Peru’s ‘Panza de Burro’ Omnibus Pic Heads to San Sebastian
LIMA – Six of Peru’s leading lights in cinema are banding together to create a multi-faceted homage to their beloved capital of Lima.
Rosario Garcia-Montero (“Bad Intentions”), Joanna Lombardi (“Alone”), Gianfranco Quatrinni (“Toxic Jungle”), Javier Fuentes-Leon (“The Vanishing Elephant”) and brothers Daniel and Diego Vega (“El Mudo”) will each create a short for the omnibus feature titled “Panza de Burro,” (literally: donkey’s belly), a wry reference to Lima’s perpetually grey skies, especially in the winter.
“Panza de Burro” is among 16 projects selected to participate in San Sebastian’s 5th Co-Production Forum to be held on September 19-21. “We’ll be looking for co-producers, sales agents and funding,” said Fuentes-Leon whose dark short “La Tapada” pivots on a tourist who becomes infatuated with a Lima city tour guide.
The Vega brothers’ Maretazo Cine and Tondero Films, one of the country’s leading production houses, are co-producing the omnibus feature. Since all have produced their own films, they’ll each be bringing their production skills to the table.
“The idea is to shoot the five shorts back-to-back in order to use the same crew and equipment,” said Fuentes-Leon. Plans are to shoot next winter in Lima, between August and September.
Segments’ themes range from dark to comical. Lombardi’s short “Toda la culpa la tiene Mario,” (“It’s All Mario’s Fault”), an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Giovanna Pollarolo, is set in a book club where all hell breaks loose when its members hear news of their literary hero Mario Vargas Llosa and his sordid affair. “It’s a somewhat wry look on how gossip wins over literature,” said Lombardi, who is also prepping her next feature.
Daniel and Diego Vega’s “El Jardin” (“The Garden”) revolves around a wealthy family who meet to discuss whether they should rent out their nearly 100-year old patriarch’s garden for the high-society wedding of a couple totally unrelated to them.
Garcia-Montero’s “Mas divertido que esto no va a ser” (roughly translated to: This couldn’t be any more fun) centers on a maid’s attempt to cover up her employer’s suicide.
Quatrrini’s “El Regalo de Casuarinas” (“Casuarina’s Gift”) is a road movie of sorts which begins when a gardener’s rich employer gives him a large bed, which he transports to his remote home despite all the obstacles in his way.
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