International producers join ‘Narciso’ from Berlin award-winner Marcelo Martinessi (exclusive)

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 Fábrica Nocturna Prods.

France’s Luxbox handles international sales.

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

Shooting will begin by September in Asunción. 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 controlled by a military regime. He is desired by both men and women. But he only loved rock ‘n’ roll. 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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