Natalia
Cinematography:

Wakolda - 2012



“Nunca imaginaron que vivían con uno de los peores asesinos de la historia.“
(They would have never imagined they are living with one of the biggest criminals of all times.)


WAKOLDA is Argentine historical psychological thriller, which is filmed during six weeks from July 16th 2012 till 28th of August 2012 in Buenos Aires and in Bariloche, Argentina. Movie’s final scene was filmed on September 26th 2012 by lagoon Bragado. The movie is based on novel of author Lucía Puenzo with the same title, Wakolda, and it deals with true events of 1959 when in Argentine Patagonia Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who was being searched for by Israeli secret agency Mossad, was in hiding there. Movie director and one of the producers is novel’s author Lucía Puenzo.
The movie is filmed in mega co-production of countries Argentina, Spain, Germany, France and Norway. Argentine part of production is by Historias Cinematograficas under the lead of top producer Luis Puenzo, Spanish production is by Wanda Visión, German production is by Dreamer Joint Venture, French production is by Pyramide Productions and Norwegian production is by Hummelfilm. Daniel Tarrab and Andres Goldstein composed movie’s original score.
Argentine national cinematography fund INCAA gave 1.800.000 Argentine pesos (300.000 Euro) for movie’s production. Spanish national cinematography fund ICAA gave 100.000 Euro for production. German organization for funding movie projects Medienboard gave another 100.000 Euro for production. Norwegian organization supporting development of worldwide cinematography SORFOND gave also 100.000 Euro for production. Total budget of the movie was 2.5 million dollars.
Famous Latin American actress Natalia Oreiro portrays leading female role. Argentine actor Diego Peretti and German-Spanish actor Alex Brendemühl portray leading male roles. Furthermore, there are Elena Roger, Anita Pauls or Guillermo Pfening in supporting roles. Florencia Bado was cast into leading child role.
Movie’s world premiere took place on May 21st 2013 during famous Cannes Film Festival where the movie was selected to section Un Certain Regard. The movie was further presented at various international film festivals in states such as Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland, Japan, Canada, Norway, United Kingdom, Spain, Peru, Russia, and Venezuela.
Commercial premiere of Wakolda took place in Argentina on September 19th 2013 under Distribution Company. Spanish premiere under Wanda Vision took place on October 11th 2013 and the movie was renamed to El Médico Alemán (The German Doctor). French premiere was under company Pyramide Films and took place on November 6th 2013, the movie was renamed to Le Médecin de Famille (The Family Doctor).
The movie received its first award called ‘Premio del Público‘ at festival 17° Festival de Lima in Peru. .


Content:
1. Movie information
    1.1 Based on
    1.2 Plot
    1.3 Leading characters
    1.4 Cast
    1.5 General information
2. Production
    2.1 Development
       2.1 2010
       2.1 2011
       2.1 2012
    2.2 Pre-Production
    2.3 Filming
    2.4 Post-Production
3. Release
    3.1 Film Festival Release
       3.1.1 66° Cannes Film Festival (France, World Premiere)
       3.1.2 61° San Sebastian Film Festival (Spain)
    3.2 Cinematographic Release
       3.2.1 Argentina (Cinematographic Premiere)
4. Awards & Nominations
5. List of International Film Festivals



1. Movie information

1.1 Based on
Novel Wakolda from author Lucía Puenzo was published on May 31st 2011 in Argentina by publishing house Eméce/Planeta and in Spain by Duomo. German version of the book was published on August 22nd 2012 by publishing house Wagenbach. In France publisher Stock published the book on May 15th 2013. In the drama novel Wakolda author Puenzo tells a story of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who was in hiding in Argentine Patagonia.
In year of 1959 while hiding in Bariloche, Mengele gains trust of light-haired Lilith, who is very small for her age. Mengele continues his search for ‘clean race’ observing the twelve-years-old girl who is very pleased by the attention Mengele pays her and her body. When Mengele gets the idea to construct beautiful, blond and blue-eyed dolls using as his model European doll owned by Lilith, the girl reveals that she got the doll from a wizard. The doll is said to posses a magical skills; Wakolda.
Lucía Puenzo managed to combine Mengele’s twisted ideas with naivety of the little girl. Her story is not a critical one, it rather shows Mengele through his thinking yet without taking away his human emotions, which in fact makes him even more dangerous.

Book cover ‘Wakolda‘ – Argentina / Germany /France


1.2 Plot
Wakolda is a true story of a family that offered shelter to Nazi Mengele without knowing his true identity, and a story of a girl who fell in love with one of the worst criminal minds of our time, the so called ‘angel of death’.
Patagonia, 1960. A German physician (Alex Brendemühl) meets an Argentinean family and follows them on the long desert road to Bariloche where Eva (Natalia Oreiro), Enzo (Diego Peretti) and their three children are going to open a lodging house by the Nahuel Huapi lake. This model family reawakens his obsession with purity and perfection, in particular Lilith (Florencia Bado), a 12 year-old with a body too small for her age.
Unaware of his true identity, they accept him as their first guest. They are all gradually won over by this charismatic man, by his elegant manners, his scientific knowledge and his money, until they discover they are living with one of the biggest criminals of all times.


