Fantasy Drama | 95”
World Premiere Berlinale 2023
Director / Screenplay: Juan Sebastian Torales
Producers: Tu Vas Voir (France), Twins Latin Films (Argentina), Augustus Color (Italia)
World Sales: Bendita Film Sales
Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Nino lives with his family and he is in the midst of exploring his early awakening sexuality. At fourteen, Nino is already a victim of homophobic attacks. To protect him, his parents decide to leave the city temporarily and the whole family moves to the forest exploitation where his father works.
The farm is surrounded by the monte, a huge humid and dark forest. Nino feels guilty for what he is going through and for having turned his family's life upside down. His sister Natalia, aged 16, far from her friends and in her teens, does not spare him. Estela, his mother, wants to put Nino back on the right track and organizes his Confirmation in the local church.
In this rural and superstitious environment, Nino hears about a mysterious creature called the Almamula, which takes with her anyone who has committed sexually reprehensible acts. The Priest's sermons show Nino that his sexuality is not seen well before the eyes of God. The pressure of the approaching ceremony weighs on him and his fascination for the Almamula, who would accept his sins, grows. Little by little, Nino joins the Almamula to his prayers seeing in it as his salvation, and going in search for it.
Festivals and Awards
• Berlinale 2023 | Berlinale Generation 14plus
• Cine Latino Bergen 2023
• FCIU Uruguay 2023 | Competencia Cine Infantil
• Lovers Film Festival 2023
• SIFF Seattle 2023 | Ibero-American Cinema
• Inside Out Toronto 2023 | Best First Feature Award
• FICG Guadalajara 2023 | Ibero-American Feature Film Competition
• FICG Guadalajara 2023 | Premios Maguey Film Competition
• IFF Puerto Vallarta 2023
• Festival MIX México 2023 | Oficial Competition
• Taipei Film Festival 2023 | Future Lights
• Premio Ventana Sur Copia Final 2022
• Premio Eurimages al Desarrollo, Foro de Coproducción San Sebastián 2019
• BrLab Laboratorio de Escritura, Sao Paulo 2019
• Proyecta Ventana Sur, Buenos Aires 2019
• Premio SEFF Lab, Santiago del Estero Film Fest, 2019.
Little by little, Nino joins the Almamula to his prayers seeing in it as his salvation, and going in search for it.
Title: Almamula
Genre: Drama
Original language: Spanish
Duration: 95”
Aspect ratio: 1:85:1
Sound: 5.1
Director: Juan Sebastián Torales
Screenplay: Juan Sebastián Torales
Director of photography: Ezequiel Salinas
Production Designer: Pilar Peredo
Editing: Juan Sebastián Torales
Sound Designer: Federico Forleo
Cast: Nicolás Díaz, María Soldi, Cali Coronel, Martina Grimaldi, Luisa Lucía Paz, Beto Frágola, Tania Darchuk, Adrián Ramallo
Executive producers: Pilar Peredo, Lorena Quevedo
Producers: Tu Vas Voir
Co-Producers: Twins Latin Films, Augustus Color
Associated Producers: Palermo Production
Country of production: France, Argentina, Italy
Located in the north of Argentina, Santiago del Estero it is the hottest place in South America. Throughout the length and breadth of the pure plain, the city is between desert and barren, a land punished by overwhelming heat and humidity. At siesta time, Santiago del Estero looks like a ghost town. At 52 degrees, its citizens live like in slow motion.