12/03/2009

The film project Canal – presented by director-screenwriter Sebastián Mantilla and producer Bianca Smanio of Novart Media Films – has been selected, along with another four European and five Latin American works, for the first edition of the Puentes 09 producers’ workshop.

This joint initiative organised by EAVE and BAL (Buenos Aires Lab), with backing from MEDIA International, will take place at the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI) from March 26-30.

Mantilla’s debut film project continues to forge ahead, after taking part in the TorinoFilmLab Training course in 2008. Currently in development, the title is set to shoot this October. Confirmed cast members include Guillem Jiménez and Álex Brendemühl.

Canal tells the dramatic story of Tommy and Marga, two young brothers with Down’s syndrome who live like outcasts in a Catalonian coastal town. They work in the only local bar, run by their father Ignacio, who is plagued by debt and threats of bank seizure.

The four other European projects testify to the extraordinary variety of cultures and nationalities included in the selection. They are On Speaking Terms, produced by Raymond van der Kaaij for Holland’s Revolver Media Productions and written by Mexico’s Carlos Contreras; Todos nosotros (“All of Us”), produced by Jean de Forêts for France’s Les Films de Requiny and penned by Costa Rica’s Paz Fábrega; The Lost World Cup, produced by Chiara Boschiero for Italy’s Verdeoro and co-written by Lorenzo Garzella and Filippo Macelloni; and Fuga mortis, produced by Olena Yershova for the Ukraine’s Sota Cinema Group and written by Russia’s Kirill Mikhanovsky.

(Translated from Spanish)