16/02/2010

“Everybody is much more festival oriented, and having a film in Panorama such as Miguel Albaladejo’s comedy Born to Suffer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] is a fantastic opportunity to make yourself heard at the market,” said Massimo Saidel from Madrid-based sales outfit Latido Films.

Screening today in the Berlinale a world premiere, Born to Suffer is a comedy by the award-winning director of Bear Cub, starring Adriana Ozores and Petra Martinez.

Also screening at the European Film Market is the Spanish dance documentary Of Heart and Courage, sold notably to Japan, and the social thriller The Widows on Thursdays by the Argentinian director of The Method [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Marcelo Pineyro. The film will be released in Spain in late February on 140 screens.

Several projects in post-production are attracting buyers’ attention in Berlin, including Todas las Canciones Hablan de Mi by Jonas Trueba (son of Fernando), whom Saidel called the Spanish Cedric Kahn. The film will be ready for Cannes.

Speaking about this year's market, the veteran sales executive said: "It is not as busy as usual, but people who are feeling the winds of economic recovery are here to buy. The arthouse sector is still over-crowded, but it is a unique and cherished part of the market that has gained in popularity with the slight regression of the US indie film market."

For Saidel, arthouse non-US films are increasingly dependent on festivals and awards, hence the success for instance of Juan Jose Campanella’s Argentinean/Spanish title The Secret in Their Eyes [+see also:
trailer
making of
Interview Juan José Campanella [IT]
Interview Ricardo Darín [IT]
Interview Soledad Villemin [IT]
film profile], the first film on Latido's slate to be absolutely “sold out”. The romantic thriller nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar will be released by Sony in the US and Pretty Pictures in France.