia International.
The Delinquents stars Argentinian actors Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi and Margarita Molfino and follows a Buenos Aires bank employee who dreams up a plan to free himself and his co-worker from the humdrum routine of their working lives.
Laura Paredes, Mariana Chaud,...
- 10/2/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Spain, China, Middle East among buyers for Rodrigo Moreno’s selection.
Magnolia International has reported ongoing robust trade on Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes) following the multi-territory Mubi deal and has licensed a raft of additional key territories.
Rights to Rodrigo Moreno’s film have gone in Spain (Filmin), Greece (Weirdwave), Taiwan (Filmware), China (Hugoeast), Middle East (Gulf), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Israel (New Cinema), and worldwide airlines rights (Anuvu), with other territories under negotiation.
As previously reported Mubi acquired the Argentinian filmmaker’s crime thriller for North America, UK, Latin America, Italy, Benelux, Turkey, Germany, and India.
Magnolia International has reported ongoing robust trade on Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes) following the multi-territory Mubi deal and has licensed a raft of additional key territories.
Rights to Rodrigo Moreno’s film have gone in Spain (Filmin), Greece (Weirdwave), Taiwan (Filmware), China (Hugoeast), Middle East (Gulf), Portugal (Leopardo Filmes), Israel (New Cinema), and worldwide airlines rights (Anuvu), with other territories under negotiation.
As previously reported Mubi acquired the Argentinian filmmaker’s crime thriller for North America, UK, Latin America, Italy, Benelux, Turkey, Germany, and India.
- 6/1/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Spanish-language comedy-drama screens at Cannes in Un Certain Regard.
Mubi has acquired Rodrigo Moreno’s Cannes Un Certain Regard entry The Delinquents in an all-rights deal for North America, the UK, Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, Italy, India and Benelux.
The global distributor and streaming service will release the Spanish-language comedy-drama theatrically in North America, the UK and other territories, with release plans and exclusive streaming dates expected to be announced soon. Magnolia International is representing worldwide rights to the film.
Starring Argentinian actors Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi and Margarita Molfino, The Delinquents centres on a Buenos Aires bank employee...
Mubi has acquired Rodrigo Moreno’s Cannes Un Certain Regard entry The Delinquents in an all-rights deal for North America, the UK, Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, Italy, India and Benelux.
The global distributor and streaming service will release the Spanish-language comedy-drama theatrically in North America, the UK and other territories, with release plans and exclusive streaming dates expected to be announced soon. Magnolia International is representing worldwide rights to the film.
Starring Argentinian actors Daniel Elías, Esteban Bigliardi and Margarita Molfino, The Delinquents centres on a Buenos Aires bank employee...
- 5/18/2023
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Rodrigo Moren’s “The Deliquents” has been scooped up by Mubi out of the Cannes Film Festival. The distributor has acquired the rights to the film in North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, Turkey, Italy, India, and Benelux and has plans for both a theatrical and streaming plan in the coming months.
According to the film’s official synopsis: Morán (Daniel Eliás) is a bank employee in Buenos Aires who dreams up a risky plan to liberate himself and his co-worker Román (Esteban Bigliardi) from the shackles of working life: Morán will steal enough cash from the bank to fund their retirement if Román hides the money for him after he confesses and serves prison time; in three years’ time, they’ll reunite, split the cash, and never have to work again.
Departing to the countryside to fulfill his side of the deal, the less adventurous Román finds himself transformed...
According to the film’s official synopsis: Morán (Daniel Eliás) is a bank employee in Buenos Aires who dreams up a risky plan to liberate himself and his co-worker Román (Esteban Bigliardi) from the shackles of working life: Morán will steal enough cash from the bank to fund their retirement if Román hides the money for him after he confesses and serves prison time; in three years’ time, they’ll reunite, split the cash, and never have to work again.
Departing to the countryside to fulfill his side of the deal, the less adventurous Román finds himself transformed...
- 5/18/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Here at the Cannes Film Festival, Mubi has taken rights in North America, UK, Italy, Latin America, Turkey, India and Benelux to Un Certain Regard movie The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes).
Mubi will theatrically release the Spanish-language comedy-drama in North America, UK, Latin America, and some of their other markets.
The deal was negotiated between Mubi and Magnolia International who represents worldwide rights to the film.
