Spanish production and distribution company Elamedia has acquired “Tengo sueños eléctricos” (I Have Electric Dreams), the Locarno prize-winning debut by director Valentina Maurel, which will screen in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Elamedia will be releasing the film in Spanish theaters later this year.
Set in Costa Rica, “Electric Dreams” follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.
Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and Geko Films (France) and co-produced with Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film had its world premiere in the international competition at Locarno, where Maurel won the award for best director and both Navarro and Guttierez claimed top acting honors. The film is repped internationally by Heretic.
“‘Tengo sueños eléctricos’ (I Have Electric Dreams) captivated us from the moment we heard about it, following its great passage through Locarno,” said Elamedia Estudios CEO Roberto Butragueño. “When we watched it, we fell in love with the film…[which is] faithful to our line of quality cinema. We are committed to films that have something special, and we believe that Valentina Maurel’s film has all the ingredients to thrill the audience.”
Elamedia Estudios has produced and distributed films including David Martin de los Santos’ romantic drama “That Was Life,” a road movie starring Petra Martínez that was nominated for two Goya Awards, Yngvild Sve Flikke’s “Ninjababy,” a European Film Academy Award winner for best comedy, and Carlos Vermut’s “Manticore,” which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Other titles on the Heretic slate include “Runner,” by director Marian Mathias, which had its world premiere in Toronto’s Discovery section, Michael Borodin’s “Convenience Store,” which bowed in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand this year, and “Working Class Heroes,” by Milos Pusic, which stars European Film Academy award winner Jasna Đuričić (“(Quo Vadis, Aida?”) and also premiered in Panorama. The company is also repping Radu Jude’s 2021 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” and Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers,” which took the top prize at Cannes’ Critics’ Week last year.
