Chilean indie Equeco, led by Pablo Calisto, is a triple threat at the 19thSantiago Int’l Film Festival (Sanfic), with three projects participating in the annual event runningAugust 20-27. Vying for the top prizein the official competition is Equeco’s“Historia y Geografia,”which debuts its teaser trailer exclusively onPvNew.
Equeco is also embarking on its most ambitious project, “Il Cileno” by Sergio Castro San Martín, a historical drama in co-production with Italy’sDispàrte,a Rome-based independent production company founded in 2015 by Alessandro Amato and Luigi Chimienti.
Equeco’s first international co-production, “Il Cileno” was conceived from the start as a cross-border project between Chile and Italy, said Calisto. Inspired by the book “Aldo Marín: Cannon Fodder,” it follows a young political exile who fled Chile after the 1973 coup and ended up in Turin, where he joined the anarchist group Azione Rivoluzionaria, dying years later in the explosion of his own bomb in a terrorist attack.
“It offers an unconventional on-screen representation of the 1970s, creating a unique crossover between the histories of these two countries through a poignant, contemporary, and appealing story for a wide and diverse audience,” Calisto toldPvNew, adding that it was selected for the prestigious EAVE Puentes program to continue its financing path. Italy’s Simona Nobile and Castro San Martín (Chile) co-wrote the screenplay.
Filming in both Spanish and Italian is expected to take place in Chile and Italy next year.
“Historia y Geografia,” the third feature of Chileanwriter-actor-directorBernardo Quesney, follows a celebrated TV comedienne/actress who goes back to her hometown to stage a play about the conquest of Chile in order to win back the artistic recognition she thinks she lost, but in fact, never had.
“This is an auteur comedy by a young filmmaker that reflects the spirit of Equeco: Youthful, daring, and adventurous,” noted Calisto, adding: “It’s a low-budget comedy with a top-notch script and cast (Amparo Noguera, Catalina Saavedra) that has received significant attention at works-in-progress (WIPs) and international markets, and we are thrilled to premiere it at SANFIC.”
Equeco is also developing and producing Quesney’s latest feature film, “San Esteban,” which will be his fourth and his most personal one to date, said Calisto.
Equeco’s two other projects participate in the industry segment of Sanfic, Sanfic Industria, run by Gabriela Sandoval, the indie’s first venture into TV series-making,”Líbranos del fuego de infierno,” participating in the Series Lab, and“Germain: The Black Angel,” selected for Santiago Lab – Fiction.
“Since the inception of our company, our objective has been to establish Equeco in the international market as a versatile production company capable of generating content with massive commercial potential,” Calisto asserted, adding: “This is why we are driven to explore new formats that allow us to unleash our potential, with a natural inclination towards the television and series industry.”
After 18 months of development and content search, Equeco has put together a portfolio of projects in various stages of development with significant potential for partnership and distribution and sales agreements, he added.
Set in Southern Chile, “Líbranos del fuego de infierno” (“Free us From the Fires of Hell”) is a series project in the crime and suspense genre. It follows a journalist investigating the disappearance of a child, which leads him to come across a cult planning a gruesome ritual on the night of San Juan. The project is being developed by emerging Chilean screenwriter Vicente Torga and was the winner of the Filmarket Hub 2023 TV Pilots Contest.
“As soon as we discovered this project, we knew that, in addition to a compelling story, there was a powerful narrative accompanied by a contemporary and critical vision of our society. We were captivated by the project, and from that moment, we began working closely and collaboratively on its development,” said Calisto.
“Germain: The Black Angel” byTomás Alzamora is aperiod musical drama based on the life of Chilean artist Germain de la Fuente who founded duo Los Angeles Negros. It formspart of a trilogy by Alzamora, all inspired by his homeland.
Alzamora is also in post on his docu-comedy hybrid,“Denomination of Origin” about the town of San Carlos where the MSPLSC (Social Movement for the San Carlos Sausage) is bent on obtaining the designation of origin for their emblematic product, the longaniza (sausage).
