BARCELONA — Edgard Tenembaum’s Tu Vas Voir, producer of Walter Salles’ “The Motorcycle Diaries,” has boarded “Atlantida,” from first-time Argentine helmer-scribe Ines Maria Barrionuevo.
Tenembaum will take an exec producer credit on “Atlantida,” aiding the film’s presentation at financing forums, and advising its producer, Paolo Suarez, on European and international co-financing options.
“‘Atlantida’ has a very young director and producer with great talent and energy, and they form part of a rising regional cinema in Cordoba. I’m very attracted to this,” Tenembaum told Variety.
He added he would try to give Barrionuevo and Suarez his know-how, direct contacts and analysis of the reception of films from the southern part of the world in Europe.
Skedded to shoot first half 2012, “Atlantida” focuses on two teen sisters who, over the course of one hot day, discover and define their sensuality. Set in Cordoba, in Argentina’s north, “Atlantida” is set up at Suarez’s Oruga Films, which is emerging fast as one of the most ambitious and cosmopolitan of production houses on Cordoba’s fast-burgeoning film and TV production scene.
“Atlantida” has been selected for Mar del Plata’s Work in Progress, taking place Friday and Saturday, and also for the Meeting Point for distributors and sales agents at Germany’s Mannheim Festival, which unspools Nov. 15-19. Barrionuevo’s debut has also been invited to Manaus’ 8th Amazonas Film Festival, Suarez said.
It has pulled down subsidies from both the Cordoba Province’s Development Fund and Argentina’s Incaa Film Institute. But Suarez and Barrionuevo aim to finance “Atlantida” out of not just Argentina, but also Europe.
“From early development, we were interested in inserting the film in international financing systems. It’s not just about money, but access to European festivals, and the development of the director and my production house,” Suarez said.
Oruga’s first two TV series, period drama “Eden” and sitcom “Cordoba Casting,” on which Barrionuevo takes a co-writing credit, will screen at Argentine TV mart Ven TV, which runs Dec. 6-7.
