The Spanish-French-Belgian co-production Evolution, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic and filmed in Lanzarote in the summer of 2014, will be screened at the prestigious San Sebastián and Toronto festivals, thus fulfilling one of the objectives of the Lanzarote Film Commission, which is the promotion and international projection of the riches of the destination.
With a script written by Hadzihalilovic herself and Alanté Kavaïté, Evolution tells the adventures and vicissitudes of Nicolás, an 11-year-old boy who lives with his mother in an urbanization by the sea that turned out to be Tenésar, on the coast of the municipality of Tinajo, thanks to the work of the production company's location team and the efforts of the Lanzarote Film Commission. The novice Max Brebant heads a cast that includes Roxane Duran (who participated in Respire, by Mélanie Laurent) and Julie-Marie Parmentier (who has appeared in titles such as The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Guediguian or Farewell, My Queen by Benoît Jacquot).
In Canada
Hadzihalilovic's film will also be present at one of the most important events in the world of celluloid: the Toronto Film Festival, which specialized magazines have equated to Cannes "in terms of star presence and generation of economic activity" (Variety).
The 40th edition of the Toronto Film Festival will take place between September 10 and 20 and includes the screening of more than 300 films in different categories. Evolution is in the Vanguard section, and can be seen in the Ryerson theaters, on Monday, September 14, at 9:30 p.m. local time.
In San Sebastián
The 63rd edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival will be held between September 18 and 26. The Basque event is one of the most prestigious and recognized cultural initiatives held in Europe.
With the screening of Evolution in the official section of the Festival on the 19th, Hadzihalilovic returns to a city that already recognized her with her first work, not in vain she won the award for best director in 2004 for her work in Innocence.
The Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio "congratulates all the people, companies and entities that intervened in the process that culminates with the screening of a film that shows a part of the many good things we have on this island", and highlights the "enormous promotional importance of the projection of the unique landscapes of Lanzarote to the spectators of Canada and the Basque Country in this case, as well as to others in the future, one of the objectives of the Lanzarote Film Commission".
Lanzarote Film Commission
Lanzarote Film Commission is a product created by the Sociedad Promoción Exterior de Lanzarote (SPEL) that has the objectives of attracting national and international productions that use the island as a location for their filming, a circumstance that generates economic and tourist benefits; advising them during the recording process; promoting the island as an ideal set for the recording of audiovisual productions; preparing the sector to face international projects; facilitating the access of local, national and international production companies to all useful and necessary information in the decision-making process regarding the realization of any audiovisual activity and acting as a link between the production companies and the different public administrations, among others. Lanzarote Film Commission will be, in short, an instrument to channel efforts and criteria so that Lanzarote is competitive in the audiovisual industry. "We also hope that it will boost an industry that creates wealth and jobs, since around 30% of the budget of an audiovisual production reverts to local hotels and restaurants," remarks the Tourism Councilor of the First Island Institution.
For their part, those responsible for the Canarian production company that participated in Evolution, Volcano Films, are confident that the screening of the film in San Sebastián and Toronto will help facilitate its commercial distribution, "which will help us recover the investment and face new projects." Regarding the work carried out in Lanzarote, Sebastián Álvarez, one of those responsible, says he has "nothing but words of thanks for the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the town councils that were involved in the process from the beginning".
