The International Pitching Market has as purpose to stimulate the mexican audiovisual production and project its potential as a world-class investment option.
¡We present to you the official selection of the 12º International Pitching Market, which forms part of the 18º edition of the Guanajuato International Film Festival!
LA VIDA SIMPLE/ A SIMPLE LIFE DOCUMENTARY
- Director: Luis Arenas López
- Production: Pablo Zimbrón Alva
- Production House: Zoología Fantástica
- Country: BOLIVIA, MÉXICO
For a former Spanish bullfighter, a former Belgian heroin addict and a former French aristocrat, there isn’t a better place on earth to live in than Samaypata, a small town hidden in the mountains of the Bolivian Southeast. They left behind fame, wealth and a life of success in order to reinvent their present. Their clock is the position of the sun, their alarm bell is the crowing of a rooster. Guided by their intuition, they passionately enjoy their daily activities related to community life and contact with nature. Architects of their destiny, they live in full awareness of whom they are and where they are.
DIVINA PROPORZIONE FICTION
- Director: Pasquale Calone
- Production: Erika Mercado
- Production House: Merkado 13
- Country: MÉXICO/FRANCE/JAPAN
The dead want to be noticed. In the small town of San Jacinto things that used to belong to the deceased have begun to appear. Don Justo, an old artisan, sees his late wife’s Amelia’s sweater hanging on the dinning room chair every morning. One day, dozens of shoes appear piled up on the town’s main street. The villagers aren’t scared because they know what this means: the departed are unhappy, they want a change of residence. The whole cemetery will have to be moved. The last time, Amelia presided the changeover ceremony. This time, only her son José can do it. José has been living in the city, he left to avoid any more fighting with his dad, and the town’s closed mindedness. Now, he is the leader of an indigenous show group that performs in tourist restaurants. The city has given him solitude and anonymity to certain pleasures. As the ceremony comes nearer, José will have to resolve old conflicts with his dad, reunite with his mystical past, and once again face the closed society that made him leave. On one side, his life in the city is solitary but free and on the other side the suffocating San Jacinto. José will try to define his place in the world, and the divine proportion of it.
LA MISMA SANGRE DOCUMENTARY
- Director: Ángel Linares
- Production: Miguel Ángel Sánchez M.
- Production House: Libres Films
- Country: MÉXICO
The Mesino Mesino family is a family of peasant activists who has struggled for 40 years to defend the human rights of the communities of the Sierra de Atoyac, one of the poorest and most violent regions in Mexico. Since the 70s decade until now, their active political participation has resulted in several members of this family who have been victims of state violence and forced disappearance. They are witnesses and protagonists of some of the most important events in the recent history of Mexico. This documentary explores the story of Mesino family from a human and intimate perspective built from the everyday experiences, in which the sister of the film director, attempts to recognize the contradictions and dynamics of her family driven for the deep friendship of his brother with Rocío Mesino, a peasant leader who was killed a year ago.
NO SON HORAS DE OLVIDAR FICTION
- Director: David Castañón Medina
- Production: Ixchel Coutiño
- Production House: Atlántida Cine, m31 Medios
- Country: MÉXICO
Alzheimer’s disease consumes the memories of three women: one Mexican, one Chilean, and one Turkish. They do not know each other, yet they are all united by their recollections and ordinary day to day actions. No Time to Forget aims to routinely track and fictionally reconstruct the lost memories of these women as a result of Alzheimer’s.
RUSH HOUR DOCUMENTARY
- Director: Luciana Kaplan
- Production: José Cohen, Martha Sosa and Carlos Hagerman
- House Production: Cactus Film and Video, La Sombra del Guayabo
- Country: MÉXICO, USA, ISTAMBUL
Rush Hour is a documentary film about the daily odyssey that involves moving from home to work in three different cities of the world: Mexico City, Instanbul and LA. Three stories, three cities and three characters in different contexts but similar realities that survive long journeys and time of life lost.
