Lyrical and Moving Debut Feature from Francisca Alegría Premiered in Sundance World Cinema Competition, Opens Theatrically this Fall
"Hauntingly moving and hopeful… a folkloric tale that uses magical realism as a way to connect the intimate story of a family suffering from generational trauma with a timely environmentalist fable."
– Rafael Motamayor, Indiewire
"The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is mysterious and elegiac, a tale of warning about a collapsing ecosystem and about deep family wounds."
– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
"A beautifully eerie and resonant tale about motherhood and the natural world… solidly grounded, teeming with thought-provoking ideas, wonderfully atmospheric, and often visually striking."
– Jonathan Holland, Screen
New York, NY – May 25, 2022 – Kino Lorber announced that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Francisca Alegría's elegiac environmental fable The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future. Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release later this year.
Making its World Premiere in the World Cinema Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future marks the feature debut of Chilean director Francisca Alegría, returning to the themes of environmental tragedy and family relationships introduced in her acclaimed Sundance-winning short film And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow's Eye. The film is written by Alegría, Fernanda Urrejola, and Manuela Infante and produced by Tom Dercourt, Alejandra García, Shrihari Sathe, Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Andrés Wood, and Bruno Bettati.
A choir of creatures introduces a world delicately constructed by fantasy, mystery, and magical realism in Francisca Alegría's stunning feature, beginning in a river in the south of Chile where fish are dying due to pollution from the nearby cellulose factory. Amid their floating bodies, long-deceased Magdalena (Mia Maestro) bubbles up to the surface gasping for air, bringing with her old wounds and a wave of family secrets. The shocking return of Magdalena sends her widowed husband (Alfredo Castro) into turmoil and prompts their daughter, Cecilia (Leonor Varela), to return home to the family's dairy farm with her own children. There, Magdalena's presence reverberates among her family, instigating fits of laughter and despair in equal measure with all but Cecilia's eldest child (Enzo Ferrada Rosati), who seeks their grandmother's love and unconditional understanding during a time of transition. A lyrical rumination on family, renewal, and resurrection, The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future is an ambitious proposal for acceptance and healing, suggesting that the dead return when they are most needed.
The deal for The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future was negotiated by Kino Lorber Senior Vice President Wendy Lidell and Thania Dimitrakopoulou for The Match Factory.
"We were immediately seduced by Francisca Alegría's unique vision, and look forward to sharing this heady blend of ecological and familial themes reimagined through a magical realist lens to audiences across the US and Canada", said Kino Lorber SVP Wendy Lidell.
"I feel very fortunate that Kino Lorber will distribute my first feature film in North America," said Francisca Alegría. "The film came from a very personal place so it's particularly special that Kino Lorber will bring it to audiences given their commitment to showcasing new voices and curating work that remains truthful to art house cinema."
About Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría is an award-winning filmmaker who obtained her degree in Directing from the Universidad Católica de Chile and her M.F.A. in Screenwriting and Film Directing at Columbia University. Her short film AND THE WHOLE SKY FIT IN THE DEAD COW'S EYE received the award for Best International Fiction Short Film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Best Latin American Short Film at Miami Film Festival and was selected at Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival. Alegría's debut feature, THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
About The Match Factory
The Match Factory is a world sales company dedicated to bringing the finest in arthouse cinema to the international market. We are passionate about working with films of signature and vision from around the globe. The Match Factory has built strong relationships with acclaimed directors and producers, while working simultaneously to discover promising new filmmakers with a powerful original style.
We are proud to be representing films by praised filmmakers such as Maren Ade, Karim Aïnouz, Fatih Akin, Alice Rohwacher, Thomas Arslan, Ritesh Batra, Marco Bellocchio, Laura Bispuri, Lukas Dhont, Sergey Dvortsevoy, Abel Ferrara, Michel Franco, Miguel Gomes, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tatiana Huezo, Jim Jarmusch, Aki Kaurismäki, Amat Escalante, Samuel Maoz, Pietro Marcello, Lucrecia Martel, Sebastian Meise, Nanni Moretti, Kornél Mundruczó, Christian Petzold, Kelly Reichardt, Carlos Reygadas, Gianfranco Rosi, Julian Rosefeldt, Felix van Groeningen, Wang Xiaoshuai, Apichatpong Weerasethakul to name a few.