The 73rd San Sebastián Film Festival has rewarded projects from Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Spain and Germany in the Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum and the WIP Europa and WIP Latam sections (see the news). After presenting the European projects in the increasingly important Ikusmira Berriak programme (see the report), we take a look at the winners in the other strands.

Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum

Best Project Award
Do Not Let Me Die Alone – Francisco Rodríguez Teare (Chile/Belgium)
A twenty-something delivery worker makes a living by disappearing Chinchorro mummies – a pre-Hispanic society that inhabited the Atacama Desert coast – which he finds on construction sites. After a breakup, he meets a retired international jewellery thief and the thief’s niece, the heir to a hotel. He is then drawn into the mummy-trafficking business – and perhaps into a family.

The Chilean director and artist’s first fiction feature – following his award-winning documentary Otro sol – is already a Chilean-Belgian co-production between Rodrigo Díaz for Axolotl SPA and Rocío Romero for Mimbre Producciones, and Alice Lemaire for Michigan Films. With 24% of financing secured – including support from Creative Europe - MEDIA – the project is in scriptwriting and financing, and is seeking to connect with producers in Spain and Ibero-America, as well as sales agents.

Dale! Award (Latin America-Europe Development)
What Follows Is My Death – Laura Baumeister (Mexico/Spain)
A young Nicaraguan migrant escapes her captors and crosses the Mexican desert, where a sheep shearer rescues her and takes her to her ranch. As they fall in love, they must face the hostilities of a male-dominated world, while the young lady comes to terms with her condition as a “nagual woman”.

The Nicaraguan director’s second feature – after Daughter of Rage [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Laura Baumeister
fiche film] – is already a co-production between Mexico (Cecilia Salim for Tarco Estudio and Hari Sama for Catatonia) and Spain (María José Cordova for Somos Maravillosas). With 69% of financing secured, the project is looking for European partners to come on board for sound and picture post-production, VFX and music (see the interview).

Artekino International Prize
La piel del león – Álvaro Brechner (Spain/Uruguay/Brazil)
In the summer of 1964 in Uruguay, two detectives take on a case that defies all police logic – a crime announced by anonymous letters signed “Those Who Never Forget” – which will lead them to Europe and into a secret operation linked to one of the darkest crimes of the 20th century.

The new feature by the Uruguayan director – the man behind Bad Day to Go Fishing [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], Mr. Kaplan [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] and A Twelve-Year Night [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Alvaro Brechner
fiche film] – is already a co-production between Spain (Mariela Besuievsky for Tornasol Media), Uruguay (Virginia Hinze for Ufilms) and Brazil (Silvia de Oliveira Cruz for Vitrine Filmes). With 24% of financing secured and the script nearing completion, the project seeks additional co-producers, distributors and partners such as broadcasters or platforms.

WIP Europa

WIP Europa Industry Award + WIP Europa Award
February, Seven Days – Tatjana Moutchnik (Germany/Austria)
After years of estrangement, two Ukrainian siblings reunite at their mother’s funeral. Their father insists on following Jewish rites – although no one in the family knows exactly how – while the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine upends their lives and forces the siblings to reconsider their relationship with their homeland.

The German-Ukrainian director’s debut feature – now in the final stages of post-production – is being produced by Karoline Henkel, Arto Sebastian and Jasper Ph Mielke for Germany’s Wood Water Films, and by Veit Heiduschka, Julia Heiduschka and Christian Bachmann for Austria’s Wega Film. Serhii Korshikov and Volodymyr Holosniak star in what is described as “a film about everyday life under a state of emergency – and personal responsibility towards family and one’s country of origin”.

WIP Latam

WIP Latam Industry Award
Flies – Fernando Eimbcke (Mexico)
A 55-year-old woman, who has become withdrawn after a great bereavement, rents out a room in her flat to the husband of a hospitalised patient at a nearby medical centre. He must leave for a few days and sends his son in his stead – opening the door to a possible emotional bond between the two.

The new film by the Mexican director – previously behind Duck Season, Lake Tahoe and this year’s Olmo – is in late post-production. It is being produced in Mexico by Eimbcke for Kinotitlán, and by Eréndira Núñez Larios and Michel Franco for Teorema. Teresita Sánchez stars opposite young actor Bastián Escobar, who – says Eimbcke – “helped me remember how important play is when making films”.

EGEDA Platino Industria Award for Best WIP Latam
We Were No Longer Five – Esteban Hoyos García, Juan Miguel Gelacio Ramírez (Colombia/USA)
A mother who lost track of her son owing to the conflict is told that there was no bone match in the latest exhumation she took part in. Exhausted by institutional channels, she turns to a group of women searchers and, together with one of them, sets out on a journey for answers – blurring the line between the living and the dead.

The duo’s second feature after Jungle (2023) – now in late post-production – is being produced by Hoyos García for Selva Producciones (Colombia), in co-production with John Chaparro for Chicamocha Films (Colombia), Iván Prada for Andante Producciones (Colombia) and Carlos Piñeiro for Redline Enterprises (USA). Jenny Navarrete and Carmiña Martínez lead the cast in a film that – says Gelacio – “seeks to make visible the ordeal that so many mothers in Colombia have long endured after losing track of their children”.