August 28 to September 7.

• The Chilean delegation is led by María de Pablo Larraín, and there is also Chilean presence in the Argentine film Kill the jockey, featuring actress Mariana di Girolamo. In the industry area, a project by director Theo Court has been selected, and the following production companies, supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, will also be attending: Quijote Films, 17 Films, Infractor, and Clara Films.

At its 81st edition, Chile arrives at the world’s oldest film festival with María by Pablo Larraín, starring Angelina Jolie. It is a co-production between Chile, Italy, Germany, and the United States, which the Minister of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage, Carolina Arredondo, highlights as “an example of cinematic cooperation,” adding that it “clearly contributes to the global projection of Chilean cinema.” Arredondo will attend the world premiere of María on August 29 at the Venice Festival and during her visit to the Biennale of Art in this famous Italian city.

María is Larraín’s 11th film and follows the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, Maria Callas, during her final days in Paris in the 1970s. The production features screenwriter Steven Knight, who previously collaborated with the Chilean filmmaker on his earlier film Spencer, and who has also written and directed films such as Serenity (2019).

In a new foray into argentine cinema, actress Mariana di Girolamo stars in Kill the jockey by Luis Ortega. The film boasts an impressive international cast, including Úrsula Corberó (Spanish) and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (Argentinian). Previously, di Girólamo appeared in Electrophilia by the famous argentine director Lucía Puenzo. The movie tells the story of Remo Manfredini, a legendary jockey whose self-destructive behavior begins to overshadow his talent and threaten his relationship with his girlfriend Abril. On the day of the most important race of his life, which will settle his debts with his mob boss Sirena, he suffers a serious accident, disappears from the hospital, and wanders the streets of Buenos Aires. Freed from his identity, he begins to discover who he really is. But Sirena wants to find him dead or alive.

INDUSTRY: BETS ON DRAMA/COMEDY

For Alexandra Galvis, general co-coordinator of CinemaChile, this year the presence of the delegation reflects “a diversity in genres and their blending, as well as names recognized in Italy, such as director Theo Curt, or with extensive co-production experience, like 17 Films.”

Specifically, in the Financing Market, the new project by Theo Court has been selected. With his previous work White on White, Court won the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Fipresci Critics Award in the Orizzonti category. This time, he presents the project Three dark nights (Quijote Films), a fiction thriller in which a Chilean peasant asks the devil to grant him a wish. The next morning, a young Haitian is found dead in the garden of the manor house. A crime that unravels a complex social and human fabric. This film is currently in development and seeking financing.

Meanwhile, the production companies supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage bring a diverse proposal, starting with To Die on your feet by María Paz González of Quijote Films. This drama/comedy follows Cruz as she faces emotional numbness after witnessing a death to which she did not react. In conflict over her inaction, she embarks on a journey in search of her lost emotions. The project is in development and seeking financing.

17 Films, a Chilean production company with significant co-production experience with Italy, attends with Ugly Man, directed by italian Cosimo Gómez. This drama/comedy is set in 1960, when an incredibly ugly sicilian but with unmatched dancing talent arrives in a chilean saltpeter town, captivating everyone with his talent, love affairs, passions, and misadventures. It is in development and looking for platforms.

Dysphoria is the title of the project presented by the production company Infractor, directed by Chilean filmmaker Stjepan Ostoic. This fiction takes place in the vast Chilean desert, where three young people trapped by addiction and social disparity find their destinies intertwined in a terrible struggle for survival. It is in development and looking for co-production.Finally, Clara Films will present Now they’re coming for us, directed by chilean Shawn Garry. This thriller tells the story of four neighbors in a gated community whose lives are turned upside down by the appearance of an unconscious child, triggering a spiral of absurdity and violence from which they will not emerge unscathed. It is in the development stage and seeking financing.