On the eve of the 67th DOK Leipzig, Michaela Cajkova of Prague-based Filmotor announced her acquisition of Morichales, selected for the festival’s International Competition. Directed by Chris Gude and produced by mutikino, the 83-minute US/Colombian doc follows a fictitious explorer who is reporting on gold-mining and its commercialization in Venezuela. Paradoxically, the gold diggers both live off nature, and destroys it at the same time…
“Morichales is a film that perfectly aligns with our editorial focus on scientific documentaries with a strong experimental form,” says Cajkova. “We fell in love with its unique aesthetic, as the film is entirely shot on 16 mm and features an original soundtrack. Additionally the film well illustrates the ongoing discussion about the natural resources, their exhaustion and immortal human efforts to control the resources.”
New Yorker Gude has made two previous films. Mambo Cool (2013) was embedded in the underworld of small-time drug traffickers in Medellín while Mariana (2017) was rooted in the world of gasoline and whiskey smugglers on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. The films have exhibited at such fests as FIDMarseille, Viennale, Punto de Vista, Mar del Plata, Cartagena, Lincoln Center, Centre Pompidou, MALBA (Buenos Aires), Cineteca de Madrid, the Museum of the Moving Image (New York).
Elsewhere on the Filmotor slate are two further scientific docs; Terra Incognita by Enrico Masi which will premiere in the International Competition at Festival dei Popoli, and Apple Cider Vinegar by Sofie Benoot which world-premiered at in Visions du Reel 2024 and is currently selected for Viennale and Jihlava IDFF, among many other festivals.
