One of European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move in 2017, Didar Domehri, the head of Paris-based production outfit Maneki Films, is continuing his sterling work scouting out and supporting international talents with Memory House [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], the feature debut by Brazil’s João Paulo Miranda Maria, principal photography for which has been ongoing since 15 July.

Having made a huge splash with his short films – as he was selected at Cannes, in the 2015 Critics’ Week, with Command Action, then in the Official Competition in 2016 (snagging a Special Mention into the bargain) with The Girl Who Danced With the Devil, before taking part in the Venice Film Festival in 2017 with Meninas Fomicida – the director was supported in the development of his feature debut by the Next Step 2015 programme run by the Cannes Critics’ Week (in conjunction with the TorinoFilmLab and the Moulin d'Andé-CÉCI), the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation Residence in Paris and the Paris Coproduction Village (organised by the Les Arcs Film Festival in 2017, as an integral part of the Champs-Elysées Film Festival).

The cast of Memory House includes Brazil’s Antonio Pitanga (an iconic actor from the Cinema Novo movement), his fellow countrywoman Ana Flavia Cavalcanti (Body Electric) and Belgium’s Sam Louwyck (who gave strong performances in movies such as Bullhead [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Bart Van Langendonck
intervista: Michaël R. Roskam
scheda film], The Wonders [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Alice Rohrwacher
intervista: Tiziana Soudani
scheda film], Keeper [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
making of
intervista: Guillaume Senez ­
scheda film] and The Fifth Season [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jessica Woodworth
scheda film]).

The story, written by João Paulo Miranda Maria, revolves around Cristovam, a native from the Brazilian hinterland, who works in a milk factory in a prosperous former Austrian colony in Brazil. He feels lonely and ostracised because of cultural and ethnic differences. One day, he discovers an abandoned house filled with objects that remind him of his origins. He slowly settles in this house. Curiously, more objects start to appear without explanation, as if the place were “alive”. Seeing no other way to stand the present, he turns into a man-animal. Emptied of his conscience, deprived of social contact and disconnected from his humanity, he regains his freedom by transforming into a half-man, half-beef creature.

Produced by Maneki Films together with Brazil’s Bossa Nova, Memory House has secured backing from the CNC’s World Cinema Support, the Hubert Bals Fund Europe and the FSA (Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual). The cinematography has been entrusted to Benjamín Echazarreta (A Fantastic Woman [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] and Gloria [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film]).

As a reminder, Maneki Films currently has Under the Stars of Paris [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] by Claus Drexel (see the news) in post-production and is preparing Petite fleur by Argentina’s Santiago Mitre, who the Paris-based company supported for his first two features (Paulina [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film], which scooped the Grand Prix in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2015, and The Summit [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Santiago Mitre
scheda film], which was unveiled on the Croisette in 2017, in Un Certain Regard). Maneki’s filmography also includes titles such as Return to Ithaca [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Laurent Cantet
scheda film] by Laurent Cantet, 11 Flowers [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] by Wang Xiaoshuai, White Elephant [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] by Pablo Trapero, Dégradé [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] by Palestine’s Arab and Tarzan Nasser, and the first two features by Eva Husson: Girls of the Sun [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Eva Husson
scheda film] and Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Eva Husson
scheda film].