SAN SEBASTIAN Imagina Intl. Sales, Spain’s foremost TV-cinema sales company, has acquired worldwide rights outside Russia and the CIS to Spanish first-timer Nicolas Alcala’s sci-fi drama “The Cosmonaut.”
Lead-produced by Spain’s Riot Cinema Collective, film was partially financed via crowdfunding, raising more than €400,000 ($540,000) from more than 4,500 producers.
Written and directed by Alcala, Russia-shot and made in English, pic turns on a Russian cosmonaut who traveled to the moon in 1975 and failed to return.
In the film, however, through ghostly radio messages, he claims to have come back and found the earth completely devoid of human life.
“The Cosmonaut” toplines Katrine de Candole, Leon Ockenden (“Across The River”) and Max Wrottesley (“Open Gave”).
“More than a feature film, this is a transmedia project,” said Imagina’s sales director Geraldine Gonard at San Sebastian, where the “Cosmonaut” deal was unveiled.
“The Cosmonaut” project also includes 32 additional webisodes and a DVD-book.
Unusually, “The Cosmonaut” was also made under a Creative Commons license, allowing third parties to copy the movie for non-commercial purposes, Gonard said.
“Cosmonaut” was aired in Spain on paybox Canal Plus’ Yombi’s VOD site. Multiple movies are now being made in Spain outside traditionally financing channels. Imagina’s aim is now to tap into more traditional distribution channels: Theatrical, TV and video, Gonard said.
