Road to La Paz
Spring Grant 2015 - Post-Production Stage
Francisco Varone / Feature Narrative / Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar / 2015 / 89 min / Colour / Original Language: Spanish / Interests: Road Trip
Synopsis
Thirty-five-year-old Sebastián’s greatest passions are his old Peugeot 505 and the prog-rock band Vox Dei. Short of cash, Sebas takes a job as a limo driver. Among his passengers is the ailing and unkind 85-year-old Jalil, an observant Muslim, who offers Sebas a large amount of money to take him from Buenos Aires to La Paz. What starts out as an inconvenient trip turns out to be a significant adventure for Sebas. Jalil explains that he is going to meet his brother Nazim, whom he has not seen for 40 years, and peregrinate to Mecca. After the long and winding road to La Paz, Jalil is reunited with Nazim. Sebas heads home, his mission accomplished, his life changed.
Credits
- Director
- Francisco Varone
- Screenwriter
- Francisco Varone
- Producer
- Gema Juarez Allen, Juan Taratuto
- Production Company
- Gema Films
- Production Company
- Gema Films
About the Director
Francisco Varone was born in 1978 in Buenos Aires. In 1999, he graduated from the Universidad del Cine and started his career as an assistant director on commercials and feature films the following year. He has received three Lions d'Or at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a Clio Award and a Sol de Oro – San Sebastián for some of the nearly 100 commercials he shot between 2005 and 2011. Between 2008 and 2010, Varone participated in scriptwriting workshops with Pablo Solarz. He has studied dramaturgy with Mauricio Kartún, Ignacio Apolo and Ariel Barchilón, and attended scriptwriting classes with Juan José Campanella and Aída Bortnik.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
Busan International Film Festival 2015 (WP)
Chicago International Film Festival 2015
Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2015
London Argentine Film Festival 2015, Opening Film
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2016, World Cinema Now
Festival
Bronze Alexander Award, Thessaloniki Film Festival 2015
SAGAI Best Argentine Breakthrough Performance Actor, Mar del Plata Film Festival 2015
Contacts
-
Director
Francisco Varone
- Email:
- panchovarone@gmail.com
-
Main Contact
Gema Juarez Allen
- Company:
- Gema Films
- Phone:
- +54 114 966 0110
- Email:
- gema@gemafilms.com