Rodrigo Moreno’s feature stars Argentinian actors Daniel Elías (The Snatch Thief), Esteban Bigliardi (The Summit), Margarita Molfino (The Accused), Laura Paredes, Mariana Chaud (La Flor), Cecilia Rainero (Trenque Lauquen), and Germán De Silva (Las Acacias).
Pic follows Morán and Román, who are both looking for freedom and adventure. One commits a robbery, discovering an alternative to his boring life, while the other hides money that doesn’t belong to him. Their destiny as new criminals will bring them together.
Pic is produced...
Mubi will theatrically release the Spanish-language comedy-drama in North America, UK, Latin America, and some of their other markets.
The deal was negotiated between Mubi and Magnolia International who represents worldwide rights to the film.
Rodrigo Moreno’s feature stars Argentinian actors Daniel Elías (The Snatch Thief), Esteban Bigliardi (The Summit), Margarita Molfino (The Accused), Laura Paredes, Mariana Chaud (La Flor), Cecilia Rainero (Trenque Lauquen), and Germán De Silva (Las Acacias).
Pic follows Morán and Román, who are both looking for freedom and adventure. One commits a robbery, discovering an alternative to his boring life, while the other hides money that doesn’t belong to him. Their destiny as new criminals will bring them together.
Pic is produced...
- 5/18/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Magnolia Pictures International has acquired worldwide sales rights — including U.S. sales rights — to heist comedy-drama “The Delinquents” from Argentinian writer-director Rodrigo Moreno (“The Custodian”). The film will world premiere as part of the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
In “The Delinquents,” the routine lives of two bank employees, Morán and Román, break down when Morán steals a small fortune from the bank’s vault. On the run, he glimpses a possible alternative to the gray life he’s been living and, in addition, falls in love. But he is forced to choose between this radical alternative and following through on his heist plans, so he resigns himself to a short prison stint. His colleague Román, unwillingly in possession of the stolen money, feels trapped by the secret he’s keeping; his paranoia increases until he too finds a way out, and also discovers a new love.
In “The Delinquents,” the routine lives of two bank employees, Morán and Román, break down when Morán steals a small fortune from the bank’s vault. On the run, he glimpses a possible alternative to the gray life he’s been living and, in addition, falls in love. But he is forced to choose between this radical alternative and following through on his heist plans, so he resigns himself to a short prison stint. His colleague Román, unwillingly in possession of the stolen money, feels trapped by the secret he’s keeping; his paranoia increases until he too finds a way out, and also discovers a new love.
- 4/24/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Beijing-based distributor Hugoeast Media has acquired Chinese distribution rights to Cannes Directors’ Fortnight film “The Tale of King Crab,” the first feature venture into narrative fiction of Italian filmmakers Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis.
Hugoeast Media plans a limited theatrical release in Chinese theaters in the course of 2022.
The deal with Hugoeast Media was closed by the international sales arm of France’s Shellac. It adds to a North American pick-up by Oscilloscope Laboratories, negotiated by Shellac’s Thomas Ordonneau and Egle Cepaite and announced a week after “Crab King” world premiered at the Cannes Festival.
An out-there tale of tragedy and redemption, “The Tale of King Crab” is based on vague local legend picked up by the filmmakers of a man, Luciano, living in a benighted Italian village in the late 1800s or early twentieth century decried as a “madman, an aristocrat, a saint and a drunkard.
Hugoeast Media plans a limited theatrical release in Chinese theaters in the course of 2022.
The deal with Hugoeast Media was closed by the international sales arm of France’s Shellac. It adds to a North American pick-up by Oscilloscope Laboratories, negotiated by Shellac’s Thomas Ordonneau and Egle Cepaite and announced a week after “Crab King” world premiered at the Cannes Festival.
An out-there tale of tragedy and redemption, “The Tale of King Crab” is based on vague local legend picked up by the filmmakers of a man, Luciano, living in a benighted Italian village in the late 1800s or early twentieth century decried as a “madman, an aristocrat, a saint and a drunkard.
- 9/21/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Broken English Productions, the Latinx production arm of financier Grandave Capital, is boarding “The Monster Within,” the elevated genre film from Chile’s Forastero.
The move follows the worldwide sales rights pick up of Forastero’s “My Tender Matador” by Grandave Capital’s sales arm, Grandave Int’l, at the Venice Film Festival.