EL CHICO DE OKLAHOMA DOCUMENTARY
- Director: Julio Carlos Ramos Zapata
- Production: Belem Castro, Urtzi Alexandre y Julio Carlos Zapata
- Production House: Lemon Media
- Country: MÉXICO
The Guy from Oklahoma narrates the story of Anado McLauchlin, a visual artist born in Oklahoma but whose chaotic life took him to San Francisco, New York and India before finally settling down in Mexico, where he has built an impressive art gallery in the middle of a desertic village, on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.
VIDA EXTRA FICTION
- Director: Sergio Sánchez
- Production: Daniela Uriza y Angeles Morales
- Production House: Escuadrón Cinema
- Country: MÉXICO
After causing an accident that may cause his mother to be in a wheelchair for life, Mario, a teenager, will have to go on a journey where he will illegally cross the US border and beat the undefeated champion in the videogame world championship, if he wants to return with enough money to save his mother. To achieve this he will have to polish his greatest talent: play videogames.
TCHAIKOVSKY EN ZACATECAS DOCUMENTARY
- Director: Omar Hernández Delgadillo
- Production: Omar Hernández Delgadillo
- Production House: La ilusión producciones
- Country: MÉXICO
25 years ago a tradition was started by Zacatecas Symphonic Band: the interpretation of Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s famous 1812 Overture, during Holy Thursday Traditional Concert at Arms Square, the main of the city.
What makes so special this performance?
The fact that Tchaikovsky’s originally written elements are included, such as artillery cannon detonations and bell ringing. Current Band’s Director, Salvador García y Ortega, has kept and grown this tradition, because, in addition to previously mentioned elements, choral chants are included during 1812 Overture performance at certain moments. He treasured Tchaikovsky’s composition as a way to continue the tradition, and also, to pay tribute to his death father every time 1812 Overture is performed.
LE BOUQUINISTE FICTION
- Director: Gibrán Bazán
- Production: Gibrán Bazán
- Production House: Marash Producciones
- Country: MÉXICO
Lucien, an old books seller, antisocial and bitter, lives his days inside his bookstore, accompanied by interesting characters and his assistant, Casildo the dwarf. After few years, he has not been able to recover from the death of his wife and he is convinced of bringing her back to life through the mathematic algorithms of a mysterious book.
LA COSECHA DE LOS NARANJOS FICTION
- Director: Luis Horacio Pineda
- Production: Julio Bárcenas Sánchez
- Production House: Pineda Films/ Bárcenas Nava S de RL
- Country: MÉXICO
Alex Diaz is a 19-year-old happy teenager who in the United States of America. He is one of the survivors of a fire that took place in Mexico when he was a baby. Alex, tall, fit, has 80% of his body covered with burn scars and skin grafts. He is apparently a harmless student and an athlete, but his choleric temperament reveals the hate he has been carrying since the accident.
Alex, not yet legal in the States, is ripped from his dream and gets deported back to Hermosillo, Mexico. For Alex its very difficult to go back because his past is a literal hell for him. He reunites with his family who is overprotective and still feels sorry for him. Alex also reunites with the generation of teenagers that, like him, survived the horrible tragedy when they were little. Alex, a natural leader, starts getting them together on Friday nights at his house. When Alex discovers that Pablo Pilatos, one of the main perpetrators of the tragedy is now running for congressman of Sonora, and that his son Orlando Pilatos, has become the new candidate to run for state governor, a radical and determinant change is detonated within him. Alex starts to prepare mentally and physically in order to accomplish his new objective: revenge. Along with fellow survivors Bernardo and Carlos, Alex creates the perfect plan that everybody hopes for, but nobody dares perform.
Their plan consists of breaking into Pablos house, torturing him, his wife, and his son and then, with Pablo and his wife bound, pretending to set their son on fire in front of them. But when they are about to consummate the act,it all followsna Greek culmination of tragedy and karma.
