The prestigious American publication predicted that these companies could usher in a “new era of prominence in film and television” for Uruguay.
Variety, the most relevant American weekly specialized in entertainment, published on its website on September 4th a note entitled “12 Companies Driving Growth in Uruguay’s Expanding Production Sector”. There, he weighed up the important growth of the Uruguayan audiovisual industry and its potential to continue progressing thanks to the financing programs offered by the country and the capacity of companies to make international co-productions.
In its note, the media highlighted the work of 12 Uruguayan companies in the audiovisual sector and highlighted “their trajectories in national and international production, which could mark the beginning of a new era of protagonism in cinema and television”.
The production companies highlighted by Variety are Coral Cine, Montelona, Cordón Films, Cimarrón, La Suma, Monarca Films, Mother Superior Films, Mutante Cine, Nadador Cine, Salado, Tarkiofilm and Raindogs Cine.
Coral Cine is a company that “focuses on real stories, current issues and universal narratives”, according to the definition of the publication, which also points out that this year the production company is one of the stars of the Marché du Film digital because of “its impressive list of upcoming feature films that include “Pablo Atchugarry. Los hijos de la montaña”, by Mercedes Sader and “Benedetti, sixty years with light”, by Andrés Varela”.
Variety also highlighted the five-season production of the programme “Boliches – El Corazón del Barrio”, which was broadcast on the Uruguayan television signal Channel 10 between 2013 and 2018 and the series in development “, based on the battle of the Rio de la Plata, fought on its shores during the Second World War and directed by Uruguayans Andrés Varela and César Charlone.
According to Variety, the production company Montelona has stood out since its foundation for creating films told from unusual points of view and addressing social issues. She also pointed out that her most recent success was “Los Tiburones”, the first feature film by Uruguayan director Lucía Garibaldi, with which she won the Director’s Award at the 2019 Sundance Festival. The note also announces the production company’s current and upcoming projects, which include another film by Garibaldi, “La última reina” (The Last Queen), selected for the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival, “Mateína” (Mathew) in San Sebastian 2018, “Pollen” by Diego Blanco, winner of the ICAU Film and Audiovisual Development Fund, and Elisa Barbosa Riva’s debut documentary, “La caja negra” (The Black Box).
Another of the highlights is Cordón Films “the production company that Micaela Solé and the actor who won the Silver Bear in Berlin, Daniel Hendler, founded in 2007 with the aim of filming fiction and documentary features in co-production with other important Latin American production companies”. Variety also points out that this company recently made its appearance on television with the fake documentary “Guía 19172”, written and directed by Hendler, while its documentary “El gran viaje al país pequeño”, awarded by DocsBarcelona, and the fiction feature film “La teoría de los vidrios rotos” are in post-production.
About the production company Cimarrón, which it defines as a Latin American alliance between Hernán Musaluppi, Diego Robino and Santiago López, the publication explains that since 2017 it has developed six films, including the winner of the Argentine Academy Award and the San Sebastian Horizons, “El ladrón de secuestros”, and the original feature film for Netflix by Miguel Cohan, “La misma sangre”. He also explained that the production company has offices in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, in Buenos Aires and San Pablo, and that it currently has two films in post-production, “El visitante” by Martín Boulocq and “El año de furia” by Rafa Russo.
“Directed by Esteban Schroeder and Leandro Barneche, La Suma has a vast experience in the production of fiction, documentaries and stop motion animations, both in the national and international market”, describes the note about this Uruguayan production company. He also adds that his forthcoming productions include the fiction feature film “Aquel infinito jardín”, by Susana Lastreto Prieto, the stop motion feature film “Pueblo Chico” and a documentary series filmed in six countries called “Luthiers”, about musical instrument makers, directed by Leandro Barneche.
