Simón Mesa Soto returns to Cannes with his new short MADRE in Official Competition

Winner of the first Palme d’Or for Colombia with his short film LEIDI in 2014, Colombian director Simón Mesa Soto returns to Cannes with his new short MADRE in Official Competition. Co-produced by Sweden’s Momento Film and Colombia’s Evidencia Films, MADRE is in the running for the 2016 Short Film Palme d’Or, to be awarded by Naomi Kawase, President of the Jury, at the official award ceremony of the 69th Festival de Cannes on 22nd May.

MADRE is the story of 16 year-old Andrea who leaves her poor neighbourhood in the hills of Medellin to attend a downtown casting call for a porno film.

“Despite the fact I’ve borrowed from the stories of many girls in Medellín, says director Simón Mesa Soto, Madre seeks only to paint a portrait of Andrea – a fictional girl – and, more precisely, the moment when she decides to attend a casting call for a porno film, the moment when her free will is transformed into an abusive act perpetrated by others against her.”

Swedish producer David Herdies: “I saw Simon’s last short film Leidi, in Cannes 2014, and was mesmerized by his ability to tell big stories with a subtle expression and a strong presence. When we started the short film project Break the silence, Simón was an obvious choice for me and the first director I contacted. I am thrilled to work with such an interesting director as Simón and really looking forward to premiere Madre in Cannes together with him and the team”.

Colombian producer Franco Lolli remembers: “Simón and I were the only Colombian film directors to be selected in the Cannes Film Festival two years ago (him with Leidi, I with Gente de Bien). We didn’t meet at that time but a few months later, in Colombia. We got along instantly and decided working together, him as director and I as producer. Today Madre, our first collaboration, is sending us to Cannes again, but this time together.”

 “With Madre, explains writer-director Mesa Soto, I want those who consume sexual images involving teenagers, but also the teenagers who are potential victims of the porn film industry, to question the situation from a different point of view; to see what is behind the camera.”

MADRE is part of Break the Silence, an international short film project gathering five award-winning directors in one global challenge. www.breakthesilence.se“

About the director

Simón Mesa Soto is a director and screenwriter born in Medellín, Colombia, in 1986. He was awarded the Palme d’Or for short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 for his graduation film from the London Film School Leidi, the story of a teenage mother looking for the father of her child through the streets of Medellin. The film was also selected in many festivals such as BFI London, Melbourne, Vancouver, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Habana, Busan, Hong Kong, Bogotá,… Madre is his second professional short film. He is currently developing his first feature film.

About the producers

Momento Film is a Swedish production company founded in 2011 by producer and director David Herdies. With one leg in documentary and one in fiction, Momento Film’s vision is to create cinematic and bold art house films by selected talents with distinct voices. The company works with Cannes awarded directors such as Frida Kempff (SWE) and Simón Mesa Soto (COL) as well as upcoming talents like Theresa Traore Dahlberg (SWE) and Eloy Domínguez Serén (SPA). The company’s films have been screened and have won prices at major international festivals around the world. Among Momento Film’s prior productions can be mentioned Winter Buoy, A separation and The Guerilla Son and the company has several documentaries and feature films in development.

Evidencia Films is a Colombian production company focusing on risky and intimate art house films. It is run by two producers: the also director Franco Lolli, who cumulates more than 150 film festival selections and 50 international awards ; and Capucine Mahé, who has worked in French companies Haut et Court, Unifrance and Artmedia. After producing Rodri and Gente de Bien, both selected in the Cannes Film Festival, Evidencia Films is now producing short and long features from Laura Huertas Millán, Simón Mesa Soto and Juan Sebastián Quebrada, amongst others.

MADRE

Sweden/Colombia – 2016 – 14 min – Spanish with English and French subtitles

Director & Scriptwriter: Simón Mesa Soto

Starring: Yurani Anduquia Cortés, María Camila Maldonado, Paulo de Jesús Barros Sousa

Produced by: Momento Film (Sweden), Evidencia Films (Colombia)

Producers: David Herdies, Franco Lolli, Capucine Mahé

Production manager: Alexander Arbeláez Osorio

Line producer: Cesar Rodríguez

Cinematography: Juan Sarmiento G.

Assistant director: Santiago Porras Clavijo

Production design: Tatiana Vera

Sound: Andrés Montaña, Isabel Torres, José Valenzuela

Editing: Gustavo Vasco

With the support of the Secretaría de Cultura Ciudadana de la Alcaldía de Medellín, Colombia, The Cultural Foundation of the Swedish Postcode Lottery

In collaboration with Change Attitude.

[End of press release]

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Press material (press kit & HD photos): www.theprfactory.com/movies/madre

Press contact: THE PR FACTORY – www.theprfactory.com

Marie-France Dupagne, mariefrance@theprfactory.com, +32 477 62 67 70, during Cannes Film Festival: +33 7 85 83 58 61

Barbara Van Lombeek, barbara@theprfactory.com, +32 486 54 64 80, during Cannes Film Festival: +33 6 45 07 41 54

Gudrun Burie, gudrun@theprfactory.com, +32 498 10 10 01