Lucía Garibaldi’s “La última reina” and Manuel Nieto’s “El empleado y el patrón” were selected by the San Sebastián Festival.
The maturity of Uruguayan cinema and the originality and professionalism of its creators are once again recognised before an international audience at one of the most outstanding events in the audiovisual industry.
The second feature film by Uruguayan Lucía Garibaldi, “La última reina” (The last queen) was selected to participate in the 9th Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum at the 68th San Sebastian Film Festival, while Manuel Nieto will participate in the new Work in Progress (WIP) LATAM with his third feature film, “El empleado y el patrón” (The employee and the employer). Both fictions were chosen from over 200 entries.
The ability to tell stories in different genres, the diversity of styles and the high technical level distinguish Uruguayan audiovisual production.
Lucía Garibaldi for the second time in San Sebastián
Lucía Garibaldi returns to the Spanish city with her second feature film “La última reina” (The last queen) directed and scripted by the Uruguayan director and produced by Montelona. The film was chosen along with 18 projects from nine countries (Uruguay, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Argentina and Paraguay) to participate in the 9th Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum 2020 of the San Sebastian Festival.
Garibaldi embraced success with his first feature film “Los Tiburones”, which won the San Sebastian Film in Progress Awards in 2019, Best Director in the World Cinema Dramatic Section of the Sundance Festival and the Coup de Coeur Grand Prize in Toulouse.
In “The Last Queen” the director tells a story that addresses femininity, sexuality and the mother-daughter bond. The film features Elisa, a woman who lives with her conservative mother in a dystopian world where women are disappearing.
The project for this feature film was awarded the MVD Develops 2017 Fund, the ICAU Development Fund 2018 and was selected for the Carolina Foundation and Casa de America Project Development Course.
The 9th Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum 2020 will be held between September 19th and 21st in an exclusively online format due to the pandemic. According to a statement from the San Sebastian Festival, the selection is made up of “original and risky proposals with other more conventional views on immigration, sexual identity, family relations and the rejection of difference”.
“The employee and the employer” at WIP LATAM
The festival’s new Work in Progress (WIP) LATAM selected six films from Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay among 229 nominated productions, one of which was “The Employee and the Employer” by Uruguayan director Manuel Nieto.
“El empleado y el patrón” is Nieto’s third feature film, preceded by “El lugar del hijo” (2013) and “La perrera” (2006), winner of the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Festival.
The feature film in post-production was shot in 2019 in the departments of Rocha and Rivera with an international cast made up of Uruguayans Anibal Mujica, Fátima Quintanilla and Carlos Lacuesta, Argentinians Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Justina Bustos and Daniel Fanego and Brazilian Roberto Oliveira.
The film focuses on the relationship between an agricultural employer and his employee. To avoid going to court after the tragic death of the employee’s baby in a tractor accident, the employer decides to help his employee fulfill his dream of running a horse race. In Nieto’s words, this is “a sordid alliance between the protagonists, based on the guilt of one and the ambition of the other”.
“The Employee and the Employer” was co-produced by Uruguayan producers Roken Films and Nadador Cine, Argentina’s Pasto Cine, Brazil’s Tokyo Filmes and France’s Paraiso Production Diffusion.
WIP Latam will be held from September 22nd to 24th in person for those who can travel to San Sebastian, while holders of the Industry Online accreditation can participate remotely. The six projects selected in Latin America will compete for the WIP Latam Industry Award and the Egeda Platinum Industry Award for the best WIP Latam.
