Chile’s Storyboard Media has unveiled a new feature film project, “Un Buen Día Para Morir,” the third feature from celebrated film and TV director Marcelo Ferrari (“Subterra,” “Bombal”). Carlos Núñez and Gabriela Sandoval will lead produce for the Santiago-based company, and are discussing co-production opportunities at the Cannes Marché du Film.
Based on a true story, “Un Buen Día Para Morir” is set in 1987, during the bloody military dictatorship of Agusto Pinochet, and kicks off when young piano student Pachi is shot in the head during a political protest. In a serious condition herself, the danger is doubled by her late-stage pregnancy. After a life and death battle for mother and child, Pachi and her son Cristián both manage to survive, but quickly flee to Paris to avoid further political dangers.
Ferrari’s film is based on the life of pianist María Paz Santibáñez, and uses the musician’s own reflections on life to propose questions of mortality, coincidence and the human condition. How can a story so full of death be the starting point for a tale so full of life and music?
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“I am inspired by a great force to film this amazing story which it is necessary to share and which I know intimately,” Ferrari explained to Variety. He emphasized the necessity of sharing the story “for its poignant beauty, for being a painful miracle in which life triumphs over death. Stories of brave women, love of life and dramatic dictatorships, there are many… but none quite like this.”
Currently, the film’s team is working on a final draft of the script and have recruited the services of veteran screenwriter Niles Atallah, who’s 2017 period film “Rey” won prizes at major international festivals including a Rotterdam Tiger Award special mention and the French Critics’ Discovery Award at Toulouse. Meanwhile the producers are finalizing the film’s financial structure and are looking for co-production partners to fill out the film’s budget.
Shooting is planned for 2023 and the film will release in 2024. Núñez and Sandoval are confident of a major international premiere before they will bring the film back to Chile for its eventual festival and theatrical runs.
“We are thrilled to be directly involved in producing this film with such a talented and well-established director like Marcelo Ferrari,” said Núñez. “It’s a story inspired by real events that will surely connect with audiences in all parts of the world.”
It’s early days to be thinking about distribution, but Storyboard is one of Chile’s most important domestic distributors for independent films and seems a likely candidate to do so with “Un Buen Día Para Morir.” Just last year, the company handled distribution for a mouthwatering slate of seven Latin American films, including Venice Critics’ Week player “The Prince,” Guadalajara works in progress winner “Piola” and José Luis Torres Leiva’s highly anticipated feature “Vendrá la Muerte y Tendrá Tus Ojos” (lit: Death Comes to Take Your Eyes).
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