Following an intense week of audiovisual-related meetings and activities, Ventana Sur, the biggest film market in Latin America, ended up bringing together more than 80 national professionals and 3,000 participants from around the world. Organized by the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) and Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film, the encounter opened up a space for productions from the region and the world, to look for co-production agreements, sales, and development opportunities.
Chilean participation stood out in several sections of the event, obtaining multiple awards. Participating in the First Cut category, which seeks to promote Latin American fiction film in post-production, was the drama thriller Karnawal by Juan Pablo Félix and produced by Edson Sidonie and Diego Rougier (Bikini Films). This production was granted four prizes: CINE+/European Vision, which awards 15,000€ to the French distributor that buys the film; the Titrafilm Award (France), which grants sound mixing and digital deliveries, subtitles, and DCP; the Gomedia Award, which offers French subtitling services; and Le Film Français Award, which implies a page of advertising during Marché du Film at Cannes Film Festival.
The project is a co-production with Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, and Norway, and tells the story of a young dancer who, during Carnaval on the border of Argentina and Bolivia, prepares for the most important dance competition of his life, when he receives an unexpected visit from his father, an uncontrollable thief who puts his dream in danger.
From left to right: Alvaro Ceppi, Juan Pablo Zaramella, Diego Rougier, Bernardita Ojeda, and Catalina Fontecilla.
In the animation area, the MIFA/Annecy Award, which awards two feature-length animated films and two animated series with participation in MIFA 2020 in France, Chile obtained double recognition with Primeras, produced by Typpo, a series based on true events that tells the story of a woman who challenged the rules to conquer territories reserved only for men, and Coda by JPZtudio in Argentina and Zumbástico Studios in Chile, which narrates the story of a small rat who lives in a tyrannical underground world who will manage to escape and understand how the world outside works.
El Premio Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana, que da la posibilidad de participar en los Premios Quirino 2020, en España y en el Festival Pixelatl, fue para Primeras. Catalina Fontecilla, productora de la serie Primeras comentó que «esto nos pone muy contentas porque nos abrió puertas a tres mercados muy importantes, dándole visibilidad al proyecto y además nos ayuda a poder encontrar posibles coproductores y distribuidores que quieran participar en el proyecto».
The Ibero-American Animation League Award, which grants the possibility to participate in the 2020 Quirino Awards in Spain and the Pixelatl Festival, went to Primeras. Series producer Catalina Fontecilla commented, “We’re very content about this because it opens doors to three important markets, providing the project with visibility as well as helping us to be able to find possible co-producers and distributors interested in participating in the project.”
The Chilemonos event granted its Award by the same name, which consists of participation in the MAI! Animation Industry Market of Chile, to the Colombian production Comedia Salvaje by Extranjero Films. Rounding out this section of the event, the WEIRD Animation, Video Games and New Media Market Award, which also grants participation in its 2020 edition, was given to Copa.
The Blood Window section, Chile was present by way of two national productions and one co-production. The latter, entitled Montaña Azul by Joy Pérez, boasts Chilean and French production and obtained the IFFAM Award, Macao, which ensures participation in the Industry Hub of the Festival.
In addition to the aforementioned sections, Chile had important participation in two market activities: Spain, Argentina, and Chile Co-Production Encounter, and the Camino al Oscar (Way to the Oscar) talk, the latter having been moderated by executive director of CinemaChile, Constanza Arena. During this talk, panelists discussed the path of two successful Latin American productions on their way to the Oscar, A Fantastic Woman by Sebastián Lelio and The Secret in Their Eyes by Juan José Campanella, in which Fábula producer Rocío Jadue, and 100Bares producer Muriel Cabezas, participated.
The first edition of the Co-Production Encounter was organized by the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) and the brand of international promotion of the Chilean audiovisual industry, CinemaChile, with collaboration by AGADIC, Catalan Films, and Basque Audiovisual.
The occasion boasted a project-in-development pitching section and one-on-one meeting rotations among participants, which will take place following the event and on dates posterior. From Chile, the five projects selected to be part of the encounter are: Il Cileno, produced by Equeco, Mi nuevo estilo de baile by Carnada Films, Todo sobre Ariel by the Chile Film School, Los años salvajes, produced by Oro Films, and Después de Elena by Storyboard Media.
