Spain’s Du Cardelin Studio: “Manolo Kabezabolo”, “Calle Varsovia”

The Spanish company Du Cardelin Studio is finalizing the production of the documentary “Manolo Kabezabolo” about the life of the legendary Spanish punk singer, directed by José Alberto Andrés Lacasta.

“Manolo Kabezabolo” will be presented to the international market at the Locarno Swiss Film Festival by Carmen Pérez Mata from Du Cardelin Studio, one of the 32 producers responsible for the new edition of Match Me! the Locarno Networking Forum, taking place from August 5th to 7th.

Du Cardelin, a Zaragoza-based production house, has teamed up with San Sebastián-based Maluta Films to co-produce the project.

The documentary tells the life story of Manuel Méndez Lozano, better known as Manolo Kabezabolo (Zaragoza, 1966), a punk artist who, seemingly unpredictably, has transcended time, space and trends without abandoning his essence and principles to become a counterculture Symbol.

Lensing will be completed by the end of September and a Spanish theatrical release is planned for next year, Pérez Mata said diversity.

According to director Andrés Lacasta, “Manolo has not abandoned any of the principles that led him to compose and perform for the first time for some friends on the street; He stays true to his punk way of placing himself in the world 24 hours a day, his guitar attached as the only vital handle to keep his faded rage afloat.

He added: “[Manolo] still linked to psychiatric institutions and the mental illness that has accompanied him since the age of 12 and which is inseparable from his human and artistic existence and on which a surreal apocryphal narrative has formed around his life and work.”

In Locarno, Pérez Mata will present “Manolo Kabezabolo” in search of possible international sales deals.

“The documentary will rediscover a time and a character that transcends the geographical and local area in which [Kabezabolo’s] Life is over, which means its scope can transcend borders,” Pérez Mata said.

“Foreign audiences find a character evolving in musical range and in the vein of an urban tribe—that of punk—that quickly became universal. What Manolo experienced and in which he starred has a very clear and obvious compression targeting audiences outside of Spain. Our vocation is to highlight those elements that make the character empathetic and understandable beyond our borders. For this reason, the documentary is also born with a strong vocation to disseminate internationally,” she argued.

“Manolo Kabezabolo” was supported in Spain by the City Council and Provincial Council of Zaragoza, the Huesca Filmmakers Association and the regional public broadcaster Aragon TV.

The Zaragoza-based company will also appear on Match Me! the social drama in development Calle Varsovia, also written and directed by Andrés Lacasta.

Set in Toulouse in 1999, the project revolves around Estela, a Spanish old woman who was exiled after the Spanish Civil War. In the twilight of her life, she struggles to resolve a strained relationship with her three sons.

A recovery from an ictus will give her the opportunity to reunite with loved ones, but economic tensions, open wounds from the past and wartime family secrets will threaten to end everything with Estela’s family, the synopsis says.

At Match Me! The producer of Calle Varsovia is looking for an international co-production, a distributor and a TV agent. Since the story has to be shot in France, the film is conceived as a Spanish-French co-production.

As an emerging independent producer of film, television and even museum content, Du Cardelin aims to explore new spaces through international co-productions while seeking transversality in both subject matter and audience.

“Platforms are a very important part of the film industry today and we believe it’s important to be open to working with them, although sometimes it’s a bit complicated for emerging companies like ours to access, but we’re interested in working with to work with them in the near future,” said Pérez Mata.

“In that sense – she added – although our productions are medium-sized and small, our vocation in the company’s publishing is universal, which is why we are focused on global platforms now and in the future.”