Boutique sales agency Patra Spanou Film has acquired the international sales rights of Roberto Doveris’ “Proyecto Fantasma” (“Ghost Project”), an indie comedy with dramatic and spooky moments. The Chilean film will world premiere next week in the Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
It is Doveris’ second film after the youth drama ”Las Plantas,” which won Best Film in Berlinale’s Generation 14plus section. Doveris was also a producer on “El Principe” by Sebastian Muñoz, winner of the Queer Lion in Venice, and “(Im)Patient” by Constanza Fernández, Audience Award winner in Huelva. “Las Plantas” and “El Principe” are also represented by Patra Spanou.
“Proyecto Fantasma” centers Pablo, a young actor who dreams of starring in a film, but in order to pay the bills he has to work as a simulated patient in medical schools and in weird sessions of alternative therapies. And it is not just his career that becomes stuck. His life also seems to be spiralling as he is still in love with his successful ex-boyfriend, while his roommate disappeared without paying the rent, leaving behind several problems, among them, a ghost.
This is the start of Pablo’s journey through the Ñuñoa neighborhood, meeting new friends and allies, finding out that the path to fulfil his dreams will be more tangled and strange than he thought.
Spanou commented: “I have been following the career of Roberto Doveris for a while, from his debut as director to his work as producer, admiring his talent and professionalism. ‘Proyecto Fantasma’ has all the characteristics of his previous work, centering on friendship, fantasy, pop and queer culture, but this time the novelty in his expression, the comic element, which makes the film so special. In a charming and heartwarming way the main character is being embraced and carried by his friends through the ups and mostly downs in his life, making the film feel like the Chilean version of ‘Friends’ for the YouTube generation.”
Doveris said: “ ‘Proyecto Fantasma’ was born from the dream of making a film with friends and people I admire, always in a small scale but with a huge artistic freedom. Even though the movie is full of eccentricities, it really brings together a lot of personal experiences. Besides portraying the tenderness in the human relationships, I wanted to show how strange are the connections between people in a giant city as Santiago, where internet and social media play an important role, but without leaving behind the warm and closeness of neighborhood life.”
The film is an entirely Chilean production, produced by Doveris’ Niña Niño Films (“El Principe,” “(Im)Patient”) and Aura Sinclair’s Agencia Rekia (“La Isla de las gaviotas”).
It features performances by Juan Cano (“Las Plantas”), Ingrid Isensee (“La Voz en Off”) and Argentine singer Violeta Castillo, along with influencers from social media, such as Fernando Castillo (“No Estoy Creici”), Fernanda Toledo (“La Pancito”) and Paloma Larrain.
After its world premiere in Rotterdam, Patra Spanou Film will present the film in the European Film Market as a market premiere screening, along with two other market debuts, the San Sebastian winner “Blue Moon” by Alina Grigore, and the German thriller “Future Is a Lonely Place” by Martin Hawie and Laura Harwarth.