02/02/2010

One of the major surprises at this year’s recently closed Sundance Film Festival was undoubtedly Rodrigo Cortés’ second feature, Buried, which sparked an enthusiastic response from viewers and film professionals alike.

Queues of up to six hours in the snow, tickets being touted for ten times the original price, ovations after every screening and unanimous critical praise testify to the excellent reception garnered by this Spanish production, US rights to which were picked up by Lionsgate. All this bodes well for its international seller, French company Kinology, ahead of the opening of the Berlinale’s European Film Market.

Cortés’ Buried is a claustrophobic cinematic tour de force, in the form of a thriller. The word 'claustrophobic' takes on a new meaning here, as the whole film unfolds in real time inside the coffin where protagonist Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), a civilian contractor in Iraq, finds himself trapped (and buried). He only has 90 minutes left before the oxygen supply runs out.

The young, 36-year-old Galician director is no stranger to international press acclaim, for a few months ago he was named by prestigious Variety magazine as one of the “ten directors to watch”. His debut feature, The Contestant [+see also:
trailer
film profile], met with unanimous critical approval and won the Critics’ Award at Malaga, among other accolades, although it performed modestly at the box office.

Shot in Barcelona last August (see news), English-language Buried was produced by Adrián Guerra for Versus Entertainment, in co-production with US-based The Safran Company and Dark Trick Films. No Spanish distributor has bought the rights yet, although negotiations are underway with several companies, according to the film’s producer.

(Translated from Spanish)