1.3 Leading characters
Lilith – twelve years old girl that looks younger for her age. She is fascinated by mysterious doctor who promises he can help her grow…

Helmut / Mengele – German physician who introduces himself to the family as Helmut with specialization in cattle. He is, however, hiding his own identity.
Eva – mother of Lilith is daughter of German migrants who inherits hotel in Bariloche. On the way there her family meets up with intelligent and charismatic doctor. Enzo – father of Lilith is the only one who is suspicious of the German. However, when he is offered a lot of money for doll production, even he is charmed.
Nora – librarian in local German school, who is actually in Bariloche for a different reason – to track down Mengele and bring him to court for his crimes. Klaus – professor at local school who was Eva’s classmate who wants Lilith to become part of collective. He recognizes Mengele and wants to help him.



1.4 Cast
Actress Natalia Oreiro is in movie’s female leading role. Actor Diego Peretti, with whom Oreiro worked on their box-office successful movie Música en Espera from year 2008, is in male leading role. For Oreiro this movie is her eight feature film with leading role, yet it is her tenth movie overall.

Alex Brendemühl - Helmut Gregor / Josef Mengele
Natalia Oreiro - Eva
Diego Peretti - Enzo
Florencia Bado - Lilith
Elena Roger - Nora Eldoc
Guillermo Pfening - Klaus
Anita Pauls - Enfermera
Juani Martínez - Otto
Abril Braunstein - Ailín
Alan Daicz - Tomas


1.5 General information
Genre: Drama / Psychological / Historical
Length: 90 minutes
Language: Spanish / German / Hebrew
Subtitles: Spanish / English / French
Director: Lucía Puenzo
Script: Lucía Puenzo
Cinematography: Nicolás Puenzo
Cut: Hugo Primero
Sound: Fernando Soldevila
Casting: Maria Laura Berch
Make-up: Alberto Moccia
Production: Historías Cinematograficas / Wanda Visión / Dreamer Joint Venture Pyramide Productions / Hummelfilm
Producers: Luis Puenzo / Nicolás Batlle / José María Morales / Oliver Stoltz, Fabienne Vonier / Gudny Hummelvoll
Music: Daniel Tarrab & Andres Goldstein, Laura Zisman, Dirty Three – Rain Song & Sea Above Sky Below (BMG UK)
Web: wakolda.com
Cinema: Argentina - 19/09/2013, Spain - 11/10/2013, France - 06/11/2013


2. Production

2.1 Development
2.1.1 2010
It was announced in 2010 that movie version of novel Wakolda from acclaimed author Lucía Puenzo would be produced by Argentine company Historías Cinematograficas under the lead of top producer and father of the author Luis Puenzo, and in collaboration with Spanish production company Wanda Visión under the lead of producer José María Morales. Moreover, it was announced the movie would be filmed in Spanish and German and should be 90 minutes long. Originally filming was to take place in July 2011.
Author Lucía Puenzo said in an interview from October 19th 2010 for newspaper El Liberal: “The whole story takes place in south of Argentina in family circle that didn’t know that they shelter one of the most wanted criminals in the world!” Puenzo said about movie version of her story: “We will film the movie in July and August 2011, now I am rewriting the story into movie script, I am looking for filming crew and cast. I talked to several actors already, but I’d rather not reveal too much just yet.”
In an interview for newspaper La Nación from October 21st 2010 author Lucía Puenzo talked also about her book and movie Wakolda. “I dedicated my whole year to work on this book, which I am now transforming into a script, because I am going to make a movie out of it,” she said. Wakolda was a name of general Lautaro’s wife and it is also the same name dolls produced in south of Argentina have, it is said that they have magical powers. “The story is about Nazi Josef Mengele and his stay in Patagonia. Here come two different opinions, because some think that Mengele escaped from Buenos Aires to Paraguay, while some think that he was hiding for some time in the south. I found material that supports the second version,” she added. “If all goes as planned, the book would be published in March and we would start filming in July 2011!“

Doll ‘Wakolda‘ on original historical photos; Argentine town Bariloche in 50ties

The very first mention of Lucía Puenzo’s movie Wakolda in connotations with Uruguayan actress Natalia Oreiro was by newspaper Clarín from November 6th 2010. The movie is listed as one of the projects for Oreiro in year of 2011.
On December 4th 2010 Natalia Oreiro’s official website confirmed her participation in movie Wakolda. It was written that the story centers on seven months of life of Nazi Josef Mengele, who was in Patagonia escaping Israeli secret agency Mossad.
In an interview with Natalia Oreiro for magazine Hola from December 21st 2010 plans for Oreiro’s year 2011 were mentioned. In June 2011 Oreiro should start with filming her new movie Wakolda.

