Alief Sales ‘Nocturna,’ to Freaks On In France and Belgium

U.K.-French sales, distribution and production company Alief has dealt Gonzalo Calzada’s award-winning Argentine thriller double bill “Nocturna”Freaks On, a horror-centric streaming service in France and Belgium.

Freaks On intends to release the film in early next year. It will do so in select theaters as well as in physical media.

As envisioned by Gonzalo Calzada (Argentine writer-director). “Nocturna: Side A…”Turns on a near 100-year old man who struggles with atoning for his past transgressions. In “Nocturna: Side B…,”Calzada presents an experimental version.

“’Nocturna’ is inspired by my grandparents and the type of relationship they had with each other,”Calzada explained. Variety at last year’s Ventana Sur. “It’s also about the meaning of aging in a society that is imperceptive about seeing this reality. It shows the self-confidence of the twilight years as a unique possibility of redemption and connection with the truth of one’s being.”

“I tried to show how the loss of memory can operate as a release from emotional shackles and allow an individual to be a free and full person for the first time since childhood,”He went on explaining how dementia can reveal paradoxical features of a person as the disease progresses.

Among the film’s numerous plaudits received through its project, production and finished stages, “Nocturna”Recently, it won the Screamfest LA Awards for best film, director and actor, as well as editing. Before that, it was nominated for best film at Fantaspoa, where its two leads Pepe Soriano and Marilú Marini took best actor and actress respectively.

“It’s been an interesting 12 months, since launching the title at Ventanta Sur 2020,”Brett Walker, president Alief. “We are very excited with ‘Nocturna’s’ prospects.”

“Including interest in the IP since the feature swept the Screamfest Awards in LA,”Miguel Angel Govea, an additional partner, was also added. “It’s a film with a lot of heart that’s finding the right opportunities and touching festival audiences from Asia to the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.”

Miguel Angel Govea, head of production & distribution of Alief and Colombian filmmaker Juan Diego Escobar Alzate, acquisition manager for French genre SVOD platform Freaks On, negotiated the deal for all rights in all media for France and Belgium.

“’Nocturna’ is a haunting and beautiful film that freshens genre filmmaking and pushes its boundaries in order to create a complex fairytale about dementia in which Pepe Soriano’s role is mesmerizing,” said Escobar Alzate. “We don’t just share films but experiences, and we were excited to partner with Gonzalo Calzada, a filmmaker who I have always admired. We cannot wait to share this film with French and Belgian audiences.”

Announced by VarietyThe double bill was handled earlier in the year by Breaking Glass Pictures, U.S.