La Sirga, produced by Óscar Ruiz Navia (Contravia Films) and Diana Bustamante (Burning Blue), in co-production with Thierry Lenouvel (Ciné-Sud Promotion, France), Edgar San Juan (Film Tank, México), Issa Guerra and Sebastián Sánchez (Puntoguionpunto, México), is the feature debut by Colombian director William Vega.
LA SIRGA
Colombia - France – Mexico.
Director: William Vega.
Cast: Joghis Arias, Julio César Roble, David Guacas, Heraldo Romero, Floralba Achicanoy, Heraldo Romero.
Alicia feels lost. The memory of war clings to her mind in a terrifying rumble. Thrown off her land by armed conflict, she tries to build a new life at “La Sirga”, a rundown boarding house on the shore of a large lagoon high up in the Andes mountain range. The place is owned by Oscar, her only surviving relative, an unsociable, solitary old man. There, in a miry, unstable beach, Alicia tries to plant new roots, until her fears and the threat of war reappear once again.
The Films in Progress Toulouse Award consists of post-production services provided by the partner companies and promotion services and initiatives for the winning film.
Special CINÉ + en Construction Award, granted by the CINÉ + TV channel, worth €15,000, which guarantees purchase of the winning film by the channel and broadcast on television following release of the film in France
European Distributors and Exhibitors Award:
EUROPA DISTRIBUTION undertakes to promote the winning film among its network of 110 members and particularly among the 35 European distributor members of the Europa Distribution International (EDI) project.
CICAE (Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et Essai) will provide aid to diffusion of the winning film by distributing related information to the 2,000 CICAE member cinemas, thereby creating awareness of the film among distribution companies and boosting its circulation.
This initiative would be unable to exist without the backing of the following companies and institutions:
Best Digital, Casa de América, Caisse Centrale d’Action Sociale (CCAS), Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), CINÉ +, Cinéma Sans Frontières (CSF), Cinéfondation, Commune Image, Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et Essai (CICAE), Conseil Général de la Haute Garonne, Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, CROUS de Toulouse, Dolby, Eaux Vives, École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel (ESAV), EP2C-Postproduction Training Program, Europa Distribution, Firefly, Imasblue, Instituto Cervantes, Kodak (División de Cine Profesional), La Trame, Mactari, Mairie de Toulouse, Marché du Film, MEDIA Mundus, Nephilim Producciones, No Problem Sonido, Programa Ibermedia, Signis, Titra TVS and Vértigo Films.
Six films from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay will participate in the 21st edition of Films in Progress at the Rencontres Cinémas d’Amérique Latine in Toulouse, jointly organised with San Sebastian Festival. The second part of this twice yearly rendezvous will take the shape of Films in Progress 22 at San Sebastian this coming September.
The films selected for Films in Progress 21 are:
A total of 118 films were received for Films in Progress 21.
Films in Progress 21 in Toulouse will carry the following awards :
The screenings will run at the ESAV (École Supérieure de l’Audiovisuel), 56 Rue du Taur, Toulouse, on March 29 and 30.
THURSDAY 29
FRIDAY 30
A tale of friendship and let down between three young friends in Sao Paulo as Brazil undergoes its strong economic upsurge. Despite the odd feeling that things could actually change, the meaning of life disappears on those days when «all that is solid melts into the air».
Learning that his father has died in an inland town, a student sets out to the funeral. There he discovers that his father has left him an indebted estate and a house inhabited by his mistress, who has no intention of moving out and obliges the young boy to share. A tale of losing one’s roots and personal reconstruction; a metaphor on the inherited country and the youngsters who will eventually have to take charge of that inheritance.
Alberto is dead and can no longer pretend otherwise. A degenerative disease makes his decomposition increasingly more noticeable. No make-up or perfume can disguise his condition. He leaves his job to fade into the boundaries of his death, but not before striking up an unusual friendship with Luly, manager of the gym at which he works as a night watchman.
Alicia feels lost. The memory of war clings to her mind in a terrifying rumble. Thrown off her land by armed conflict, she tries to build a new life at “La Sirga”, a rundown boarding house on the shore of a large lagoon high up in the Andes mountain range. The place is owned by Oscar, her only surviving relative, an unsociable, solitary old man. There, in a miry, unstable beach, Alicia tries to plant new roots, until her fears and the threat of war reappear once again.
Family holidays where nothing goes as planned. A tale set in a half-empty thermal spa lashed by constant rain where the only thing they can do is stay together.
Reunited after several years, cousins Esteban and Pipa travel by car to their grandfather’s funeral in Villegas, the small inland town where they grew up together. Their return becomes an intense emotional journey marked by reunions, the weight of the past and the end of an era.
This initiative would be unable to exist without the backing of the following companies and institutions: Best Digital, Casa de América, Caisse Centrale d’Action Sociale (CCAS), Centre National du Cinéma et de l’ Image Animée (CNC), CINÉ +, Cinéma Sans Frontières (CSF), Cinéfondation, Commune Image, Confédération Internationale des Cinémas d’Art et Essai (CICAE), Conseil Général de la Haute Garonne, Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, CROUS de Toulouse, Dolby, Eaux Vives, École Supérieure d’Audiovisuel (ESAV), EP2C- Postproduction Training Program, Europa Distribution, Firefly, Imasblue, Instituto Cervantes, Kodak (División de Cine Profesional), La Trame, Mactari, Mairie de Toulouse, Marché du Film, MEDIA Mundus, Nephilim Producciones, No Problem Sonido, Programa Ibermedia, Signis, Titra TVS and Vértigo Films.