Gonzo Female Desire Musical ‘Eco Village,’ Starring ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ Lead Sidney Flanigan, Backed by LSPG (EXCLUSIVE)

Bi-continental production outfit LSPG (Luca Severi Production Group) has boarded “Eco Village,” a gonzo musical comedy led by Sidney Flanigan, the star of Sundance and Berlinale prize winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” Nearing completion, the project is eyeing a festival launch early next year.

Marking the feature debut of playwright Phoebe Nir – who adapted her own Off-Broadway play – the off-kilter film follows a young drifter (played by actor-musician Flanigan) who makes her way first onto an anarchic and uninhibited artists colony, and then into the thrall of the utopia’s manipulative leader, played by Lindsay Burdge (of “Thirst Street” and “Her Smell”).

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The filmmaker describes her 16mm project as an “[honest depiction of] the agonies and ecstasies of female desire, inspired by the memory of my tumble down the rabbit hole of first love (or was it lust?) in an idealistic hippie commune where jealousy and rage churned quietly beneath the surface.”

Theresa Rebeck and Linda Gray produced, alongside Nir’s own company, All The Frenzy. Executive producers Luca Severi and Giovanni Labadessa of LSPG will launch international sales at this year’s MIA film market in Rome.

“Indie films thrive on collaboration and ‘Eco Village’ serves as a prime example of our unwavering belief in co-productions,” Severi says. “Our development and co-production department, wisely managed by Giovanni Labadessa, wholeheartedly embraces the idea of sharing knowledge, talent, techniques, cultural diversity and connections within a robust collaborative framework among companies.”

With footholds in Los Angeles and Rome, LSPG develops and produces features and docs aimed at the international market. At this year’s MIA, the company will also role out “Tales of the Sea,” an Italian-language adventure about a migrant and a fisherman lost at sea with one another. Directed by Severi, the film explores questions of fraternity and survival with a wiry comic tone and the expressive, natural splendor of the Puglian coast.

The seafaring adventure boasts local rising star Luka Zunic (“Thou Shalt Not Hate”) alongside Khadim Faye (“Christian”), Geno Diana (“The Pope’s Exorcist”) and Lidia Vitale (“Suburra”).

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