Oscilloscope Buys Buzzy Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Pic ‘Clara Sola’ – Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Oscilloscope Laboratories has swooped on North American rights to Costa Rican-Swedish filmmaker Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s debut feature Clara Sola here in Cannes.

The film generated to good buzz after its premiere in Directors’ Fortnight. Set in a remote village in Costa Rica, it follows 40-year-old Clara who endures a repressively religious and withdrawn life under the command of her mother. Her uncanny affinity for creatures large and small allows her to find solace in the natural world around her. Tension builds within the family as Clara’s younger niece approaches her quinceañera, igniting a sexual and mystical awakening in Clara, and a journey to free herself from the conventions that have dominated her life.

Oscilloscope is eyeing an awards corridor theatrical release for the film in late 2021 / early 2022.

Producers on the pic are Swedish boutique production company Hobab in co-production with U.S. outfit Resolve Media, Costa Rica’s Pacifica Grey, Belgium’s Need Production, and Germany’s Laïdak Films. The deal with Oscilloscope was negotiated by Luxbox`s Fiorella Moretti and Vanessa Saal.

Director Álvarez Mesén said, “I’m overjoyed to be part of the Oscilloscope family. I’ve been following their films for so long—they select such powerful stories and do such incredible and honest work to bring them to their audiences.”

O-Scope’s Dan Berger added, “Clara Sola is a truly wonderful gem; a deeply empathetic, nuanced portrait that is altogether exotic, but never stokes exoticism. Nathalie’s subtle touch and Wendy Chinchilla’s masterful performance as Clara transport us into a magical, yet fully lived-in world of discovery and wonder.”