BUENOS AIRES — Put through some of the most prestigious genre development labs in the world – Cannes’ Fantastic 7, Fantasia’s Frontières, Sitges’ WomanInFan and the Guadalajara Co-Production Meeting where it won two prizes, Alicia Albares’ “Dreadful Mother” (“La Mala Madre”) has been picked up for international sales by Spain’s Latido Films.
Fast emerging as one of the world’s most prominent Spanish-language genre sales agents, Latido Films will sneak peek a trailer of the upcoming feature at Ventana Sur’s Spanish Screenings Next From Spain: The Talent to Come showcase, which takes place Dec. 4.
Albares’ feature debut, “Dreadful Mother” turns on Victoria, who wakes up with a broken arm in a country house where she has been kidnapped, cared for by an apparently attentive doctor and a nun. Apparently: Piece by piece, she discovers the secrets which they are trying to hide.
“Dreadful Mother” stars Thais Blume, Álex Gadea, Mariana Cordero, Marina Alegre, Javier Pereira, Jordi Aguilar and Lluna Aldasoro. Seasoned Valencian producer Paloma Mora at Admirable Films produces with Mordisco Films’ Alberto Díaz.
“Victoria is like a kind of alter ego of mine, if I had decided to have children,” Albares told Rubik Audiovisual this July when she wrapped the film’s shoot.
Catching the project at the Cannes Festival’s Fantastic 7, Variety noted “Dreadful Mother” was in the line of such stories as Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook,” “Hereditary” and “Relic.”
“I am 37 and I have never wanted to be a mother. It is something that has always been questioned. People think you are missing your life’s greatest experience,” Albares told Variety.
“Have you ever made a decision because you were following a social mandate, doing what was expected of you? Something similar happens to lead character Victoria. She becomes pregnant, and she regrets it.”
As a project, “Dreadful Mother” won the Estudios GGM Award and Cinematic Media awards at the Guadalajara Co-Production Meeting. It also scooped first prize at the Alicante Film festival.
