Año bisiesto

Año Bisiesto (Leap Year) is a 2010 Mexican film from the Australian-Mexican screenwriter and film director Michael Rowe.

Año Bisiesto (Leap Year)
Promotional picture
Directed byMichael Rowe
Written byLucía Carreras
Michael Rowe
Produced byMachete Producciones,
Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE)
StarringMonica del Carmen
Gustavo Sánchez Parra
Marco Zapata
Armando Hernández
CinematographyJuan Manuel Sepulveda
Music bySong "Flores para ti" from Afrodita
Distributed byCanana Films[1]
Release date
  • 17 May 2010 (2010-05-17) (Cannes)
Running time
92 min.
CountryMexico
LanguageSpanish

Synopsis

Shot almost entirely in a seedy one-room apartment, this psychodrama details the grinding routine of Laura (Mónica del Carmen), a 25-year-old freelance journalist, who lives a very isolated life in her small apartment rarely venturing out besides getting men home from nightclubs and never going beyond one night in bed. Until she meets the quiet, inscrutable Arturo (Gustavo Sánchez Parra) and the pair enter into an intense, violent sexual relationship. The story focuses on the fascinating evolution of their relationship. As days go by, Laura crosses out the days on a calendar, revealing her secret past to her lover. It takes place in February on a leap year.[2][3][4]

Production

At first Michael Rowe wanted the violence and sexual relations on screen to be real, but during filming Gustavo Sánchez Parra proposed to solve some things with tricks because "that's what filmmaking is all about, making people believe that we do things for real." So Rowe changed his position and later confirmed that in the end only two scenes were unsimulated.[5]

Main releases

The film premiered in France, at the Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight 17 May 2010, and a month later on a public release. Next place to see the film was Rowe's home country, Australia, at the Melbourne International Film Festival and many other Film Festivals followed (Toronto, Athens, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Mar del Plata in Argentine, Hong Kong and the Latin Beat Film Festival in Japan, among others).

According to the producers, the film was sold in over 30 countries and in Mexico it played in commercial theaters with only 12 copies and was seen by close to 50,000 spectators –unlike large productions that screen up to 200 copies.[6]

Film festivals and awards
Year Edition Festival / Institution Section Award To Result
201063rdFestival de Cannes (France)[7]CompetitionCamera d'Or (first-time director)Michael RoweWon
201059thMelbourne International Film Festival (Australia)
201059thToronto International Film Festival (Canada)Contemporary WorldNominated
20108thMorelia International Film Festival (Mexico)
201025thMar del Plata International Film Festival (Argentina)
201048thGijón International Film Festival (Spain)OfficialBest FilmNominated
201054thLondon Film Festival (UK)World Cinema
201153rdAcademia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (AMACC)Ariel Awards[8]Best ActressMónica del CarmenWon
Best Original ScriptLucía Carreras
Michael Rowe		Nominated
Best First FeatureMichael RoweWon

References
  1. Young, James (20 November 2010). "Mexico's Canana makes arthouse inroads". Variety. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  2. Tobias, Scott (23 June 2011). "Leap Year (2011) (review)". AV Club. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. Mason, Eoin (29 September 2010). "Road to the London Film Festival". MultiMediaMouth. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  4. IMDb entry
  5. "Un minuto de aplausos para Año Bisiesto". eluniversal.com. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  6. "The Challenge of Telling a Good Story". Negocios. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  7. "Cannes Film Festival 2010: list of winners". The Telegraph. 23 May 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  8. "Ganadores y nominados 2011". AMACC (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
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