The Gold Seekers (Spanish: Los Buscadores) is a 2017 Paraguayan adventure comedy film directed by Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori. It is the follow-up to their 2012 film 7 Boxes.[2] It was selected as the Paraguayan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[3]
| The Gold Seekers | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Juan Carlos Maneglia Tana Schembori |
| Written by | Juan Carlos Maneglia Mario González Martí |
| Produced by | Christian Chena |
| Starring | Tomás Arredondo Mario Toñanez Christian Ferreira Cecilia Torres Sandra “Sifri” Sanabria |
| Cinematography | Richard Careaga |
| Edited by | Alfredo Galeano |
| Music by | Derlis A. González |
| Distributed by | FilmSharks Intl. (world sales rights)[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | Paraguay |
| Languages | Spanish Guarani |
Cast
edit- Tomás Arredondo as Manu
- Cecilia Torres as Ilu
- Christian Ferreira as Fito
- Mario Toñanez as Don Elio
- Sandra Sanabria as Lili
- Jesús Pérez
- Amada Gómez
- Nelly Dávalos
- Leticia Sosa
- Jorge Fernández
- Martín Oviedo
- Mario González Martí
- Rodrigo Caballero
Plot
editManu, a 21-year-old newspaper boy, discovers a map in a book gifted by his treasure hunting grandfather. Believing the map points to treasure buried during the Paraguayan War, he finds the site is now an embassy and decides to infiltrate it.
Production
editDevelopment
editFrom May to September 2016 there were 63 days of filming distributed between the Chacarita neighborhood and the Asunción microcenter. In addition, the recording was moved to some locations in the city of Paraguarí, located 66 kilometers from the Paraguayan capital. The development of "The Seekers" took about three years from the moment in which Juan Carlos Maneglia, scriptwriter and director of the film, began to work on the first sketches of history.[4]
Script
editTo write the script, Maneglia immersed herself in a long investigation that began in 2014, when she traveled to the interior of the country to interview "plata yvyguy" (treasures buried during the Paraguayan War)[5] seekers. During the writing process, the material was corrected by Fernando Castets from Buenos Aires, scriptwriter of the Argentine film "El hijo de la novia". The script was developed in collaboration with Mario González Martí and the comments of Paraguayan audiovisual producers, such as Alicia Guerra, Sergio Colmán Meixner, Maribel Bosio, Tito Chamorro and Marcelo Tolces, among several others.[6]
Post-production
editDuring the month of July 2017, the team moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina). Maneglia traveled accompanied by the editor Alfredo Galeano and the special effects manager Walter Piccardo to work on the Scratch color correction, with the specialist Georgina Pretto, at the Cine Color studios. The mix was made in the Dolby room of Tres Sonidos, studio where the sound director Germán Acevedo worked closely with Gerardo Kalmar, designer and sound mixer.[7]
Music
editThe National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay (OSN), with 71 musicians under the special direction of Sergio Cuquejo, recorded the original soundtrack composed of 36 tracks created by Derlis A. González.[8] In the musicalization also collaborated the Band of Musicians of the National Police, the guitarist Berta Rojas, nominated three times to the Latin Grammy awards; Patrick Altamirano, Mauricio Rodas, René Ayala, and Luis Chaparro.[9]
Reception
editBox office
editThe film premiered in Paraguay, on 7 September 2017, and in its eighth week on the billboard exceeded 130 thousand spectators. It became the second highest grossing film of the year, behind "The Fate of the Furious", with 191 thousand spectators; in the second highest grossing Paraguayan film in history, behind "7 Boxes" (261 thousand spectators); and in the fourth most seen in Paraguay, according to the portal Ultracine.[10]
Critical response
editOn review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 6 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10.[11]
Jonathan Holland of The Hollywood Reporter saying that: "Stylistically, The Gold Seekers, its twisting, high-speed follow-up, is more of the same. But this is more explicitly comic, fluffier and more generic family-friendly fare, more knockabout and less focused."[12]
Accolades
editThe Gold Seekers received the following nominations:
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | 13 January 2018 | New Voices/New Visions Grand Jury Prize | Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori | Nominated | [13] |
| Platino Awards | 29 April 2018 | Best Original Score | Derlis A. González | Nominated | [14] |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Hopewell, John (30 November 2016). "FilmSharks Intl. Acquires World Sales Rights to '7 Cajas' Follow-Up 'Los Buscadores' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ Pablos, Emiliano De (5 December 2015). "Ventana Sur: Paraguay's Maneglia, Schembori Prep 'Seekers,' '7 Boxes' Follow-up (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Paraguay postula "Los Buscadores" para los Óscar". ABC Color. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ Ramírez, Marisol (3 September 2017). "Ya llega Los buscadores, esperado nuevo filme de Maneglia-Schémbori". Última Hora. Editorial el Pais. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ paraguay. "Plata Yvyguy - Buried Treasures of Paraguay / Los Tesoros escondidos del Paraguay - Discovering Paraguay, Descubriendo Paraguay". Discovering Paraguay. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Revelan detalles de "Los buscadores" - Espectaculos". ABC Color. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ Alonzo, Sofía (22 July 2017). "Maneglia-Schémbori ultiman detalles de 'Los Buscadores'". Ñandutí. Radio Ñandutí. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ González, Derlis A. "Home". Derlis A. González official website. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Sinfonía de "Los buscadores" - Especiales". ABC Color. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "Los Buscadores, la 2da. película más vista del año, sigue en cartelera". La Nación. Grupo Nación. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "The Gold Seekers (Los Buscadores) (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ Holland, Jonathan. "'The Gold Seekers' ('Los Buscadores'): Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
- ^ "2018 Film Festival: Films". Palm Springs International Film Festival. Palm Springs International Film Society. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ Agencia EFE (13 March 2018). ""Una mujer fantástica" lidera las nominaciones de los Premios Platino". El Comercio (in Spanish). Empresa Editora El Comercio. Retrieved 16 March 2018.