Tenerife’s Bendita Film Sales has picked up worldwide sales for “Memories of a Burning Body,” a hybrid-doc just selected for the Berlinale Panorama.
Directed by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, the Costa Rican writer-director-producer, this is her second film following the critically acclaimed “The Awakening of the Ants.”
Her debut film, which premiered at Berlinale 2019, was the Costa Rican entry for the Academy Awards and received global recognition, including a Goya Award nomination, and Costa Rica’s first Platino Award.
“We immediately fell in love with the film when we attended the WIP screening at Ventana Sur, where it would later win the main awards in Primer Corte,” said Luis Renart, CEO at Bendita Film Sales.
“Antonella has a dazzling talent and has crafted a beautiful, honest, intimate and unique film,” he added. “At the end of the [Ventana Sur] screening, almost all attendees stayed silent for a few minutes, deeply moved by the confessions and aspirations of those women whose voices weave the story of our protagonist. We knew right away that we wanted to dedicate all our efforts to bringing this film to international audiences.”
The film’s tagline – “pleasure and desire through the memory and intimacy of three women over 65” – simply frames this poignant hybrid doc’s narrative.
“Memories of a Burning Body” follows Ana, Patricia, and Mayela, who grew up in a time when sexuality was a taboo topic. Now, channeled as a single 65-year-old woman, the protagonist revisits a life filled with intertwined memories, secrets, and hidden desires, giving a voice to the unspoken experiences of her past.
Antonella’s directorial vision is clear. “’Memories of a Burning Body’ is the conversation I never had with my grandmothers,” she explains in her statement. The film represents a collective outcry of women who, despite societal taboos, dare to talk about their intimate secrets. It explores themes of womanhood, sexuality, and self-discovery within the context of a conservative Latin American society.
Bendita Film Sales’ acquisition marks a continued commitment to high-profile arthouse cinema, following pickups of the liminal soul tracking “Samsara,” from Lois Patiño, and Itsaso Arana’s debut “The Girls are Alright,” hailed by Variety as “a gentle study of female friendship that blows in on a warm Summer breeze”
“Memories of a Burning Body” will have its world premiere at Berlin.
