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Argentina’s Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (“120 Bpm”) and Spain’s Mona Martínez (“Adios”) play pivotal roles in the international co-production, “Narciso” by Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, whose feature debut “The Heiresses,” (“Las Herederas”) took home two Silver Bears and a Fipresci award at the 2018 Berlinale.

Originally titled “Who Killed Narciso?,” Martinessi’s second feature was presented at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum in 2020.

The drama’s Asunción-based lead producer La Babosa has re-teamed with the film’s sales agent, Paris-based Luxbox Films, as well as some key producers of “The Heiresses”: Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktion, France’s La Fábrica Nocturna Prods., Esquina Filmes (Brazil) and Mutante Cine (Uruguay). They are joined by Bteam (Spain) and Oblaum Filmes (Portugal).

Thrilled to continue Luxbox’s collaboration with Martinessi and producer Sebastian Peña Escobar, Luxbox president Fiorella Moretti said: “In this new film, Martinessi portrays a universe full of music,...

Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi‘s feature debut is one of the more unique queer cinema film examples of recent memory in terms of offering a glimpse into homosexuality via a demographic that is not often cinematically put on display. Commencing with the happy partnership between Chela (Ana Brun) and Chiquita (Margarita Irun), The Heiresses delves into the notion of love, interdependence, ageism and what occurs when the affluent…are forcibly placed into a different demographic circle. This seismic shift asks the character of Chiquita to reevaluate her status and her future, and what is remarkable is how her own desire becomes an obstacle of sorts.…...

Love, the only possible salvation for humanity is explored in a different way in the Paraguayan film The Heiresses directed by Marcelo Martinessi. This is his first feature though he has made shorts and TV series.

This story of Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asunción who have been together for over 30 years as their financial situation has worsened and they begin selling off their inherited possessions.

When their debts lead to Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality alone. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection. Chela finally begins to break out of her shell and engage with the world, embarking on her own personal,...

The relationship between two wealthy older women is threatened when one of them is jailed and the other begins an unexpected flirtation

We’ve all seen films about old people who experience a poignant and bittersweet late-life flowering. But not that many about a well-off, elderly lady in Paraguay whose love life starts to come into its own only after her gay lover is sent to jail. This excellent debut movie from writer-director Marcelo Martinessi, an award-winner at this year’s Berlin film festival, is a secret love story set among the complacent wealthy gerontocracy of the nation’s capital, Asunción. It reminded me weirdly of Hollywood movies such as Driving Miss Daisy or Harold and Maude or The Trip to Bountiful, but with its own singular flavour. There is also a little bit of Dickens in the sharp social satire, the chattery world of card-playing and the chaos of the debtors’ prison.

Thunderbird Releasing has dropped the trailer and official poster for Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses.

Read our review of the film here

Written and directed by Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi, the film premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival winning Silver Bear for Best Actress and the Alfred Bauer (Silver Bear) and Fipresci prizes for Best Film.

The film stars Ana Brun, Margarita Irun and Ana Ivanova.

Also in trailers – First trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass debuts

The film hits cinemas August 10.

The Heiresses Official Synopsis

Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asunción, Paraguay, have been together for 30 years. But recently, their financial situation has worsened, and they begin to sell off their inherited possessions. When their debts lead fo Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality as she begins to break out of her shell...