A Kino Lorber U.S. pick-up on Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s “Re-Creation” heads sales for Madrid-based Latido Films at last month’s Cannes which also take in theatrical deals in major markets over half the world for pregnant trans man drama “9 Moons.”
In further notable transactions, Gael García Bernal/Natalia Oreiro romantic drama “Nothing Between Us” has kicked off first deals. Latido’s high-flying auteur genre movies “The Awakening” and “The Whisper” have added new territories, while two new genre titles – war action movie “Carte Blanche” and period serial killer thriller “The Harvester” – have kicked off first pre-sales.
Put together, Latido’s Cannes deals underscore the kind of films which still sell in a hugely cautious market: Critical hits from star auteurs (“Re-Creation”), singular breakouts from newer talent (“9 Moons”) and genre, especially if made with arthouse substance and/or some sense of scale.
Sheridan, Merriamn’s ‘Re-Creation’ Closes the U.S.
“Re-Creation” applies Sidney Lumet’s classic “12 Angry Men” construct to a fictional trail re-examining the real-life evidence against of the prime suspect in French producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s murder.
Also written by Sheridan and Merriman, “Re-Creation” has garnered some glowing reviews – “A rich portrait of all shades of humanity: our convictions, prejudices, and in our best moments, deep reserves of logic and compassion,” said Variety.
Singularity as a Selling Point
Directed by Patricia Ortega, behind Sundance hit “Mamacruz,” “9 Moons” has been licensed by Latido to Encripta for the whole of Latin America, and to Cinemien for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, U.K. and Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Portugal, Italy and Israel. Most deals have theatrical commitments. In the film, Jack Gómez-Rolls (“Heridas”) stars as Angel, a transgender man who becomes unexpectedly pregnant. What makes the film stand out is not only its high concept but feel-good tone: Pregnancy forces Angel to reconsider what masculinity, identity and family mean, which is all for the better. “We have to deproblematize what is natural and diverse, what others see as extraordinary and a problem,” Ortega has said.
‘9 Moons’
Courtesy of Latido Films
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Stars Matter: ‘Nothing Between Us’
Starring García Bernal and Oreiro and brought to market at Berlin’s EFM, “Nothing Between Us” has sold in first sales to Poland (Gutek), Spain (Yoda Films), Australia (Palace), Slovenia (TV Slovenjia) and worldwide airlines (Avunju). Directed by Juan Taratuto (‘Reconstruction’), produced by Cimarrón, part of The Mediapro Studio, Concreto Films and Particular Crowd, “Nothing Between Us” weighs in as one of he market’s most commercial packages from Latin America in a world where stars still count. “This is one of those films that, due to the strength of its cast, will continue to sell over time until it’s rolled out to a good number of territories,” said Latido Films head Antonio Saura.
‘Nothing Between Us’
Latido Films has added yet further territories to two banner, elevated genre auteur titles, “The Whisper,” from Uruguay’s Gustavo Hernández (“Virus: 32,” “The Silent House”), which has closed Vietnam with Sunrise Media Global and Italy with Movies Inspired, and “The Awakening,” built on material shot by the late Colombian filmmaker Jaime Osorio Márquez (“The Squad”). Both proved market standouts at December’s Ventana Sur.
“Mixing genres works really, really well. So don’t make a crime series, don’t make a royalty series, make a crime royalty series,” Plum Research’s Jonathan Broughton said at late May’s Conecta Fiction. The same can be true of films. “The Whisper” is “part folk horror, part supernatural fantasy and part gender violence nightmare, “The Awakening” a supernatural action movie.
New Big Genre Plays
Carte Blanche
Ivan Pellicer in ‘Carte Blanche’ Courtesy of Latido Films
Of upcoming titles, Gerardo Herrero’s “Carte Blanche” has struck its first major market pre-sale, with South Korea’s Santa Claus. David Pérez Sañudo’s “The Harvester” has achieved the same with Italy’s Movies Inspired.
Both underscore the emergence in Spain of genre made at scale, one of the country’s consolidating hallmarks as a film export force. “Carte Blanche” begins and ends in Spain’s 1936-39 Civil War “High Noon” Western style with Faura, a former Spanish legionary fighting for the Republicans, who is left standing alone behind a blockade faces former comrades advancing down the street towards him, protected by tanks The film then flashes back to Spain’s 1921 Rif War becoming a horror-of-war action movie as Faura joins an 8-man Legionary squad whose revenge raid on a Berber village becomes a suicide mission.
Inspired by Spain’s first documented serial killer and boasting meticulous 1870s period construction and a €10 million ($11.6 million) budget – notably high for Spain – “The Harvester,” produced by La Claqueta and Amania Films, marks a step up in scale for director Pérez Sañudo, whose debut “Ane is Missing” was already notable for its fluid use of genre.
The Harvester
Patricia López Arnaiz in ‘The Harvester’ Courtesy of Latido Films
In further deals, Latido has sold comedy anthology “Homo sapiens,” from Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, (“Official Competition”) to both Australia (Palace) and Hungary (Cirko). Pedro Aguilera’s “Ladies’ Hunting Party,” a contemporary drama inspired by Carlos Saura’s “The Hunt,” has closed Australia with Palace.
“As time passes, buyers realize that there are movies that, outside the Cannes Festival’s selection, are different and exciting from other territories than France-participated films,” said Antonio Saura.
Remakes
Sales opportunities also take in sizeable business in remake accords. Several offers are in, for example, for the remake of “The Platform,” which Latido sold to Netflix in one of the most arresting deals at the 2019 Toronto Festival. Interested buyers include companies from Latin America and Europe. More potential business on other remakes will be announced shortly, Saura added.
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