Yahoo Finance Syndicado to Sell Álvaro F. Pulpeiro’s Dystopian Eco-Thriller ‘Petroleo’ About the ‘Hidden and Intricate World’ of the Oil Industry (EXCLUSIVE)
Toronto-based Syndicado Film Sales has picked up international rights to “Petroleo,” the fiction debut of doc Spanish filmmaker Álvaro F. Pulpeiro, lauded worldwide for his sensory and lyrical filmmaking, most recently displayed in the CPH:DOX-selected “So Foul a Sky.”
The Galician-born filmmaker said the project which was significantly influenced by Pier Paolo Pasolini’s unfinished book “Petrolio,” will draw inspiration “from Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Passenger” (1975), the visual intensity of “Apocalypse Now” (1979) and the digital noir of “Miami Vice” (2006).”
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“Petroleo” will compete for the €30,000 ($32,700) Filmin Award for best title in the Film to Come section at the inaugural ECAM Forum co-production market, unspooling June 10-14 in Madrid.
Aleksandar Govedarica, Syndicado Film Sales’ CEO said: “I had the privilege of working with Álvaro on his previous film [“So Foul a Sky”] and I was captivated by his vision and storytelling; we therefore boarded “Petroleo” back in 2022. It’s a project that’s impossible to ignore in its timeliness. It dives into the complex interplay between the global oil and energy crisis, and the everyday struggles of local communities. I am convinced it will resonate with audiences globally,” said the sales expert.
The story, penned by Pulpeiro with “So Foul a Sky“’s executive producer Laura Solano, turns on Juan (35), a commodities consultant, who ventures into Venezuela to assess one of the world’s largest crude oil deposits, amidst a severe energy crisis.
After a chaotic journey, he finds himself unable to conduct the study. Fearing betrayal by his local contact, he flees northward with the help of a young woman. Together, they end up in a fishing village engulfed by refineries, home to the woman’s godfather. While she expresses plans to leave the country, he decides to stay.
In his notes of intention, Pulpeiro said the genesis for his movie was both personal and incidental. Personal as his father, an oil engineer, had a tremendous impact on his childhood.
“Every morning, my father would dress in his company shirt, leave his gold chain and wedding ring on the nightstand, and head to mysterious factories, always returning covered in bauxite dust. He never shared details of his work as an engineer in Europe, South America, and Oceania; we only knew we were being dragged along by something secret and underground. I grew up in metallic cities, far from Spain, where everything revolved around oil,” he recalled.
Then an incident which occurred in 2019, when he was filming an oil refinery in Venezuela for “So Foul a Sky”, was another creative trigger.
“I was arrested near Lake Maracaibo and accused of espionage by SEBIN [Venezuela’s secret services]. After a long interrogation and being released free of charges, I discovered the case of Matthew John Heath, an American detained for sabotage. This incident drew me deeper into the world of oil,” he said.
Working closely with Solano, Pulpeiro developed his script while traveling to locations in Venezuela and Colombia, researching and engaging with energy experts and local communities. “This empirical approach has allowed us to create a script that delves deeply into a hidden and intricate world,” said the filmmaker who further strengthened his narrative under the mentorship of the Palme d’or nominated Albert Serra, and in collaboration with Venezuela’s Gustavo Rondón Córdova , behind Cannes Critics’ Week “La Familia.”
Expanding on the film’s core themes, Pulpeiro said: “Petroleo” is a unique journey through one of the world’s largest oil zones, juxtaposed with the human experience of finding solace in the indefinable and the hybrid. It explores how people, disconnected from their roots, find peace in contradictions, mirroring the nature of petroleum, which transforms from an organic substance to a synthetic one. “
“For me”, he adds, “petroleum is not just a natural resource, but a spiritual metaphor reflecting our ways of extraction and consumption. The film aims to capture this twilight of our era, highlighting the parts of our industry we’ve hidden away. “
Top crew members attached include cinematographer Luis Armando Arteaga (“Tremors”, “Private Desert”, “The Heiresses”), production designer Melania Freire (“The Rye Horn”), music composers Daniele Guerrini (aka ‘Heith’) and Kareem Lofty who will collaborate with Pulpeiro.
Due to start filming in 2025, The project is being produced by Xavi Font of Spain’s Zuzú Cinema, in co-production with Colombia’s Cámara Lenta and France’s Le Plein du Super, with support – so far – from the funds of Ciclic in France and Galician television TVG and Galician fund AGADIC in Spain.
“Our goal at ECAM Forum in Madrid is to bolster the South American contribution by securing additional allies and financing from our shooting locations in Venezuela and Colombia,” said Font who is also looking for co-financing from global investors and Spanish distributors.
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