LOCARNO, Switzerland — The Dominican Republic’s Cronos Films & Production has clinched its first pre-sales deal on “Beyond the Mist,” (“Después de la Niebla”), a flagship example of the company’s drive into what is described as a “sensory cinema” which does not “shy away from the social and political struggles of the Dominican Republic.”
In a first distribution deal on the title, brought to market this weekend at Locarno’s Match Me! networking forum, the Hague-based sales-distribution company Latin Quarter has closed all-rights for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
A burgeoning force on the Latin American, Spanish and Latinx diaspora auteur pic scene, Latin Quarter has a direct distribution operation in the Netherlands, as in the U.K., Germany and Spain. It is studying a “bigger collaboration” on the film, director Juan G. Castro told Variety.
Match Me! “is generating fruitful meetings with countries in Europe and Latin America in which we intend to co-produce this project,” said Nidsbelle Guzmán, who will co-direct “Beyond the Mist” with Andrea Tudela (“Dueños del Tiempo”) and also serves as its producer alongside Homer Mora.
Co-written by Guzmán and Emmanuel Galán (“Motel,” “Atravesando el Jordán”), “Beyond the Mist” turns on David, silently suffering from the death of his grandmother.
The arrival of friends from abroad keep him busy, but after an emotional crisis, he travels to the depths of the forest and his memory. “There he realizes that the fight is with himself and that he must face his greatest pain: the death of his grandmother,” the synopsis runs.
Erlyn Saul, Omar Patín and Lia Chapman are attached to star. “Beyond the Mist” is scheduled to shoot over Dec. 2025 and Jan. 2026.
What marks the project apart, Guzmán told Variety, is the “experience and research by both directors on the subject, focusing on sensory cinema through production design in project development, utilizing various states of water as a resource to symbolize the main characters.”
“Original music is also a key aspect, with songs already composed for the film for which we have secured the rights,” she added.
Seasoned Peruvian scribe Pablo Vásquez (“Bésame Tonto,” “11-11 En mi cuadra nada cuadra”) has just joined the screenwriting team, having co-written “Dueños del Tiempo.”
Vásquez “has a long career in television and cinema, both in Peru and internationally,” said Guzmán.
She added: “I told him about ‘After the Mist’ and he became very interested because he had gone through a similar experience of loss and mourning after his mother’s death. I felt that his vision resonated with the story Emmanuel and I were developing, and that he could contribute with his experience and perspective.”
“Integrating talents from different countries poses challenges, but the balance has been positive and enriching,” Guzmán concluded.