2.1.2 2011
In January 2011 script for movie Wakolda was one of the 38 selected scripts of non-filmed movies from 25 world countries to be presented at German film festival Berlinale in eight edition of festival’s section Co-Production Market 2011. The market was taking place from February 13th till 15th 2011 in Berlin where representatives of production company Historías Cinematográficas producer Luis Puenzo and author and director Lucía Puenzo came to present the movie. And it was movie’s Wakolda script that was among the most popular scripts searched by international investors. Thanks to festival’s presentation, the movie got German co-production with company Dreamer Joint Venture under the lead of producer Oliver Stoltz, and, moreover, got financial fund from Berlin’s cinematographic company Medienboard of 100.000 Euro for movie’s production.
At the press conference to her movie Infancia Clandestina on February 7th 2011, actress Natalia Oreiro also talked about her future plans. For the first time she officially mentioned movie Wakolda in person: “I also have scheduled participation in movie of Lucía Puenzo, it is historical movie and my character is really dark one!“ In February 2011 it was also for the first time announced that Oreiro’s acting partner in the movie should be famous Argentine actor Diego Peretti. According to official website of production company Puenzo.com another role should be portrayed by Spanish actor with German roots Alex Brendemühl. He should portray Josef Mengele.
Actress Natalia Oreiro talked also about her movie plans in an interview for newspaper Clarín from March 5th 2011: “In the middle of year 2011 I will be in movie Wakolda of Lucía Puenzo,“ and thus confirmed possible filming dates in July 2011.
On March 13th 2011 in an interview for newspaper Página 12 the acclaimed movie producer Luis Puenzo talked about his daughter’s Lucía Puenzo movie called Wakolda. “It is a movie that fits into world of Lucía. Main protagonist, such as it is in Lucía’s movies, is a teenage girl and the story is told from her perspective. Moreover, the girl has a genetic problem. Lilith, who is about thirteen years old looks she is ten and it doesn’t seem she should be growing any more. And it is her who falls in love with the German genetic doctor who is in 1959 in Bariloche and who is very interested in all connected to genes and DNA. But the doctor is no one else but Nazi Josef Mengele,“ said Puenzo about the story and added: „It is historically proven that Mengele was in Patagonia. Lucía was originally writing a book only, but prior to its publishing she has decided to make a movie as well.”

Oreiro pro Clarín (5-3-2011); Luis Puenzo pro Página 12 (13-3-2011); Lucía Puenzo pro World Screen (10-6-2011)

On May 9th 2011 new information regarding movie Wakolda were published. One of the additional producers would be French company Pyramide Productions under the lead of producer Fabienne Vonier. The company would finance and distribute the movie. Movie director Lucía Puenzo said: “I would like to show how hundreds of Argentinians behaved towards Nazi members who came to my country and thus they became their accomplices.” Movie’s production is now divided among companies of states Argentina, Germany, Spain, France and Benelux. “It is the biggest movie of Lucía, it has the biggest budget and art direction,” said Luis Puenzo, the main producer. It was also announced that filming was postponed to October 2011 with premiere date in late 2012.
Actress Natalia Oreiro said in an interview with magazine Luz from June 5th 2011 about her movie’s character: “My character in Wakolda is not an easy one, I portray Mossad’s secret agent who is looking for Mengele in Argentina.”
In an interview from June 10th 2011 for World Screen director Lucía Puenzo talked about filming of her movie Wakolda: “Right now I am in a process of writing already fourth version of the script and I would like to start filming before the end of this year with international co-production!”
After it was officially announced that actress Natalia Oreiro is pregnant, it was published on August 1st 2011 that director Lucía Puenzo wants to wait with filming of her movie Wakolda till middle of year 2012, so Oreiro altogether with actor Diego Peretti could be in the movie. Oreiro said in an interview from September 7th 2011: “Next year I will return to film movie of Lucía Puenzo, where I will also speak German, it is yet another acting challenge for me!”
Script of movie Wakolda was selected as one of thirteen non-filmed movie scripts to be presented at Norwegian film festival Films From the South, where apart from finished movies are also presented movie scripts with possibility to find movie producers, financing or distribution. Author Lucía Puenzo presented the scrip on Friday October 14th 2011 in section Pitching Forum 2011 supported by Norwegian fund SORFOND. Thanks to the presentation, movie got co-production with Norwegian film company Hummelfilm under lead of producer Gudny Hummelvoll. Norwegian cinematography fund SORFOND also gave 100.000 Euro for movie’s production.
On November 23rd 2011 casting for leading child role Lilith in movie Wakolda was announced. The casting calls for girls of age 10 to 14. Acting coach María Laura Berch would train the winner of the casting so her acting would be professional. Filming was now officially announced for July 2012.

2.1.3 2012
On March 8th 2012 it was written by magazine Paparazzi that actress Natalia Oreiro would return to work after giving birth. Her first project is movie Wakolda to be filmed in July 2012. Oreiro said in an interview with newspaper Clarín from March 11th 2012 about the movie: “In the middle of this year I will film movie of Lucía Puenzo. Now I am selecting projects that are not so time demanding or such projects where I can bring on filming set my son too!”
In May 2012 it was announced that script of Wakolda was selected for prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where in section Producer’s Project would be presented. The aim was to search for possible worldwide movie distributors. The movie project was presented by producer Luis Puenzo and it was also announced that filming is set to start on July 15th 2012, would last for seven weeks and movie budget would be 2.5 million dollars, making the movie one of the most expensive ones of Argentina’s cinematography.

