César Díaz: Last News

Christopher Vourlias Fresh off the world premiere of Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz’s Bérénice Béjo-starring “Mexico 86” in Locarno’s Piazza Grande, France’s Tripode Productions has come on board to co-produce the upcoming feature “Uptight Ass,” from writer-director Matija Gluščević and co-writer Dušan Zorić. The duo’s last collaboration, “Have You Seen This Woman?,” played at Venice Critics’ Week in 2022.

Holly Jones Guatemalan born director César Diaz, a 2019 Camera d’Or winner for “Our Mothers,” pulls from his past to provide a harrowing and earnest look at an activist’s inner tumult in his latest title, “Mexico 86.” Bowing at Locarno’s Piazza Grande on Aug.10, the film centers on the toils and sacrifice of its resident revolutionary Maria, played by Academy Award nominee Bérénice Béjo (“The Artist”). French sales are handled by Bac Films, with Bac and Goodfellas taking on international rights.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Belgium’s Stenola Productions, behind Joachim Lafosse’s 2022 Cannes Competition player “The Restless” and this year’s San Sebastian’s Golden Shell contender “A Silence,” has boarded “Elena,” written by Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”) and a potential highlight at this month’s Ventana Sur Proyecta forum. Stenola, which looks set to handle part of post-production, joins Norwegian lead producer Staer, founded by Elisa Fernanda Pirir, and Lithuania’s Just a Moment on a film which marks the anticipated feature debut of Dalia Huerta Cano, whose “Flesh That Remembers” won best doc short at Mexico’s Morelia Film Festival and DF Docs.

Holly Jones “The Invisible Ink,” a drama from Uruguay’s Mutante Cine co-founder Fernando Epstein (“Whisky”) and Cannes Camera D’Or winning Guatemalan director César Díaz (“Our Mothers”), was first pitched to international markets at last year’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment’s Co-Pro Series session, where it won double. It retained its momentum as it swept up a €50,000 Beta Development Award last month at Series Mania Forum’s Seriesmakers strand. “The truth is, when I found out about the award, I was very flattered. We have something strong on our hands,” Epstein told Variety. “I don’t want to fail to mention the excellent program devised by Series Mania and Beta Group, from the virtual talks to each session with our mentors; everything was impressively rich and generous.”

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent LILLE, France —  “Yours, Margot,” from  “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, Guatemalan Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”) and Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”) have won the three prizes on offer at the first edition of Seriesmakers. A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, after an inaugural edition delivering one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, Seriesmakers backers Beta Group and Series Mania opened on Wednesday a call for admissions for a second edition.   Though all three series range hugely in setting and creators, all three see their protagonists go back to a recent past to explore events that have impacted their family (“Yours, Margot”), their modern-day country (“The Invisible Ink”), or traumas in the present (“Amigas”). 

A project from Finland and a Belgium-Uruguay co-production have won the Seriesmaker initiative here at Series Mania.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-TV powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”

Naman Ramachandran Sri Lanka’s Vimukthi Jayasundara and Guatemala’s César Díaz, winners of the Cannes Golden Camera for “The Forsaken Land” (2005) and “Nuestras madres” (2019) respectively, are among the recipients of the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s (IFFR) HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production Support scheme for 2022. Out of 25 applications, six projects by filmmakers from Argentina, Egypt, Guatemala, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Yemen have been awarded a contribution of €60,000 ($60,854) each through their European co-producers in Austria, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Jayasundara is supported for “Turtle’s Gaze on Spying Stars” (France/Sri Lanka, House on Fire), set on a mysterious resort where the protagonist must quarantine and reckon with his past on his return to Sri Lanka, while Díaz gets it for “Fidelidad” (Guatemala/Belgium, Lemming Film Belgium), a love triangle set on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.

 In line with the massive new talent focus of many of Locarno’s industry programs –  this year’s Germany First Look with five feature debuts, the Match Me! emerging producer springboard – Open Doors will focus on Latin America’s most under-represented territories and the Caribbean, where production companies have sprung up after national cinema lift-off in more major countries in the region.  Bolivia’s Empatía Cinema, for example, was founded in 2007, but most key companies at Locarno launched significantly later: YPR Films in 2010, La Linterna Films in 2011, Paraguay’s Asociación Cultural Arraigo in 2014, Haiti’s Muska Films in 2015 and Boton Films in 2019.Six of the eight titles at Open Doors Projects Hub are debuts.Producing out of smaller territories in Latin America and the Caribbean is a tall order. Some countries – El Salvador, Haiti – have no production funds nor film schools to drive development.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentHaving focused since 2016 on emerging film talent in lesser-known parts of South and South East Asia, Open Doors, the Locarno Festival’s flagship co-production forum and talent incubator, is turning its focus to Latin America and the Caribbean. Of the 24 directors featured at this year’s edition, 15 identify as female or gender non conforming, led by Ecaudor’s Ana Cristina Barragán whose 2016 debut “Alba” won nods at Rotterdam and  San Sebastián and Yanillys Pérez whose documentary “Jeffrey” scooped a Discovery Awards at the Toronto Festival. Both have new projects at the Open Doors Co-Production Hub, as does Yashira Jordán with “Diamond,” a coming of age tale about a Quechua trap artist last glimpsed at Málaga this year.  Men directors take in Michael Labarca a winner at Cannes’ Cinéfondation film school shorts competition in 2016, and Guatemala’s Mauricio Escobar whose “Los Invisibles” is a social realist tale wrapped around the phenomenon of domestic migration in Guatemala. It is set up at La Danta, whose partners include Cannes 2019 Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”).Also selected for Open Doors’ Co-Production Hub, a platform for feature-length projects looking for international collaboration, is Guaraní language “Kokue,” the fiction feature debut of Paraguay’s Miguel Aguëro, based on his memories of growing up in the Paraguayan countryside.