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Picture Tree International Scores Global Rights to Mexican Social Comedy ‘Domingo’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Berlin-based Picture Tree International has picked up global sales rights to Mexican director Raúl López Echeverría’s feature debut, the socially conscious soccer comedy “Domingo,” and will introduce the film, in final postproduction, to buyers at Latin American film market Ventana Sur this week.

The film tells the story of Domingo, a man of 55 living in a poor suburb of Guadalajara. When his wife abruptly leaves him, he decides to do everything in his power to realize his lifelong dream of becoming a professional soccer commentator. Every Sunday, he commentates on local amateur matches. Yet he could never imagine how much his impassioned commentaries are changing the life of his neighborhood.

According to the director, the screenplay of “Domingo” was inspired by observing certain working-class districts in the suburbs of Guadalajara, where soccer grounds are a central part of the community and dear to the inhabitants’ hearts.

“The way in which communities are built around such soccer grounds, how inhabitants create relationships there, to face economic difficulties and the lack of infrastructure, are my main sources of inspiration for this story,” he said.

López Echeverría graduated from the Image and Sound Department of the University of Guadalajara in 1998. In 2003, his short film “La Puerta” was awarded best short film at the Independent International Film Festival of New York. In 2011 he directed the feature documentary “El Ultimo Bolero,” and in 2015, his fiction short film “Domingo” was selected by several international film festivals. Since 2013, he has been part of the selection committee of the Guadalajara Film Festival. He also teaches filmmaking at the University of Guadalajara.

“Domingo” is produced by Sébastien Aubert through his French company Adastra Film, together with Jorge Díaz Sánchez, Kinesis Film House in Mexico and Elly Senger-Weiss at Austrian Elly Films.

PTI’s lineup at Ventana Sur also includes the Dutch Oscar entry “Bulado”; San Sebastian competition title “Wu Hai”; the Cannes-labeled Fassbinder-biopic “Enfant Terrible”; and “Go Youth!” by Carlos Armella, which just celebrated its local premiere at Morelia Film Festival.

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