Blood Window, Argentina’s most important Latin American genre film market, part of Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur meet-mart, will host a showcase of Ibero-American genre films and works in progress at the Cannes Festival Film Market, running May 17-20.
The showcase includes three screenings sponsored by three of the world’s leading genre festivals: the U.K.’s Fright Fest, Mexico’s Morbido Fest and the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia.
Additionally, the Upcoming Fantastic Films section for Ibero-American works in progress facilitates representatives from eight nearly-finished films to screen clips and pitch to buyers, sales agents and representatives from other festivals from around the world. This year eight works in progress will present, up from seven last year.
The Argentine films participating in the works in progress pitches include Pablo Parés’ “I am Toxic,” a post-apocalyptic tale in a world torn asunder by biological warfare. A man with no memory wakes amongst a pile of dead bodies and is forced into an insane race for survival. “Impossible Crimes” from director Hernan Findling is endorsed by the U.K.’s Fright Fest, and turns on an experienced detective investigating a series of seemingly nonsensical crimes, forcing him to consider the impossible.
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A New Zealand-Argentina co-production, celebrated filmmaking brothers Nicolás and Luciano Onetti’s “A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio” follows Rod, a popular DJ who starts getting unsettling calls from a child begging for help. The seemingly cruel prank quickly becomes frighteningly real.
If one were to replace Liam Neeson’s character in “Taken” with a black magic wielding single mother, it might look something like Marcelo Páez Cubells’ “Witch,” which pits a normally do-no-harm mother with extensive knowledge of black magic against a prostitution ring foolish enough to kidnap her daughter.
In Ramiro García Bogliano’s “Expanding Bullets,” Flavia returns to her hometown to catch up with her sister and finds a gun hidden in their family home, a gun she believes her father used to murder their mother. Laura Casabé, the only female director of the bunch, is bringing “The Returned,” a period film set in 1919 which follows a wealthy landowner’s wife who gives birth to her third stillborn child. Desperate, the woman asks her indigenous housekeeper to bring the child back to life, but when she arrives the baby’s not alone.
CREDIT: CHIAROSCURO ENTERTAIMENT SA
Rounding out the Argentine productions is the buzzed up “Immortal,” from Fernando Spiner (“Aballay”), in which Ana returns home to Buenos Aires to claim her inheritance after her father’s death. While going through his things, Ana crosses paths with a Dr. Benedetti, a scientist and friend of her father who shows her a door to another dimension where she can speak to the dead.
The Mexican selection at the Bloodwindow Showcase includes Alejandro G. Alegre’s “The Devil Told Me What To Do,” a story of a torturous kidnapping executed by a mentally unstable man. “The Evil’s Heritage” from Rodrigo Fiallega follows Carmen, a journalist who visits her dead grandmother’s house and discovers a family secret hidden for generations.
Co-produced between Mexico and Spain, Santiago Alvarado Illarri’s dark comedy “Menendez Part 1: The Day of the Lord” turns on a retired priest visited by an old friend who begs the man to perform an exorcism on his daughter, although the validity of his claims of possession are questionable at best.
The final production, Kapel Furman and Armando Fonseca’s “Skull – The Mask,” is a Brazil, U.S. co-production seeped in gore. In 1944 the mask of T’Uxlu, a vassal of Tahawantinsupay, was used as part of a failed military experiment. Today, the mask shows up in São Paulo sparking a bloodbath.
CREDIT: WIT PRODUCCIONES SRL
2019 CANNES FILM MARKET BLOOD WINDOW SHOWCASE
“I am Toxic,” (Pablo Parés, Argentina)
“The Devil Told me what to Do,” (Alejandro G. Alegre, Mexico)
“Impossible Crimes,” (Hernan Findling, Agentina)
“A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio,” (Nicolás Onetti, Luciano Onetti, Argentina, New Zealand)
“Witch,” (Marcelo Páez Cubells, Agentina)
“Skull – The Mask,” (Kapel Furman, Armando Fonseca, Brazil, U.S.A.)
“The Evil’s Heritage,” (Rodrigo Fiallega, Mexico)
“Expanding Bullets,” (Ramiro Garcia Bogliano, Argentina, Spain)
“The Returned,” (Laura Casabé, Argentina)
“Menendez Part 1: The Day of the Lord,” (Santiago Alvarado Illarri, Mexico, Spain)
“Immortal,” (Fernando Spiner, Argentina)