The latest from “The Platform” co-producers Mr Miyagi and rising shock meister Hugo Cardozo will be sneak peeked as pix-in-post at this year’s Ventana Sur Blood Window Screenings.
Both are sold, and Cardozo’s “Do Not Enter” produced by Guido Rud’s FilmSharks as sales agents, as this week’s American Film Market attests, are driving ever more into horror genre.
Unlike action thrillers and romantic comedies, the other go-to movie types in a market ever more attuned to streamer tastes, that could be that horror doesn’t need name actors. Mister Smith Ent.’s David Garrett said before the AFM.
Latin American genre is not so much as fitting into market trends as a push-phenomenon driven by genre fanboys and girls. Two at least make the cut, with Argentina’s Jose María Cicala, who will introduce his “Charming,” and Peru’s young Farid Rodríguez, who multi-tasks as a film and fest director, in town to talk up “Omnipresents.”
Launched in 2013 as the first major bespoke forum created by Ventana Sur, Blood Window runs parallel to the film-TV market, unspooling Nov. 27-Dec. 1.
This year’s Blood Window Screenings titles:
“Charming,”(“Encantador,” José María Cicala, Argentina)
Cicala’s fourth feature after Dani Trejo-starrer “Shadow of the Cat” (2021), “Sola” (2021) and “Lennons” (2023), a 1980s sleepy village-set suspense horror tale turning on the wouldn’t hurt a fly Tomás (Rodrigo Noya) looks after his mother, who works at the video store and clinic and collect dolls. A police inspector arrives to investigate why women are disappearing as Tomás, the local sheriff’s son, forges a connection with the psychotic Tina. Shock House Films produces.
“Do Not Enter,”(No Entres,” Hugo Cardozo, Paraguay)
The first of a three-pic deal between FilmDarks, the fantastic horror arm of Guido Rud’s FilmSharks, and Cardozo, whose benighted hospital paranormal mystery-thriller “Morgue” proved 2019’s top local release in Paraguay, selling 60,000 tickets, and closing the U.S. (Well Go USA) and Latin America (WarnerMedia’s HBO Latin America) as well as Korea, Japan, France, Spain and Russia. A classic found footage shock fest, “Do Not Enter,” introduced to buyers at Berlin’s EFM, has two YouTubers breaking into a sinister mansion for pseudo paranormal clickbait. They get the real thing.
“The Man With the Hat,”(“El señor del sombrero,” Roberta Sánchez, Diego Kartaszewicz, Argentina)
Curious Samantha, 10, is hospitalized and falls into a coma. While unconscious, she develops a reoccurring dream of her father facing up to his fears. In each dream, she further reconnects to him and aids in his progress. The occurrence offers “a heartfelt testimony of love and hope amidst adversity.” Produced by the Sánchez-founded 16:9 Cine, which co-produced “Lateral Thinking,” starring “Money Heist’s” Itziar Ituño-fronted the film marks the directorial debut fiction feature for Sánchez and Kartaszewicz, a sound designer, and was teased at Cannes’ 2023 Blood Window Showcase.
“Omnipresents,”(“Omnipresentes,” Farid Rodríguez, Peru)
In an abandoned city after a zombie plague, José looks for supplies as Matías and Andrea arrive to take their mother to a safe zone. “This world, empty and dark, is not a land to share. It wasn’t before either,” the synopsis runs. Shot in 16mm, yje latest from Lima-based indie writer-director-producer Rodríguez, also artistic director of the Lima Alternative Film Festival, with three features under his belt by the age of 30, taking in “A Week With Few Deaths” (2013) and “Expectante” (2018).
“Restless Waters, Shivering Lights,”(“Faro,” Angeles Hernández, Spain)
“‘Relic’ meets ‘Shutter Island,’ says Guido Rud, who handles international and the latest from Mr Miyagi, Hernández and Matamoros Barcelona-based label, co-producers on “The Platform,” Netflix’s second most watched non-English language movie of all time. Hernández solo directorial debut after “Isaac,” with Matamoros, the supernatural chiller has Lidia and father Pablo, returning to the family lighthouse after her mother’s accidental death. But something is wrong, Lidia believes. Her nightmares back her up. Hugo Silva (“Las brujas de Zugarramurdi,” “The Body”) and Irene Montalà (“Un asunto privado”) star.
