U.K.-French film company Alief has boarded supernatural drama “Horizonte” by Colombia’s César Augusto Acevedo, winner of the 2015 Cannes Camera d’ Or for his debut feature “Land and Shade” (“La tierra y la sombra”). “Horizonte” is Acevedo’s sophomore feature, which had its world premiere at the 49th Toronto Film Festival in early September.
“We have been fans of Cesar Augusto since his first film, ‘Land and Shade,’” said Alief’s Miguel Angel Govea who described “Horizonte” as a “solid story of regret and redemption.”
“We were drawn by Acevedo’s lyrical screenplay, mesmerizing visuals and the standout performances by Chile’s grande dame, Paulina Garcia (Sebastian Lelio’s ‘Gloria’) and Colombian leading man Claudio Cataño, who stars in Netflix’s upcoming ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude,’” said Govea who said that Alief first eyed the drama at the 2024 Toulouse Cinélatino Films in Progress 43 where it won the Grand Prix Cinema en Construction prize.
“We are thrilled to introduce this supernatural drama to buyers at San Sebastian who are looking for something exotic to release in cinemas with international stars,” said Govea, who co-founded Alief alongside partner, Brett Walker.
The trailer, debuting exclusively in Variety, follows Basilio (Cataño) and his mother Inés (Garcia) who reunite in death to set off on a journey through a war-torn world.
As they embark on a mission to find Basilio’s missing father, they pass through destroyed towns, abandoned fields and rivers turned to cemeteries. Once a brutal criminal, Basilio is now forced to relive his past horrors with his mother as a witness. As they wander through this desolate world, they realize that only through great sacrifice can they find redemption and grasp the true meaning of life.
“This film was born out of my own despair. From living day after day in a country that has become so used to death that it has completely forgotten the true value of life,” said Acevedo, alluding to the armed conflict that tore through Colombia for decades.
“It hurts to see how we have not only become desensitized to violence, but that it is increasingly difficult for us to have empathy for the pain of others. Or how else can we understand the senselessness of wanting to perpetuate a war in which all the armies are made up of the sons of the same land?,” he added.
“My intention with ‘Horizonte’ is that we recognize the blinded lives of hundreds of thousands of Colombians killed and disappeared in the midst of the Colombian armed conflict. To stop thinking of them as just a number or a statistic and understand that they were human beings like us, with families, with dreams, with things to live for,” he mused.
Boasting key players from Latin America and Europe, “Horizonte” is produced by Colombia’s Inercia and France’s Cine-Sud Promotion, run by Thierry Lenouvel, who also produced “Land and Shade.” It is co-produced by Chile’s Quijote, Luxembourg-based Tarantula, France’s In Vivo Films and Unafilm, Germany.
Alief’s current titles include BBC Film’s drama thriller “Edge of Summer” with Josie Walker (“Kneecap”) and Nichola Burley (“The Gold”), sci fi mystery “The Lonely Musketeer” with Edward Hogg (“Napoleon”) and dark comedy “Puddysticks” with Mamoudou Athie (“Kinds of Kindness”) and Dan Bakkedahl (“Veep”).
Source Agencies
