Berlin: Media Luna Acquires Horror Thriller ‘Blood-Red Ox’ (EXCLUSIVE)
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Sales agent Media Luna New Films has acquired international rights to Rodrigo Bellott’s horror thriller “Blood-Red Ox.”
Bellott directed Bolivia’s Academy Award entries “Sexual Dependency” and “Tu Me Manques,” and was the producer behind Jim Mickle’s U.S. remake of Mexican horror hit “We Are What We Are.”
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In “Blood-Red Ox,” which is in post-production, a Lebanese-American journalist and his boyfriend travel to Bolivia where the trip takes a bizarre turn as one of them starts having strange visions and loses his mind over the presence of a giant blood-red ox. While trying to save his boyfriend from paranoia, the other one realizes nothing and nobody is to be trusted as he might be losing his mind too.
Bellott said: “The film is my attempt to fall in love with storytelling and cinema, inspired by the work of Bergman and the early horror films of the 60s and 70s like Polanski and Argento. It attempts to play with the essence of the genre while touching contemporary environmental themes and social issues around mental health.”
The film stars Mazin Akar and Kaolin Bass as the couple who descends into madness, with Andrea Camponovo showing up in a supporting role. The pic was produced by Rodrigo A. Orozco, Bellott, Bass and Camponovo.
Ida Martins, CEO of Media Luna, said: “Besides being absolutely terrifying and boldly introducing queer sensitivity to the realm of horror, the film proves once again that Rodrigo Bellott is indeed a talent to watch as he directs his first genre outing with the same confidence as his previous masterpieces.”
Ahead of the European Film Market, Media Luna also acquired international rights to two German titles, which it will be introducing to buyers at the market.
The first is Melanie Waelde’s youth drama “Naked Animals,” about a group of five teenagers in rural Germany who have to deal with love, sex, violence and emotions following high-school graduation, when everyone is parting ways. The title will have its world premiere in the new Encounters section of the Berlinale.
Also on Media Luna’s Berlin slate is Marco Gadge’s “Juliet Must Die,” a dramedy about an aspiring young actress who couldn’t be prepared less for the audition day at a renowned drama school.
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