Dominga Sotomayor’s Cannes’ Directors Fortnight Film ‘La Perra’ Sells Internationally

Dominga Sotomayor’s “La Perra,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and won the Palm Dog Award, has scored a raft of international sales for Paris-based sales outfit Lucky Number.

The Chilean filmmaker’s latest feature has sold to France (Nour Films), Austria (Stadtkino), Greece (Neo Films), the Baltics (A-One Baltics), Bulgaria (Beta), Portugal (Nitrato), Poland (Best Film), Colombia (Babilla Cine), Mexico and Argentina (Mirada), the U.K. (Day For Night) and ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom).

Lucky Number is also unveiling the film’s international poster and trailer ahead of its Brazilian premiere at the Mostra de São Paulo.

Set on a remote island off the Chilean coast, the film stars Manuela Oyarzún as Silvia, a woman who makes a living harvesting seaweed and leads an isolated existence with her partner. Her life changes after she takes in a stray puppy, Yuri, whose presence awakens a long-suppressed desire for motherhood. When the dog suddenly disappears, Silvia is forced to confront a childhood trauma that has continued to haunt her. The cast also includes David Gaete, Selton Mello, Paula Luchsinger and Paula Dinamarca.

Following its world premiere at Cannes, “La Perra” has had a busy festival run, with selections including Karlovy Vary, Melbourne, San Sebastian, Busan, the BFI London Film Festival and the Viennale.

“La Perra” marks Sotomayor’s latest feature following “Thursday Till Sunday,” which won the Hivos Tiger Award at Rotterdam in 2012; “Mar,” which premiered in the Berlinale Forum in 2015; and “Too Late to Die Young,” which made Sotomayor the first woman to win Locarno’s Leopard for best direction in 2018.

The film was produced by Brazil’s RT Features, the Rodrigo Teixeira-led company behind Walter Salles’ Oscar-winning “I’m Still Here,” as well as “Call Me by Your Name,” “Ad Astra,” “The Lighthouse,” “Bergman Island” and “Frances Ha.”

RT Features produced “La Perra” with Chilean banner Planta, whose credits include Federico Luis’ Cannes Critics’ Week winner “Simon of the Mountain.”

Lucky Number’s current slate also includes Laïla Marrakchi’s “Strawberries” in Un Certain Regard, and Christophe Dimitri Reveille’s “Che Guevara: The Last Companions,” among others.