Spain’s Feelsales has acquired international sales rights to ‘Bad Hair’ helmer Mariana Rondón’s latest pic, ‘Zafari’, ahead of its world premiere at the San Sebastian Festival on September 22. The trailer debuts exclusively in Variety.
The Venezuelan-born filmmaker last won the Golden Seashell in San Sebastian for her 2013 drama “Bad Hair” (“Pelo Malo”), which won multiple awards at other festivals around the world.
Set in a dystopian world without water, food and hope, the arrival of a hippopotamus at the Caracas Zoo pits two neighbors, Edgar (40) and Ali (40), against each other in a dispute over the animal’s care and the communal swimming pool in their residential building. As electricity and food become increasingly scarce and the heat becomes unbearable, Ana (35), Edgar’s wife, searches for solutions to their hard daily life. She discovers that giving in to the wild world is her only way to escape a reality without a future.
“We describe it as dystopian because, although it seems to refer to Venezuela, we want to give a broader picture of Latin America today,” Rondón said.
“Feelsales convinced us with their enthusiasm for the film and the fact that it consists mainly of women,” said Marité Ugás, founder of Rondón and Sudaca Films.
Feelsales, previously known as a distributor of documentary films and short films, “took an important step in its evolution by expanding its catalog to include fiction films in 2022, focusing mainly on authorial cinema with high commercial potential and the ability to connect with a wide audience. worldwide,” said director Luis Collar.
Rondón’s fourth feature is primarily a Peruvian production through Sudaca Films, with six other countries on board. These are Mexico’s Paloma Negra Films, Klaxon Cultura Audiovisual (Brazil), Still Moving (France), Quijote Films (Chile) as producers, while Selene Films (Dominican Republic) and Artefactos SF (Venezuela) are co-producers.
The drama was filmed primarily in the Dominican Republic, with interior shots in Peru, Ugás said.
Rondón and Ugás are both directors and screenwriters and alternate the roles of producers in each other’s projects. Their filmography includes: “Contactado” (2020), “Bad Hair” (2013), “El Chico que Miente” (2011), “Postales de Leningrado” (2007) and “A la Media Noche y Media” (2000).
In addition to its venture into fiction filmmaking, Feelsales has broadened its scope by offering distribution services at film festivals and taking on projects in development, including television series.
It is part of The Circular Group, a consortium that brings together companies in production, distribution and talent management. Its presence in key film and TV markets makes it a comprehensive agency attuned to the changing needs of the industry.