Eisenstein In Guanajuato
In 1931, at the height of his artistic powers, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to Mexico to shoot a new film to be titled Que Viva Mexico. Freshly rejected by Hollywood and under increasing pressure to return to Stalinist Russia, Eisenstein arrives at the city of Guanajuato. Chaperoned by his guide Palomino Cañedo, he vulnerably experiences the ties between Eros and Thanatos, sex and death, happy to create their effects in cinema, troubled to suffer them in life.
Peter Greenaway’s film explores the mind of a creative genius facing the desires and fears of love, sex and death through ten passionate days that helped shape the rest of the career of one of the greatest masters of Cinema.
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EISENSTEIN IN GUANAJUATO BY PETER GREENAWAY SELECTED FOR OFFICIAL COMPETITION 65th BERLINALE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
15 December 2014
BERLIN/AMSTERDAM – Eisenstein in Guanajuato, the new film by Peter Greenaway, is selected for the official competition of the 65th Berlinale International Film Festival. This was announced today by the producers Submarine (The Netherlands), Fu Works (The Netherlands) and Paloma Negra Films (Mexico). The festival takes place from February 5 – 15, 2015 and is known as one of the most important film festivals in the world.
The film
Eisenstein in Guanajuato is a feature film about the world’s greatest filmmaker, with Finnish actor Elmer Bäck (The Spiral) playing the title role of the Soviet film-director Sergei Eisenstein. Eisenstein’s talent, insight and wisdom can surely be measured with that of Shakespeare and Beethoven, and his films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October established his fame. The film Eisenstein in Guanajuato tells of how Eisenstein, curious about Guanajuato’s Museum of the Dead, spends ten days in that Mexican city in 1931 whilst he was trying to make the film Que Viva Mexico. His sensual and emotional experiences with sex and death in those ten days influence his later films, introducing a much greater sympathy for the human condition in his cinema.
Peter Greenaway:
“At a time when cinema is dying, it is may be appropriate to memorialise Sergei Eisenstein, cinema’s greatest film practitioner. It is for me personally gratifying that this film should be selected for the main competition of the Berlinale, in a city which was among the very first to appreciate Eisenstein’s greatness”.
Producers Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting (Submarine):
“It is fabulous news that after all these years a Dutch feature film has once again been selected for the main competition of the Berlin International Film Festival. This is a great encouragement for Dutch cinema. We’re incredibly excited for the film, the director and the international crew and cast.”
Director
Peter Greenaway (born in Wales) has been nominated for the most prestigious film awards at the international film festivals in Cannes, Venice and Berlin and received a BAFTA Award this year for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. His first feature film The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) launched his international career and identified him as one of the most original and important film makers of our time. He confirmed this reputation with films like The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover (1989) and The Pillow Book (1996). Peter Greenaway’s impressive CV comprises more than 65 films. His most recent works include Nightwatching (2007), Rembrandt’s j’Accuse (2008) and Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012).
Producers
This international co-production is led by producers Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting from Submarine (Last Hijack, Meet the Fokkens, Rembrandt’s J’Accuse), San Fu Maltha from Fu Works (Blackbook, Winter in Wartime, Süskind) and Cristina Velasco from Paloma Negra Films. The film is a co-production with Edith Film (Finland), Potemkino (Belgium) and Mollywood (Belgium).
Eisenstein in Guanajuato is made in association with broadcasting organizations VPRO (The Netherlands), ZDF/Arte (Germany/France) and YLE (Finland).The film has been made possible with the support of the Netherlands Film Fund, the Netherlands Film Production Incentive of the Netherlands Film Fund, Finnish Film Fund, MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Screen Flanders, Tax shelter of the federal government of Belgium and tax shelter investors, Película realizada con el estímulo fiscal del artículo 226 de la LISR (EFICINE).
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Editors’ Notes: For more information and interview request please contact Yaniv Wolf at Submarine, Tel: +31 (0)20 820 49 40 (general) / +31 (0)20 820 49 53 (direct) / Cell: +31 (0)6 4184 9614, E-mail: Yaniv@submarine.nl
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Production starts on new Peter Greenaway film Eisenstein in Guanajuato
3 February 2014
Today, Thursday 30th January, Peter Greenaway has started shooting his new film in Mexico, Eisenstein in Guanajuato. It is a feature film about the world’s greatest filmmaker, with Finnish actor Elmer Bäck (The Spiral) playing the title role of Sergei Eisenstein. This international co-production is led by producers Bruno Felix and Femke Wolting from Submarine (Last Hijack, Meet the Fokkens, Rembrandt’s j’Accuse) and San Fu Maltha from Fu Works (Blackbook, Winter in Wartime, Süskind and Kenau). The entire film will be shot in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Eisenstein’s talent, insight and wisdom have been compared to that of Shakespeare and Beethoven, and his films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October sealed his fame. The film shows how Russian born Eisenstein spends ten days in Guanajuato, Mexico, in 1931. Thirty-three year old Eisenstein falls in love and loses his virginity. His sensual experiences in Mexico turn out to have been crucial in his life and his films. From being a formal filmmaker with films about conceptual ideas, his trip to Mexico humanized Eisenstein as a filmmaker. His later films were more sympathetic to the human condition.
Peter Greenaway:
“In a time cinema is dying, it is pertinent to celebrate cinema’s greatest practitioner”. “The business of cinema never seems to change. Many of the problems Eisenstein had in 1931, have reappeared all over again. Difficulties of financing, problems of logistics, cultures and language barriers. Such as Eisenstein rose to these problems, so do we”.
Director
Peter Greenaway (born in Wales) has been nominated for the most prestigious film awards at the international film festivals in Cannes, Venice and Berlin. His first feature film The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) launched his international career and identified him as one of the most original and important film makers of our time. He confirmed this reputation with films like The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover (1989) and The Pillow Book (1996). Peter Greenaway’s impressive CV comprises more than 65 films. His most recent works include Nightwatching (2007), Rembrandt’s j’Accuse (2008) and Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012).
Producers
Eisenstein in Guanajuato is an international co-production between Submarine and Fu Works (The Netherlands), and Paloma Negra Films (Mexico), Edith Film (Finland) and Potemkino (Belgium, Cub). Broadcasting organizations VPRO (The Netherlands), ZDF/Arte (Germany/France) and YLE (Finland) are supporting the film. The development of this film is supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The realization of this film has been made possible by contributions from Netherlands Film Fund, Eficine, the Finnish Film Foundation, Screen Flanders, the Belgian Tax shelter and a number of private investors. Sales agent for this film is Rezo Film (France).
Eisenstein in Guanajuato is expected to be released in cinemas in September 2014.