The Mediapro Studio Distribution has unveiled key territory deals on Marcel Barrena’s Spanish box office hit and multi-Goya Award winning film “El 47,” led by an U.S. pact with Myriad Pictures.
A touching drama inspired by real-life events about how modern Barcelona was made, it turns on a bus driver played by star Eduard Fernández.
“El 47” will be distributed in Italy by Torino-based indie company Movies Inspired, while Mañana handles the film in Poland and BookMyShow in India.
Following a successful showing at Australia’s recent Spanish Film Festival, where the film’s premiere was a centerpiece, in its first weekend in Australian cinema theater, “El 47” broke into the Top 20 at the Australian box office.
In Greece, the film has been screening since early July, distributed by Weird Wave.
The film has stayed in Spanish theaters for over seven months, grossing near €3.98 million ($4.62 million), attracting more than 625,000 moviegoers at the local box office, according to Comscore figures published by Spain’s Icaa film institute.
A three-time Goya Award winning director-scribe, Barrena (“Mediterráneo”) co-penned “El 47’s” screenplay alongside successful writer-producer Alberto Marini (“The Stranger,” “While You Sleep”).
The film follows bus driver Manolo Vital, an emigrant from Extremadura played by Fernández who is frustrated by the Barcelona City Council’s claim that public transport cannot reach the outlying humble Torre Baró district where he lives due to narrow and unsafe roads. He determines to drive the Route 47 bus to his home village to prove them wrong.
“El 47” is also the story of many other new neighborhoods forged in the 1950s by immigrants who settled on the outskirts of Spain’s big cities as industrialisation, poverty and rural repression saw a mass exodus from Spanish villages which created a new Spain. In the 1970s – when the film takes place – many of these neighborhoods were still not considered part of the city and lacked running water, electricity and other basic commodities such as a bus service.
Enjoying a spectacular awards career, “El 47” has been honored with more than 30 awards. Among them, five Goya Awards – including best film, as a joint winner – from the Spanish Academy, which made it the most awarded film in the most recent edition.
In Catalonia, it also snagged eight Gaudí Awards – including best film – after scoring 18 nominations, making it the most nominated movie in the history of these prizes.
“El 47”also ranks as the highest-grossing Catalan-language film in history and the most-watched in theaters in over 40 years.
“El 47” won the Forqué Awards for which it was nominated – including best scripted feature film – and both Platino and Feroz Awards for best supporting actress for Clara Segura.
It also picked up three awards from the Spanish Actors’ Union for Segura, Carlos Cuevas and Zoe Bonafonte, as well as a best Spanish film nomination at the Rosa de Sant Jordi Award.
As part of its international journey, “El 47” has plated multiple festivals, including the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Nantes Spanish Film Festival, the Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival, the Spanish and Latin American Film Festival in Rome and the Catalan Film Festival in Luxembourg.
Fernández recently won Spain’s National Film Prize in Spain, with the judges singling out his performance in ‘El 47’ for praise.
The film is also a contender at Mexico’s upcoming Ariel Awards vying in the best Ibero-American film category.
Produced by Laura Fernández Espeso and Javier Méndez at The Mediapro Studio, “El 47” is backed by Movistar Plus+, and funded by the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), with the participation of Spanish pubcaster RTVE, Catalonia’s state TV 3Cat with Triodos Bank as a key partner, and ICO also financing.
The Mediapro Studio Distribution – the production, acquisition and sales arm of giant Grup Mediapro – oversees international sales.