LOCARNO, Switzerland — Sophia Mocorrea, writer-director of Sundance winning short “Kidnapping of the Bride” and awaited feature “Marriage by Abduction,” which scooped December’s Les Arcs Talent Village Award, is advancing on what could be the German-Argentine filmmaker’s second feature, “Vaca Muerta.”
Written by Mocorrea, “Vaca Muerta” also reps a flagship project at Berlin-based Matadoras, a new production company focusing on auteur- driven fiction and documentaries. It was set up set up this year by Mocorrea, Sarah Valerie Radu, Nina Bayer-Seel and Markus Krojer.
Radu is attending the Locarno Pro’s Match Me! networking forum, which runs Aug. 8-10.
A social drama explored through a variety of viewpoints, “Vaca Muerta” interweaves four lives in northern Patagonia, Argentina, which unfold in the shadow of a vast fracking industry. A firefighter is confronted with fall-out from a deadly landslide; a paleontologist confronts failed discovery; a young girl searches for her identity in origin myths and a lawyer is torn between justice and ambition.
“‘Vaca Muerta’ is an episodic film that subtly interweaves personal stories with overarching tensions, moving between reality and projection, exploitation and self-deception – all against the backdrop of a region floating in a political vacuum,” the synopsis concludes.
“In ‘Vaca Muerta,’ four narrative strands unfold in Argentina’s fracking region, where fine fractures run not only through the earth, but also through society, revealed in differences of class, origin, and generation,” Raku told Variety.
“Mocorrea brings a deeply personal and poetic lens to this film. It quietly meditates on exploitation, identity, and resistance, revealing intimate stories that resonate far beyond their local setting,” she added, noting that from development onward, the project has embraced sustainability, both in content and production, and seeks to raise awareness of ecological and social inequalities.
“Marriage by Abduction,” developed at Torino Script Lab, is at the final stage of financing. Mocorrea’s feature debut “continues her focus on narratives that approach human experiences and social realities with subtlety and universal relevance,” Raku added.
“With a focus on stories that resonate internationally, we aim to build creative and financial partnerships early on within a global context,” Raku said of Matadoras’ business model. “In this process an early dialogue with platforms, broadcasters, and distributors is essential particularly when it comes to positioning and ensuring visibility for our films. At the same time, we place great value on remaining flexible and continuously adapting our strategy to the specific needs and character of each individual project.”
Repping Matadoras at Locarno’s Match Me!, Raku will be also be unveiling “War And Plastic Surgery,” by Yara Khalil. “Amidst war and crisis in the Middle East, two industries thrive: weapons and plastic surgery. How did beauty — however defined — become a tool for resistance and survival?” The logline reads.
variety.com
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