An Independent Film Production and Distribution Company
Soon after the controversial and successful release of Sirwinakuy in July of 2010, Amy didn’t just rest on her laurels. She began to work on her second feature: Barbazul and she wanted Veronica Paintoux, the protagonist of Sirwinakuy, to play a leading role.
Amy had the intention of making her own version of Barbazul for some time. Having passed the test with Sirwinakuy, Amy decided that it was time to bring her dream to reality. Continue reading “Barbazul, Amy Hesketh’s Second Film”
Amy Hesketh takes the director’s chair for the third time to direct Jac Avila and Mila Joya in her new film Le Marquis de la Croix.
After her intense experience with Barbazul, Amy felt more daring this time. Continue reading “Le Marquis De La Croix – Amy’s Third Feature”
by Mike Haberfelner
March 2012
Your film Sirwiñakuy – I know we have talked about this before [click here], but could you bring us up to speed, what is it about and what does the expression “Sirwiñakuy” actually mean?
“Sirwiñakuy” refers to an indigenous custom still practiced by some Aymaras in Bolivia, in which a man takes his potential wife, basically kidnapping her, to his house to live with him. It’s like a try-out. If they get along, she cooks and cleans well, she gets along with his family, they marry. If it doesn’t work out, she goes back to her house, more or less in shame. Continue reading “An Interview with Amy Hesketh, Director of Sirwiñakuy”
by Mike Haberfelner
July 2012
I know we have talked about it before at length [click here], but could you bring us up to speed once more: Your film Maleficarum, what is it about?
It’s the story of two young women. Mariana de Castro, a disposed widow, and Francisca de la Cruz, the young heir to great fortune and lands. They are lovers and their relationship is not a secret in the town. A group of young women confront Mariana in the streets and it ends in a shoving match that involves Francisca. This lame street event is used by the Inquisitor to take over the fortune and lands of the orphan. The women fall in the hands of the Santo Oficio de Lima, also known as the inquisition. The film centers in their torture and the damming testimonies of the townsfolk. Continue reading “An Interview with Jac Avila on the Maleficarum-Censorship-Debate”
REVIEWED BY CHARLES LONBERGER
(Published on February 2, 2014 in The Beverly Hills Outlook)
With the release in 2011 of this landmark film, Pachamama Films made an indelible mark on World Cinema and simultaneously took hold of the popular imagination. Produced in Bolivia, it is a direct descendant of 1970′s Mark of the Devil, though it is light years better, being constructed with care, self-awareness and intelligence. Continue reading “Maleficarum Review: “one of the most singularly memorable films ever made””
We were totally immersed in the release of Barbazul when we were taken by surprise by two messages in our facebook pages, one addressed to Jac, inviting him to be part of the Festival Nacional de Cultura a culture festival in Sucre, Bolivia, on November 13th.
The other message was for Amy, star of Maleficarum, from Dean Andersson, author of horror novels:
“Thanks again for the facebook friend confirmation. Congratulations on BARBAZUL. Hope it’s a solid success for you and everyone involved. Jac Avila looks very convincing. I look forward to seeing the film. But I am messaging you to share a MALEFICARUM experience. Continue reading “Maleficarum reaches culture festivals and Horror conventions”
As told by Beto Lopez
A poet once wrote, “as the calendar vacates the premises…” In this case, we were vacating 2010, when – almost out of nowhere – we had this event that, in time, would become the film Maleficarum.
It started for all of us with a series of talks given by the director Jac Avila to the cast and crew, to the end of introducing them to the world they would be inhabiting over the coming weeks.
How was Maleficarum made as told by Beto Lopez L. The Inquisitor.
I must confess that I was on the set of the new Jac Avila’s film, Maleficarum, a story that take us to the times of the inquisition by the hand of a director who doesn’t hesitate to put to the test everything that surrounds him; like a doctor that, scalpel in hand, prepares to neatly dissect a body. It’s not clear to me if it is to cure or to cut, but whatever his intention is, he will do it with professionalism and in an almost aseptic way.
Continue reading “Maleficarum: From Love to Torture and Suffering”
In October of 2010 we began a new adventure in film: Maleficarum.
Sirwiñakuy was still showing at the Cinemateca when Jac Avila began casting for his new film.
The director of the highly aclaimed Krik? Krak! Tales of a Nighmare and the celebrated mini series El Hombre de la Luna, wanted to focus on the little known history of the Holy Inquisition in the Andes.
Continue reading “Maleficarum – How it began”