BUENOS AIRES — Leveraging a knowledge of brazil’s art film scene which no other sales can match, Sandro Fiorin’s Miami-based FiGa Films has boarded Eduardo Nunes’ bold parable “Unicorn,” from Brazil. Vitrine Filmes will distribute the title in Brazil.
FiGa will handle word sales and is introducing the title to select buyers at this week’s Ventana Sur market. The acquisition comes as Zeca Rezende who has a background in economics and business administration in Brazil, is in the process of becoming a partner of FiGa, acquiring a 25% stake in the company. Lidia Damatto has recently relocated to São Paulo taking on the new role of director of FiGa/Br as FiGa establish it as not only a label but also as a brand new company in Brazil that will eventually co-produce and distribute FiGa titles in the country.
Nunes’ second feature, “Unicorn” follows on “Southwest,” a debut that screened in competition at the Rotterdam Festival, proved a festival favorite, and won 23 prizes, including two Fipresci and Andrei Tarkovsky awards.
Produced by 3 Tabelas Filmes, co-produced by Brazil’s Canal Brasil, and written by Nunes, adapting from the book from Brazilian writer Hilda Hilst, “Unicorn” returns Nunes to a rural world and fairy tale simplicity of a narration whose events suggest a larger meaning. In this tale, a father tells his daughter a story of her living in a country cottage with her mother. As they await the father’s return, their existence changes with the arrival of a man. Far different from the B & W “Southwest,” however, “Unicorn” is shot in colors which jump out of the screen.
“Eduardo Nunes is a humble genius, no one makes films like he does anymore. His sensibility for storytelling, coupled with devastating images, are something to be reckoned with,” said Fiorin adding that “Unicorn,” while dovetailing with FiGa Films’ traditional focus on new filmmakers, also continues its new line, begun with Maria Novaro’s Berlin GenerationK Plus screening “Tesoros,” in movies which are open to children.
A film, theater and TV star in Brazil, Patricia Pillar plays the mother. “Unicorn” was filmed in December 2016 in the mountains of the State of Rio de Janeiro, which are made to look magical, like the mountains of Switzerland, Fiorin said, and with the same crew as “Southwest.” It received its world premiere at this early fall’s Rio Festival. Its international premiere will take place in the first half of 2018, on the European festival circuit.
“Unicorn” joins a Figa films Ventana Sur slate which is led by “Eugenia,” directed by Martin Boulocq (“Lo más bonito y mis majors años”), one of Bolivia’s rare auteurs, a tale of female empowerment starring his wife and producer, the actress Andrea Camponovo, as a woman who determines to take control of her life. Co-produced by Brazil’s Klaxon, and world premiering at October’s Sao Paulo Festival, “Eugenia” receives a market screening at Ventana Sur.
FiGa Films is also representing Ecuadorian Juan Sebastián Jacame’s “Cenizas,” a daughter-father drama set in the lap of a near-erupting volcano which is produced by Abaca Films (Ecuador) and Raindogs Cine (Uruguay). Producers are Irina Caballero, Germán Tejeira and Andrew Hevia, who co-produced Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight.”
