Among the buzziest titles at Ventana Sur’s Animation!, Lucas Abrahão & Ricardo Kump’s “The Factory Beyond the Hill” brings multi-awarded Brazilian author J.J. Veiga to the big screen for the first time.
“J. J. Veiga is a uniquely visual and evocative author, and it’s still a mystery to me why his work has never been adapted for the screen. His portrayal of Brazil’s rural heartlands is unmatched, and we’re committed to doing justice to his vision,” said Abrahão who added that some of Veiga’s short stories may have been adapted for television but never in cinema.
“His style is very atmospheric, bordering on horror, and the settings are very under-depicted in our cinema. These are areas of central Brazil that are far away from the most picturesque scenarios and from our urban centers, really kind of ‘middle of nowhere.’ Since he wrote most of his stuff during the military dictatorship, there’s a lot of allegory regarding authoritarianism in them, too,” Abrahão told Variety.
“While Veiga didn’t like to be branded as a “magical realist” author, it’s pretty easy to see the connection between his work and that of writers like Julio Cortazar and even Gabriel García Marquez,” Abrahão continued, who thinks it’s the Kafkaesque tone in Veiga’s writing that set him apart.
“He wrote very clearly about very strange things. And this combination can be very cinematic – that’s why the lack of adaptations is so strange,” he mused. “Our goal is a distinctive visual style, using collage and painting techniques to bring Brazil’s countryside to life in animation, faithfully capturing Veiga’s world,” said Kump, who will also serve as art director and is renowned for his works in stop motion animation, motion graphics, music videos and film. His horror short film, “The Cactus,” won him a slew of awards worldwide.
Inspired by J. J. Veiga’s eponymous short story, “The Factory Beyond the Hill” explores the upheaval in a remote Brazilian village when mysterious outsiders arrive to construct a factory. Driven by curiosity and resolve, a pair of teens set out to uncover the real motives of the newcomers. Their efforts pit them against the powerful interlopers, test the limits of their courage but also reveal the community’s silent acceptance of change – and their own inner struggles.
The animated feature is produced by Lucas Pelegrino Bonalumi of LPB Content and Spain’s Noon Films. Based in São José do Rio Preto, in the state of São Paulo, LPB Content has produced three live action features and is currently wrapping two more. It is also distributing, alongside Vitrine, “Teca & Tuti: A Night at the Library,” the most-watched animated feature in Brazil this year. “The Factory Beyond the Hill” will be its first animated feature.
Barcelona-based Noon Films has developed and produced documentaries and animation films over the past 15 years. They were recently awarded the Ibermedia Next Development grant for their interactive animation project “A Dangerous Journey: Pepi’s Story.”
