The prestigious American publication predicted that these companies could usher in a “new era of prominence in film and television” for Uruguay.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Variety<\/strong><\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n<\/div> 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”.<\/p>\n The production companies highlighted by Variety are Coral Cine, Montelona, Cord\u00f3n Films, Cimarr\u00f3n, La Suma, Monarca Films, Mother Superior Films, Mutante Cine, Nadador Cine, Salado, Tarkiofilm and Raindogs Cine.<\/p>\n Coral Cine<\/strong><\/a> 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 March\u00e9 du Film digital because of “its impressive list of upcoming feature films that include “Pablo Atchugarry. Los hijos de la monta\u00f1a”, by Mercedes Sader and “Benedetti, sixty years with light”, by Andr\u00e9s Varela”.<\/p>\n Variety also highlighted the five-season production of the programme “Boliches – El Coraz\u00f3n 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 Andr\u00e9s Varela and C\u00e9sar Charlone.<\/p>\n According to Variety, the production company Montelona<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has 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 Luc\u00eda 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 \u00faltima reina” (The Last Queen), selected for the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival, “Mate\u00edna” (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).<\/p>\n Another of the highlights is Cord\u00f3n Films<\/strong><\/a> “the production company that Micaela Sol\u00e9 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 “Gu\u00eda 19172”, written and directed by Hendler, while its documentary “El gran viaje al pa\u00eds peque\u00f1o”, awarded by DocsBarcelona, and the fiction feature film “La teor\u00eda de los vidrios rotos” are in post-production.<\/p>\n About the production company Cimarr\u00f3n<\/strong><\/a>, which it defines as a Latin American alliance between Hern\u00e1n Musaluppi, Diego Robino and Santiago L\u00f3pez, 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 ladr\u00f3n 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 Mart\u00edn Boulocq and “El a\u00f1o de furia” by Rafa Russo.<\/p>\n “Directed by Esteban Schroeder and Leandro Barneche, La Suma<\/strong><\/a> 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 jard\u00edn”, 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.<\/p>\n According to Variety, Monarca Films<\/a><\/strong>, 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 R\u00e9el, 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.<\/p>\n For the US weekly, Mother Superior Films<\/strong><\/a> s’ work had a big impact on the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight with “La Casa Muda” (2010), a real-time film by director Gustavo Hern\u00e1ndez 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).<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n The publication also clarifies that the production company Mutante Cine<\/strong><\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n About Nadador Cine<\/strong><\/a> he points out that it was founded in 2016 and is the result of the collaboration of the producers Pedro Barcia and Juan Jos\u00e9 L\u00f3pez. “Among its recent works are ‘Belmonte’ by Federico Veiroj and the television series ‘El mundo de los videos’ and ‘Todos detr\u00e1s de Momo'”, he lists.<\/p>\n “El tema del verano”, by the Cannes award-winning filmmaker Pablo Stoll, the feature film in development “\u00bfQui\u00e9n se acuerda de Sylvie Mangin”, by Mat\u00edas Ganz and “El empleado y el patr\u00f3n” by Manuel Nieto, selected for the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival make up the list of Nadador Cine’s latest projects in development.<\/p>\n Salado<\/strong><\/a>, 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 a\u00f1os” by \u00c1lvaro 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.<\/p>\n “Focusing on auteur cinema, Tarkiofilm\u00b4s<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 productions are regularly presented at art festivals. The company’s most recent production is ‘La Fundici\u00f3n del Tiempo’ by Juan \u00c1lvarez Neme, which won the award for best Latin American film at the BAFICI in 2019. Agust\u00edn Banchero’s ‘Las vacaciones de Hilda’ and Emilio Silva Torres’ ‘Directo a VHS’ are seeking distribution, while Florencia Colman’s ‘Nostalgia del futuro’, Agust\u00edn Banchero’s ‘Las muertes pasajeras’ and Emilio Silva Torres’ ‘La Transparencia’ are in the process of development. While ‘La calle de las luci\u00e9rnagas’, by Juan \u00c1lvarez Neme is in pre-production,” the publication also points out.<\/p>\n