06/05/2008

The Barcelona-based company Eddie Saeta will present their two latest productions, Albert Serra’s El cant dels ocells and Lisandro Alonso’s Liverpool, in the Directors’ Fortnight at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. They thus confirm their position as one of Spain’s leading companies on the auteur film market.

El cant dels ocells is the third feature by Serra, who once again offers a very personal reinterpretation of a well-known story, following his award-winning adaptation of Don Quixote, Honour of the Knights (Quixotic) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006), which also screened at Cannes.

This time, the director recounts the journey of the Three Wise Men who are looking for the newly-born Messiah. With a cast of non-professional actors – one of the hallmarks of Serra’s work – El cant dels ocells was co-produced by Eddie Saeta and Andergraun Films.

Liverpool is the new title by Argentinean director and Cannes regular Alonso, whose previous three films screened at the festival. Co-produced by Eddie Saeta and Argentinean company 4L, the film was shot entirely in Patagonia and tells the story of a sailor who returns home after years of absence.

Five Spanish co-productions will also screen at Cannes. In official competition are Steven Soderbergh’s two-part biopic of Che Guevara (The Argentine and Guerrilla), co-produced by Telecinco and Morena Films; and Argentinean director Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], co-produced by Almodóvar’s production company El Deseo.

Screening out of competition are Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona [+see also:
trailer
film profile], with a part-Spanish cast (Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem) and production (Mediapro and Antena 3); and Emir Kusturica’s documentary Maradona, co-produced by Telecinco and Pentagrama Films.

Finally, Annemarie Jacir’s Salt of This Sea, which is co-produced by Mediapro, will screen in the Un Certain Regard section.

(Translated from Spanish)