Buzz Titles, Lineup and Trends

Jô Serfaty’s “Beyond the Edge,” Jorge Cadena’s “Tropical Malady,” and María Paz Barragán’s “The Tenants” look like potential standouts at the 7th Proyecta project platform at next week’s Ventana Sur.

Supported by two powerful partners, Cannes Marché du Film and the San Sebastian Film Festival, Proyecta, will take place place Dec. 4 in Montevideo’s Teatro Solís. 

One of Proyecta’s buzz titles, Jô Serfaty’s fiction debut “Beyond the Edge” took prizes from Globo Filmes and Vitrine at Brazil’s BRLab and then was a double winner at Málaga’s 2023 MAFF. Projeto Paradiso also supported development. 

Sourced from San Sebastian’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, “Tropical Malaise” is the latest from Swiss-Colombian Cadena, whose shorts won a Rotterdam Tiger (“Los cents de Antonia,” 2017), at Berlin (“Soeurs Jarariju”) and SXSW, while scoring an EFA nomination (“Flores de otro patio”).

A social-issue shock fest, catnip for sales agents, from Lima-based Final Abierto, “Tenants” plumbs the – here, literally – shocking reality of immigration. It won four awards at  FantasoLab. 

In news, “Perseidas” has scored a top-notch all-star female cast, led by Macarena García (“Blancanieves,” “La mesías”), which speaks well of the caliber of its screenplay. 

France’s Srab Films has boarded Duván Duque Vargas’ “Name and Surname,” from emerging Colombian art pic powerhouse Evidencia Films, headed by accomplished director Franco Lolli, whose “Gente de Bien” (2014) and “Litigante” (2019), both played Cannes Critics’ Week, “Litigante” opening the section. 

Elsewhere, Proyecta frames sophomore outings from Puerto Rico’s Sundance-selected Glorimar Marrero Sánchez (“The Fishbowl”)  and Colombian Fabián Hernández whose “Un Varón” played Cannes’ 2022 Directors’ Fortnight.

“Beyond the Edge” reflects on the “truly affected individuals” of environmental impact, says Serfaty, but also the feelings stirred in a fisherwoman and her daughter by the return to their village of a once summer resident.

Duque Vargas spent “a significant amount of time” exploring the shape of ‘Name and Surname’ “in more intimate settings,” especially a teen’s fractured relationship with his father. 

Whether charting family re-connection (“Perseidas,” “Today Is Yesterday”), facing a new uncertainty in life (We’re Fine”), setting up a new home (“El Grito de la Trinitaria”) or just trying to fix the lawn-mower (“Grass”), multiple titles chart bedrock affective connection – or their lack – in an unsettling age. 

“We have observed a clear trend in projects focused on exploring the inner worlds of characters and how these shape their external universe,” observes Yago Mateo, Cannes Marché du Film programs manager. “Notably, there is a tendency to focus on the intra-familial relationships of the characters and how these define and construct our protagonists,” he adds. 

“In many cases, these are deeply intimate stories that address universal themes, where the narrative thread rests on understanding the protagonists. To sum up, there’s a trend in fiction approached from a highly realistic and intimate perspective.”

A drill down on Proyecta’s 2024 lineup:

“Beyond the Edge,” (“Borda do Mundo,” Jô Serfaty, Brazil, France)

Serfaty’s follow-up to 2019 multi-prized doc debut “Um filme de verão.” A former summer resident returns to a coastal hamlet, soon to be engulfed by the sea, sparking memories and desires of a fisherwoman and her young granddaughter. The film “sheds light on the right to memory, to retell erased stories and rebuild a connection with the past,” Serfaty tells Variety. 

“Birds,” (“Los Pájaros,” Fabián Hernández, Colombia)

During training at a military battalion in the remote jungle, Freddy (18) performs all the rites of passage required to gain respect – Fighting, talking tough, putting up with the rigid schedule – but finally confronting his true identity. Produced by Manuel Ruiz Montealegre, behind “Un Varón” and “Amparo,” which played Cannes Critics’ Week. 

“Chances of a Fish,” (La Cábala del Pez,” Colombia, France, Mexico) 

“One number appears on the scales of a fish. A whole village happens to win the lottery with this number. This massive triumph is witnessed by a woman, the village’s one and only loser.” A debut feature project from Colombia’s Ana Katalina Carmona, whose short “Los Enemies” won the Breakthrough Award at Toulouse, co-produced by France’s Dublin Films and Mexico’s Collective Colmena.  

