Sanfic Industria Goes to Cannes: Highlights

Bernardo Quesney’s “History and Geography” and Tomás González Matos’ “Breaking and Entering” are two of the titles screening May 20 at Cannes’ Marché du Film showcase, Sanfic Industria Goes to Cannes. 

Two other films round out the selection; Andrew Sala’s “The Barbaric” from Argentina, and Esteban García’s Mexico-Columbia co-production “Back to the Sea of my Deseaced.”

All four titles screened at Sanfic Industria’s Works in Progress. The 2022 Cannes slate showcases powerful themes of violence, identity and corruption.

The Goes to Cannes sessions will run May 20-23 May. The curated selections will be presented at two-hour pitch sessions alongside teams who will introduce their films in front of an audience of industry execs and fest heads. The films in this section are in various stages of post-production, some seeking sales agents, distributors or festival selection.

A brief breakdown of the Sanfic Industria Goes to Cannes titles:

“Breaking and Entering,” (“Allanamiento,” Tomás González Matos, Chile)

A modern dark thriller inspired by a true story, this Chilean feature film follows a police cover-up. When a commissioner and deputy commissioner break into the prosecutor’s office to destroy incriminating recordings, a betrayal jeopardizes the mission, pinning drug trafficking, torture and corruption on a sole culprit. Produced by Camila Rodó Carvallo at Pira Films. 

“History and Geography,” (“Historia y Geografía,” Bernardo Quesney, Chile)

Chilean actor Amparo Noguera (“A Fantastic Woman”) plays Gioconda Martinez, an actress seeking to reinvent her image, one of a comedic one-shot from an old hit TV series. She stages a play in her hometown centered on the tragedies of the Mapuche people, only to learn it will take more than a serious subject to be taken seriously. A Work in Progress showcase favourite, seen last year at Guadalajara and Sanfic, “History and Geography” is director Bernardo Quesney’s third feature film. Catalina Saavedra (“The Maid”) co-stars. Movie marks the latest from Pablo Calisto and Tomás Alzamora’s Equeco who burst onto the scene with Alzamora’s hit feature debut “Little White Lie.” 

“Back to the Sea of My Deseaced,” (“Regreso al mar de mis muertos,” Esteban García Garzón, Colombia, Mexico)

This Mexico-Colombia co-production turns on the story of Chico (11) and the journey of his ancestors. Living in a small village in the Colombian Guajira with his Wayúu grandmother Ismelda (71), Chico has visions of his ancestors asking him to return his mother’s bones to Jepirra, the sacred place of the Wayúu. Producers: Ivette Liang (Galaxia 311), Marco Antonio Salgado (Cinema226)

“The Barbaric,” (“La Barbarie,” Andrew Sala, Argentina)

Seen at Ventana Sur’s Copia Final competition last year, its director having participated at the TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Argentine Andrew Sala’s “The Barbaric” took the Latido Award, given by sales agent Latido Films to the feature with the best prospect for distribution worldwide. Prior Latido Award winners include “The Platform” and “Ane is Missing.”

Sala’s follow-up to his first solo feature “Pantanal,” “The Barbaric” plumbing socio-economic tensions in rural Argentina as a young man investigates why the cows on his father’s ranch are being killed. Producers: Nicolás Grosso (Le Tiro), Sebastián Muro (Nevada Cine), Claire Lajoumard (Acrobates Films).