International Filmmakers to Introduce Their Films

Published in 11/04/2018

Guests expected for Festival do Rio this year include the French directors Olivier Assayas and Antony Cordier, Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor, Argentina’s Gaston Duprat, Ana Katz, Monica Lairana, Benjamin Naishtat and Juan Vera, Portugal’s Antonio Ferreira, Chinese-American Li Cheng, Panaman-based Frank Spano, the Italians Pappi Corsicato, Valerio Mieli, Pippo Mezzapesa and Angelo Pasquini, and the US’ Crystal Moselle. All will introduce their films and talk to the public about their latest works.

French director and screenwriter Olivier Assayas ("Personal Shopper", "Irma Vep", "Les Destinées Sentimentales") will present his latest production, "Double Lives", a comedy set in the Parisian publishing world with Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet in the cast (nominated this year for the Golden Lion in Venice and the People's Choice Award in Toronto). His countryman, director Antony Cordier arrives in Rio for the screening of his second feature, "Gaspard va au mariage" a French comedy about the reunion of a 25-year-old man with his family after years away.

Argentina’s Gaston Duprat, the director of the critical and commercial success, "El ciudadano ilustre", brings his new film, "My Masterpiece", to Rio, a comedy about the friendship between an art dealer and an artist. The film won the audience award at the Valladolid Film Festival.

Chilean director, writer and producer, Dominga Sotomayor, recently honoured at the Locarno Film Festival, for her film "Too Late To Die Young", a film co-produced by Chile, Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and Qatar, is also scheduled to attend the festival. The film tells the story of a group of families living in an isolated community just below the Andes during the 1990s, as democracy returns to Chile.

Argentine director and actress Ana Katz ("Mi amiga del parque"), comes to Rio with her critically acclaimed film "Sueño Florianópolis" ("Florianópolis Dreams") – a co-production with Brazil - a comedy about the adventures of an Argentine family that comes to spend their holidays in Brazil. It includes Andrea Beltrão, Marco Ricca, Mercedes Moran and Gustavo Garzón in the cast.

The American director and producer Crystal Moselle - director of the acclaimed "The Wolfpack" - comes to Rio to introduce her new feature, "Skate Kitchen", that mixes reality and fiction within the universe of young skateboarding girls in New York.

Argentine scriptwriter and producer Juan Vera makes his directorial debut with the film "El amor menos pensado" ("An Unexpected Love"), the latest hit for actor Ricardo Darin, which will screen in Premiere Latina. The romantic comedy opened the recent San Sebastian Festival and tells the story of a couple who have been together for 25 years and are about to question themselves about love, desire and the passing of time.

Argentine director and writer Benjamin Naishtat will introduce "Rojo" ("Red Sun"), an Argentina / Brazil / France / Germany / Netherlands co-production that was chosen for both the Toronto and San Sebástian festivals. In San Sebastian Naishtat won the Silver seashell for best director, Dario Grandinetti won for best actor, and the film also won the jury prize for cinematography. Set in Argentina during the mid-1970s, the hypnotic drama follows a successful lawyer whose picture-perfect life begins to unravel when a private detective comes to his seemingly quiet small town and starts asking questions

Argentine filmmaker and actress Monica Lairana will present her latest production "La Cama" ("The Bed") in Première Latina, a film which chronicles the last 24 hours together as a couple who, after 30 years together, decide to separate.

Chinese-American director Li Cheng will introduce "José". Shot in Guatemala it focuses on the discoveries of 19-year-old gay man in one of the world's poorest and most religious countries. The film won the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The festival cited: "Sensitively written and beautifully performed, this passionate portrait of a young man's journey in search of emotional fulfilment, shows the complexity of a same-sex relationship against the background of the harsh life in contemporary Guatemala."

Panama based, Venezuelan born filmmaker, actor, and producer, Frank Spano, brings "Humanpersons" to Rio, a film which tells the story of a Latino immigrant in the United States, linked to organised crime, who is given the task of returning to Medellin, his homeland, to get a human liver. The film addresses the issue of organ trafficking in Latin America.

Italian filmmaker and writer Pappi Corsicato will talk to Rio audiences about his documentary "Julian Schnabel – A Private Portrait", a look at the personal life and public career of New York artist Julian Schnabel.

Inspired by the true events of the Portuguese King, Dom Pedro, who unburied his mistress to make her queen after death. Portuguese filmmaker Antonio Ferreira’s "Pedro and Inês" ("The Dead Queen") tells the story of Pedro, a man admitted to a psychiatric hospital for travelling by car with the corpse of his beloved, recalling simultaneously three different lives: one from the past, one from today, and another from the future.