In yet another alliance forged between European and Latin American producers at Cannes, France’s Lilith Films has boarded Chilean drama “A Woman Wants to Die” (“Una mujer quiere morir”), a co-production involving Chile (Niña Niño Films), Argentina (Gualicho Cine) and Brazil (Superfilmes).
It stars one of Chile’s most bankable stars, Paulina Garcia (“Gloria”), who recently announced her directorial debut feature at Cannes. Singer-actress Dindi Jane plays opposite her.
Constanza Figari will direct from a screenplay she penned, which she said is tied to a teen fantasy she had about taking her own life.
“I began writing this screenplay when I was still deeply connected to the adolescent fantasy of wanting to die, and I saw suicide as the rawest and most nihilistic expression of what I understood freedom to be,” she told Variety.
“Today, several years later, after having a child with my wife, I find myself questioning freedom once again, especially when it comes to ending one’s own life. Since then, these two perspectives have been in conflict within me, transforming this project into a profound conversation between a mother and daughter, both of whom are me.”
“That eternal contradiction, that distant possibility of encounter and understanding, has always been the driving force behind this film,” she added.
It follows Fernanda (33) who has a death wish. Her reasons are unclear but her mother Susana will do everything in her power to stop her. She takes Fernanda to a beach house to keep a closer eye on her but while there, she must decide whether to betray her daughter or respect her wish to die on her own terms.
Niña Niño Films, led by Roberto Doveris, developed the dark comedy, which aligns with the company’s focus on strong auteur and LGBTQ+-themed projects.
According to Doveris, he met Lilith Films’ Caroline Piras at the Marché du Film just the other day where they agreed to co-produce “A Woman Wants to Die.”
“We first met at the Paris-Uruguay co-production meetings at Faro José Ignacio Film Festival (Uruguay), and we have been talking ever since,” he said. Among Lilith Films’ credits are Dénes Nagy’s WWII drama, “Natural Light.”
“At Niña Niño Films, we seek to work with women directors and members of the LGBTQ+ community, which is why we approached Constanza, who had already demonstrated a fully mature and daring vision of pregnancy and abortion in her first film, ‘7 Weeks,’” Doveris said.
He added: “At the same time, we were drawn to the possibility of making a dark comedy about suicide that reflects on freedom and death. The moment we realized that the protagonist had to be the mother, we thought of Paulina García, an exceptional actress capable of navigating the space between drama and comedy, which is the film’s greatest challenge.”
Niña Niño Films is also developing fiction series “Tough Skin (“Cuero de chancho”) with Alicia Scherson (“The Future,” “Play”) directing from a screenplay by Enrique Videla, Francina Carbonell and Ignacio Juricic.
The project was supported by CNTV (Chile’s National Television Council) and is led by showrunner Valentina Muhr.
Inspired by an actual case in the 1990s, it tracks a lesbian murderer who disguises herself as a man to escape detection, while a dogged female detective infiltrates a brothel where the murder occurred.
“A Woman Wants to Die” is backed by the Chilean Film Fund, Ibermedia and Brazil’s Ancine.
‘A Woman Wants to Die’ Courtesy of Niña Niño Films