Production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has come on board to finance musical animation film “They Shot the Piano Player,” directed by Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, Oscar-nominated for their 2012 animation “Chico & Rita.”
Jeff Goldblum is attached to voice the lead character, a New York music journalist on a quest to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of young Brazilian piano virtuoso Tenorio JR.
Film Constellation describes the film as “a celebratory origin story” of the Bossa Nova movement that “captures a fleeting time bursting with creative freedom at a turning point in Latin American history in the 60s and 70s, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.”
The pic features a who’s who of the best of Brazilian music, including João Gilberto, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Vinicius de Moraes and Paulo Moura.
Trueba, whose credits include music films “Calle 54,” “Bebo Y Cigala” and “The Miracle of Candeal,” and the Oscar-winning “Belle Epoque,” is teaming up with illustrator Javier Mariscal, best known for his drawings that have adorned the covers of the New Yorker magazine and Louis Vuitton’s Travel Book Collection.
Cristina Huete of Trueba PC (“Chico & Rita”) in Spain and Valerie Schermann of Prima Linea Studios (“The Red Turtle”) in France are co-producing, with Nano Arrieta and Fabien Westerhoff of Film Constellation executive producing.
Westerhoff said: “Fernando’s unique access to the best of Latin jazz musicians, and Javier’s iconic drawings make for a formidable musical journey, exploring the grace and tragedy that make us human, and connecting people worldwide.”