Pablo Rabe took Ventana Sur’s Open Veins Best Picture Award last year with his debut “Tejen,” about a young woman’s atrophied body being rebuilt through a meticulously crafted onirism. Harsh “Tejen” also snagged Blood Window Kudo at 2014’s Mar del Plata Fest and a honorable mention at Portugal’s 2015 Fantaspoa.
“Intra” is Rabe’s second feature project which will be pitched at Ventana Sur’s Beyond the Window mini-mart this week in Buenos Aires to a select group of genre industry players eager to find new potential pearls. Project is being developed at Rabe and Juliana Schwindt’s outfit Mas Ruido Cine Digital. It promises a neuro horror fantasy in line with surprising “Tejen.”
“Intra” turns on a religious sect under the control of a young preacher, who is covered by scars, and preaches in a small industrial city. Savaged by a massive flood that plunges it into social crisis, suffering robberies and the disappearance of citizens. Script is penned by Rabe.
Casting may include Maria Abadi (Albertina Carri’s “Geminis”) for one of the three main roles.
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“’Intra’ is a psycho-thriller set in an apocalyptic climate, with elements of psychological and biological horror, noir, and the subgenre of movies about religious worship working as a medical mystery,” Rabe explained to Variety.
“It combines two complementary universes –the sensory journey of an altered perception and a body that is transformed as well as the social environment; tone will be raw and fantasy-laden. It will unite the adrenaline of an operating room with the shadows of an old abandoned factory where brutal and elaborate rituals take place,” he added.
Rabe received a bachelors degree in cinema and media arts at La Plata University, focusing on visual arts, drawing, concept art and motion graphics. His shorts films include “In the Rabbit Hole” and “Surface Tension.” He was responsible for the animated sequence in Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s “36 Steps.”
Argentine director shows a fascination about human behavior and personality and the workings of the brain, explored via a singular imagination.
Rabe pointed out enthusiastically that “Intra” channels Andrzej Zulawski and, no doubt, the body horror of David Cronenberg, but the thriller format will be the main narrative driver.”
