Inwave Films has acquired worldwide sales rights to The Days Off (Los días libres), the debut feature from Argentine writer-director Lucila Mariani, ahead of its world premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival on August 7, 2026. Variety broke the exclusive on July 30. The Paris- and Beijing-based sales company, led by co-founder and sales agent Yuxuan Zhang, will handle international distribution rights for the four-country co-production.

The Days Off blends coming-of-age drama with a dreamlike, science-fiction edge, filtering Argentina's economic instability through a child's perspective. Antonia Robolini stars as Bego, a 12-year-old protagonist, alongside Laura Paredes, Luiza Quinteiro, and Guillermo Berthold (Variety). The film premieres in Locarno's Filmmakers of the Present section, a competitive strand focused on emerging voices. The festival runs August 5–15 and includes 103 world premieres across its 2026 lineup (Screen Daily).

Mariani arrives at her first feature with a short-film résumé that spans Locarno, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and New Directors/New Films. The Days Off was developed through a string of prestigious labs and forums: Cannes' La Fabrique Cinéma, EAVE Puentes, the Locarno Filmmakers Academy, and the San Sebastián Co-Production Forum, where it won the ArteKino Award. Funding came from INCAA (Argentina's national film institute), Programa Ibermedia, ArteKino International, and Ancine (Brazil's film agency).

The production is a genuine Latin American and European patchwork. Paula Zyngierman produced at Argentina's Maravillacine, with Brazil's Persona Non Grata Pictures and Vulcana Films and Mexico's Woo Films and Valiente Films as co-producers. France's Misia Films and Argentina's Año Luz came on as associate producers. The Locarno festival officially lists the production countries as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and France (Locarno Film Festival).

Behind the camera, cinematographer Victoria Pereda — whose credits include The Human Surge 3 — shot the film combining phone, webcam, and security-camera imagery with long observational takes. Maximiliano Passarelli edited, with sound by Gaspar Schauer and music by Punto y Pacífico.

What makes this stand out is the trajectory: a first-time director moving through nearly every major development pipeline in world cinema before landing a sales deal with a company positioned between European and Asian markets. For audiences, that means a film shaped by mentorship programmes, co-production treaties, and public film funds — the machinery behind the screen — before a single ticket is sold. Inwave's acquisition puts that chain of decisions into motion: the film now has a route to distributors and festivals beyond Locarno, and a sales agent betting that a 12-year-old's view of economic collapse, shot partly on webcams, will travel.