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France’s Cine Sud Promotion Boards ‘Land and Shade’ Director Cesar Acevedo’s ‘Horizonte’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Thierry Lenouvel’s Cine Sud Promotion has boarded the upcoming sophomore feature of Colombia’s Cesar Augusto Acevedo, “Horizonte” whose debut feature “Land and Shade” (“La Tierra y La Sombra”) took Cannes 2015 by storm, winning the Camera d’Or for best first feature and three other Critics’ Week awards that year.

Cine Sud backed “Land and Shade” so it was virtually a given that it would support Acevedo’s next film. “First of all, I would like to say we lived a wonderful adventure with César and his first film, a big human adventure, with him and his producers, Diana Bustamante and Paola Perez,” Lenouvel told Variety.

“No one supported us in France at the beginning, despite the obvious talent of Cesar. But we finished the film and then the Cannes miracle happened,” he continued, adding: “How can I forget those magical moments and have the privilege of seeing the consecration of a true artist in the biggest festival in the world?” “That’s why, when [Perez of Inercia Peliculas], his producer, informed me that the script was finally ready, we signed a contract just now,” he said.

“We are fully behind Cesar, ready to support him through thick and thin, and we will do our best to support him, both in the production, by offering him first-rate technicians for sound, make-up and editing, and post-production, which will be long and crucial, especially for the special effects,” said Lenouvel who added that Eric Lagesse from Pyramide, who released “Land and Shade,” has expressed interest in securing French distribution and world sales. Cine Sud’s usual post-production partners are also set to board the project.

Set against Colombia’s decades-old armed conflict, “Horizonte” turns on the ghosts of a mother and her son who seek the family patriarch in a landscape ravaged by the horrors of war. “It’s poetic-philosophical-humanist tale, a real cry against the war, with several levels of interpretation, and for sure, against a political backdrop,” said Lenouvel.

“Land and Shade’s” director of photography Mateo Guzman and art director Marcela Gomez are also attached.

According to Acevedo, “Horizonte” passed through the BrLab of Brazil (2017), the Cannes Cinefondation (2018) and recently through the Ibero-American Film Project Development Course (2020), organized by Ibermedia and the Carolina Foundation, and most recently, received backing from Colombia’s FDC film fund.

“It took me a while to define well what I wanted to talk about in my next film, but as soon as it was clear to me, I told Thierry about my ideas and he really liked the project, so our collaboration continues,” said Acevedo.
Meanwhile, Acevedo made short “Los Pasos del Agua” which premiered at Cannes 2016 and is in post on another short, “La Campana.”

As a writer, he is attached to co-pen, with director Mauricio Leiva Cock of Fidelio Films and Swiss-Colombian Lony Welter, the screen adaptation of “Noche Sin Fortuna,” based on the genre-tinged existential novel by Andres Caicedo. He also wrote and directed an episode of Telepacifico’s dystopian TV series, “Turbia,” set in Cali, Colombia in the year 2023.

Principal photography of “Horizonte” is slated for next year.

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