Hot new projects from Manuela Martelli and Michael Labarca head Proyecta line-up (exclusive)

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Mars At Nightfall

Source: Courtesy of Ventana Sur

Mars At Nightfall

The fifth edition of Proyecta, a Ventana Sur sidebar in association with Marché du Film and San Sebastian, will present 15 projects with the aim of fostering co-productions between Latin America and Europe.

The in-person event is taking place in Buenos Aires from November 28 to December 2.

The line-up includes The Meltdown by Chilean actor-director Manuela Martelli whose debut film 1976, her depiction of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship from the point of view of a woman, premiered in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes earlier ths year and was sold widely by Luxbox.

Also being presented is Hashtag Santiago directed by Chile-born Rodrigo Litorriaga, renowned for short films including 2005’s C’est l’Histoire d’Un Belge.

Participating Proyecta filmmakers will present their work to international industry players at a pitching session followed by one-on-one meetings with attendees. An online session will also be organised for non-attending professionals.

Other selected projects are Us from Spanish filmmaker Helena Taberna, a jury award winner at Austin Film Festival with The Cliff, and Venezuelan title Kids Swimming In The Lake by Michael Labarca, who won a prize at Cannes Cinefondation in 2016 with his short The Guilt, Probably. Labarca’s feature debut was also presented at this year Locarno’s Open Doors platform.

The final selection includes 15 projects, of which 40% are from female filmmakers. In the aim of scouting new talent for this in-person edition, Proyecta launched an open call for projects from first and second-time directors, either from Latin America or from Europe with strong Latin American connections.

“We were glad to receive 172 projects this year from a wide diversity of countries – 17 Latin America territories and nine in Europe – and with a strong presence of female directors,” said former Cannes Marché du Film head Jérôme Paillard, who runs Ventana Sur alongside with co-director Bernardo Bergeret.

“The stories were often based on current issues and certain themes recurred in the projects: dictatorships, violence against women, and indigenous cosmovision.”

A prize of €5,000 will be granted to the winning project. Proyecta is supported by Creative Europe’s MEDIA programme.