Morelia: FiGa Films Sells ‘Bixa Travesty’ to France’s Arizona Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)
By Anna Marie de la Fuente
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – MORELIA, Mexico – Miami-based has sold Berlinale Teddy Award-winning docu “Bixa Travesty” to French arthouse distributor Arizona Films at Morelia.
The Brazilian docu-feature world premiered at this year’s Berlinale before participating in more than 100 festivals. It opened the 16th Morelia Int’l Film Fest’s Sexual Diversity+ Program, curated by Antonio Harfuch.
“With this first Brazilian acquisition for Arizona Distribution, we are proud and thrilled to start with a documentary combining art and politics in such a sparkling form; we’re confident this generous documentary will meet its audience in France,” said Arizona’s Bénédicte Thomas.
Co-helmed by Claudia Priscilla and Kiko Goifman, “Bixa Travesty” turns on black transwoman Linn da Quebrada who is known for her electro-pop concerts in chainmail and black netting costumes, punctuated by lots of twerking. She is also a champion for queers of color from the slums.
The multi-prize winning docu will next be screening at Amsterdam’s IDFA and Argentina’s Mar del Plata Festival. “It is the most successful documentary we’ve ever had; ‘Bixa Travesty’ and its star/subject are a force of nature,” said FiGa Films head, Sandro Fiorin.
On the eve of Morelia, FiGa Films picked up all rights to Iranian Mexican resident Bani Khoshnoudi’s exile drama “Fireflies,” starring Arash Marandi, Luis Alberti and Flor Eduarda Gurrola, which had its world premiere at the fest.
Other FiGa Films titles that world premiered in 2018 include Canadian-Uruguayan co-production “Roads in February” by Katherine Jerkovic, which bowed at the Toronto Festival and won Best First Feature, as well as Chilean Ignacio Juricic’s drama “Enigma,” which debuted at San Sebastian’s prestigious Horizontes Latinos sidebar.
Founded in 2010, Paris-based Arizona Films has focused on distributing mainly international auteur films. It plans to release “Baxi Travesty” by early next year in France.
