What do Virginia Limberger from Brazil, Waldo Salgado, David Bisbano and Alvaro Urtizberea have in common ?
All of them are filmmakers – the first three of them directors and the last name is that of a producer and hailing from different parts of South America are here to participate in the 18 International Children’s Film Festival of India. On their first trip to Hyderabad, they are excited to find it a mite more chaotic than Rio De Janeiro, give or take a few degrees.
Together with her husband Pedro Carlos Rovai, Virginia produced ‘Taina – a Origem’ a Portuguese film from Brazil (‘Taina – an Amazon Legend’, the third in the trilogy after ‘Amazon Adventure’ and the ‘New Amazon Adventure’, directed by Rosane Svarman. It already drew attention at the has at the Mule Valley Festival in California.
The 88-minute film is targeted at an age group of above five years and took eight weeks of shooting, on a US $ 5 million budget. While others in the cast and crew could not make it for other reasons, 51 year-old scriptwriter Claudia could not make it because she died a week ago.
“But we are happy that our dream of making a film with a strong message - of conserving the Amazon forests, has gone down well with children,” she says, with a tinge of sadness.
Directed by Waldo Salgado and produced by Eduardo Castro, the Spanish film ‘Nino Arbol’ (Tree Boy in English) made in Chile runs for 15 minutes and is for children over 10 years of age.
Hugo, an eight year-old boy preferred spending his summer holidays up on a tree rather than play with children his age. His parents gift him a ball and the film is about how Hugo gets friends and how it changes his summer.
‘Rodencia Y El Diente De La Princesa’ (Rodencia and the Princess Tooth) is a Spanish film made in Peru, Argentina, for children over five years, directed by David Bisbano and produced by Alvaro Urtizberea.
It is about the adventures of Edam, a small mouse, a clumsy wizard’s apprentice, in love with Brie, a beautiful and confident little girl and how they court all sorts of danger while on a quest for the tooth of the Princess and save Rodencia, the peaceful kingdom of mice.
An interaction with them reveals that while they are as serious about making children’s film with messages, as they are while narrating their experiences with the Hyderabadi biryani and other spicy dishes that make their eyes water.
“We will come back,” says Alvaro and asked about his next project, quips, “Another film.” !
