Three years on from Lila Avilés’ Totem, another Mexican film - Flies by Fernando Eimbcke - is providing French international sales agent Alpha Violet with an opportunity to secure a spot for one its titles in competition in the 76th Berlinale. For the record, the filmmaker previously duked it out for the Golden Bear in 2008 via Lake Tahoe (with the Alfred Bauer Prize up for grabs) and presented Olmo in the Panorama line-up last year. He was also crowned Best Director in San Sebastián 2013 thanks to Club Sándwich. Starring Teresa Sánchez, Bastian Escobar, Hugo Ramírez and Enrique Arreola, his latest film (whose screenplay he wrote alongside Vanesa Garnica) focuses on Olga who rents out a room to a man whose wife has been admitted to a nearby hospital. This man, however, has been sneaking his nine-year-old son into the room, leading Olga’s carefully controlled world to shift as their lives become intertwined… Production on this feature film is 100% Mexican via Kinotitlán and Teorema.

In addition to this major asset, which they’ll be negotiating on behalf of at the European Film Market (12-18 February), the team comprising Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato will also be touting their latest discovery, Sad Girlz by Fernanda Tovar, which is set to world premiere in the Generation 14plus section. Previously selected for Cannes’ Critics’ Week’s Next Step programme, this first feature film was written by the Mexican director herself and revolves around La Maestra (Rocio Guzmán) and Paula (Darana Álvarez) who are inseparable friends and the best swimmers on their team, until an accident during a party forces them to choose between silence and denunciation, putting the limits of their friendship to the test… Sad Girlz was produced by Mexican firm Colectivo Colmena in co-production with Potenza Producciones (Spain), Promenades Films (France), Martini Shot Films (Mexico) and CTT Exp & Rentals (Mexico).

The EFM will likewise see Alpha Violet rounding off sales on Forastera [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Spanish director Lucia Aleñar Iglesias (awarded the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize in Toronto), 18 Holes to Paradise [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Portugal’s João Nuno Pinto (well-received in competition in Tallin), Roqia [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Yanis Koussim
scheda film] by Algeria’s Yanis Koussim (discovered in Venice’s International Critics’ Week) and on Alexander Murphy’s French-Nepalese documentary Goodbye Sisters (which world-premiered at Tallinn).