U.Okay.-French movie firm Alief has pounced on the worldwide gross sales rights to “Luna Rosa: The 7th Ascension of Atabey,” the fourth function by Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate Omar Rodríguez-López, frontman for Grammy-winning band, The Mars Volta.
“This is his most cohesive, fully narrative film yet,” Alief co-partner Miguel Angel Govea instructed Variety, including: “Omar pulls a magic trick with his visually and aurally stunning film, managing to pull us in with striking images.”
A meld of sci-fi and dystopian genres, “Luna Rosa” is about in Borinquen, the Indigenous Taíno title for Puerto Rico. It follows Zur’na (performed by Flora Sylvestre), who ventures into enemy territories managed by American colonial forces in the hunt for her lacking brother. Through her journey, Rodríguez-López critiques the enduring results of American imperialism, drawing on influences from basic Latin American cinema and cult B-movies. The result’s a pulsating world full of intricate rituals, thoughts management and menacing holograms.
Alief has shared its teaser in exclusivity with Variety. The firm is already fielding gives from Spain, Colombia, Argentina and the U.Okay. whereas Mexico’s Piano is distributing it in Mexico.
SXSW London will host the movie’s U.Okay. premiere on June 6 as a part of its official choice. “The film is exactly the sort of intersection of sensibilities and artforms that we want to champion at the inaugural SXSW London,” mentioned the competition’s head of display, Anna Bogutskaya.
Pic was shot in black and white in Mexico and incorporates a rating composed by Rodríguez-López and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante, who has contributed to a few of The Mars Volta’s albums.
Piano Mexico’s Head of Distribution, Ester Bernal hails “Luna Rosa” as “one of the most forward-thinking approaches to Latin American science fiction.”
“Through the vision of Omar Rodríguez López, the film delivers an unparalleled fantasy while unfolding a sharp and powerful social critique,” she mentioned, including that distribution plans consists of artwork home circuit screenings, complemented by particular screenings in various areas exterior the standard exhibition circuit.
The German-Puerto Rican-Mexican manufacturing was financed by Germany’s Clouds Hill Films, a part of the Clouds Hill Group, which incorporates the music label that handles The Mars Volta.
Rodríguez-López’s Telesterion Inc. and Mexico’s Kintsugi Cine, Peliculas Extrañas, MalaCOSA Cine are additionally producers.
Rodríguez-López, himself the topic of a documentary, “Omar and Cedric: If This Ever Gets Weird” by Nicolas Jack Davies, is at present taking pictures his fifth function in Texas, this time a Western.
Alief’s Cannes slate consists of Polish dystopian drama “Glorious Summer” (SXSW 2025), Indian folks horror pic “Bokshi” (IFFR 2025), Canadian-Korean Fipresci prizewinner “Mongrels” (Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2024), Colombian-French-German supernatural drama “Horizonte” (TIFF 2024), German-British thriller “Lonely Musketeer” and BBC Films dramatic thriller “Edge of Summer.”
