This year a total of 121 films from 25 countries were received: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, UK, Uruguay, USA and Venezuela.
The titles to be presented in Films in Progress 26 are: Mi amiga del parque by Ana Katz (Argentina-Uruguay); Ixcanul by Jayro Bustamante (Guatemala-France); Magallanes by Salvador del Solar (Peru-Argentina-Colombia); O homem que matou a minha amada morta / To My Beloved Dead by Aly Muritiba (Brazil); La mujer de barro / The Mud Woman by Sergio Castro (Chile-Argentina) and Paula by Eugenio Canevari (Argentina-Spain).
Two of the films selected in Films in Progress 26 participated as projects in the I Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum: Mi amiga del parque by Ana Katz and O homem que matou a minha amada morta / To My Beloved Dead by Aly Muritiba.
Films in Progress 26 will include presentation of the Films in Progress Industry Award for an estimated equivalent value of up to €200.000. The companies Daniel Goldstein, Deluxe Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfilm Cine y Video, Nephilim producciones, No Problem Sonido and Vértigo Films will assume the post-production of a film until obtaining a DCP subtitled in English and its distribution in Spain.
Films in Progress is the programme of aid to Latin American cinema called twice yearly by the San Sebastian Festival and by Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse.
Film in Progress enjoys the backing of the following companies and institutions: Association Rencontres Cinémas d'Amérique Latine de Toulouse (ARCALT), Daniel Goldstein, Deluxe Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfilm Cine y Video, Media Programme, Nephilim producciones, No Problem Sonido, Programa Ibermedia, Vértigo Films, and with the collaboration of Caisse Centrale d'Activités Sociales (CCAS), Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée (CNC), Cetim, CINÉ +, Cinéfondation, Commune Image, Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d'Art et Essai (CICAE), Conseil Général de la Haute Garonne, Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, CROUS de Toulouse, Eaux Vives, École Supérieure d'Audiovisuel (ESAV), EP2C - Post-production Training Programme, Europa Distribution, Fila 13, Firefly, La Trame, Mactari, Mairie de Toulouse, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, Producers Network, Signis and Titra TVS.
Times are hard for Liz, mother of her first child, Nicanor, and wife of Gustavo, who is away filming in Chile. Liz seems lost and lonely and goes to the park by her house every day. There she meets a group of mothers, the occasional father, and Rosa, presumed mother of Clarisa and sister of the unstable Renata. Within this intense friendship extraordinary complicity is born as the new friends share confessions, household chores and, gradually, care of their children. Mi amiga del parque participated in the I Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
María, a 17 year-old Mayan Kaqchikel girl, lives with her parents in a coffee plantation on the side of an active volcano in Guatemala. She is awaited by an arranged marriage she doesn't want but can't escape. Despite being an Indian woman, María will try to change her fate. However, a complication with her pregnancy forces her to set out and look for a hospital: the modern world she had always dreamt of will save her life, but at too high a price. Jayro Bustamante participated in the I Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum with his project El escuadrón de la muerte.
Magallanes sees his humdrum life turn upside down the day Celina, a women he met in the violent years when he was a soldier with the Peruvian Army, jumps into his taxi in a Lima street. This unexpected re-encounter with the dark past that unites them prompts Magallanes to embark on a daring plan to help Celina get money and find his own redemption.
Fernando is a good man who takes care of his only son Daniel, a shy and sensitive boy. After the death of Ana, his wife, every night Fernando recalls his love by putting together his dead wife's stuff. One day he finds a VHS tape that will change this routine and will put him on the track of the man who ruined the image he had of his beloved wife. The project participated in the I Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
Despite the heaviest rain in over ten years, the region is suffering its worst drought in a decade. María Cartagena, 49, looks after her daughter Teresa only a few kilometres from the border with Argentina. She dreams of living in the capital with the brother she hasn't seen for more than thirty years. To succeed, María must leave her daughter for the summer and travel by microbus to the places that offer work in the grape season.
Young Paula lives and works at the pile of a middle-class family caring for their children. Her life takes an unexpected turn on discovering that she's pregnant by a young man who refuses to accept his fatherhood. Paula decides to conceal her pregnancy and looks for the answer in abortion; but with no money, it won't be easy. Meanwhile, everybody in the house is busy preparing the birthday party celebrations for one of the youngest members of the family, Nachi. No one seems to notice Paula's condition. Time passes and Paula has no success. On the day of the event the guests are having fun at the pile, unawares of Paula's problem. By now her pregnancy is well advanced and the family is thrown into an unexpected situation. Directorial debut by Eugenio Canevari, who participated in the International Film Students Meeting at San Sebastian in 2013 with his short film, Gorila baila.