Puenzo at Pitching Forum (14-10-2011); Oreiro in Cannes (21-5-2012); Puenzo for Eterna Cadencia (22-5-2012)

Actress Natalia Oreiro said in an interview during film festival of Cannes about her movie’s role: “At first I was offered supporting role of Mossad’s agent, but later I was offered a leading role. That is why after my return from Cannes I will start to learn German, because that is how my character would also speak in the movie, as she is a descendant of Germans,“ and she adds about filming: “We start filming on July 15th 2012 and we will also film in Bariloche where I will travel with my son Merlín. This is my first work after giving birth!”
Writer and director Lucía Puenzo talked on May 22nd 2012 in an interview with Eterna Cadencia about her upcoming movie Wakolda: “It is already two years that I work hard on Wakolda, first on the book and now on the movie, it truly is a 24/7 work. Originally I planned to write book only, but in the end I realized that it would make for a good movie, too. The story takes place in 1959 and is based on true events!“

2.2 Pre-production
The third feature film of director Lucía Puenzo called Wakolda went into official phase of pre-production under the lead of Argentine production company Historias Cinematograficas on Monday May 28th 2012. It was also announced that apart from already known actors Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti and Alex Brendemühl there would be in the movie Elena Roger, famous Argentine actress and singer who is coming to film the movie directly from New York where she stars in Broadway’s musical Evita. Movie’s premiere was so far scheduled for August 15th 2013.
Actor Diego Peretti talked in an interview with magazine Gente from June 14th 2012 about his future plans: “Soon I am leaving to Bariloche where I will film movie of Lucía Puenzo based on her own novel. The story deals with Nazi presence in Argentina after the war,” confirmed his movie’s participation Peretti.
In Argentine town Bariloche, where movie Wakolda would be filmed in July, there took place a casting for movie roles on Saturday June 23rd and on Sunday June 24th 2012. The casting was organized by agency Planeta Mau in local hotel Panamericano. The casting was searching for children from 11 to 13 years who could speak German and would have light hair. Also they were looking for women with darker characteristics of age 30 to 45, and girls of age 14 to 16. On Saturday July 7th 2012 information server LaUbfal.com announced new information regarding the filming. Actors who joined the known cast are Anita Pauls and Guillermo Pfening, who worked together with actress Natalia Oreiro in telenovela El Deseo in 2004. The movie tells a story about Josef Mengele, who is in hiding in Bariloche where he meets with family that opens a new inn and he becomes their first customer. There he meets with little girl Lilith, who he decides to treat medically. The movie is psychological thriller exploring the thin borders between the good and the bad.
On Sunday July 8th 2012 new interview with actor Diego Peretti was published where he revealed about his movie character: “In movie Wakolda I portray a father to little Lilith, and it is a very nicely written character. The movie has excellent script and we will also film for fifteen days in Bariloche!“
Newspaper Crónica announced in July 9th 2012 new information regarding the upcoming filming. On Thursday July 12th 2012 there will be an official press conference held with the presence of actress Natalia Oreiro. She should also film the movie for one week in Buenos Aires and two weeks in Bariloche, until August 17th 2012, when the filming should be concluded.
The very first official press conference of movie Wakolda took place on Thursday July 12th 2012 at 12pm in salon Amazonas in Hotel Panamericano in Buenos Aires. The press conference was attended by movie’s director Lucía Puenzo and by actors Natalia Oreiro, Elena Roger, Diego Peretti, Alex Brendemühl, Anita Pauls and Guillermo Pfening. “One of the most important parts of the filming will be to transform town Bariloche, to make it look like in 1960. Novel’s story and movie’s story have a lot in common but not everything, there are several differences, even in characters,” said Puenzo and added: “In the movie we have also child actors who cannot be here today with us as they are in school. The leading child character Lilith is portrayed by Florencia Bado.“ Actress and singer Roger, who arrived that same day from New York, said: “For me to go on holidays means to do this movie, because I have portrayed Evita on Broadway so many times that it is time for change. In the movie I portray Nora Edloc, who works for Israeli secret agency. Real woman with tragic end inspired this character. I am very happy and nervous at the same time; my character is not leading one, yet it is important for the story. I will be speaking also German and Hebrew in the movie. I will now film one week in Buenos Aires and later I will return in August to film one week in Bariloche.“ Puenzo also adds about movie’s languages: “In the movie there is also German part, that is why several actors took on learning German,” said with reference to actress Oreiro who two weeks ago started intense German course to be ready for he movie character.

Puenzo, Oreiro, Roger, Brendemühl, Peretti, Pauls & Pfening at the press conference (12-7-2012)

“My character is Enzo, he is an owner of the inn and husband of Eva, portrayed by Natalia, and they have three children together. They meet a mysterious German on the way to Bariloche and he becomes first guest of their inn,“ explains Peretti at the conference. Oreiro said about her movie character: “My character’s name is Eva, she was born in Bariloche but fell in love with Enzo and together they left for Buenos Aires. There they had three children and later decided to return to Bariloche to open an inn. Eva is also pregnant now when they meet German man on the road, he is very elegant, and my character likes him as they can speak German together. When Eva has fight with her daughter Lilith, Lilith finds comfort in the German who becomes her new friend. But this relationship is not about friendship and both father and mother don’t like that. I am very happy to be in psychological thriller and also because it is historical drama. I am studying German language and because the movie is in German co-production my German has to be perfect!“ Moreover, actress Pauls portrays a nurse and actor Pfening portrays local teacher Klaus, who also speaks German a bit. In the leading role of the ‘angel of death‘ is Spanish actor with German roots Brendemühl: “My task is to create a character that wouldn’t appear Nazi at the first sight, because despite all that he is someone with emotions.” Director Puenzo also said at the conference that the movie might premiere in May 2013.

