Ventana Sur: Picture Tree Intl. Picks Up ‘Go Youth!,’ Debuts Teaser (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Picture Tree Intl. has picked up global sales rights to Mexican feature “Go Youth!” (¡Ánimo Juventud!), directed by Carlos Armella. PTI will present the project, now in final postproduction, for the first time at the Ventana Sur film market. Variety has been given exclusive access to the first teaser for the film.

The movie tells the intertwined stories of four teenagers struggling with the absurdities of life and rebelling against the adult world. Martin is madly in love with a girl he barely knows. Daniel is a musician turned taxi driver whose teenage girlfriend is pregnant. Dulce is a bully in high school, but is secretly fragile and harbors a desire to be loved. Pedro, disillusioned with the adult world, has retreated from it by speaking his own language.

In a statement, Armella said: “Nowadays, the youth are trained to obey without questioning either an authority or mass media. I am worried about their conformism and the way the generations are losing their capacity to dream. As we age, we adapt into a society that is sleeping, but not dreaming.”

“Go Youth!” took part in leading workshops such as Torino Film Lab, the Cannes Film Festival’s L’Atelier, and Impulso Morelia Development. The film is produced by B Positivo Producciones and Caponeto Cine in Mexico, with the support of Eficine, Procine and Imcine Desarrollo.

Armella won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2008 for his short film “Tierra y Pan,” among 15 other international awards. In 2005, he co-directed the feature-length documentary “Black Bull” (Toro Negro), which won prizes at several international festivals, such as San Sebastian, Morelia and Havana. His feature debut The “Land of Silence” (2014) premiered at the Rotterdam Intl. Film Festival. He also directed several episodes of the Netflix series “Club de Cuervos” (2015/2016) as well as “The Day I Met El Chapo” (2017).