L.A.-based Outsider Pictures, a U.S. distribution hub for Spanish-language cinema, has snagged North American rights to three International Oscar entries to the 97th Academy Awards: Costa Rica’s “Memories of a Burning Body,” Spain’s “Saturn Return” and Switzerland’s “Reinas,” directed by Peruvian-born helmer, Klaudia Reynicke.
In addition, it has picked up Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” by Argentina’s Hernán Rosselli and Toronto Platform awardee “They Will Be Dust,” starring Chile’s Alfredo Castro and Spain’s Angela Molina.
“I think the recent acquisitions from Outsider reflect the exciting and challenging cinema being produced in Latin America and Spain. These may not be star driven or hugely commercial films, but like most independent cinema, they are labors of love, passion pieces that film-makers have worked so hard for and that any company would be proud to distribute,” said Outsider Pictures founder-CEO Paul Hudson.
Docudrama “Memories of a Burning Body” is Costa Rican helmer-scribe Antonella Sudasassi’s second time to represent her country at the Oscars, following her acclaimed debut feature “The Awakening of the Ants.”
In “Memories…” anonymous voices of three women north of 60 relate their tumultuous past as actors reenacts the events they describe, one more harrowing than the next, as they grew into womanhood in an oppressive era.
“’Memories of a Burning Body’ is the conversation I never had with my grandmothers. It is the collective outcry of women who, despite the taboos, dare to talk about their most intimate secrets. Growing up in a Latin American, Catholic and conservative society almost everything was prohibited. Out of disinformation they had to find answers on their own about their bodies, about their various and constant metamorphoses,” said Sudasassi.
“The women protagonists have the courage to speak, they may not show their faces, but their voices most definitely scream. For me, understanding their stories is understanding my place in the world, how and why we got here,” she added.
“This film is an ode to all women creators of the universe, who gave birth to us, who cared for us, who invited us to raise questions so that today things are different for us,” she reflected, adding: “It’s really exciting that a film so intimate and personal from Costa Rica can resonate with audiences worldwide. I think there is no recognition more beautiful than that of the public.”
“Reinas,” a co-production between Switzerland, Peru and Spain, which world premiered at Sundance, deals with the theme of emigration and the strain it places on family ties.
There are two musical dramas in Outsider’s recent pickups, Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return,” about the making of popular Spanish band Los Planetas’ third album and “They Will Be Dust,” also sold by Spain’s Latido Films, where director Carlos Marqués-Marcet (“10,000KM”) boldly employs music and dance to tackle the right-to-die issue.
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed” provides a glimpse into the lucrative world of the ‘quiniela,’ aka the lottery, in Buenos Aires. In it, the Felpeto family runs a covert lottery in a small housing development. Maribel logs bets, while her mother, Alejandra, handles operations nearby. Recent raids and rumors of police dismissals and cash deals have unsettled the area.
“Outsider has acquired 15 films this year but not all of them will go theatrically, and the challenge post-COVID is discovering more exhibitors that will play the films and finding the marketing hooks and dollars to entice an audience, which is getting harder for the smaller distributors,” Hudson noted.
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