2.3 Filming
Filming of movie Wakolda from author Lucía Puenzo started on July 16th 2012 in Buenos Aires. According to information published in July 2012, the filming should last for six weeks, two weeks in Buenos Aires and four weeks in Argentine’s southern province Río Negro in town Bariloche.
From July 16th 2012 first scenes were being filmed on grounds of Facultad de Agronomía belonging to University Buenos Aires (UBA). First photos from filming in Buenos Aires were published by various media on July 18th 2012; there are actors Natalia Oreiro, Elena Roger and Guillermo Pfening captured prior to shooting of their scenes. Her husband Ricardo Mollo and son Merlín also accompanied Oreiro during the shoot. On July 25th 2012 actress Anita Pauls joined movie’s cast to film her scenes. In the movie Pauls portrays German nurse. During two weeks in Buenos Aires there were mainly interior scenes filmed.

Pfening, Roger & Oreiro pøi natáèení filmu ‘Wakolda‘ v Buenos Aires (èervenec 2012)

After completing two filming weeks in Buenos Aires, the filming crew and part of the cast moved to Argentine province Río Negro, where filming continued in and around town San Carlos de Bariloche. Filming crew and cast arrived to Bariloche on Monday July 30th 2012. The crew was accommodated in hotel Tunquelén situated by local lake Nahuel Huapi, where interior scenes as well as exterior scenes were filmed. In the movie this hotel stood for hotel owned by main protagonists. Leading movie protagonists were accommodated in luxurious hotel Panamericano Bariloche in town’s center.
On Tuesday July 31st 2012 exterior scenes were shot close by to village Pilcaniyeu, where one of the local houses was transformed into small-town hotel and gas station reflecting movie period of 1959. That day scene from the beginning of the movie was filmed where main protagonist Lilith, portrayed by Florencia Bado, plays games with local children. For this scene six local girls were selected (Stefanía Desurko, Leslie Desurko, Nahiara Cornejo, Tamara Varela, Maira Morales a Leila Collado) to appear in the movie. Actor Alex Brendemühl also filmed one of the scenes that day.
One day later, on August 1st 2012, filming crew returned to village Pilcaniyeu, where at already prepared set they continued filming scenes in exteriors of local ‘hotel‘. This time scenes were being filmed from 6 am already and with leading actors Natalia Oreiro and Diego Peretti. Local village representatives prepared for actors as well as director Lucía Puenzo few presents that they gave them as a memory for their village. Scene where characters of Oreiro and Peretti meet for the first time character of Alex Brendemühl as Josef Mengele were filmed.
On Thursday August 2nd 2012 filming continued close by of village Nirihuau situated in east of town Bariloche. This place was selected because of its beautiful nature and for not being touched by modern civilization. From Monday 6th till Wednesday 8th 2012 exterior scenes were filmed in woods around Bariloche. Scenes were filmed with actors Alex Brendemühl, Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti and their movie children. On August 7th 2012 a scene with actors portraying Israeli agents of Mossad was filmed. Another scenes that week were filmed in national natural park Colonia Suiza.
In town San Carlos de Bariloche local hotel Panamericano transformed into style of fifties to film several interior scenes. Photos from filming in the hotel were published on Friday August 10th 2012.
Argentine actor Guillermo Pfening joined the cast in Bariloche on August 10th 2012 to film his movie scenes. Actress and singer Elena Roger then joined the cast on Monday August 13th 2012. Roger stayed in Argentina till August 20th before her return to New York where she currently stars on Broadway.

Oreiro & Puenzo v Pilcaniyeu (1-8-2012); Natáèení v hotelu Panamericano (10-8-2012); Bariloche (15-8-2012)

On Wednesday August 15th 2012 scenes to movie Wakolda were filmed right in the center of town San Carlos de Bariloche. Scenes were filmed in street Beschtedt from where there is beautiful view on local cathedral that dominates town’s look. Filming started at 7 am in front of local school Escuela N° 16 with actors Natalia Oreiro, Florencia Bado and Alan Daicz. Scene where Oreiro’s character gets out of her car Estanciera to pick up her children from school was filmed. The scene was supposed to be finished by 10 am, however, due to rain it was prolonged till early afternoon hours. The scene had to be filmed several times until director Lucía Puenzo wasn’t sure it’s perfect. One day later, on Thursday August 16th 2012, the whole day scenes in another part of town’s center were filmed. This time filming set became street Juramento, where many historical and typical town buildings are situated. The street was closed for public during the shoot. José Espina, who is responsible for location production, said about ongoing filming: “Beginning of the filming correlates with the beginning of the story; first scenes in Bariclohe were filmed in village Pilcaniyeu, then we filmed on road Ruta del Desierto. After that we moved to Buitrera, to road number 23, local train station, and later also to hotel Tunquelén, and we still have planned to go filming to hostel El Tronador.“
Actress Anita Pauls arrived to Bariloche on Thursday August 16th 2012 to continue filming her movie scenes in Argentina’s south as her German nurse character that collaborates with doctor Mengele. On Thursday also leading movie stars finished filming their scenes; among them also Natalia Oreiro, who that day returned with her family to Buenos Aires. Oreiro said during filming: “I have always wanted to work with Lucía because all of her books are amazing. Besides that, Wakolda takes place in this unreal world, almost magical.”
Argentine actresses Anita Pauls and Elena Roger filmed their scenes till Friday August 17th 2012 before their return to Buenos Aires.
On Monday August 20th 2012 actors Alex Brendemühl and Guillermo Pfening filmed exterior scenes in cars. After this scene was concluded, Pfening was finished with all of his movie scenes and returned to Buenos Aires on the following day. “It is the best movie!” he said before his departure. Brendemühl that day also gave interview for local radio Radio Seis: “We have only one filming week left, but we have already shot beautiful scenes in Pilcaniyeu, Circuito Chico, Colonia Suiza and Villa La Angostura.“ He said about his character: “It is not easy at all to portray such antagonist. I knew about Mengele, but I never knew about his stay in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. To get ready for my character I read a lot of historical biographies and watched documentaries from that time. However in life of Mengele there are still many secrets.”
On Friday August 24th 2012 scenes by lake Mascardi situated in south of Bariloche were filmed. Filming of historical movie Wakolda was concluded after six filming weeks on Tuesday August 28th 2012. Together with successful completion of filming, newspaper La Nación published on September 1st 2012 first official backstage movie photos.
Celebration of the end of filming of Wakolda took place in Buenos Aires on Friday August 31st 2012. Director Lucía Puenzo, actors Guillermo Pfening and Anita Pauls as well as child actors Florencia Bado or Alan Daicz were present. Leading movie stars Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti or Alex Brendemühl could not come to the celebration due to their other work engagements.

