‘A Ravaging Wind,’ by Argentina’s Paula Hernandez, to Open San Sebastian’s Horizontes Latinos; Brazilian Carolina Markowicz’s ‘Toll’ Closes
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Argentine director Paula Hernández’s “The Ravaging Wind,” toplined by Latin American star Alfredo Castro (“Karnawal,” “El Club”), will be the opening night film of Horizontes Latinos sidebar at the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, which runs Sept. 22-30.
Carolina Markowicz’s “Toll,” whose producers include Brazilian giant Globo Filmes, will close the section, one of the biggest examples of San Sebastian’s long-term commitment to Latin American cinema.
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In total, Horizontes will present this year 12 stories, set in Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil.
Traditionally, the sidebar showcases feature films not yet released in Spain, either totally or partially produced in Latin America directed by Latino filmmakers or which are set against the backdrop or subject of Latino communities in the rest of the world.
The contenders list of the 2023 edition takes in two films who walked off with prizes at San Sebastian’s Latin American Work In Progress initiative – Argentine Martín Benchimol’s “The Castle” and Brazilian Guto Parente’s “A Strange Path”- and another -“Alemania,” by Argentina’s María Zanetti – which was awarded at the festival’s 2022 European-Latin America Co-Production Forum.
“A Ravaging Wind” marks the second presence at Horizontes of a film by Hernández after 2019’s “The Sleepwalkers;” “Toll” represents Markowicz’s return to the section after attending last year with “Charcoal.”
Also returning to Horizontes is Tatiana Huezo, who was included in the retrospective 4+1: Contemporary Mexican Cinema with “The Tiniest Place” in 2011 and won the Horizontes Prize in 2021 with “Prayers for the Stolen.”
Born in El Salvador and resident in Mexico, the award-winning filmmaker Huezo is presenting this year her documentary “Echo,” whose world sales rights are handled by Mubi’s The Match Factory.
The 2023 Horizontes Latinos will host directorial debuts by Camila Fabbri, Dolores Fonzi, Felipe Gálvez and María Zanetti.
All the films in the section vie for the Horizontes Award, which carries a cash prize of €35,000 ($38,615) for the director of the film and its distribution in Spain.
Horizontes’ movies which are the first or second works by their directors will also compete for the TCM Youth Award, decided on by a jury of 150 students.
2023 Horizontes Latinos Competition Titles:
“A Ravaging Wind” (“El viento que arrasa,” Paula Hernández, Argentina-Uruguay)
Chilean star Alfredo Castro, Spain’s Sergi López (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) and Almudena González (“Argentina, 1985”) topline the cinematic adaptation of Selva Amada’s admired novel, a tale of a preacher and his daughter whose car breaks down during their latest mission to spread the gospel. Produced by Cimarrón and Argentina’s Rizoma and Tarea Fina (“Incident Light”).
“Toll” (“Pedágio,” Carolina Markowicz, Brazil-Portugal)
A Globo Filmes and Bionica Filmes production, it follows a highway toll worker, desperate because her son is gay and ready to do anything to change his condition. Paris-based Luxbox sells.
“Alemania” (María Zanetti, Argentina-Spain)
A co-production by Argentina’s Juan Pablo Miller at Tarea Fina with Madrid-based Solita Films’ José Alenda, winner of the ArteKino International Award at San Sebastian’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum in 2021. It focuses on the character of a teen whose family life is racked by her sister’s mental disorder. Meikincine sells.
“Blondi” (Dolores Fonzi, Argentina-Spain-US)
The feature debut of Argentina’s Dolores Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes Critics’ Week winner “Paulina.” A coming of age of a 40-something mother and her son, led by Fonzi, Leonardo Sbaraglia (“The Accused”) and Rita Cortese (“Wild Tales”). Film Factory Entertainment sells the film, licensed by Prime Video for VOD in the U.S. and Latin America.
“Clara Gets Lost in the Woods” (“Clara se pierde en el bosque,” Camila Fabbri, Argentina)
Argentine writer-actress Fabbri’s directorial debut, a portrait of a woman confronted with a traumatic occurrence from her past.
“The Castle” (“El castillo,” Martín Benchimol, Argentina-France-Spain)
Benchimol’s first solo-directing feature, a Gema Films production picked up by Luxbox, tells the true story of a housekeeper who inherits a castle in the middle of the Argentine pampas from her former employer. A Berlinale’s Panorama premiere.
“The Echo” (“El eco,” Tatiana Huezo, Mexico-Germany)
A Radiola Films-ZDF co-production, sold by Mubi’s The Match Factory, which documents life in a remote village in northern Mexico. Best documentary and director at Berlinale’s Encounters section.
“Heroic” (“Heróico,” David Zonana, Mexico)
A Sundance World Cinema Dramatic and Berlinale Panorama player, sold by Goodfellas, marking Zonana’s follow-up to San Sebastian 2019’s contender “Workforce.” An anti-military authority drama turning on a teen who enrols in a military academy looking for a better future.
“Los impactados” (Lucía Puenzo, Argentina)
Fifth film by Cannes, Berlin and Tribeca competitor Puenzo, now also forging a successful career as a TV showruuner, as on “La Jauría.” The film follows the steps of a lightning-strike victim, toplining Chilean actress Mariana Di Girolamo, star of Pablo Larrain’s “Ema.”
“The Settlers” (“Los colonos,” Felipe Gálvez, Chile-Argentina-U.K.-Taiwan-France-Denmark-Sweden)
How Chile’s South was won: A 1900 Patagonia-set Western detailing the slaughter of Mapuches, or their incorporation into a myth of civilisation. Produced by Chilean Giancarlo Nasi’s Quijote Films, sold by MK2 Films, playing at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, winning a Fipresci Prize.
“A Strange Path” (“Estranho Caminho,” Guto Parente, Brazil)
Set up at Brazil’s Tardo Filmes, Parente’s tenth feature won the Projeto Paradiso First Prize in the WIP Latam section and was multi-awarded at Tribeca. It follows a filmmaker who reconnects with his father during the forced lockdown of the pandemic.
“Totem” (Tótem, Lila Avilés, Mexico)
Avilés, whose feature debut “The Chambermaid” screened at San Sebastian’s New Directors in 2018, tells this time a choral film about life, focusing on a 7-year-old girl who looks on as her family foundations crumble.
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