Madrid-based Latido Films has snagged international sales rights to Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return” (“Segundo premio”) and plans to kick off pre-sales at the Cannes market.
Currently shooting in Granada, the semi-biopic is set during the ‘90s when the Andalusian city was ground zero for an outburst of cultural effervescence, with the pioneering rock band Los Planetas at the center of it. The film focuses on the creative process behind the recording of their iconic third album, which also took them to New York.
Latido likens “Saturn Return” to “24 Hour Party People,” the2002 British biographical dramedy about Manchester’s influential music scene, which spawned such bands as Factory Records’ Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays.
Based on a script by Fernando Navarro, the writer behind one of Netflix’s most viewed Spanish-language movies, “Below Zero,” the story is set at a time when the group was at its most fraught-ridden moments, just before the release of the album. The bassist and drummer had split from the group, leaving only the lead singer and guitarist, who was spiralling into his own personal hell.
Lacuesta – whose “One Year, One Night” competed at Berlinale, and who’s won twice the top Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival, with 2011’s “The Double Steps” and 2018’s “Between Two Waters” – collaborated on the screenplay with Navarro.
Daniel Ibáńez (“The Good Boss”) plays the lead singer while the rest of the cast are played by actual musicians: Guitarist Fran Ocete, bass player Chesco Ruiz and drummer Mario Fernandez who has played with Los Planetas among other bands.
Stephanie Magnin, whose credits include film “Ventajas de viajar en tren” and series “Fuerza de Paz” and “Como Dios Manda,” rounds up the cast.
The drama’s soundtrack will also include the music of Scottish rock band Teenage Fanclub and Irish-English band My Bloody Valentine.
Its producers are Spain’s La Terraza films, Aralan Films, Ikiru Films and Capricci from France.
Bteam handles Spanish distribution while Capricci handles the film’s release in France.
Latido Films’ recent pickups include Celia Rico’s “Los Pequeños Amores,” Daniel Calparsoro’s action-thriller “All the Names of God,” “Chinas,” “ChampioNext,” the sequel to “Champions,” which sold to over 50 territories, and the third feature from Spanish writer-director Arantxa Echevarria, winner of the Best New Director Goya in 2018 for her debut feature, “Carmen & Lola.”