Filming in Bariloche (20-8-2012); Filming by newspaper La Nación (1-9-2012); Laguna Bragado (26-9-2012)

Despite the fact that filming was concluded in August 2012, on September 26th 2012 there was a final scene filmed that was missing. The scene was filmed by lagoon Bragado close to Buenos Aires with use of water plane. “In Bariloche we were not allowed to film in local park a scene with hydroplane, that is why we are filming the scene now here at Bragado, which in fact in the movie will present lagoon Nahuel Huapi,“ said movie’s camera operator: “In post-production the scene will be altered in such way that it would correlate with scenes that we have already filmed in Bariloche with actors. At the moment we have more than 70 hours of filmed material and next step to do is to select only those scenes that are the most vital for movie’s narration.” Director Lucía Puenzo was unable to attend filming of the final scene due to other work engagements.

2.4 Post-production
On September 16th 2012 it was written in newspaper Página 12 that all the drawn parts of Josef Mengele’s personal journal, which in movie Wakolda he carries around, were done by Argentine painter Andy Riva, who had to try to get into mind of this Nazi doctor to draw them.
Movie’s leading actress Natalia Oreiro talked about the movie in interview from January 19th 2013 for newspaper Perfil: “Last Friday I was in a studio to voice-over some of my scenes and I saw some scenes that absolutely amazed me. It is a beautiful movie, very different from any of my other films, because this one is a psychological thriller.”
Already from December 2012 composer duo Daniel Tarrab and Andres Goldstein were working on movie’s original music score that would be published on CD. “Right now we are recording violins and we are about to finish mix 5.1. It is an amazing movie about Mengele’s stay in Argentina with Natalia Oreiro and Diego Peretti. We have high expectations from this movie,” said Goldstein.
In April 2013 it was announced that the world premiere Wakolda would take part during prestigious festival Cannes, which takes place in may 2013 on French Riviera. Also it was announced that Argentine premiere of the movie could be on August 29th 2013. Later the movie will be screened in Spain and France.


3. Release

3.1 Film Festival Release
World premiere of movie Wakolda took place during prestigious film festival Cannes 2013. Further the movie was presented at various international film festivals (full list can be found in section 5. List of international film festivals). The movie was screened at eighteen film festivals in Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ireland, Japan, Canada, Norway, United Kingdom, Spain, Peru, Russia, and Venezuela. Further there is a selection of the most outstanding festivals with movie’s participation.

3.1.1 66° Cannes Film Festival (France, May 2013, world premiere)
On Friday April 26th 2013 it was officially announced that movie Wakolda was selected for film festival Cannes section called Un Certain Regard, where there are only 17 movies selected yearly by jury. This is movie’s world premiere. “We are all very happy and the truth is that we did not expect it, because it seemed like the selection was closed without us. In the end we got a call announcing our selection,” said movie director Lucía Puenzo: “Only to participate at Cannes is a win on its own, this is all we hoped for!” Actress Natalia Oreiro said: “Today I found out about this great news. I will do my best to be present at Cannes to present the movie personally.”
Only few days prior to the world premiere it was announced that leading actors Florencia Bado, Natalia Oreiro and Diego Peretti are unable to come to Cannes to present the movie in the end. Moreover, first official promo poster and trailer were published. In Buenos Aires, Oreiro and Peretti gave an interview for newspaper Clarín from may 21st 2013 about the movie. “I was very surprised to find out that the movie was selected for Cannes. I did not expect to have two movies presented at Cannes in two executive years (note. in 2012 Oreiro’s movie Infancia Clandestina premiered at Cannes Film Festival). I still haven’t seen the full movie but the scenes that I could see were magnificent,” said Oreiro and added about her character: “Everything that Eva does she does for her daughter. She sees that her daughter has a problem with growth and she thinks that it is her fault, that she did something bad during her pregnancy. That is also a reason why she is so welcoming to mysterious guest who promises to help her daughter grow.“

Official promo poster; Oreiro and Peretti for Clarín (21-5-2013); Movie’s presentation (21-5-2013)

