A total of 10 projects are taking part in the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Latin America and Europe WIP competition showcases, which will help the winning projects jump their last hurdles towards release. Selected from hundreds of submissions, six projects are vying for for the coveted WIP Latam Industry Award and four titles from across Europe are competing for the WIP Europa Industry Award. The WIP Latam Industry Award covers the post-production of a film, a DCP subtitled in English and its distribution in Spain.
Among the six contenders are the latest from Mexico’s Tatiana Huezo (“Prayers for the Stolen”), venturing into fiction again, and Juan Sebastián Mesa’s multi-country co-production, “Lovers Go Home!” Also in contention is the EGEDA Platino Industria Award of $34,466 (€30,000), which is handed to the lead producer of the winning film. Alongside more traditional genres such as drama, comedy and road movies, we also received a number of more hybrid non-fiction projects,” said Javier Martin, selection committee member and Latin American delegate, who added that, as in previous editions, only 30% of the projects they received were directed by women filmmakers. Colombia is also worth highlighting, as its cinema is opening up to a new generation of particularly exciting filmmakers,” he told Variety.
With regards to Argentine cinema, he said: “We continue to receive a significant number of outstanding projects. However, given the country’s current circumstances, many filmmakers have had to scale back their ambitions. Projects are increasingly being developed through more “collaborative” co-production models, while still requiring international partners to reach completion.” Since its creation in 2020, WIP Latam has enabled the completion of multiple selected films.
Among the stand outs are: “If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night” by Kim Torres, selected for New Directors last year, Fernando Eimbcke’s “Flies,” which world premiered at the Berlinale, and Ecuador’s “Octopus Skin” by Ana Cristina Barragan. The WIP Latam Industry Award is granted by A Contracorriente Films, Best Digital, Deluxe Content Services Spain, Dolby, Laserfilm Cine y Vídeo, Nephilim Producciones and No Problem Sonido. WIP Latin America takes place Sept 21-23 at the festival, which runs Sept. 18-26.
Ana Tiagx Vélez’s second feature follows her debut “The Origin of Species.” Her shorts include “We Will Be,” winner of the Dunkel Roda Award, “Omen,” selected for Ficunam and Cartagena Film Fest, and “The Third World After the Sun,” presented at Rotterdam. The project brings together prominent producers with credits including “Roma,” “Prayers for the Stolen” and “Sujo” (Pimiento) and “Alcarràs,” “Summer 1993,” “Creatura” and “Romería “(Elástica). Starring Ilse Salas (“The Good Girls”) and Ariel-nominated Lázaro Gabino Rodríguez (“Fauna”) with cinematography by Huezo’s long-time collaborator Ernesto Pardo.
The two begin a series of virtual conversations ranging from sexual requests to trivial challenges. Drama participated in the Euro-Latin Co-Production forum in 2022, Carolina Foundation Screenwriting Workshop, the Chalet Mauriac residency and Cinéma en Développement at the Toulouse Film Festival. Two brothers pursuing the American dream become entangled in a dangerous operation involving corruption, violence and the Russian mafia, while betrayal threatens their bond.
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