Brazilian writer, director and animator Carlos Saldanha has boarded Carla Melo Gampert’s Oscar-qualified Colombian animated short “La Perra” to accompany the film through its upcoming awards season run.
“La Perra” is largely inspired by Melo’s own life and tells the story of a young woman who leaves her family home in Bogota, a domineering mother and her beloved childhood dog to explore her sexuality in a wider world that often pushes Latina women to transition from cute little girls into traditional mothers, or labels them as sluts – “perras” in Spanish, hence the film’s title – if they don’t conform.
Co-produced by esteemed Colombian indie producers Franco Lolli and Capucine Mahé at Bogota-based Evidencia Films and Naomi Denamur and Julie Billy at Paris’s June Films, “La Perra” was a revelation on this year’s festival circuit. It screened in competition at Cannes, Annecy, Toronto, SXSW, Tallinn Black Nights and Clermont-Ferrand and won awards at Dresden, San Francisco, Zagreb and Melbourne, among others. The film also won the Colombian Academy Macondo Award for best animated short.
Saldanha has a decades-long resume working as a writer, director and producer on major U.S. animated blockbusters. He directed or co-directed two films from the “Ice Age” franchise, animated feature Oscar-winner “Rio,” “Robots,” “Ferdinand” and, most recently, “Harold and the Purple Crayon.”
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“There’s something invigorating about witnessing a new wave of talent emerging with such force and vitality,” said Saldanha of Melo’s short and the state of Latin American animation more widely. “Our continent is brimming with untold, singular stories, and ‘La Perra’ embodies this in every frame. Carla Melo has crafted a visually striking narrative infused with an erotic sensibility that is as visceral as it is delicate. It’s both raw and refined, a perfect balance of harshness and sensitivity. It’s been a long time since a short film has moved me so deeply, and ‘La Perra’ does so in ways I won’t soon forget.”
Joining Saldanha on the “La Perra” executive producer team are fellow Brazilians Claudia Chakmati and Gabriela Matarazzo, founders of the indie production company Rhiza Films. The duo recently produced André D’Elia’s feature documentary “Ashes of the Forest.”