“As we want to finance high quality projects, it was an easy decision to continue to do business with Forastero,” said Grandave Capital president Stanley Preschutti, adding: “When you see the additional production companies involved with ‘The Monster Within’ and the projects they have done, that decision was even easier.”
Broken English Productions joins a team of European, North American and Latin American co-producers that apart from Forastero include Denmark’s Space Rocket Nation, the label of Lene Børglum and Nicolas Winding Refn; Canada’s 1976 Productions and Argentina’s Tornado Cine, founded by producers Alejandro Israel and Ezequiel Borovinsky.
The move follows the worldwide sales rights pick up of Forastero’s “My Tender Matador” by Grandave Capital’s sales arm, Grandave Int’l, at the Venice Film Festival.
“As we want to finance high quality projects, it was an easy decision to continue to do business with Forastero,” said Grandave Capital president Stanley Preschutti, adding: “When you see the additional production companies involved with ‘The Monster Within’ and the projects they have done, that decision was even easier.”
Broken English Productions joins a team of European, North American and Latin American co-producers that apart from Forastero include Denmark’s Space Rocket Nation, the label of Lene Børglum and Nicolas Winding Refn; Canada’s 1976 Productions and Argentina’s Tornado Cine, founded by producers Alejandro Israel and Ezequiel Borovinsky.
- 11/9/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Rodrigo Sepulveda’s pan-Latin American drama will be offered to buyers during the Toronto market.
Grandave International has acquired worldwide rights My Tender Matador, writer-director Rodrigo Sepúlveda Urzúa’s Latin American drama set to get its world premiere in the Venice Days independent sidebar to this September’s Venice Film Festival.
The film will be introduced to buyers during the virtual market portion of the Toronto International Film Festival, also in September.
A pan-Latin American co-production, My Tender Matador is based on the novel by LGBTQ+ activist Pedro Lemebel. Alfredo Castro stars as an elderly cross-dresser in 1980s Chile. Producers are Lucas Engel,...
Grandave International has acquired worldwide rights My Tender Matador, writer-director Rodrigo Sepúlveda Urzúa’s Latin American drama set to get its world premiere in the Venice Days independent sidebar to this September’s Venice Film Festival.
The film will be introduced to buyers during the virtual market portion of the Toronto International Film Festival, also in September.
A pan-Latin American co-production, My Tender Matador is based on the novel by LGBTQ+ activist Pedro Lemebel. Alfredo Castro stars as an elderly cross-dresser in 1980s Chile. Producers are Lucas Engel,...
- 8/4/2020
- by 31¦John Hazelton¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Chile’s Forastero has shared with Variety the first trailer for it is highly anticipated, pan-Latin American co-production “My Tender Matador,” staring the country’s most prolific lead actor Alfredo Castro “The Club”).
Co-produced by Forestero in Chile, Tornado in Argentina, Caponeto in Mexico and Zapik Films in Chile, the feature is directed by Rodrigo Sepúlveda Urzúa and based on the the novel by celebrated Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel, a figure decades ahead of his time is his advocacy of gender issues, in an archly conservative Chile under and after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Turning on an intimate friendship, the 1986-set feature tells the story of an impoverished, elderly, cross-dresser known as the Queen of the Corner (Castro). After falling in love with a charming guerrilla, the character gets swept up in a covert anti-Pinochet operation.
In the trailer we see the first encounter between the two, and the...
Co-produced by Forestero in Chile, Tornado in Argentina, Caponeto in Mexico and Zapik Films in Chile, the feature is directed by Rodrigo Sepúlveda Urzúa and based on the the novel by celebrated Chilean writer Pedro Lemebel, a figure decades ahead of his time is his advocacy of gender issues, in an archly conservative Chile under and after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Turning on an intimate friendship, the 1986-set feature tells the story of an impoverished, elderly, cross-dresser known as the Queen of the Corner (Castro). After falling in love with a charming guerrilla, the character gets swept up in a covert anti-Pinochet operation.
In the trailer we see the first encounter between the two, and the...
- 6/19/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Echo of the Mountain also scoops a top prize at the film festival in Mexico.Scroll down for full list of winners
Matias Lucchesi’s debut feature Natural Sciences (Ciencias naturales) scooped a top prize, the Golden Mayahuel and €14,700 ($20,000) in cash, in the Ibero-American competition of the 29th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), March 21-30.
