Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2016: #65. Marco Dutra’s Era el Cielo

Era el Cielo

Director: Marco Dutra
Writers: Lucia Puenzo, Caetano Gotardo, Sergio Bizzio

Brazilian director Marco Dutra‘s first feature (review), 2011’s Hard Labor (co-directed by Juliana Rojas) premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and finally reached theatrical release in the US several months ago courtesy of Kino Lorber. Since then, he directed the solo feature Era el Cielo (When I Was Alive), and will be ready with his third film, It Was Heaven in 2016. Dutra directs from a script co-authored by Hard Labor writer Caetano Gotardo and the team behind XXY (2007), Sergio Bizzio and Argentinean director Lucia Puenzo. His first Spanish language production concerns “questioning masculinity roles, sexuality, and barriers of intimacy,” in a narrative about a man who comes home to see his wife violated by two strangers. Paralyzed, he doesn’t come to her rescue and she doesn’t realize he’s witnessed the attack. She chooses not to speak of the incident, which causes an awkward silence between the couple and mounting tension. Those attracted to works by Michel Franco and Julia Loktev will most likely be attracted to Dutra’s intense examination.

Cast: Leonardo Sbarglia, Carolina Dieckmann, Chino Darin

Production Co.: RT Features

U.S. Distributor: Rights available TBD (domestic) Mundial (international)

Release Date: Considering his debut title snagged a slot in Un Certain Regard, Dutra should have a good chance at returning to Cannes in 2016.