Bendita Film Sales has acquired international sales rights to “Donkey Princess,” the latest feature from Chilean filmmaking duo Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, which is set to world premiere in the main International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival.
The deal renews Bendita’s relationship with León & Cociña after the Tenerife-based sales company handled “The Hyperboreans,” the pair’s 2024 feature, which premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
“Donkey Princess” marks their third feature, also following debut “The Wolf House” and “The Hyperboreans.”
Set in a fairy-tale kingdom where love has been forbidden, “Donkey Princess” follows Princess Diana, whose father, King Arthur, outlaws love after the death of her mother. At 15, Diana falls for Lalo, a young man from a neighboring kingdom. When the King discovers the romance and banishes him, Diana uses a magical bracelet to travel across worlds and parallel space-times in search of her lost love and her dreams.
Described by León and Cociña as their way of “reimagining the history of fantasy cinema,” “Donkey Princess” follows Diana through a series of worlds that also function as cinematic genres, moving from medieval fantasy to Hitchcock-inspired interiors, retro sci-fi and, finally, real locations.
The directors added that “Donkey Princess” differs from their previous work by featuring “actors performing in a naturalistic style” within constantly evolving visual environments.
Produced by León & Cociña Films and Globo Rojo Films in Chile, “Donkey Princess” is co-produced by Metonymie in France, Viking Film in the Netherlands, Montelona Films in Uruguay and Autentika Films in Germany.
“We’re thrilled to renew our collaboration with León & Cociña Films after ‘The Hyperboreans,’” said Luis Renart, CEO at Bendita Film Sales. “‘Donkey Princess’ is another remarkable leap in Cociña and León’s endlessly inventive body of work, where meticulous handcrafted filmmaking and an unmistakably original sense of humor come together in truly unexpected ways.”
“We have come a long way alongside the directing duo León & Cociña,” said producer Catalina Vergara, founder of León & Cociña Films and a producer at Globo Rojo. “With this third feature, we continue to champion a way of producing and making films that fosters the creation of new cinematic narratives. In this latest work, León & Cociña take us on a journey through a story that moves across different genres, leading audiences into a new cinematic experience.”
The film’s score is by Jean-Benoît Dunckel, one half of French electronic duo AIR, whose film work includes Sofia Coppola’s “The Virgin Suicides.”
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