The Argentinian production follows an adolescent girl’s quest to reconnect with her estranged father and was launched last month at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Generation Kplus Grand Prix.
Sold by Urban Distribution, it beat competition from 18 other titles to take the top prize and also received the best screenplay award and the Feisal (Latin American Film Schools) trophy.
Lead stars Paula Herzog and Paola Barrientos shared the best actress prize.
Echo of the Mountain (Eco de la Montana), a documentary directed by veteran Nicolas Echevarria, won the prize for best Mexican film, which included...
Matias Lucchesi’s debut feature Natural Sciences (Ciencias naturales) scooped a top prize, the Golden Mayahuel and €14,700 ($20,000) in cash, in the Ibero-American competition of the 29th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), March 21-30.
The Argentinian production follows an adolescent girl’s quest to reconnect with her estranged father and was launched last month at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Generation Kplus Grand Prix.
Sold by Urban Distribution, it beat competition from 18 other titles to take the top prize and also received the best screenplay award and the Feisal (Latin American Film Schools) trophy.
Lead stars Paula Herzog and Paola Barrientos shared the best actress prize.
Echo of the Mountain (Eco de la Montana), a documentary directed by veteran Nicolas Echevarria, won the prize for best Mexican film, which included...
- 3/30/2014
- by alexisgrivas@yahoo.com (Alexis Grivas)
- ScreenDaily
Festival de Cannes (In Competition)
Admittedly, "Lion's Den's" women-in-prison story is not an instant attraction, but it doesn't take more than a few minutes into it to realize this film is several cuts above the genre standard.
Versatile Argentine helmer Pablo Trapero shakes off the leisurely lethargy of his recent "Born and Bred" in a riveting, high-pitched drama blessed by the extraordinarily edgy performance of actress-producer Martina Gusman as a middle-class college coed who finds herself pregnant and in prison for murder. Remake rights could be attractive, though this Spanish-language film co-produced by Argentina, Brazil (with the involvement of Walter Salles) and South Korea works perfectly with its own authorial blend of police procedural, documentary realism and engrossing drama.
Julia (Gusman) wakes up one morning beside two blood-covered bodies. Her boyfriend has been stabbed to death, and his male lover, Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro), is barely alive. Julia, pretty beaten up herself, can't remember what happened, and she and Ramiro are arrested on suspicion of murder.
This lightning-swift opener is an able hook that ushers viewers into the main body of the story, which takes place in the filthy but colorful chaos of a special prison for female inmates with babies and small children. On the outside, it could pass for a friendly place, if every mother didn't know that her child will be taken away when he or she turns 4. Trapero's fascination with the knitty-gritty horrors of this open-cell Third World jail -- whose immense dimensions are not revealed until the last scenes -- link it to a long tradition of Latin American cinema, not least his police story "El Bonaerense".
As important as the prison is as a backdrop, with its cursing, lustful, hair-pulling inmates and their hordes of tiny tots, Julia remains a solid axis for the story. Gusman, who has been involved on the production side of all of Trapero's films since "El Bonaerense", has a modern intensity that blows away the rest of the cast. She is never banal as she evolves from a helpless victim who hates her unborn child to a survivor who finds happiness in little Tomas once he is born. When her estranged mother (Elli Medeiros) suddenly turns up and tries to take him away from her, Julia brings out her claws and makes the toughness she has learned in prison pay off.
venue: Festival de Cannes (In Competition)
Cast: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro.
Director: Pablo Trapero. Screenwriters: Alejandro Fadel, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero. Executive producer: Martina Gusman. Producers: Pablo Trapero, Youngjoo Suh, Walter Salles. Production: Matanza Cine (Buenos Aires), Fine Cut, Cineclick Asia (South Korea), Patagonik (Argentina), Videofilmes (Brazil). Director of photography: Guillermo Nieto. Production designer: Coca Oderigo. Costume designer: Marisa Urruti. Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams. Sound: Federico Esquerro. Editor: Ezequiel Borovinsky. Sales Agent: Ad Vitam, Paris. No NPAA rating, 113 minutes.
Admittedly, "Lion's Den's" women-in-prison story is not an instant attraction, but it doesn't take more than a few minutes into it to realize this film is several cuts above the genre standard.
