Activism, Identity, Belief, Explored in San Sebastian WIP Latam Titles

The San Sebastian Festival’s new Works in Progress Latam program will unveil from Sept. 22 six film productions from Latin America to potential production partners and sales agents.

Examining such topics as militant activism, the relationship between leaders and followers, employers and employees, identity, devoutness and belief systems, this year’s projects reflect universal subject matter in films from Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay.

WIP Latam, which runs Sept. 22-24, replaces San Sebastian’s Films in Progress event after its 18-year run.

This year’s works include “The Fossilized Remains,” Jerónimo Quevedo’s Argentine drama about young militants in Buenos Aires; Manuel Nieto’s “The Employer and the Employee,” an Uruguayan-Argentine-Brazilian-French co-production about the relationship between two young men, a boss and his worker, and the convoluted relationship of both with work, freedom and happiness; and “Boreal,” Federico Adorno’s Paraguayan-Mexican co-production about the followers of a Mennonite leader and their growing impatience with menial work.

Also being presented to potential collaborators are Maximiliano Schonfeld’s “Jesús López,” an Argentine-French drama about a drifting teenager who finds new meaning in his life as he begins to take the place of his late cousin, a young racing driver recently killed in an accident; Iván Fund’s “Dusk Stone,” an Argentine-Chilean co-production about grieving parents whose life changes with the appearance of a strange creature; and “The Rust,” Juan Sebastián Mesa’s Colombian-French feature about a solitary coffee farmer dealing with a severe plague that is destroying his harvest.

Taking place alongside WIP Europa, WIP Latam will also present the WIP Latam Industry Award, which includes post-production services and Spanish distribution, jointly offered by Ad Hoc Studios, Deluxe, Dolby, Laserfilm Cine y Vídeo, Nephilim Producciones, No Problem Sonido and Sherlock Films.

The fest has also introduced a new prize, the €30,000 ($35.373) EGEDA Platino Industria Award for the best WIP Latam project. Sponsored by the Audiovisual Producers’ Rights Management Association (EGEDA),the Spanish-world rights collection society, the award is given to the winning film’s majority producer.

San Sebastian’s Films in Progress program presented 48 films between 2012 and 2019, including 38 completed works, 29 of which screened in such fests as Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, San Sebastian and Venice, among them Sebastián Lelio’s “Gloria”; Alejandro Fernández Almendras’ “To Kill a Man”; Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul”; Sebastian Múñoz’s “The Prince”; and Fernanda Valadez’s “Identifying Features.