According to Variety, Monarca Films, by founders Eugenia Olascuaga and Valentina Baracco, impressed the world with its documentary “Opera prima” and “Frozen Man”, which participated in several prestigious international festivals such as Visions du Réel, DocsMX and FIDBA, among others. The publication assures that his next documentary, which is in the post-production phase, is “Eight stories about hearing loss”. This production was financed by the Sundance post-production fund. It also highlights that the production company is currently developing a fiction feature film entitled “Matarifes”, directed by award-winning filmmakers Rafael Antonaccio and Bernardo Antonaccio.
For the US weekly, Mother Superior Films s’ work had a big impact on the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight with “La Casa Muda” (2010), a real-time film by director Gustavo Hernández and producer Ignacio Cucucovich, who have been at the forefront of Latin America with films such as “Fiesta Nibiru” (2017), “No Sleep” (2018) and Cannes Online’s zombie thriller “Virus 32” (2020).
“The production company stands out for its ability to work with international co-producers. At the moment they have a project list composed of seven feature films and a short film in various stages of development or production, and a history of co-production and collaboration with partners such as Bowfinger, by the Spaniard Santiago Segura and FilmSharks Intl, by the Argentinean Guido Rud”, he summarizes in his assessment of this company.
The publication also clarifies that the production company Mutante Cine, founded in 2011 by Agustina Chiarino and Fernando Epstein, has great experience in the production and co-production of feature films and short films, and recalls its catalogue of 17 titles headed by “Las Herederas” (2018), a success of Marcelo Martinessi awarded in Berlin, San Sebastian and almost all festivals in which he participated worldwide.
“The company is currently developing its first fiction series ‘Las Vidas Privadas’ with Ana Guevara, which won a funding award from the Fund for the Promotion and Development of National Audiovisual Production,” explains Variety.
About Nadador Cine he points out that it was founded in 2016 and is the result of the collaboration of the producers Pedro Barcia and Juan José López. “Among its recent works are ‘Belmonte’ by Federico Veiroj and the television series ‘El mundo de los videos’ and ‘Todos detrás de Momo'”, he lists.
“El tema del verano”, by the Cannes award-winning filmmaker Pablo Stoll, the feature film in development “¿Quién se acuerda de Sylvie Mangin”, by Matías Ganz and “El empleado y el patrón” by Manuel Nieto, selected for the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival make up the list of Nadador Cine’s latest projects in development.
Salado, one of the oldest on the list, founded in 1994 as an advertising production company by Mariana Secco, is mentioned by Variety for its entry into the high-end feature film business in 2020. About her work, she pointed out that Salado became popular at international festivals and at the box office, and that she recently supported the film “La noche de doce años” by Álvaro Brechner, winner of the Argentinean Academy Award and a success in Berlin, Venice, San Sebastian and several other international festivals in 2018. He added that the company’s biggest boost to the international television market came in 2019 with “Conquest”, an original Netflix co-production with Keanu Reeves.
“Focusing on auteur cinema, Tarkiofilm´s productions are regularly presented at art festivals. The company’s most recent production is ‘La Fundición del Tiempo’ by Juan Álvarez Neme, which won the award for best Latin American film at the BAFICI in 2019. Agustín Banchero’s ‘Las vacaciones de Hilda’ and Emilio Silva Torres’ ‘Directo a VHS’ are seeking distribution, while Florencia Colman’s ‘Nostalgia del futuro’, Agustín Banchero’s ‘Las muertes pasajeras’ and Emilio Silva Torres’ ‘La Transparencia’ are in the process of development. While ‘La calle de las luciérnagas’, by Juan Álvarez Neme is in pre-production,” the publication also points out.
To finish its list, Variety refers to Raindogs Cine as a producer of fiction, documentary and animation films, both for feature films and television series.
“During the last decade Raindogs Cine has made fictions, documentaries and animation films, both for feature films and television series. The production company is currently finishing ‘El Gran Pipícucú’, a puppet show for children, and is developing the animated series ‘Hombre-Público’, both of which have received public funding in Uruguay. The company is also developing ‘Variaciones de Koch’, by Julián Goyoaga and ‘Vender o morir’ and ‘Luz de obra’, by Germán Tejeira”, he explains.
Source: US weekly Variety article
