Synopsis
Damage to nature arouses the anger of Pedro, 28, who suffers a clinical lycanthropy disorder, and the indignation of Carlos, 35, who sees that his son’s health is affected by pesticides. They form an unexpected alliance ending in a bloodbath.
Director’s vision
The Sullen pose the birth of a new contemporary werewolf, from a more earthly and
believable universe. We are seduced into the possibility in suggest the doubt between
madness and reality, or that both end up feeding each other progressively.
At the same time the story raises a problem that is happening all over the planet, the greed
of the market destroys the environment faster and faster and it seems like the planet
responds with natural cataclysms that want to erase a plague.
As in our debut feature In the quarry, we propose the dichotomy between country and city,
something that we have found that is an universal issue. We can all imagine or remember
city characters who in different ways belittle or dismiss the villagers of the campaign.
Something like this happens to our co-star when the people start making fun of him,
spreading the rumor that he has seen a werewolf.
Our story is overpopulated with male characters, and for that reason we feel that it is
possible to talk about masculinity on different levels. The protagonist and his relationship
with his father and his six brothers who expect something from him that he cannot give them.
The rural laborer in a role of provider father, who must choose between supporting his family
or putting his health at risk.
We find cinematographic references in: BACURAU by Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano
Dornelles (2019), for that forgotten town that tries to survive violently from the disappearance
imposed by capitalist advances. BORDER by Ali Abbasi (2018), for the links of the
protagonists with nature and the supernatural mystique mood. Julia Ducournau’s RAW
(2017) for telling the story of its protagonist who cannot escape a family heritage of feeling
an irresistible desire to eat human flesh, narrated from a realistic point of view.
As co-writers and co-directors we share a love for genre cinema that among other things,
attracts us because of the opportunity it offers to address necessary and current issues
without the viewer expecting it previously. That is our challenge or at least our hope as we
begin to develop The Sullen.
Budget
Director’s biography
Bernardo and Rafael Antonaccio are the creators of the production company Saico Films. The Antonaccio brothers have made such short films as EL MONSTRUO and EXTRACORPUS, which earned international recognition. Since the beginning of 2016, they have been working as co-directors and co-writers. Their works include the music video REVÓLVERES Y ROSAS for the band Socio titled, winner of the Graffiti Award for Best Video Clip of Uruguayan Music 2017. They have also ventured into fiction for television, writing and directing a short film for the new season of VOCES ANÓNIMAS. IN THE QUARRY, their first feature film, premiered in Geneva, at the 20th edition of the film festival. The film made a vast tour of festivals: Sitges, Gramado (where they received an award for Best Screenplay and Best Photography), Bifan, Chicago Latino, and others. They are currently developing two feature films. Besides THE SULLEN, they are working on the pre-production of SLAUGHTERMAN, which has already obtained production funds from INCAU and project development funds from INCAU, Ibermedia, and Montevideo Socio Audiovisual. With SLAUGHTERMAN, the Antonaccio brothers have also participated in the laboratories TorinoFilmLab Extended, Bolivia Lab, the Ibermedia Project Development Course, and the 15th FICG Co-production Meeting. The film is to be shooted in 2023.
federico.moreira@lamayor.com.uy
