International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2018 competition title Nervous Translation has been picked up by Matteo Lovadina’s Paris-based sales agents Reel Suspects.
Directed by Shireen Seno, who previously helmed Big Boy which played at Rotterdam in 2011, the drama is a coming-of-age tale set in the Philippines in the 1980s. It follows an eight-year-old girl who lives with her mother in the family house, where the absence of their exiled father sinks them into an oppressive atmosphere.
John Torres produced, Ronald Arguelles was executive producer.
Reel Suspects will be hoping it can complete a hat-trick of Rotterdam Tiger competition wins – the company has had rights to the winners from the last two years, Sexy Durga and Radio Dreams.
Lovadina commented on Nervous Translation: “The remarkable talent of director Shireen Seno catches this narrow and magical universe, threatened by incomprehensible adults. Perceiving this world through the eyes and ears of this shy little girl becomes an exceptional and pleasant experience for the audience.
“In very rare occasions, we’ve seen this pure innocence and candidness of childhood so well portrayed on screen. The audience in Rotterdam will be surely charmed. We hope that festival directors and buyers will have the time to sit down, and breathe, to enjoy the lightness of this masterpiece.”
Also on Reel Suspects’ slate is Lucio A Rojas’ violent horror Trauma from Chile, Reiner Kiil’s second feature Christmas Blood, SXSW jury prize winner The Strange Ones, and Toronto premiere Five Fingers For Marseilles.
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