BÉSAME DEBAJO DEL AGUA FICTION
- Director: Juan Flesca
- Production: Issa Guerra Carrillo
- House Production: Muéganos Films
- Country: MÉXICO, ARGENTINA, ITALY
Alejandro is Mexican, on a business trip in Italy. He takes some days off to visit Monterosso. There he meets a mysterious woman and they have a brief affair. Being on the beach together the woman goes for a swim but never returns. He worries about her even though he barely knows her, he only knows her name: Nora. Frustrated he decides to return to Mexico. But being at the airport he falls in a deep trance and has a revelation that drives him to stay in Monterosso. In an altered state of consciousness Alejandro sees a stewardess, Stella.This is the start of a weird relationship between them as a detective team. Eventually they will fall in love. The investigation gets more difficult. Dangerous characters are looking for Nora as well. But Dino also appears, a young man who has a mental disorder, establishes a psychic link with Alejandro. He sends him signals and clues. Alejandro makes a quantum leap of consciousness, but he certainly paid the price.
TRANSPENINSULAR FICTION
- Director: Valentina Sachetti
- Production: Eric Coy
- House Production: SIN Meridiano Films
- Country: MÉXICO
Sofia decides to make a home movie of her vacation with her friends Clara and Marielena before she go to live abroad. The three girls go on a trip through the Transpeninsular Highway in Baja California Sur. Marielena is obsessed with follow her itinerary but spontaneity and irresponsibility of Sofia, forces her to make new decisions when the journey is just beginning. Meanwhile, Clara has a doubt about being pregnant or not, but she does not want to think about it, so she will going to dedicate, kilometer by kilometer, to the mediation of the fights of her friends. Encounters with endearing characters, wonderful scenery, the anger and the most intimate confessions push the three friends to confront aspects of themselves that they were voluntarily ignored and that they can no longer avoid. After a big fight where Marielena chides Sofia about her irresponsibility, the triangle is separated. Marielena leaves without tell them anything and with the help of Clara, Sofia goes to look after her. When Sofia and Clara finds Marielena, They bring to light their resentments about each other, but Clara feels sick and they realize how inconsiderate they have been with her throughout the trip.
This situation leads them to join together to aid Clara to face the moment she crosses. Between summer romances, misunderstandings, trivial moments, and difficulties of coexistence, Sofia, Clara and Marielena live a journey that changes their lives.
NOCHES DE JULIO FICTION
- Director: Axel Muñoz Barba
- Production: Carlos Hernández Vázquez
- House Production: Mandarina Cine
- Country: MÉXICO
Julio it is a young in his thirties with little social skills. One day he meets Mara, a girl like him who likes sneaking into other’s houses and keeping their intimate belongings. Julio follows her, enters into her house and falls in love with her. Mara and Julio believe they are meant for each other, but they’ll discover that love fantasy surpasses the real love itself.
KIN FICTION
- Director: Julian de Tavira
- Productor: Patricia Arriaga Jordán- Pablo Buelna
- Casa Productora: Nao Films
- País: MÉXICO
Inspired in true facts. It’s the year 612 in B’akaal, today, Palenque. The King Ah-Kan must choose his heir. He chooses his 8 year-old grandson, Pakal, over Cunabal, Pakal’s uncle and head of the army. Some members of the court do not agree with the king’s decisión, neither does Cunabal. Pakal can become King when he turns 12. But for Pakal to become king, the prophecy of the new katún must be fulfilled: four foreigners must arrive in B’akaal and help Pakal become king.
In the present time, Héctor, Fausto y Emilia, 14 year-old teenagers, bully Joaquín, Kin, a small, thin and very bright boy with a limp on his left foot because they think he betrayed them with the teacher during a summer camp in the archeological area in Palenque. Kin knows everything about the mayas: he’s a nerd. One night, they trick him into a cave to “punish” him by pretending to sacrifice him to the gods. Joaquín gets scared and flees to the inside of the cave. When he finally manages to get out in the jungle, he discovers he’s in the year 615, just a few weeks before Pakal is to become king.
