Tag Archives: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Costa Rica Selects Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola” for Oscars’ Best International Feature Film Race

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Nathalie Álvarez Mesén is hoping to find herself celebrating Sola at the Oscars…

Costa Rica has selected the 33-year-old Costa Rican-Swedish film writer/director’s debut feature Clara Sola  as the country’s submission to the 2022 Best International Feature Film race at the Academy Awards.

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's Clara Sola

The film, which made its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, was later scooped up by Oscilloscope Laboratories, which will release it in theaters early next year.

Álvarez Mesén and Maria Camila Arias co-penned the script for the film, which is set in a remote Costa Rican village and centers on 40-year-old Clara, who endures a repressively religious and withdrawn life under the command of her mother. 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.

Ana Julia Porras Espinoza, Daniel Castañeda Rincón, Flor María Vargas Chavez and Wendy Chinchilla Araya star. Sweden-based production company Hobab produced with the Resolve Media, Costa Rica’s Pacifica Grey, Belgium’s Need Productions and Germany’s Laïdak Films.

Costa Rica has never won the International Feature Oscar (the category was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film) or made the category’s shortlist. Last year, it submitted Ceniza Negra’s Land of Ashes.

This year, the Oscar Academy will reveal the category’s 15-film shortlist on December 21. Nominations will be announced on February 8.

Oscilloscope Laboratories to Release Echeverria’s Documentary “Los Sures”

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Diego Echeverria’s documentary is finally headed to the big screen…

After 32 years, the Latino director’s Los Sures will soon be seen nationwide following an acquisition by Oscilloscope Laboratories, which also plans for an ancillary release to follow.

Diego Echeverria

Named for the nickname locals gave to the area, the film is a deep dive into the Southside of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, decades before the neighborhood became synonymous with New York City gentrification. Looking at the poverty, violent crime, crumbling infrastructure, drug abuse and other social issues affecting the area at the time, it is also a celebration of the neighborhood’s vibrant Puerto Rican and Dominican communities, and a look into how the members of those communities work to move past their challenges.

Los Sures was inspired by Living Los Sures, a project of UnionDocs Center for Documentary Art made over five years by 60 artists to give an expansive look into Williamsburg history and culture. Beginning with the restoration of Los Sures, the project has since resulted in a collection of 40 short films, the interactive documentary 89 Steps, and the cinematic people’s history Shot By Shot.

Living Los Sures

“It is wonderful to see Los Sures join Oscilloscope’s catalog of incredible titles. Like us, they are literally based in the neighborhood that the film explores,” said UnionDocs’ Christopher Allen. “They understand the power of this film both as a tale of poverty in American cities and as a celebration of the community’s resilience.”

Through UnionDocs, the film opened theatrically exclusively at New York’s Metrograph theater on April 15, where it quickly earned $25,000 (and by its second week, $60,000). Oscilloscope will expand that release nationally, with showings and other distribution avenues to be announced soon.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be joining forces with UnionDocs (who have done such an incredible job to this date), to help expand Los Sures’ footprint,” said Oscilloscope’s Dan Berger. “Diego’s film is a fascinating time capsule, expertly presented, and should appeal to audiences not just in New York, but everywhere.”

Echeverria directed and produced Los Sures, which was shot by Mark Benjamin and Alicia Weber and edited by Kathryn Taverna.

Oscilloscope Laboratories Picks Up U.S. Rights to Case’s “The Second Mother”

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Regina Casé’s mother a movie is heading stateside…

Oscilloscope Laboratories as picked up the U.S. distribution rights to The Second Mother, a Brazilian drama starring the 60-year-old Brazilian actress, comedian, television host and director.

Regina Casé in The Second Mother

The film won a Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival last month.

Casé and Camila Mardila star in the story of a wealthy family’s live-in housekeeper whose confident and ambitious estranged daughter shows up and throws the entire household into chaos as she refuses to accept the upstairs/downstairs dynamic.

The film is set to play in the Panorama section at the Berlin International Film Festival, Berlinale, this month.