By Rafa Sales
Leading Spanish sales agent Latido Films has picked up Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat’s riotous anthology comedy “Homo Sapiens?” (“Homo Argentum”) ahead of its wide release in Argentina.
The film marks the duo’s follow-up to 2021’s acclaimed “Official Competition,” starring Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, and comes on the heels of the success of the Robert de Niro-starring Hulu series “Nada.” “Homo Sapiens?” also marks an anticipated reunion for Cohn and Duprat with Guillermo Francella, the lead of their Disney+/Star+ hit series “The Boss” (“El Encargado”) and one of Argentina’s most lauded actors.
The anthology comedy is heavily inspired by classic Italian comedy of the ’70s and films like “The Monsters.” It features sixteen self-contained short films, all starring Francella as different iterations of typical characters in Argentinian society. The result is a richly observational patchwork that pokes fun at several stereotypes, from the man-bun-wearing tech mogul to tourist-scamming wizards. The socially biting comedy comes out at a time of political unrest in Argentina under Javier Milei’s presidency, a government marked by several funding cuts to culture.
“Homo Sapiens?” will hit cinema theaters in Argentina on Aug. 14, its release handled by Star Distribution, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is one of the few films released this year with the potential to get Argentina back to pre-pandemic box office numbers.
“Great Argentinian films have reached box office success like ‘Waiting for the Hearse’ and ‘The Secret in Your Eyes,’” Duprat told Variety. “The idea with our new film is to try to bring large audiences to the cinema in Argentina. Post-pandemic, there has not been an Argentinian film to reach the box office numbers we’ve seen for some of our great national films. It is also a film that had a lot of investment, so we need audiences to come to cinemas so we can recoup those numbers.”
Cohn comments on the current political climate, saying that his home country has “always been in a state of constant economic and cultural evolution.” “It is a driving force for us, directors who are not aligned to any particular government. It was an incentive to work on this socially aware comedy that brings forward discussion and debate while also allowing us to laugh at things that could be seen as tragic.”
Of the making of the film, Cohn said they wrote the stories in a very “communal way.” The result was a whopping 40 stories, with the creative team having to distill what they felt were the top sixteen. “The hardest part of the process was stringing the stories together because they are all very different, have different lengths… This isn’t a conventional format and we wanted to propose a new film with every new story.”
On top of finding cohesion, Duprat said their biggest challenge was featuring Francella in every single film, given how different they felt and the logistical struggles of such an ambitious production. “It’s a very complicated film because all characters have been written for Guillermo, which means we are constantly changing universes within production. Some stories were shot in one day, others in four, but we were constantly changing the setup for a new film instead of the classic structure of shooting.”
Still, both directors are thrilled to have the acclaimed actor as the leading force of their film, emphasizing the “joy” of working with Argentinian talent. “We’ve had the luck of working with great international names such as Robert de Niro, Penélope Cruz, and Antonio Banderas, but we have also been able to work with the best actors in Argentina and can tell you there is no difference,” said Duprat. “The level of Argentinian actors is extremely high. At a technical level, Argentinians are completely on par with the greatest international actors.”
“Homo Sapiens?” is produced by Argentina’s Pampa Films together with Spain’s Gloriamundi Producciones. Cohn and Duprat join Pampa Films’ Pablo Enrique Bossi, Pol Bossi, Agustín Bossi and Maxi Lasansky as producers.
Speaking with Variety, Agustín Bossi said he imagined local audiences “will recognize many of the absurdities portrayed.” “We hope they’ll connect with the film’s sharp but playful tone,” he adds. “At the same time, we trust that the story’s rhythm and humor will resonate in other countries, regardless of context. While ‘Homo Sapiens?’ explores very specific aspects of Argentine identity, the main themes of the movie — ambition, ego, manipulation, hypocrisy and the moral dilemmas we face daily in modern society — are deeply universal. We think the film has the chance to connect with international audiences, especially through festivals where satirical, character-driven comedies are appreciated.”
Latido Films’ general director Antonio Saura said it is a “privilege” to represent the work of “two of the most extraordinary filmmakers of our times” for the fifth time, praising Cohn and Duprat’s “ability to portray human beings with acid humor, intelligent analysis, always discovering us faces that surprise and make us reflect about what we are.” The exec added that the film features an “even bigger” triumph in Francella. “His presence here shows us that we have been given the luxury of witnessing one of the greatest comedians of all time.”