Versatile Argentine helmer Pablo Trapero shakes off the leisurely lethargy of his recent "Born and Bred" in a riveting, high-pitched drama blessed by the extraordinarily edgy performance of actress-producer Martina Gusman as a middle-class college coed who finds herself pregnant and in prison for murder. Remake rights could be attractive, though this Spanish-language film co-produced by Argentina, Brazil (with the involvement of Walter Salles) and South Korea works perfectly with its own authorial blend of police procedural, documentary realism and engrossing drama.
Julia (Gusman) wakes up one morning beside two blood-covered bodies. Her boyfriend has been stabbed to death, and his male lover, Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro), is barely alive. Julia, pretty beaten up herself, can't remember what happened, and she and Ramiro are arrested on suspicion of murder.
This lightning-swift opener is an able hook that ushers viewers into the main body of the story, which takes place in the filthy but colorful chaos of a special prison for female inmates with babies and small children. On the outside, it could pass for a friendly place, if every mother didn't know that her child will be taken away when he or she turns 4. Trapero's fascination with the knitty-gritty horrors of this open-cell Third World jail -- whose immense dimensions are not revealed until the last scenes -- link it to a long tradition of Latin American cinema, not least his police story "El Bonaerense".
As important as the prison is as a backdrop, with its cursing, lustful, hair-pulling inmates and their hordes of tiny tots, Julia remains a solid axis for the story. Gusman, who has been involved on the production side of all of Trapero's films since "El Bonaerense", has a modern intensity that blows away the rest of the cast. She is never banal as she evolves from a helpless victim who hates her unborn child to a survivor who finds happiness in little Tomas once he is born. When her estranged mother (Elli Medeiros) suddenly turns up and tries to take him away from her, Julia brings out her claws and makes the toughness she has learned in prison pay off.
venue: Festival de Cannes (In Competition)
Cast: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro.
Director: Pablo Trapero. Screenwriters: Alejandro Fadel, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero. Executive producer: Martina Gusman. Producers: Pablo Trapero, Youngjoo Suh, Walter Salles. Production: Matanza Cine (Buenos Aires), Fine Cut, Cineclick Asia (South Korea), Patagonik (Argentina), Videofilmes (Brazil). Director of photography: Guillermo Nieto. Production designer: Coca Oderigo. Costume designer: Marisa Urruti. Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams. Sound: Federico Esquerro. Editor: Ezequiel Borovinsky. Sales Agent: Ad Vitam, Paris. No NPAA rating, 113 minutes.
- 5/15/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes film review, In Competition
Admittedly, its women-in-prison story is not an instant attraction, but it doesn't take more than a few minutes into "Lion's Den" to realize this film is several cuts above the genre standard. Versatile Argentine helmer Pablo Trapero shakes off the leisurely lethargy of his recent "Born and Bred" in a riveting, high-pitched drama blessed by the extraordinarily edgy performance of actress/producer Martina Gusman as a middle-class college girl who finds herself pregnant and in prison for murder. Remake rights could be attractive, though this Spanish-lingo film coproduced by Argentina, Brazil (with the involvement of Walter Salles) and South Korea works perfectly with its own authorial blend of police procedural, documentary realism and engrossing drama.
Julia (Gusman) wakes up one morning beside two blood-covered bodies. Her boyfriend has been stabbed to death and his male lover Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro) is barely alive. Julia, pretty beaten up herself, can't remember what happened, and both she and Ramiro are arrested on suspicion of murder. This lightning-swift opener is an able hook that ushers viewers into the main body of the story, which takes place in the filthy but colorful chaos of a special prison for female inmates with babies and small children. On the outside, it could pass for a friendly place, if every mother didn't know that her child will be taken away when he or she turns four. Trapero's fascination with the knitty-gritty horrors of this open-cell Third World jail, whose immense dimensions are not revealed until the last scenes, link it to a long tradition of Latin American cinema, not least his own police story "El Bonaerense".
As important as the prison is as a backdrop, with its cursing, lustful, hair-pulling inmates and their hordes of tiny tots, Julia remains a solid axis for the story. Gusman, who has been involved on the production side of all Trapero's films since "El Bonaerense" and who also played in "Born and Bred", has a modern intensity that blows away the rest of the cast. She is never banal as she evolves from a helpless victim who hates her unborn child, to a survivor who finds happiness in little Tomas once he is born. When her own estranged mother (Elli Medeiros) suddenly turns up and tries to take him away from her, Julia brings out her claws and makes the toughness she has learned in prison pay off.
