1 week Ago By Elskes
Charades has acquired international sales rights to Diego Céspedes ’ debut feature “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” ahead of its world premiere at Cannes’s Un Certain Regard. Set in the early 1980′, in the Chilean desert, the film tells the story of 11 year-old Lidia who “grows up in a loving queer family pushed on the edge of an unwelcoming dusty mining town. They are blamed for a mysterious illness that’s starting to spread – said to be passed through a single gaze, when one man falls in love with another.
In this modern western, Lidia leads a quest for vengeance, facing violence, fear and hatred, where family is her only refuge and love might be the real danger,” the synopsis reads. Cespedes said, “This isn’t a story about heroes. I simply want to reclaim those who were pushed aside and forgotten.
And also laugh a little.” A rising Chilean filmmaker, Céspedes is no stranger to Cannes. He previously took part in the Cinefondation program at the Cannes Film Festival and won a prize with his first short “El verano del león eléctrico” in 2018; his second short “The Melting Creatures” world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week and played at San Sebastian.
“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” stars Tamara Cortés, Matías Catalán, Paula Dinamarca, Claudia Cabezas and Luis Dubó. The film, which won the co-production award at the Torino Film Lab in 2020, is produced by Quijote Films in Chile and Les Valseurs in France. It’s co-produced by Weydemann Bros Films in Germany, Wrong Men in Belgium and Irusoin in Spain, in association with Arte France Cinema.
Charades will kick off sales on “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” at Cannes, while Bteam Pictures will distribute the film Spain. Giancarlo Nasi, who produced the movie at Quijote Films, said, “For over a decade, Quijote has championed bold and poetic cinema from Latin America to the world — and Cannes has often been a home for our stories.” “With ‘The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,’ that tradition continues, but with a fresh energy and playful irreverence.
It’s an entirely innovative film. Diego’s voice is rare and luminous — as is his humor, with which we’ve shared many laughs throughout this process,” the producer continued. Justin Pechberty, producer at Les Valseurs, said, “At Les Valseurs, we’ve committed to standing behind bold new voices, and this ambitious debut feature is exactly that: a genre-blending film with a fresh, queer perspective and a truly inventive approach to cinema.
” Yohann Comte, Charades’s co-founder said “We’ve discovered Flamingo in Torino Film Lab in 2020 and were immediately under the spell of Diego Cespedes’ aura and vision.” Charades will also be at Cannes with Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha” and Dominik Moll’s “Dossier 137” in competition, as well as Harris Dickinson’s directorial debut “Urchin” at Un Certain Regard..
