Beta Cinema has acquired international sales rights to debut Argentine director Juan Pablo Félix's "Karnawal," winner of the Le Film Français, Ciné Plus, Gomedia and Titrafilm awards at December's Ventana Sur.
"Karnawal" featured co-producers from five countries: Argentina's Bikini Films, Brazil's 3 Moinhos Produçoes, Chile's Picardía Films, Mexico's Phototaxia Pictures, Norway's Norsk Filmproduksjon and Bolivia's Londra Films. The Beta deal includes worldwide sales rights outside these territories.
Set in the Andes on the Argentina-Bolivia border, Cabra — played by newcomer and malombo champion dancer Martin López Lacci — prepares for the most important dance competition of his life but is interrupted when his estranged father (Alfredo Castro) returns from a stint in prison.
Recalling his own experience with dance, Félix told Variety he remembered "the incredible enthusiasm, passion and tension among all of us who danced, but most of all I remember that dance was my refuge from a difficult adolescence."
"You see and feel in every shot that Juan Pablo is never pretentious in his approach, and yet has all the skills at hand to make such a satisfying cinematic feast. We cannot wait to show it to the world and pave the way for this filmmaker, and we feel it will meet distributors' expectations," said Beta's Cosima Finkbeiner.