Berlin's M-Appeal Takes On Uruguayan Debut 'When I Existed' for International Sales

Berlin-based sales agent M-Appeal has boarded 'When I Existed', a Uruguayan feature debut, to handle its sales abroad, according to Variety. A sales agent is the company that finds cinemas and streaming services in other countries willing to show a film.

The film is the first feature from writer-directors Alejandro Damiani and Martin Avdolov, both from Uruguay. It follows Silvio Bertolini, who retires after 40 years building Uruguay's foremost gates construction company. Soon after, he discovers that the National Pension and Retirement Fund, which is also his bank, has registered him as deceased. César Troncoso plays Silvio, and Silvia Kutica plays his wife of 40 years.

The project first drew attention at Ventana Sur Goes to Cannes, a showcase for Latin American film at the Marché du Film, the market held alongside the Cannes Film Festival. Variety described it as a buzzy, feel-good second-chance drama comedy about reinvention. Cineuropa wrote that it mixes personal testimony with a wider look at gender, social expectations and class.

Federico Cetta of Uruguay's El Cielo Cine is the lead producer. David Matamoros of Barcelona's Doce Entertainment and Andrés Rosenblatt of Montevideo's Metropolis Films are co-producers, and Matías Burgos of Moon Ideas is associate producer. The cinematographer is Manuel Branaa, who worked as a camera operator on J.A. Bayona's Netflix film 'Society of the Snow'.

M-Appeal co-founder Maren Kroymann told Variety that the company was won over by the film's mix of humour and humanity. Sales agents usually make their decisions at markets and festivals, where buyers watch films and place orders for the territories they cover.

The film is set to have its world premiere in the Critics' Picks Competition at the 30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, in Estonia, weeks after the M-Appeal deal. The festival's own listing tags it as drama, comedy, dramedy and dark comedy, and gives its subject as elderly people. Tallinn's 30th edition also marks the festival's 30th anniversary, with an opening film called 'Ulya'.

For the team behind the film, the next step is a premiere before an audience in Estonia. For buyers, the sales agent will now be the company they contact about the film in most territories outside Uruguay.