Six Promising Latin American Series Projects Set to Pitch at Upcoming Sanfic Series (EXCLUSIVE)
Chile’s Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic) has unveiled the full list of series projects set to pitch at its upcoming Sanfic Series sidebar, running under the festival’s Sanfic Industria banner Oct. 27-Nov. 5.
“Receiving these fiction series projects from all the countries of the Southern Cone has been extremely gratifying and demonstrates the potential of the region in terms of creative avant-garde. Our role at Series Lab is to create a bridge to channel that potential and bring it closer to the industry,” said Alejandra Marano, Sanfic Series coordinator and Lab mentor.
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In addition to the six featured projects, two other series – Paula Parra’s “Allende PUM” and Sofía Corso’s “Fugitivas” – have also been invited to participate at the Sanfic Series workshops.
2021 SANFIC SERIES PARTICIPANTS
“The Rise of Elisa Lynch” Dir: TBC
Set near the end of the 19th century, “The Rise of Elisa Lynch” is conceived as a limited series about the arrival and ascension of its titular protagonist, a high society woman who leaves Paris in favor of Paraguay, where her political ambitions are hampered by public perception of the lady as a scandalous temptress, unwilling to wed. Eventually, her personality and electric charisma win out though, and she becomes a hero of the lower class, introducing new ideas of culture, education and diplomacy to the people, much to the chagrin of the region’s upper class. Award-winning actress, producer and soon-to-be director Maia Nikiphoroff produces.
“Passing-Through Stories” Dir: Alfonso Lourido
Carajito Films, also participating at Santiago Lab with its feature project “Reaching for the Moon,” presents this anthology series of stories about travelers passing through rural parts of Latin America. Each episode will tell a self-contained story featuring elements of horror, science fiction, fantasy and humor. The subject matter, half-hour episode length and genre cinema visual cues planned for the show make it ideal for global platforms and younger audiences, according to the series’ producers. “Our proposal is the reformulation of a genre that until very recently was almost exclusively proprietary to North American productions. We will inject ‘Latinidad’ and ‘Ibero-American’ customs into the genre,” says director Lourido.
Credit: Alfonso Lourido
“Frankie” Dir: Rodrigo Susarte
Frankie was a fit, handsome Latino actor stuck working on B-movies where he is best known for his physical elasticity and impressive figure. Hoping to finally break through into more serious, blockbuster fare, he writes a movie for himself to star, loaded with dangerous action sequences. One such sequence goes bad, leaving the actor disfigured and dismayed, thinking his career is finished without his face. However, his agent lands him a role in a popular dark comedy, and he becomes an overnight global hit. Success has its own perils, however, and the most important relationships in his personal life suffer their own disfigurement.
“My Queen” Dir: Marlene Grinberg
A Buenos Aires Film Commission Incubator winner, “My Queen” is described by its producers, Cruz del Sur Cine and Far Away Cine, as a grotesque dramatic comedy about “Mothers, Children, Sex and Judaism.” After the loss of the family’s patriarch and her husband, Ruth and her adult children are finally, slowly, recovering as life returns to an uncomfortable normal in their middle-class suburb. When a salacious scandal rips through the family, each member retreats to former unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Credit: Far Away Cine
“Río Tercero” Dir: Martín Mauregui
On Nov. 3, 1995, an explosion rocked through a key chemical and weapons facility operated by the Argentine government in the city of Río Tercero, Córdoba. Seven people died and more than 300 were injured. The official party line, delivered by President Carlos Menem himself, is that the explosion was caused by an accident. In this series, based on those events, Ana and Gaviglio are unconvinced and launch an investigation into the truth behind the explosion, finding evidence that it was caused intentionally by the government to cover up illegal arms sales from Argentina to Croatia and Ecuador. Alejandro Israel’s Ajimolido Films produces. Pablo Trapero co-scribe Mauregui (“Lion’s Den”) is set to direct.
“Families” Dir: Diego Fierro-Lablée
Described generally as a dark comedy police thriller but in truth a far more avant-garde proposal, “Families” takes a cynical look behind the curtain of influencer culture. In the show, the Kaufmanns are a well-known TV family, stars of one of the most popular reality shows on TV. The family’s shiny public veneer is ruined however, when during their show’s Christmas special one of them receives a gift from an anonymous source which unveils a dark secret from their collective past. BlandKrause Studios, a company with extensive experience producing short films and advertisements in the U.S. and Chile, produces.
Credit: Diego Fierro Lablée
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