Paula Martel Malaga Title ‘First We Take Anillaco’ Builds Co-Pro Heft

In a sign of a potentially potent Latin American movie project, “First We Take Anillaco,” a teen Western set in Argentina’s direst of crises in 2001, has forged an eye-catching four-way alliance between Argentina’s Colectivo Rutemberg, Chile’s Color Haus, Brazil’s Filmes Sem Sapato and Uruguay’s Circular Media.

Subject of a bold pitch by writer-director Paula Martel at Mar del Plata’s Film.Ar in 2017 where she pulled out a (mock) revolver to illustrate the film’s climax, “First We Take Anillaco” will now hit this week’s 2025 Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF) as one of its buzz projects.

Much of that buzz turns on the movie’s explosive genre cocktail. “Blending magical realism with raw, female gaze and punk energy, the film is a cinematic act of resistance: a fable about youth, disillusionment, and the eternal cycle of deception in Latin America,” Martel told Variety.

Inspired by the unpublished “El Plan Anillaco” by Argentinian journalist-writer Agustín Fontenla, “First We Take Anillaco” is set in December 2001 just after Argentina’s banking system had collapsed, compounding the country’s deep recession, sparking 55% poverty levels. 

Amid such devastating crisis, Lali, 18, flees with fearless teen guerrillas, crossing mountains, deserts and ghost villages throughout northern Argentina in a stolen car. Convinced – not without  reason – that Carlos Menem is to blame for Argentina’s worst economic crisis in history, the gang plans to meet Menem at his lavish Anillaco mansion and shoot him dead. 

“Far from the adult world, their reckless adventure tests their bonds in a whirlwind of aimless wandering and sexual awakening, revealing to Lali the true cost of growing up,” the synopsis ends.

“‘First We Take Anillaco’ is a teenage Western with Tarantino-like flair, a story of beautiful losers on a reckless journey through the ruins of a betrayed land,” said Martel. “As Argentina grapples with a new neoliberal wave under Milei – who idolizes Menem’s corruption – we reclaim history from the outskirts, where the scars of the past still shape the present,” she added.

Newcomers Ramiro Pérez Sadlovsky, Juanjis Villagra, Joaquín Escotorín and Lucía Torres, all from Argentina’s Catamarca, will play gang members Amadeo, “El Obispo,” Rama and “La Motoquera” respectively.

Sergio Prina and Daniel Elías, stars of “The Snatch Thief,” and “The Delinquents,” both selected for Cannes, will “bring their signature intensity to the roles of Menem’s political enforcers, known as ‘punteros,’ deepening the film’s bold political edge,” Martel anticipated. 

A Best Fiction Project winner at 2017’s LatinArab Forum IFF “First We Take Anillaco” has won twice a Creation Grant from Argentina’s National Arts Fund, The governments of Catamarca and La Rioja, in Argentina’s North-West, both back the project.

Co-Producing ‘Anillaco’: Making a Virtue Out of a Necessity for Argentina 

Driving into international co-production, Martel and Novack are making a virtue out of a necessity. Under Argentine President Javier Milei, in November 2024 Argentina’s INCAA replaced incentives, part paid before production, by credit facilities, partly covered by INCAA if films find a significant audience. That now prove riskier given that screen quotas, obliging cinema theaters to open Argentine films, were also rescinded last year.

“We hope our multilateral and multicultural approach will bring new creative and financial opportunities. We are searching for co-producers, investors, distributors and sales agents and international funding in Europe and also the MENA region,” said Martel. 

“This strategy highlights the fact that INCAA’s current management still does not provide subsidies for the financing of Argentine cinema, and we are waiting for new calls for proposals. Therefore, the participation of the provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca, where the film takes place, is crucial, along with international cooperation,” she added.

Partners to Date

“First We Take Anillaco’s” partners have track record. Colectivo Rutemberg exec producer Francisco Novack worked as production coordinator at Gema Films on international co-productions “Theater of War,” “My Name is Not Ruben Blades” and “327 Cuadernos.” 

Color Haus producers Álvaro Manzano and Christian Nawrath Smith backed Vinko Tomičić’s “The Dog Thief,” which world premiered at 2024’s Tribeca Festival. 

Filmes Sem Sapato’s head Laila Pas served as production director for “Shine Your Eyes,” a Brazilian-French standout at Berlin’s 2020 Panorama. Partner Diogo Faggiano is currently developing several feature projects as a screenwriter for O2 Filmes, headed by Fernando Meirelles, Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Paolo Morelli.

Nicolas Valdes’ Circular Media co-produced Paul Vega’s “The Astronaut” and Salvador del Solar’s San Sebastian Horizontes Latinos player “Ramon & Ramón,” partnering with Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar’s El Deseo and top Peruvian outfit Tondero.