Unexpected touches include a sprightly opening children's song and an engaging parade of baby strollers through the prison as the proud moms escort their offspring to kindergarten class. Guillermo Nieto's hand-held camerawork mimics Julia's nervous energy and keeps the audience locked up along with her, working in symbiosis with Federico Esquerro's forcefully realistic sound design.
Cast: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro. Director: Pablo Trapero Screenwriters: Alejandro Fadel, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero Executive producer: Martina Gusman
Producers: Pablo Trapero, Youngjoo Suh, Walter Salles. Director of photography: Guillermo Nieto Production designer: Coca Oderigo Costume designer: Marisa Urruti Music: Rupert Gregson-Willaims. Sound: Federico Esquerro. Editor: Ezequiel Borovinsky
Matanza Cine (Buenos Aires), Fine Cut, Cineclick Asia (South Korea), Patagonik (Argentina), Videofilmes (Brazil).
Sales Agent: Ad Vitam, Paris.
No MPAA reating. 113 minutes.
Admittedly, its women-in-prison story is not an instant attraction, but it doesn't take more than a few minutes into "Lion's Den" to realize this film is several cuts above the genre standard. Versatile Argentine helmer Pablo Trapero shakes off the leisurely lethargy of his recent "Born and Bred" in a riveting, high-pitched drama blessed by the extraordinarily edgy performance of actress/producer Martina Gusman as a middle-class college girl who finds herself pregnant and in prison for murder. Remake rights could be attractive, though this Spanish-lingo film coproduced by Argentina, Brazil (with the involvement of Walter Salles) and South Korea works perfectly with its own authorial blend of police procedural, documentary realism and engrossing drama.
Julia (Gusman) wakes up one morning beside two blood-covered bodies. Her boyfriend has been stabbed to death and his male lover Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro) is barely alive. Julia, pretty beaten up herself, can't remember what happened, and both she and Ramiro are arrested on suspicion of murder. This lightning-swift opener is an able hook that ushers viewers into the main body of the story, which takes place in the filthy but colorful chaos of a special prison for female inmates with babies and small children. On the outside, it could pass for a friendly place, if every mother didn't know that her child will be taken away when he or she turns four. Trapero's fascination with the knitty-gritty horrors of this open-cell Third World jail, whose immense dimensions are not revealed until the last scenes, link it to a long tradition of Latin American cinema, not least his own police story "El Bonaerense".
As important as the prison is as a backdrop, with its cursing, lustful, hair-pulling inmates and their hordes of tiny tots, Julia remains a solid axis for the story. Gusman, who has been involved on the production side of all Trapero's films since "El Bonaerense" and who also played in "Born and Bred", has a modern intensity that blows away the rest of the cast. She is never banal as she evolves from a helpless victim who hates her unborn child, to a survivor who finds happiness in little Tomas once he is born. When her own estranged mother (Elli Medeiros) suddenly turns up and tries to take him away from her, Julia brings out her claws and makes the toughness she has learned in prison pay off.
Unexpected touches include a sprightly opening children's song and an engaging parade of baby strollers through the prison as the proud moms escort their offspring to kindergarten class. Guillermo Nieto's hand-held camerawork mimics Julia's nervous energy and keeps the audience locked up along with her, working in symbiosis with Federico Esquerro's forcefully realistic sound design.
Cast: Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro. Director: Pablo Trapero Screenwriters: Alejandro Fadel, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero Executive producer: Martina Gusman
Producers: Pablo Trapero, Youngjoo Suh, Walter Salles. Director of photography: Guillermo Nieto Production designer: Coca Oderigo Costume designer: Marisa Urruti Music: Rupert Gregson-Willaims. Sound: Federico Esquerro. Editor: Ezequiel Borovinsky
Matanza Cine (Buenos Aires), Fine Cut, Cineclick Asia (South Korea), Patagonik (Argentina), Videofilmes (Brazil).
Sales Agent: Ad Vitam, Paris.
No MPAA reating. 113 minutes.
- 5/15/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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