Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Spain’s Mona Martínez Lead International Cast of Luxbox Pickup ‘Narciso’ by ‘The Heiresses’ Helmer Marcelo Martinessi (EXCLUSIVE)

Argentina’s Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (“120 BPM”) and Spain’s Mona Martínez (“Adios”) play pivotal roles in the international co-production, “Narciso” by Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, whose feature debut “The Heiresses,” (“Las Herederas”) took home two Silver Bears and a Fipresci award at the 2018 Berlinale.

Originally titled “Who Killed Narciso?,” Martinessi’s second feature was presented at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum in 2020.  

The drama’s Asunción-based lead producer La Babosa has re-teamed with the film’s sales agent, Paris-based Luxbox Films, as well as some key producers of “The Heiresses”: Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktion, France’s La Fábrica Nocturna Prods., Esquina Filmes (Brazil) and Mutante Cine (Uruguay). They are joined by (Spain) and Oblaum Filmes (Portugal).

Thrilled to continue Luxbox’s collaboration with Martinessi and producer Sebastian Peña Escobar, Luxbox president Fiorella Moretti said: “In this new film, Martinessi portrays a universe full of music, emotions and sensuality with a political context. It confirms Martinessi as a unique filmmaker in contemporary cinema.”

The ambitious production that wrapped filming in Paraguay in April features 500 extras and a stellar Paraguayan cast led by Diro Romero and Manuel Cuenca, both marking their first roles in an international production. Romero is a prominent talent from the Paraguayan underground theatre scene while Cuenca was a child TV star in Paraguay who later made a name for himself as a TV host.

Other local cast members include Arturo Fleitas, Aníbal Ortíz, Natalia Cálcena, Margarita Irun, Belén Vierci, Alberto Sanchez, Liz Fernandez Casabianca, Florencia Boccia, Macarena Candia, Cecilia Torres, among others.

Set in the noir atmosphere of 1950s Paraguay, “Narciso” draws from the novel and historical research of Paraguayan writer Guido Rodríguez Alcalá, inspired by real events that unfolded in Asunción between 1958 and 1959.

Pic is roughly inspired by the life of Bernardo Aranda, a Paraguayan announcer murdered under mysterious circumstances in 1959.

Pre-production took place between January and March 2024, followed by principal photography, which began on March 4 and lasted for seven weeks, wrapping on April 20.

The film was shot entirely in the capital of Asunción, with scenes taking place across more than 10 locations and streets throughout the city. A crew of about 60 Paraguayan and international professionals worked on the production.

The international crew includes Martinessi’s usual collaborators: DP Luis Armando Arteaga, Art Director Carlo Spatuzza and Editor Fernando Epstein. The music is to be composed by Madrid-based Zeltia Montes, winner of a Goya, Spain’s Oscar equivalent, for “The Good Boss,” starring Javier Bardem.

“With a team of more than 60 professionals from seven different countries, plus a great cast, we removed ourselves from the everyday noise to be immersed in the 1950s, finding characters for a film that is halfway between fiction and truth. The dedication of the talented team to this task really impressed me. We listened to the silence of a nostalgic Asunción, we filmed, we danced, we played, we sang, and more than anything else we believed in what we were doing” said Martinessi.

He added: “It is always a unique opportunity to shape a story from an uncertain and unknown place. We had the strange sensation of trying to capture a film that was constantly fading away in the hot air of a Paraguayan summer. Understanding that, accepting its fragments as a gift and embracing the experience as a collective has been beautiful and revealing.”