France, Germany, Netherlands, Chile / 92’
language Spanish
cast Juan Margallo, Tomas Del Estal, Manuel Moron, Itziar Aizpuru
screenplay Alireza Khatami
co-writers Dominique Welinski, René Ballesteros
cinematographer Antoine Heberlé
editor Florent Mangeot
production designer Jorge Zambrano
costume designer Nadine Kremeier
sound Miroslav Babic, Markus Krohn
special effects Mikros
Cinema
Alireza Khatami - Los versos del olvido
Synopsis
The elderly caretaker of a remote morgue possesses an impeccable memory for everything but names. He passes his days showing corpses to those searching for their lost ones and tending to his beloved plants. When protest in a nearby city breaks out and the militia covertly raid the morgue to hide civilian casualties, he discovers the body of an unknown young woman. Evoking memories of personal loss, he embarks on a magical odyssey to give her a proper burial with the help of a mystic gravedigger who collects stories of the dead, an old woman searching for her long-lost daughter, and a hearse driver tormented by his past.
Director’s Statement
Los versos del olvido is inspired by tragic events that are close to my heart. For years I did not have the courage to revisit these memories. It was only after mediating the events through a different language and geography that I could speak of it and understand that historical amnesia prepares the way for violence to be repeated. Los versos del olvido is about the ethical demand to remember the past and resist the violence of forgetting as a form of personal redemption. A reflection on the politics of memory, it is a poetic homage to those who fight to seek justice for the unknown.
Production/Distribution
PRODUCTION 1: House on Fire
56 rue du Faubourg Poissonnière
75010 Paris – France
Tel. +33984114092
info@houseonfire.fr
PRODUCTION 2: Endorphine Production
Husemannstr. 7
D-10435 Berlin – Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30 2325 730 40
office@endorphineproduction.com
PRODUCTION 3: Lemming Film
Valschermkade 36 F
1059 CD Amsterdam – The Netherlands
Tel. +31 (0)20 661 04 24
info@lemmingfilm.com
PRODUCTION 4: Quijote Rampante
General Boonen Rivera 2427
Ñuñoa – Santiago, Chile
Tel. +562 2204 3400
nasi.giancarlo@gmail.com
INTERNATIONAL SALES: Urban Distribution International
14 rue du 18 Aout
93100 Montreuil – France
Tel. +33 1 48 70 46 55
delphyne@urbangroup.biz
