With producers from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, the pan-regional co-production is further evidence of growing connectivity between South American film industries


Vicente Canales’ Barcelona-based Film Factory Entertainment has given access to the new international trailer for Argentine director Martin Rodriguez Redondo’s feature debut, “Marilyn,” which world premieres at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.


Cross-border co-production is thriving in Latin America, and “Marilyn” sticks out as a high-profile example with producers from Argentina (Maravilla Cine), Chile (Don Quijote and Rampante), and Uruguay (Cordon Films).

After having won an Argentine INCAA Film Institute script contest and an Ibermedia co-production award, the project was selected to participate at the 2014 San Sebastian Latin American Co-Production Forum, Chile’s Sanfic Industry Lab and Australab-FicValdivia, and will now compete in the Panorama section of this year’s Berlin Film Festival.


“Marilyn” is based on the true story of then Marcelo B, now Marilyn, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for killing his mother and brother with a shotgun, and later became one half of Argentina’s first gay marriage in a prison.


In the film, co-written by Martin Rodriguez Redondo and Mariana Docampo, Marcos lives in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and secretly experiments with women’s clothing and makeup when nobody is around. After his father dies, Marcos’ mother expects him to take on the harsh duties of running the family farm, and to suppress his feminine behavior, often resorting to verbal and physical abuse to ensure that Marcos understands.


In the trailer, we see bits and pieces of a young person’s repressed self-discovery and their journey to identity, juxtaposed by an escalation in the cruelty of his mother and others in their rural community. An ominous soundtrack pulsates along with quick cuts and glimpses of Marilyn finally finding a community that accepts her, before the trailer comes to an abrupt and violent end.


The world premiere will be held on Monday night, Feb. 19.