Tanta agua, Knight Ibero-American Grand Prize Winner Locks North American Distribution Deal
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Film Movement Takes 50% of 2013 Grand Prize winner of Miami International Film Festival, produced & presented by Miami Dade College, with Acquisition of Alpha Violet’s Tanta aqua
Miami, FL — Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s debut film Tanta agua, Grand Prize winner of the Knight Ibero-American Competition at the recently completed 30th Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), produced and presented by Miami Dade College (MDC),
By securing the deal, Film Movement will receive the $15,000 half of the Knight Ibero-American Grand Jury Prize of $30,000 that was being held in trust by the Festival, pending a 30-day holding period following the close of MIFF’s 30th edition on March 10th. The first $15,000 half of the prize had already been award to the
“This wonderful film marks the fourth Uruguayan title in our already rich Latin American catalog, and thanks to the generosity of the Knight Foundation, we will be able to use the grand prize money from the film’s award at MIFF to launch the film through all distribution platforms across North America,” said Rebeca Conget, VP of Acquisitions and Distribution at Film Movement.
has locked a
North American distribution deal with the New York-based company Film
Movement.
film’s primary production company, CTRL Z
Films of Uruguay, who co-produced the film with Mexico’s Bonita Films, The Netherlands’ Topkapi Films and Komplizen Film in Germany. Tanta
agua received its North American premiere at MIFF.
“MIFF’s history with Tanta agua goes back to 2008 when the project was workshopped at our Encuentros development program in pre-production,” said MIFF’s executive director Jaie Laplante, noting that MIFF continues to be a national leader in platforming the debuts of the year’s most notable Ibero-american films into the U.S.. “It is especially heartwarming to see MIFF’s unique industry incentives for U.S. distribution work in the favor of this compassionate, graceful work.”
Written and directed by first-time feature filmmakers Guevara and Jorge, Tanta agua is a poignant family drama about Alberto, a divorced Montevideo father of a teenage daughter, Lucia and a younger son, Federico. Trying too hard to force quality time out of one of his rare custody weeks, Alberto takes Lucia and Federico on a vacation to a hot springs resort, but an unrelenting rain ruins the fun. Cooped up in a small cabin, Lucia’s first stirrings of adolescent rebellion kick in, and Alberto struggles to find common ground with the increasingly complicated
emotions of his beloved daughter.
Film Movement purchased the rights to Tanta agua from the film’s sales agent, Alpha Violet of France, who has already sold the film in Brazil, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Romania and The Netherlands, with additional
deals pending in France, Sweden and Japan. “
We are thrilled to have closed the deal with Film Movement for the U.S.,” said Virginie Devesa of Alpha Violet. “Thank you to Miami International Film Festival for giving this
great film the best chances for success in this territory.”
Recalling MIFF’s early support for the film, executive producer Agustina Chiarino of CTRL Z Films commented: “For us going to Encuentros with the project in development was a really great opportunity to start showing it around and a strong starting point because it was a really good project selection that year”.
“Film Movement’s relationship with MIFF has been very strong since the founding of our company over ten years ago, and we have both premiered our films, as well as discovered new gems at the festival. We’re especially excited to have discovered Tanta agua this year,” Conget added.
In addition to winning the Knight Ibero-american Grand Jury Prize at MIFF 2013, Guevara and Jorge were also awarded the $5,000 Jordan A. Ressler Foundation Best Screenplay Award for their work on Tanta agua.
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Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) will hold its 31st anniversary March 7 – 16, 2014, and is considered the preeminent film festival for showcasing Ibero-American cinema in the U.S., and a major launch pad for all international and documentary cinema. The annual Festival, produced and presented by Miami Dade College, attracts more than 70,000 audience members and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry professionals. It is the only major festival housed within a college or university. In the last five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 World, International, North American, U.S. and East Coast Premieres. MIFF’s special focus on Ibero-American cinema has made the Festival a natural gateway for the discovery of new talent from this diverse territory. The Festival also offers unparalleled educational opportunities to film students and the community at large. Major sponsors of the Festival include Knight Foundation, Lexus and Miami-Dade County. For more, visit miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-237-MIFF (3456).
Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including the Miami Book Fair International, the Center @ MDC, Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live Arts Performing Arts Series, the Cuban Cinema Series, the Miami Leadership Roundtable speakers’ series, numerous renowned campus art galleries and theaters, and the nationally recognized School of Entertainment and Design Technology. With an enrollment of more than 174,000 students, MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is a national model for many of its programs. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including baccalaureate, associate in arts and science degrees and numerous career training certificates leading to in-demand jobs. MDC has served nearly 2,000,000 students since it opened its doors in 1960.
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org
The JORDAN ALEXANDER RESSLER SCREENWRITING AWARD recognizes and supports artists in their careers as professional screenwriters. It was created by the South Florida family of Jordan Alexander Ressler, an aspiring screenwriter and Cornell University film studies graduate who, during his brief entertainment career, held production positions with the Tony award-winning Broadway hits 700 Sundays with Billy Crystal and Jersey Boys. He died in a tragic hiking accident while traveling in Nicaragua at age 23, before he realized his dream. A Grand Jury Prize in the amount of $5,000 USD was awarded to a screenwriter or screenwriters of a feature film in the Ibero-American Competition by the Jordan Alexander Ressler Charitable Fund.
MDC Contacts:
Juan Mendieta | +1 305-237-761 | jmendiet@mdc.edu
Sue Arrowsmith | +1 305-237-3710 | sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu Alejandro Rios | +1 305-237-7482 | arios1@mdc.edu