In the morning of Tuesday May 21st 2013 there was a meeting with international media and creators and movie actors. Director Lucía Puenzo and actors Alex Brendemühl, Anita Pauls and Guillermo Pfening presented the movie personally. Puenzo said about choosing famous actress Natalia Oreiro in a leading role: “For the role of Eva I was looking for an actress that could manage to speak perfect German because third of her scenes are in German language. I saw Natalia’s work in movie Infancia Clandestina and one day I decided to ask her if she would manage my role in German. Natalia started to take intensive courses of German and when Germans heard her speak they had only few minor corrections to make. During pre-production we also found Florencia Bado, who portrays her daughter, and there is certain similarity in their look. There could be a daughter and mother without a doubt, which was also crucial for the role. Moreover, Natalia became a mother just few months prior to the filming and that is again something she has in common with her movie character.“ She added about filming: “We shot almost the whole film in Patagonia, at below zero temperatures, with several children and two newborn babies…every day was an adventure. To make things even more fun, we all lived in the same hotel where we shot the film. And, as the whole team acted in many scenes, they kept their wardrobe for the rest of the day. So, the boundaries between reality and fiction were quite blurred for six weeks.“ she laughs.

World premiere of Wakolda took place on May 21st 2013 at 16:30 in cinema Debussy. The movie received positive reactions and standing ovation. After the screening first movie critiques were being published, most of them positive or mixed:

“Alex Brendemühl is chilling as the deadly doctor, though what is more disturbing is the notion of this German community protecting a war criminal and see him as part of a deadly elite. The Patagonian locations add a great to the stark and intriguing atmosphere.“
Mark Adams / Screen Daily

“The curious concept will peak your interest at first; the performances are generally rock-solid but its sinister premise gives way to uneven drama.“
Shaun Munro / Film School Rejects

“Wakolda is an engaging historical drama that succeeds in depicting how one family might have initially been seduced by the doctor’s charms and his promises of a better life and better health.“
Chuck Tryon / Filmmaker Magazine


After the film festival was concluded it was announced that commercial rights for movie Wakolda were sold to many world states. Thanks to Cannes the movie is secured to premiere in: Australia and New Zealand (Madman Ent.), United Kingdom and Ireland (Peccadillo Pictures), Italy (Academy Two), Greece (Videorama), Switzerland (Xenix Film Distribution), Israel (Nachshon Films), Taiwan (Swallow Wings Films), Turkey (Medyavizyon), further also in Japan, Columbia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Central America and Eastern Europe.

3.1.2 61° San Sebastian Film Festival (Spain, September 2013, Spanish premiere)
In July 2013 it was announced that movie Wakolda was selected for festival section Horizontes Latinos at film festival of San Sebastian.

3.2 Cinematographic release
3.2.1 Argentina
Premiere of big production movie Wakolda was planned in Argentina for May 2013, however, due to movie’s participation at Cannes Film Festival, the movie premiere was rescheduled for September 19th 2013. Distribution Company distributes the movie commercially in Argentina. Argentine poster was published for the first time on July 31st 2013 while the official Argentine trailer was screened for the first time on August 7th 2013.
On June 14th 2013 there was in Buenos Aires private movie screening for actors and film crew that could not attend the film premiere in France. Actress Natalia Oreiro and her on-screen daughter Florencia Bado were present at the screening.

Argentine promo poster; Official Argentine poster; Private movie screening

By the end of August 2013 promotional events in Argentina took place in order to support the upcoming movie premiere. On Tuesday August 27th 2013 there were interviews shot for TV station TeLeFe that co-produces the movie. Actors Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Elena Roger, Florencia Bado, Anita Pauls, Guillermo Pfening and director Lucía Puenzo were present to answer media questions. Oreiro and Peretti gave joint interview: “The movie talks about hypothetical journey of Nazi doctor Mengele to Patagonia. Our characters are parents of little girl Lilith, who is small for her age. That is one of the main reasons our characters fight a lot in the movie, because Eva wants the mysterious doctor to treat Lilith, which is something that Enzo rejects, he doesn’t trust him,” said Oreiro about the movie and added: “The movie combines perverted mind of genetic experiments of Nazi science and innocence of a young child. That makes the movie special and chilling.”
On Monday September 2nd 2013 official press conference for local media took place in Buenos Aires. There were Natalia Oreiro, Diego Peretti, Elena Roger, Florencia Bado, Anita Pauls, Guillermo Pfening and director Lucía Puenzo present. “The movie deals with a sensitive topic of history where a lot of Nazi who ran away fro Europe found shelter and help in Latin America. There are a lot of myths from that time, but also a lot of real information, one of them being that Mengele was registered in phone book of Buenos Aires under his real name,“ opened the conference Puenzo. “The most challenging for me was to create the character of a mother who exposes her child to such danger. To understand her thinking was more difficult than to shoot my scenes in German,“ said Oreiro about her character. At the conference actresses Oreiro and Roger gave joint interviews to newspaper Perfil (published on September 7th) and magazine Gente (published on September 10th). Together with Puenzo Oreiro gave joint interviews to newspapers Tiempo Argentino (September 15th) and Página 12 (September 15th). Oreiro, moreover, talked in interviews for Clarín (September 15th), La Nación (September 15th) and for TV stations Terra, C5N and TV Pública.
On Friday September 6th 2013 actress Natalia Oreiro covers title page of magazine Vanidades, for which she gave interview about her movie Wakolda. “It was my first work after giving birth. I admire Lucía Puenzo and I am always happy to work with female directors, I think they have more sensitive outlook of story. I also think Lucía gave me the role because I was after giving birth and could thus relate to my pregnant character better,” she said.
On Saturday September 7th 2013 interview in newspaper Perfil with actresses Natalia Oreiro and Elena Roger was published. They are also on newspaper’s cover. “I was surprised how much I was fascinated by Nazi theme history while I was doing research for my character,” said Roger: “It was an absolute challenge for me to portray Mossad agent, moreover, my character is based on a real person.”
Movie’s pre-premiere took place on Monday September 9th 2013 in Buenos Aires in cinema Village Recoleta. Actress Natalia Oreiro, who came together with her husband Ricardo Mollo and sister Adriana, Diego Peretti, Florencia Bado with parents, Anita Pauls, Guillermo Pfening, director Lucía Puenzo and many Argentinian celebrities were present.

