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Cannes: Mundial Set To Sell “Liberator,” Biggest Film Out of South America


Edgar Ramirez

Albert Arvelo’s epic Libertador (The Liberator) stars  Edgar Ramirez, Maria Valverde, Danny Huston in film about life of South American revolutionary Simon Bolivar



The Alberto Arvelo directed film Libertador (The Liberator) is at Cannes where IM Globaland Canana’s joint sales venture will introduce buyers to the Simón Bolívar epic starring Venezuelan super star Edgar Ramírez (Vantage Point, The Bourne Ultimatum), which the parties claim to be the biggest Latin American production yet.

The screenplay is by Timothy Sexton and also starring in the biopic are Spain’s María Valverde, Danny Huston, Imanol Arias and Gary Lewis. The story is  told from the point of view of the Latin American freedom fighter who played a key role in the struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. Bolívar lived from 1783 to 1830.

Winfried Hammacher of WMG Films, Ana Loehnert of Silver Screen Inc and Arvelo produced and Ramírez served as executive producers with Maria A Guerrero Rocca.

Liberatador shot in 13 locations between South America and Europe. Sites include rarely seen Venezuelan locations such as Llanos de Acarigua, Parque Nacional de Canaima and Caracas, as well as the Spanish cities of Jerez, Barbate, Zahara, Carmona, Seville, Sierra Nevada, Alcalá de Henares, Chinchón and Madrid.

“We’re so excited to be selling the biggest film to come out of South America,” said Mundial VP Cristina Garza. “Alberto Arvelo has made a beautiful, epic film and Edgar is riveting as Simón Bolívar. We can’t wait for the international buyers to discover this powerful film.”

“Bolívar was a true visionary, whose intricate and fascinating life story and legacy had never been brought to screen in the way he deserved,” said Loehnert and Hammacher.

“From the start, I knew I didn’t want to make a film just about history, but really concentrate on the man behind the legend, and who he really was as a person,” added Arvelo.

Liberator (The Liberator) will premiere in Venezuela on July 24, 2013.

About Mundial Mundial is the powerful new Latin American player created by team led by Hollywood’s IM Global and Mexico and L.A.’s Canana, headed by Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz. The Mexico City-based joint venture will focus on the financing and worldwide sales of Latin American movies, IM Global CEO Stuart Ford, Cruz and Canana CEO Julian Levin announced Tuesday.Run by Canana VP Cristina Garza, its former distribution head, Mundial will rep 8-10 titles a year, sourced from all over Latin America, including Canana productions.

IM Global has financed or co-financed 14 films in the last two-and-a-half years, including Open Road’s A Haunted House, Warner Bros’ Bullet to the Head and Film District’s Dead Man Down, all wide releases in the first quarter of 2013. It created pan-Asian distrib co Aspara Distribution in 2011. Created in 2005, Canana’s 20-plus film credits include Luna’s fiction debut Abel and first English-language film, Chavez, plus Focus Features’ Sin nombre and Miss Bala, sold by Fox Intl. Productions.

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