Celebrity Measurements

Narciso, the second feature from Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, has attracted a crop of new co-producers: Spain’s Bteam Prods, Portugal’s Oublaum, Brazil’s Esquina Films and Uruguay’s Mutante Cine.

Martinessi’s debut The Heiresses won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2018.

The four companies will team with the same production team that backed The Heiresses on Narciso; Paraguay’s La Babosa Films, Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktions and France’s La Fabrica Nocturna Prods.

France’s Luxbox handles international sales.

Based on the novel by Paraguayan writer Guido Rodriguez Alcala, Narciso is inspired by true events during the 1950s in Paraguay’s capital Asuncion, which was in a state of permanent siege.

Shooting will begin by September in Asuncion. Martinessi’s collaborators on TheHeiresses, Armando Arteaga and Carlo Spatuzza, will lead on cinematography and art direction, respectively.

Martinessi said that the film follows a “young, handsome and daring wild child. He is in a city under military rule. Both men and women love him. He loved rock ‘n roll, but he was not attracted to it. One morning, his body appeared burned, tied to a bed.”

The agreement with BTeam Prods, the production arm of Bteam Pictures, was closed at the Malaga Film Festival.

Bteam Prods’ slate also includes Segundo Premio from San Sebastian double winner Isaki Lacuesta and Pilar Palomero’ Schoolgirls. Oublaum’s upcoming projects include Williams’s The Human Surge 3.

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