12 · 08 · 15

Plaza de la Soledad selected for Sundance

We are delighted to announce that Mexican director and photographer Maya Goded’s documentary Plaza de la Soledad will have its World Premier in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance this year. The documentary won the first ever Impulso Morelia work-in-progress competition at the 13th edition of FICM last year, gaining a guaranteed distribution deal with Cinépolis Distribution.

For more than 20 years, Maya Goded has been documenting the lives of a community of prostitutes in Mexico City. With dignity and a sense of humor, the women fight for a better life and the possibility of real love. “My intention has always been to encourage viewers to confront their own prejudices about prostitution, sex and ageing, to reflect on the complexity and the different forms that love – and loneliness – can assume”, said Goded. Plaza de la Soledad is her first feature film.

The documentary was shot over the course of three years, and edited in a year and a half. It is a production of Monstro Films, in co-production with Alebrije Productions and La Sombra del Guayabo. The film was made with fiscal stimulus 189 from EFICINE, and support for a commercial run from the Film Investment and Promotion Fund (FIDECINE). It has also received support for online ticket sales from Ticketmaster México, the Ford Foundation, as well as a grant from the Tribeca Film Institute Fellowship, and TFI Latin America.

Martha Sosa, the documentary’s producer, said: “It’s an honor to have the World Premier of Plaza de la Soledad at the Sundance Film Festival. Without a doubt, it is the best platform to get the film onto the international scene, especially as this is the director’s first film. Ten years ago there wasn’t a single Mexican film in this prestigious competition section. We are extremely grateful to everyone who believed in and supported us, and who worked with us on this project, and we feel that our participation in Impulso Morelia was very important in paving the way for the fantastic opportunity that Plaza de la Soledad now has at the Sundance Festival.”

The Morelia International Film Festival has been a long-term champion for getting Mexican cinema onto the international stage. The Impulso Morelia initiative came about as the natural result of this effort to offer up a new space for dialogue between Mexican directors and professionals from the world cinema scene.

Daniela Michel, FICM’s General Director, said: “I am delighted and extremely proud to hear that Plaza de la Soledad is in the Official Selection at Sundance Film Festival. It is wonderful that this documentary will have its World Premiere, after having won a prize as part of our new section for films in post-production. This commits us even more to continue promoting the talent of Mexican filmmakers.”

The first edition of Impulso Morelia comprised of a program of eight film in post-production, which were screened exclusively to festival programmers, producers, distributors and sales agents, providing a unique opportunity to help with the termination, promotion and circulation of the projects.