\n<\/p>\n
\n\tVeteran Portuguese producer Paulo Branco has begun principal photography on the \u20ac4.5 million ($5.3 million) dystopian drama \u201cAqui,\u201d directed by Tiago Guedes ad shooting in Spain and Portugal.<\/p>\n
\n\tAcclaimed South African and Australian novelist, J.M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, sold the rights to his \u201cJesus\u201d trilogy to Branco, on condition that the film is shot entirely in Spanish.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe \u201cJesus\u201d trilogy, published in the 2010s, explores how the English language is taking over the world and reflects Coetzee\u2019s interest in the Global South and in particular Argentine literature.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the film, child refugee David (played by first-time actors \u00c1lex Pel\u00e1ez and Hugo Encuentra) befriends Sim\u00f3n (Manolo Solo) on a boat travelling to a no-man\u2019s land. Upon their arrival Sim\u00f3n meets In\u00e9s (Patricia L\u00f3pez Arnaiz) and the three flee to a new city where David is enrolled in a dance academy and develops mysterious abilities.<\/p>\n
\n\tAlongside distinguished Spanish actors Solo (\u201cClose Your Eyes\u201d) and L\u00f3pez Arnaiz (\u201c20,000 Species of Bees\u201d), the high-profile cast includes Itsaso Arana (\u201cVolver\u00e9is\u201d), \u00c1ngela Molina (\u201cLive Flesh\u201d) director Fernando Trueba, Argentine actor Daniel Elias (\u201cThe Delinquents\u201d) and French actors Lambert Wilson (\u201cThe Matrix Reloaded\u201d) and Sergi L\u00f3pez (\u201cMap of the Sounds of Tokyo\u201d).<\/p>\n
\n\tBranco (\u201cCosmopolis,\u201d \u201cMysteries of Lisbon\u201d) is one of Europe\u2019s most prolific producers having produced over 300 films with leading auteurs including David Cronenberg, Paul Auster, Alain Tanner, Wim Wenders, Ra\u00fal Ruiz, Chantal Akerman and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAqui\u201d is a Franco-Portuguese co-production between Branco\u2019s production houses Alfama Films and Leopardo Films, based in Paris and Lisbon respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI feel a great responsibility for the trust placed in me by Coetzee.\u201d Branco confided to Variety. \u201cI\u2019m increasingly interested in films adapted from literary texts, but this brings an artistic responsibility to respect the vision of the author. I had a similar experience with David Cronenberg\u2019s \u201cCosmopolis,\u201d adapted from Don DeLillo\u2019s novel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tProduction support includes France\u2019s CNC and Portugal\u2019s ICA \u2013 Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, PIC \u2013 Tourism and Cinema Support Fund, RTP, Lisbon City Council and Porto Film Commission.<\/p>\n
\n\tDirector Tiago Guedes, who studied in the New York Film Academy, is one of Portugal\u2019s top film, TV and theater directors. He previously worked with Branco on feature films \u201cThe Domain\u201d and \u201cRemains of the Wind,\u201d which played in main competition at Venice in 2019 and Cannes in 2022 respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tGuedes explains that he has long dreamt of adapting one of Coetzee\u2019s novels, describing the \u201cJesus\u201d trilogy as a \u201chypnotic 800-page allegory\u201d that explores a fundamental solitude.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe 65-day shoot will film in brutalist architecture sites in Portugal, especially in Porto, Viana do Castelo, Coimbra and Lisbon, complemented by port scenes in Spain\u2019s Cantabria region. \u201cI want to build this timeless world using objects, landscapes, and architecture that feel suspended in time,\u201d says Guedes. \u201cThere is no modern technology. Everything seems stuck between the 1940s and 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBranco is also completing other film adaptations, including S\u00e9rgio Graciano\u2019s \u201cMemories of Prison\u201d based on Camilo Castelo Branco\u2019s novel and M\u00e1rio Barroso\u2019s \u201cLavagante,\u201d adapted from the last work by Jos\u00e9 Cardoso Pires.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe 75-year-old producer is now focused primarily on producing in Portugal, rather than in France, for political and professional reasons. \u201cI spent my childhood under the fascist regime in Portugal,\u201d he explained to Variety. \u201cI\u2019ve now reached an age and a stage in my career where I\u2019m no longer willing to waste time and energy with the type of inquisitorial spirit that is currently gripping France.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBranco aims to have the world premiere of \u201cAqui\u201d at Cannes in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Veteran Portuguese producer Paulo Branco has begun principal photography on the \u20ac4.5 million ($5.3 million) dystopian drama \u201cAqui,\u201d directed by Tiago Guedes ad shooting in Spain and Portugal. Acclaimed South African and Australian novelist, J.M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, sold the rights to his \u201cJesus\u201d trilogy to Branco, on condition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[13774,13776,13773,10381,13775,13204,11867,11078,298],"class_list":{"0":"post-22466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-aqui","9":"tag-arnaiz","10":"tag-branco","11":"tag-lopez","12":"tag-manolo","13":"tag-patricia","14":"tag-paulo","15":"tag-produces","16":"tag-solo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}