New Paris-based sales and co-production outfit B-Rated International has acquired sales rights to “Sorella di Clausura,” Ivana Mladenovic‘s parody of romantic melodrama, ahead of the film’s world premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival.
Film marks the third fiction feature from the Serbian director, who lives in Romania, after “Ivana the Terrible,” which won the Special Jury Prize in Locarno in 2019, going on to a strong festival circuit run.
Filmed in Romanian, English and Serbian, “Sorella di Clausura” is produced at microFILM by top Romanian producer Ada Solomon, whose credits include Berlin Golden Bear winning films from Cãlin Peter Netzer’s – “Child’s Pose” – and Radu Jude‘s “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” plus Maren Ade’s Oscar-nominated “Toni Erdmann.”
Mladenovic, at Serbia’s Dunav 84, Ines Vasiljevic at Nightswim in Italy and Bernat Manzano at Spain’s Boogaloo Films produce the film.
“’Sorella di clausura’ is a project we truly believe in — its style brings a fresh energy to the arthouse scene. The storytelling and performances are powerful, and its (punkish, campy) vibe delivers something surprising and original — a refreshing change from what we usually see out there,” said Arnaud Chevallier, at B-Rated International.
“We’re confident it will connect with audiences and catch the eye of distributors looking to champion new voices in cinema,” he commented.
A story about the game of reality, inspired by real characters, “Sorella di Clausura” is set in the margins of the European Union at the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis.
Co-written by Mladenovic alongside Adrian Schiop (“Ivana the Terrible”) and Momir Milosevic, the film follows Stela, a 36-year-old woman with higher education but unable to keep a job.
Since she was 12, Stela has been in love with a Serbian musician from the former Yugoslavia. One of the musicians’ alleged mistresses, Vera, promises Stela that she will help her meet her idol.
Film toplines Katia Pascariu, of “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” Cendana Trifan (“Libertate,” “Interior Zero”) and Miodrag Mladenovic (“Ivana the Terrible”).
“Although tragic at its core, inspired by the story of a singer and friend who lost her life prematurely, the film is primarily an empathetic parody of romantic melodramas – and not just any romance, but the absolute love towards God (whichever God one picks!),” Mladenovic explained.
In the story, Stela’s meeting with the Balkan star will become a disappointment, as she discovers that her idol only cares about money and fame and that, in her words, “he’s just like Jackie Onassis, who only had eyes for powerful and rich men.”
“The film looks at the relation between sex and capital or, more specifically, if sex can be a substitute for money, if it can stop hunger or inflation,” Mladenovic added.
“Sorella di Clausura” will have its world premiere in the International Competition section of the Locarno Film Festival, whose 78th edition will run over Aug. 6-16.
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