The Uruguayan
The Uruguayan is a 2022 film directed by Ana García Blaya. It is produced by the Orsai Community (Comunidad Orsai in Spanish) led by Argentine author Hernán Casciari and Christian «Chiri» Basilis.[1] It's the film adaptation of Pedro Mairal's "The Uruguayan" novel published in 2016, which achieved remarkable commercial success.[2][3]
The film was financed through crowdfunding.[4][5]
Plot[edit]
The film tells the story of Lucas Pereyra, an Argentine author who travels to Uruguay for the day to buy US dollars with an advance he received for a book that he hadn't yet delivered. In Montevideo he agreed to secretly meet Magalí Guerra, based on fond memories of a prior visit. His plans don't go as expected.
Production[edit]
To finance the film production, the Community released six thousand bonds at a unit price of 100 dollars each, and all members were allowed to buy up to 200 bonds each, thus becoming associate producers.[6] The film profits will be distributed proportionally with all associate producers based on their number of bonds. All bonds were purchased within the first two months, and the film was fully financed before any other production first steps, including producer, film director or any other staff was employed or selected.[7][8][9][10]
Community Orsai launched at the start of the production a website and a mobile app to which only associate producers and staff could log in; in it, creative discussions take place, creative polls are run, and associate producers can join video calls where staff discuss production topics, such art direction, script, and finance.[11]
There is a weekly podcast featuring interviews, production news featuring cast members, and live streaming sessions with the staff. Frequently associate producers can join video calls via Zoom between staff and cast, and associate producers were allowed to join the production as extras during the shooting, furthering the unique production approach to this film.
Staff[edit]
Ana García Blaya is the film director.[12] She has received numerous accolades for her first work Las buenas intenciones, having received awards at film festivals such as La Habana, Toronto and San Sebastián.[13] The director asked to join the production in the same way that associate producers did, with her fees being paid fully in movie bonds.
Filming took place in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the same locations as in the book the film is based on.
An associate producer set up the contact with renowned cinematographer César Charlone who joined Florencia Mamberti as cinematographer for the scenes shot in Uruguay.[14][15]
The main cast members were selected via an open casting process among the Orsai Community, featuring web voting based on videos posted in Instagram. After multiple rounds of casting, 9 couples were chosen as finalists. A real-time voting via the Orsai app selected Sebastián Arzeno and Fiorella Bottaioli as main leads.[16][17][18][19]
Cast[edit]
- Sebastián Arzeno as Lucas Pereyra.
- Fiorella Bottaioli as Magalí Guerra.
- Gustavo Garzón as Enzo.
- Jazmín Stuart as Catalina.
- Josefina Gali as Lara.
References[edit]
- ^ "Orsai, el proyecto comandado por Hernán Casciari, producirá la adaptación al cine de La uruguaya, de Pedro Mairal". 3 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "La Uruguaya: el libro que será llevado al cine por Hernán Casciari". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ El País (19 November 2017). "'La uruguaya' que seduce a todo el mundo". El País. Uruguay. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ La Nación (4 December 2020). "Hernán Casciari llevará al cine la novela La uruguaya, de Pedro Mairal". Uruguay. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ variety (2021). "'La Uruguaya' Takes Crowd-Funding to New Level". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ eltiempo (21 June 2021). "2.000 productores y 600.000 dólares para 'La uruguaya". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ Pantallazo. "Dulce y distante: "La uruguaya" de Mairal llega al cine con 2000 realizadores". Uruguay.
- ^ "Hernán Casciari cuenta cómo es hacer un film autogestivo". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ ""La uruguaya", de Pedro Mairal, llegará al cine de la mano de Hernán Casciari con financiamiento colectivo". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ niblanconinegro (4 December 2020). ""La uruguaya" de Pedro Mairal, al cine en proyecto colaborativo". Argentino. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ TN (3 April 2021). "El escritor Hernán Casciari adaptará al cine "La uruguaya" con miles de productores asociados que tomarán decisiones con una app". Argentina. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ Búsqueda. "La argentina con ojos de videotape que filmará "La uruguaya"". Uruguay. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ Festival de San Sebastián (2021). "Premio TCM de la Juventud". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "César Charlone: "Aplaudo el momento de democratización que estamos viviendo en el cine"". 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ tvshow (5 May 2021). "Hernán Casciari reveló que César Charlone se encargará de la fotografía de "La uruguaya"". Uruguay. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "Buscan actores para protagonizar "La uruguaya" en el cine: "Queremos a los mejores, más allá de la fama"". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "Hernán Casciari busca a los protagonistas para la adaptación al cine de La uruguaya". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ "La uruguaya, la película que Casciari está haciendo junto a 2 mil productores ya tiene protagonistas". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- ^ tvshow (19 July 2021). "Película "La uruguaya" ya eligió a sus actores protagonistas: conocelos". Uruguay. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
