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Proper Eyes (Por sus propios ojos)

Special Announcement!

Los Angeles-based distributor FiGa Films has bought US and Canadian rights to the Argentinian prison drama Through Her Own Eyes (Por Sus Propios Ojos), a world premiere in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian film festival, according to the film's producer Paula Grandio.

Produced by Mandragora Producciones, director Liliana Paolinelli's drama tells the story of a film student writing a thesis on prisoners' wives whose world collides with one inmate.

Bavaria Film International has also sold the Horizontes Latinos title El Bano Del Papa to Wiesner Distribution for Puerto Rico and Distribution Company for Argentina. The Uruguayan drama, produced by Laroux Cine, is a comical tale about a small town in Uruguay that awaits the arrival of the previous Pope, John Paul II, by offering toilet facilities to pilgrims.

Distribution Company has also bought the rights to Carlos Saura's musical drama Fados for Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. The film was shown earlier this week in the Zabaltegi Pearls section of San Sebastian and is being sold by Latido Films.

Proper Eyes Selected In AFI Fest Competition

Figa Films received word that the film (Proper Eyes) has been selected and will be in competition for the 2008 AFI Fest.

Gramado chooses Best Film “Nome Próprio”

August 18, 2008, Gramado, Brazil

In the last category of the Gramado Film Festival’s Kikitos Awards announced Saturday night, director Murilo Salles went on the festival’s Palace stage to accept the Best Picture prize for “Nome Próprio (Proper Name)”. Best Director went to Domingos de Oliveira for “Juventude (Youth)”.

In the foreign film competition, the Mexican entry “Cochochi”, which earlier in the afternoon had received a special trophy for artistic excellence, won Best Foreign Film. Best Foreign Director went to Colombian Carlos Moreno’s “Perro come perro (Dog Eats Dog)”. The Audience Award went to Argentina’s “Por sus proprios ojos (Proper Eyes)”, hailed by the critics as a small masterpiece of the new Latino cinema wave.

Salles, who had previously competed in Gramado with the films “We Were Never So Happy” and “Two-Edged Sword”, and had never won in this category, was very excited, dedicating the award to his team, "It was truly a collaborative effort and it reflects on the screen".

Moments earlier, the film’s Leandra Leal had received the Best Actress award. In her acceptance speech she said being an actress is the thing she likes to do most in life. She dedicated the statuette to her mother, actress Angela Leal, and to her director "…for understanding the female soul".

The other big winners of the night were "A Festa da Menina Morta (The Dead Girl’s Party)” and “Juventude”. Matheus Nachtergaele’s directorial debut, "A Festa da Menina Morta” received five awards, plus two critics and popular jury prizes announced in the afternoon. It won a much deserved Best Actor award for Daniel de Oliveira, for Lula Carvalho’s photography, a special jury prize and the award for music, accepted by Nachtergaele who provided the evening’s most emotional moment with an homage to Dorival Caymmi who had died Saturday morning. The actor and director dedicated his prize to the singer and Bahian composer and asked the audience to join in and sing Maracangalha.

“Juventude” yielded Domingos de Oliveira two prizes, for directing with artistic quality a trio of actors, Paulo José, Aderbal Freire Filho, and Oliveira himself, and for his screenplay. "It was an exhibition of emotions here the day before yesterday and now it happens again; makes life worth living", said the director.

As it was for the natives, there were many surprises in the important foreign categories that did not result in Best Film. Following the example of “Youth” and “The Party of the Dead Girl”, the Argentine film “Por sus proprios ojos (Proper Eyes)” won an additional three awards; Best Foreign Actress for Ana Carabajal, Best Foreign Screenplay (for director Liliana Paolinelli) and a special Jury Prize.

Similarly, “Perro come perro” won in the category of Best Foreign Actor for Marlon Moreno and Best Photography for Juan Carlos Gil, including the already coveted prize for Best Foreign Film. Again, the jury gave the trophy for direction to a film that did not win the top prize.

The equally important prizes for shorts followed. “Areia (Sand)” was chosen in the Best Short category, also receiving prizes for photography (Heloísa Paces) and for actress Malu Galli. The directing award went to Jaime Lerner for “Subsolo (Underground)”.

The short about Booker Pittman’s career, … received a special jury prize, as well as earning the prize-acquisition of Brazil Channel. The best script went to “Arquivo Re Bordosa (Re Bordosa’s File)”, writers César Cabral and Leandro Maciel. Augusto Madeira was the best actor in two shorts, “Sunday Night” and “Blackout”. This, by the way, was theme for this prestigious night, that had an indeed blacked out for some minutes and removed a little of the brilliance of the party in Gramado.

Figa sees through Paolinelli's 'Eyes'

L.A. based company buys rights to drama

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- In an early deal at the San Sebastian Festival, Los Angeles-based Figa Films has taken all North American rights to "Por sus propios ojos" (Proper Eyes).

The feature debut of Argentine Liliana Paolinelli, "Eyes" turns on a film student who investigates the relationship between prisoners and the women in their families.

Figa distribution VP Alex Garcia and head of acquisitions Sandro Fiorin, Paolinelli and the film's exec producer, Paula Grandio, struck the deal at San Sebastian. Figa will release the film theatrically in 2008.

The distribution house specializes in picking up Spanish and Latin American films for the U.S., having taken all rights to Brazil's "Alice's House" at the Miami fest.

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Alice's House

This year's Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival shows the event, now in its 11th year, having settled into a comfortable groove, programmed with many films that are good but few that are mandatory viewing. Perhaps the most fascinating figure in the festival's entire cinematic lineup is actually a secondary character in a film. The Brazilian A Casa de Alice (Alice's House) follows middle-aged Alice, a wife in a sexless marriage, and mother to three young men with lives of their own, who uses the return of a childhood sweetheart into her life to jump-start her romantic and erotic fantasies. But it's her elderly mother, who lives with Alice's family, who steals the film. Working as a tireless housekeeper in order to earn her stay, the older woman is privy to the secrets and private lives of the entire household. Watching her take in the assorted duplicities but still hold her tongue is what gives Casa its unforced power.

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The Prison And The Street

“Elegantly shot and extremely well-structured…” Variety Magazine

The award-winning Zeppelin Filmes production will be released to the Mexican public during the program of the IV Encuentro Hispanoamericano de VÌdeo Documental Independiente: Contra el Silencio de Todas las Voces”, from March 15 to 18. The documentary, directed by Liliana Sulzbach, will be shown in the competition alongside various productions from Europe and Latin America dealing with social issues.

In Brazil the film continues its agenda of cinema releases in the central west, north, and northeast regions. The feature film should be released for the home video system (DVD and VHS) in 2006.

The feature film directed by Liliana Sulzbach and produced by Zeppelin Filmes was granted in December the award for Best Documentary at the Portuguese-Speaking Countries Film Festival (Festival de Cinema dos Países de Língua Portuguesa - IMARgens).

Besides the IMARgens award, “O Cárcere e a Rua” has already won five other awards, this one being its third international achievement.

The movie was commercially released in Brazil this year, and its DVD/video debut is expected for 2006.

The Zeppelin Filmes production directed by Liliana Sulzbach, has won another award. This time the “Prison and the Street” was considered Best Documentary at El Ojo Cojo – Festival Internacional de Cine por Integración Cultural, which took place in Madrid (Spain). The jury unanimously awarded the Guiño Award to the feature, which shows the process of adaptation of three women and their paths between prison and freedom.

The film continues its commercial release in Brazil in Caxias do Sul (November 18), Curitiba (November 11), Vitória (December 2) and Florianópolis (December 3).