>>> New, emerging, promising creative producers enter the international scene with innovative, risk-taking projects via the International Film Festival Rotterdam industry space: Karin Cuyul and Picho García (IFFR PRO DAYS) and Clara Larraín, Felipe Azúa, and Rodrigo Díaz (ROTTERDAM LAB).
The curation of the International Film Festival Rotterdam is known for defending and promoting radical and adventurous cinema, and its industry space IFFR PRO DAYS welcomes producers with pioneering and authentic perspectives that are blazing trails in global cinema. This year, the 5 Chilean products who are participating in this space — 3 of them in Rotterdam Lab — reflect a diverse and expansive vision, with projects that will define the future of Chilean cinema. We invite you to get to know them and get excited about these new voices in Chilean arthouse film and their first steps onto the international scene.
IFFR PRO DAYS: PICHO GARCÍA AND KARIN CUYUL
Starting on February 1st, Picho and Karin will be immersed in the IFFR PRO virtual platform, acquainting people with their visions as creative producers and their project portfolios.
“As executive producer and cofounder of Grieta Cine, I dedicate myself to fostering young cinema from the Valparaíso region, with an authorial perspective that traces the cracks (grietas) in society,” Picho tells us.
2020 was a hectic year for the young producer, since his first feature-length project, Zoila, by Gabriela Peña, circulated in many Work in Progress spaces, including BAL at BAFICI and FIDBA:WIP. He also received the Doc Society Impact Producers Fund and vegan to develop a second feature film, Aquí se escucha el silencio, winner of the Open City London development fund.
For Karin Cuyul, meanwhile, this is her return to Rotterdam following the success of her first film, Story of my Name (2019), at the festival, where she received a special mention by the Bright Future Jury. Founder of Pequén Producciones along with Joséphine Schroeder, the first images from her project briefcase stir expectations of new and exciting paths forward.
“I’ll be presenting two non-fiction films: Dos fronteras by Argentine director and sound engineer Francisco Fantin, and La vida que vendrá, my second feature film as a director,” says Cuyul. She continues, “My objective is to begin the international positioning of both films. Both projects trace universal themes from a very intimate perspective and that may be of interest to a space like IFFR PRO.”
ROTTERDAM LAB: CLARA LARRAÍN, FELIPE AZÚA, AND RODRIGO DÍAZ
Participating this year at the Lab are 70 producers from 30 countries, selected through numerous international organizations, including CinemaChile, which returns for the fourth time as a partner in the encounter.
The Chilean producers that have been in this space for training in previous years include Marcela Santibañez (The Mole Agent, Sundance 2020; nominated to the Goya Awards for Best Iberoamerican Film; and the Chilean candidate for the Oscars and Ariel Awards), Rocío Romero (Nona, If They Soak Me, I'll Burn Them, Rotterdam 2019), and Francisco Hervé (The Other One, Visions du Réel, 2020). Their careers say it all: the Lab is a living space that actively expands the global connections of our producers.
THE EMERGING VOICES TO TAKE ON ROTTERDAM LAB 2021 ARE:
Clara Larraín (Clara Films) began her career in 2014 with the web series deDanza. In 2018 she founded her production company with the goal of specializing in international co-production to tell stories with strong female characters. She maintains a close relationship with Mexico and the United Kingdom, where she co-produced her latest project White is for Virgins by Jacqueline Pepall, available on HBO Max.
Felipe Azúa (Avispa Cine) has more than 10 years of experience working on short films and features with a strong social component that have premiered at festivals like Cannes (Cinéfondation), San Sebastián, and Clermont-Ferrand. In 2015 he founded the Chilean Association of Independent Producers (API, in Spanish), and in 2016 he premiered his first feature as a producer, First Born by Carlos Leiva (SANFIC). Felipe currently has 3 projects in development, including his directorial debut.
Rodrigo Díaz (Brisa) is one of the producers behind Austral Fever, directed by Thomas Woodroffe, one of the most celebrated Chilean short films of the last decade, which premiered in Venice and whose run included Toronto, San Sebastián, and New York, among others. Díaz is currently developing Woodroffe’s first feature along with other projects in the pipeline