The prophecy has to be fulfilled and the other 3 kids arrive in the past while Cunabal and his army fight to prevent the foreigners to arrive and Pakal to become king.
EL HIJO DEL PUEBLO FICTION
- Director: Adolfo Franco
- Productor: Vidal Cantu
- Casa Productora: Kenio Films
- País: MÉXICO
From humble beginnings in his native Dolores Hidalgo, until he rose to fame in the 50s and 60s, EL HIJO DEL PUEBLO is the story of a man who always lived to the fullest and defined through his music what it means to be Mexican. The story of José Alfredo Jimenez has big ups and downs reflected in the lyrics: a son of the people who have to sacrifice for your family and struggling to overcome; a romance forbidden by class differences; a man who manages to conquer the most important stages and collaborate with the idols of Mexican cinema.
BROOKLYN TREEHOUSE FICTION
- Director: Alexander Albrecht
- Productor: Edher Campos
- Casa Productora: Machete Producciones
- País: MÉXICO/USA
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, three visitors to New York rent rooms in an Airbnb lift run by and eccentric French artist who dreams of starting a new creative movement. But nothing is what it seems and soon the visitors find themselves thrust into the world of their impulsive host in a city reeling in chaos.
HOMBRE POR HOMBRE FICTION
- Director: Marcelo Tovar
- Productor: Elsa Reyes
- Casa Productora: Zensky Cine
- País: MÉXICO
Honoré has lived in an isolate rural town of Auvergne all his life. When his mother dies, leaving him all alone in the world, he travels down to Mexico to seek long yearned company and intimacy. His choice of younger men borders on illegality yet he takes advantage of the chaos of Mexico City to meet a young homeless kid with whom he starts a relationship bound for tragedy.
UNOS DÍAS DE SOL FICTION
- Director: Mauricio Mueller
- Productor: Mauro Mueller, Doro Bachrach, Leslie Holleran, David Figueroa García, Rocio López
- Casa Productora: Fidelio Films
- País: MÉXICO
Set on the Mexican Mayan Riviera, A FEW DAYS IN THE SUN follows the random and unexpected collision between a wealthy European couple on vacation trying to save their marriage that gets kidnapped and a working class Mexican couple forced by circumstance to work for a local crime lord.
In this harsh natural world, two couples from separate cultures that do not share language, values or frames of reference – both pairs, unwilling participants will don unfamiliar roles, explore the limits of endurance, learn what they will do to survive and find that they have more in common that they could possibly have imagined.
AQUÍ VIVIÓ Y MURIÓ ESPÍRITU PERDOMO FICTION
- Director: Mauricio Leiva Cock
- Productor: Mauro Mueller (Fidelio Films), Juan Diego Villegas (Dramax), Xavier Rocher (La Fábrica Nocturna)
- Casa Productora: Fidelio Films, Dramax
- País: MÉXICO
Today, Espíritu Perdomo is faced with burying his boss and only friend. However, burying him is not the only thing that troubles the old gravedigger. Chaparral, the town he calls home, is the epicenter of the current armed conflict in Colombia. Everyday, Espíritu witnesses first hand the atrocities perpetrated by the armies involved. On a humid night, Espíritu is violently attacked and decides that the safest place for him is living with the dead– finding a makeshift bed inside an empty niche. Deep in solitude, Espíritu begins to relate with the corpses he cleans and buries. What begins as sporadic conversation evolves into one day seeing the dead as alive and equals.
Finally, it seems, Espíritu has a home and a family; even love is within his reach. However, wheneverlasting violence of the living bangs on the rusty doors of the cemetery, the ‘reality’ of his world crumbles and death becomes Espíritu’s only way out.
