Best Friend Forever Boards Colombian Feature Debut ‘Valley of Souls’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Best Friend Forever, the newly-launched sales company based in Brussels, has acquired Nicolas Rincón Gille’s feature debut “Valley of Souls.”

Rincón Gille was previously a critically-acclaimed documentary trilogy whose third part, “Wounded Night,” won the special mention of the international jury at Cinéma de Réel and best film in the Colombian competition at FICCI

Set in the Colombian countryside, in 2002, “Valley of Souls” tells the story of a man, José, who returns to his home deep in the jungle after a long fishing night and discovers that paramilitary forces have killed his two sons, Dionisio and Rafael, and thrown their bodies into the river. During his lonely journey to retrieve his son’s bodies and give them a proper burial, José discovers the magic of a country torn in pieces.

The film’s protagonist is played by the non-professional actor José Arley de Jesús Carvallido Lobo, a real fisherman in Simití, Bolivar, where “Valley of Souls” was shot.

“‘Valley of Souls’ is a new step in Nicolas’ career. It’s an amazingly beautifully shot poetic and universal film which reminds ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ with its magical realism,” said Martin Gondre, Best Friend Forever co-founder.

“Valley of Souls” is a Colombian, Belgian, Brazilian and French co-production with Medio de Contención Producciones, Neon Rouge, NRW SPRL, STO Lat Films and Tact Production (“The Mercy of the Jungle”) producing.

Best Friend Forever, a new sales banner recently launched by Indie Sales, will be attending Cannes with Juris Kursietis’s “Oleg” which will world premiere at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight. The company’s first slate also includes Valentyn Vasyanovynch’s “Atlantis” – expected to be completed by next fall — and Genevieve Dulude-de Celles’s “A Colony” which won the Berlinale’s Crystal Bear, and the best Film, actress and first film at the Canadian Screen Awards.

Best Friend Forever is led by Gondre, who worked at for six years as head of marketing and festivals, and entertainment lawyer Charles Bin, who worked at leading Parisian law firm Intervista, with the backing of Indie Sales’ co-founders, Nicolas Eschbach and Eric Névé. Both companies will share an office at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.