“El Grito de la Trinitaria,” (Glorimar Marrero Sánchez, Spain, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic) 

Re-uniting Puerto Rico’s Marrero Sánchez, director of the 2023 Sundance title “The Fishbowl” with its producer Auna Producciones (“Where Silence Passes By”), and extending the director’s work on colonialism and gender. Selling her home to pay her son’s debt, Antonia, 70, forms a home with Dominican Luisa, 35, after her flat is offered on Airbnb.

“Grass,” (“Pasto,” Ivana Galdeano, Argentina)

Karina (36) lives in a cottage on a squatter’s land. When her lawn mower blows, she spends three days trying to raise money to get the grass trimmed, “underscoring tensions in her relationships and precarious lifestyle.” Produced by Valeria Forster’s Brava Cine (“La Quinta”). Galdeano “has a remarkable ability to give voice to women on the margins, portraying their struggles, silences, and daily resilience with heart-wrenching authenticity,” says Forster. 

“I Thought I Was Swimming,” (“Anoche Creí Que Nadaba,” Catalina Torres Puentes, Uruguay, Paraguay)

Torres’ first feature: At a seaside resort in Uruguay, Vera’s grandmother Tere insists on betting at the casino, caring for best friend Elsa and drinking whisky. “As tourists leave, what remains unspoken is like the heat: it suffocates and prevents sleeping,” the synopsis runs. Produced by Uruguay’s Monarca Films and Paraguay’s Sabaté Films, behind Paz Encina’s “Paraguayan Hammock” and “Killing the Dead,” Paraguay’s 2020 Oscar entry. 

“Name and Surname,” (Duván Duque Vargas, Colombia, France)

Fer, 16, battles to escape his father’s shady dealings and house, which compares unfavorably to those of his upper-class high school friends. Fer’s “navigating through the contrasting worlds of the fractured home of his father and his upper-class school friends will resonate strongly in the Latin American context,” Duque Vargas has told Variety.

“Perseidas,” (“Perseids,” Spain)

Elena Irureta (“Patria”), Itziar Aizpuru (“Flowers”) and Ana Polvorosa (“Cable Girls”) join Macarena García, “Perseidas” turns on a famous Spanish chef who returns from Uruguay to Spain to attend her mother’s funeral. Winner of a best feature project at Mallorca Talent Lab, “Perseids” marks director Ignacio Lasterra Pinto’s debut.  

“Tenants,” (María Paz Baragán, Peru, Spain)

An immigration horror feature exploring issues of class, racism and xenophobia, but through a genre lens, building to what looks like a chilling finale. “Tenants” is set in 2003 as Edwin and Maria relocate from Lima to Madrid. They move into the only house they can afford. Soon, they hear spirits. Spain’s Batiak Films, behind Berlinale Fipresci winner “The Human Hibernation,” and Elora Posthouse co-produce.

“Today Is Yesterday,” (“Hoy es Ayer,” Alexis Durán, Colombia)

Juan Carlos, 42, after a mysterious disappearance, suddenly returns to his family and attempts to build a relationship with his son, who doesn’t remember him. Produced by Daniel Garcia, who has produced Lolli’s “Litigante,” Beatriz Seigner’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title “Los Silencios,” and all the movies of Rubén Mendoza, including Tallinn 2029 top prize winner “The Wandering Girl.”

“Tropical Malaise,” (Jorge Cadena, Switzerland, France) 

Produced by Geneva’s GoldenEggProduction, behind Cannes ACID opener “Let Me Go,” partnering with France’s Still Moving (“Rule 34”). Queer activists team with indigenous communities to protest Colombia’s largest open-cast coal mine. Cadena’s “visual language, enriched by vibrant Caribbean landscapes and infused with contagious activism, promises a unique work,” say producers Gabriela Bussmann and Yan Decoppet.

“We’re Fine,” (Mariana Sanguinetti, Renzo Cozza, Argentina)

Abandoned by husband Daniel, who leaves for Spain, Carla sells his belongings. Carla “contemplates the beauty of a moment of crisis, where what she took for granted no longer exists, starting with her own desire. We are interested in discussing adulthood as a period of uncertainty,” its directors say. Produced by Paloma Torras at Buenos Aires’ La Casa de Al Lado.