October 15, 2020

 

EXCLUSIVE: SMP Productions, the international sales arm of Irish production company Silver Mountain Productions, has taken worldwide rights outside of Brazil to Cibele Amaral’s second feature Why Won’t You Cry?

 

The film was in official selection at the 48th Gramado Film Festival last month. It stars Bárbara Paz and Carolina Monte Rosa in the story of a troubled psychology student whose encounter with a patient forces her to confront the darkest corners of her own unexamined psyche. The film seeks to highlight universal taboos surrounding mental health and care, particularly for women.

 

As a trained psychologist, Brazilian filmmaker Amaral says the film’s themes chime with our times. “Now, in 2020, with so many of us coming face to face with the psychological challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic, this film is more urgent than ever, shining essential light on the unspoken complexities of isolation and depression that are making our society sicker every day. It’s a debate every single one of us needs to be involved with,” she commented.

 

Produced for 34 Filmes by Patrick de Jongh, along with Amaral and Anna Karina de Carvalho, Why Won’t You Cry? was selected as part of this year’s Rio2C – transferred like so many other planned physical events to a COVID secure digital space – with the worldwide deal being negotiated there between de Jongh and SMPs Ronald de Neef.

 

The film will be released in Brazil in 2021.