Paris-based Urban Factory, Peru’s Maretazo Cine and Carlos Reygadas’ Mexico-based No Dreams Cinema are teaming to produce black comedy “El Mudo,” Daniel and Diego Vega’s followup to Latin American 2010 standout “Octubre.”
Urban Distribution Intl. will handle international sales on the pic, budgeted at €500,000 to €600,000 ($712,500 to $855,000).
Written by the Vega brothers, “El Mudo” focuses on a government official who refuses to succumb to state corruption.
A black comedy with film noir and social drama elements, Diego Vega said “El Mudo” portrays not so much political corruption as a corrupt society created in Peru by 10 years of kleptocracy under president Alberto Fujimori.
The Vegas are working on a third draft of the screenplay, said Urban Factory’s Clement Duboin.
“El Mudo” has scored Ibermedia development money and coin from Peru’s Conacine state subsidy fund.
No Dreams Cinema and Maretazo, the Vegas’ Lima-based label, will jointly apply for Ibermedia co-production funding.
The fact that No Dreams Cinema is boarding “El Mudo” also allows it to qualify as a French-Mexico co-production, in the absence of a Peru-France co-production treaty.
This gives it official European production status — a key consideration for potential distributors in Europe, Duboin said. Post-production will be carried out in France, he added.
The producers will apply to France’s merged Fonds Sud-Foreign-Language Film Fund, which may launch early 2012.
The Vegas aim to shoot around May-June, during Lima’s winter. “We like the sense of sadness it transmits,” said Diego Vega.
French distribution is still under consideration. “El Mudo” could be put through Urban Distribution, Urban’s French distribution operation, or sold to a third-party distributor.
“Octubre,” sold by UDI, went closed deals in multiple territories worldwide following its Cannes 2010 Un Certain Regard jury prize, including the U.S. (New Yorker Films), France (Eurozoom) and Germany (Neue Visionen).
Many of “Octubre’s” distributors are interested in acquiring “El Mudo,” Duboin said.
