in filming
Lone Scherfig directs this adaptation of the novel by Hernán Rivera Letelier, set in the 1960s, in the Atacama desert, in which a young woman ends up shredding the films of those who cannot afford a movie ticket
‘The film accountant’ is the title of a 2009 book by Hernán Rivera Letelier, who grew up and worked for years in the mining community of the Atacama desert in Chile. Now it is being brought to the screen, in the form of a Spanish-Chilean co-production directed by the Danish director Lone Scherfig (‘An Education’) and an adaptation by the Brazilian Walter Salles (winner of two BAFTAs for ‘Motorcycle Diaries’ in 2005 and ‘Central Station of Brazil’ in 1999) and the Spaniard Rafa Russo (‘Rain in the shoes’). The Argentinian-French actress Bérénice Bejo, nominated for an Oscar for ‘The Artist’ (2001) and the Spanish winner of two Goya awards Antonio de la Torre form the leading couple, with Daniel Brühl, Sara Becker and the young Alondra Valenzuela completing the cast .
Set in the 1960s in the Atacama desert, Bejo gets into the skin of María Magnolia, a woman who, despite the harsh living conditions, manages to maintain her creative concerns. Her passion for the cinema will be transferred to her daughter, María Margarita (Sara Becker), who will become the film accountant of the town, where most of them cannot afford a movie ticket. Her talent and passion soon spread beyond her impoverished family circle to reach the entire community. People listen to María Margarita with delight and fun, to forget about the harsh routines in the saltpeter fields. The story unfolds hand in hand with relevant cultural and political events in the history of the town, such as the arrival and success of the cinematographic exhibition, followed by its decline with the appearance of television. Reflecting the political changes that occurred in the times of Frei, Allende and the arrival of Pinochet, the film relives the decline of the historic saltpeter mining towns in northern Chile and reveals the priceless memories buried deep in our historical roots; we are taught how all the dreams and hopes of ordinary people are ultimately subject to the tyranny of fate. Narrating and reinventing the stories she has seen on the screen, María Margarita will inspire hope in her people and will reflect her own struggle through fiction, turning film storytelling into an art.
‘The film accountant’ is a book that had been trying to be brought to the screen for several years. Initially the name of Isabel Coixet was in the credits as director, but finally the person in charge of the realization is the Danish Lone Scherfig, although the film is spoken in Spanish. In addition to directing ‘An Education’, which won the Audience Award at Sundance and was nominated for three Oscars and eight BAFTAs, she has also written and directed ‘The Kindness of Strangers’ and ‘Italian for Beginners’. About ‘The film accountant’, the Danish filmmaker has declared to Variety that “it reflects the magical role of narration on stage and on the big screen, as a window to the world, a place of healing and that unites people” .
“The extraordinary cast have given the film a lot of sensitivity, humor, deeply moving moments and great nuance. So have the locations, an entire mining town recreated for the film to take us back to Chile in the 1960s. At one end of the city was the mine, which defined the hard life of the families who lived there; at the other end, a huge white cinema, which fed his fantasies, dreams and love life. The films that have come to town, from ‘The Apartment’ to ‘Spartacus’, have inspired our cinematic language, but more importantly, our goal is to do justice to the novel, the screenplay and a story rooted in reality. This should be a movie that its characters, a movie-loving family of miners, want to escape to on a Sunday afternoon,” says Lone Scherfig.
The film is produced by A Contracorriente Films, Selenium Films, Altiro Films and Contadora Films AIE. It has the collaboration of ICAA, ICEC, Ibermedia Program, the participation of RTVE, TVC, HBOMax, Euskaltel-Telecable and will be distributed by A Contracorriente Films in cinemas.
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