Interview for TeLeFe (27-8-2013); Press conference (2-9-2013); Pre-premiere (9-9-2013)

On Tuesday September 10th 2013 interview with actresses Natalia Oreiro and Elena Roger for magazine Gente was published. Oreiro said about her studying of German language for her movie scenes: “Actor Carlos Kaspar (note: Oreiro and Kaspar were together in telenovela El Deseo) helped me a lot. He comes from German background and he was going to my house every morning for two months to study German language with me.”
On Sunday September 15th 2013 new interviews with Natalia Oreiro for newspapers Clarín and La Nación were published. She said to La Nación about her character: “For me as an actress it was an amazing character, I completely left myself behind and composed someone so distant from myself. Being a parent I know that I need to accept my child for who he is, but that is something Eva cannot do. She is driven by image of perfection and she tries to help he daughter grow even though it means to submit her for genetic research, whose consequences are unknown and my be of devastating nature.“ The same dame two interviews with Oreiro and director Lucía Puenzo for newspapers Página 12 and El Tiempo Argentino were published. “Once I saw completed movie I was surprised how charming Mengele could be. We all know he is a murderer but there is something seductive and mysterious about him too. That is the reason why Lilith falls in platonic love with him despite all the negative sides,” said Oreiro for La Nación and also answered if she has read novel movie is based on: “Yes I did, there are a lot of scenes that were not selected for the movie though. I just wanted to read it to get a broad understanding of my character. Also what helped me a lot to understand the ideology was movie ‘Das Weisse Band‘ from director Michael Haneke.“ For newspaper El Tiempo Argentino director Puenzo said regarding the movie: “The process of transforming a book into script was a long one, one year and half, and there are a lot of scenes and themes that are in the book but are not in the movie. For example family’s journey to Bariloche is 80 pages in the novel, while in the movie it is 2 minutes,“ she said about movie adaptation. Oreiro said about her movie participation: “Lucía told me about Wakolda while I was filming Infancia Clandestina, but we didn’t talk about specific character. Originally Eva was supposed to be portrayed by German actress as the movie is also in German co-production. But later on I was pregnant and the situation changed, that is when Lucía offered me the role.” She said about her character: “Eva from German descent who lived in Bariloche, that is why she went to German school and Nazi ideology is close to her. Photos that we use in the movie are original and are from real school Primo Capraro, where Nazism was part of the community even after the end of the world war. Eva feels certain sympathies towards mysterious German doctor because they come from the same background. She trusts him.“

Vanidades (6-9-2013); Perfil (7-9-2013); Tiempo Argentino (15-9-2013); Clarín (15-9-2013)



4. Awards & Nominations

At film festival 17° Festival de Lima in Peru the movie Wakolda received its first award when it was awarded by ‘Premio del Público‘, which is decided by festival’s public. 5. List of International Film Festivals
Movie Wakolda was presented at many world film festivals.

21/05/2013 66° International Film Festival de Cannes
(Cannes, France) – 3 screenings at Un Certain Regard
12/08/2013 17° Festival de Lima
(Lima, Peru) – 4 screenings at Competencia Oficial Ficción
24/08/2013 19° Sarajevo Film Festival
(Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) – 1 screening at Kinoscope
25/08/2013 Festival des Films du Monde de Montréal
(Montréal, Canada) – 3 screenings at Cinemas du Monde
13/09/2013 UNASUR CINE
(San Juan, Argentina) – screening in section Competencia Oficial
13/09/2013 Saint Petersburg International Film Festival
(Saint Petersburg, Russia)
20/09/2013 61° San Sebastian Film Festival
(San Sebastián, Spain) – screened at Horizontes Latinos
26/09/2013 33rd Cambridge Film Festival (UK Premiere)
(Cambridge, UK)
30/09/2013 Festival Biarritz Amerique Latine
(Biarritz, France)
09/10/2013 Films From the South Festival
(Oslo, Norway)
09/10/2013 Latin Beat Film Festival
(Tokyo, Japan)
17/10/2013 Festival Tucumán Cine Gerardo Vallejo
(Tucumán, Argentina) – screening in section Competencia Oficial
30/10/2013 Jewish International Film Festival
(Sydney, Australia)
05/11/2013 UK Jewish Film Festival
(London, UK)
06/11/2013 Leeds International Film Festival
(Leeds, UK)
21/11/2013 Festival de Cine Judio de Caracas
(Caracas, Venezuela)
2014
13/02/2014 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
(Dublin, Ireland)
14/02/2014 Glasgow Film Festival (Glasgow, UK)


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