Ester Català: "We take global and intelligent content that reaches audiences worldwide"

Boutique distributor Limonero Films has started the year with recent acquisitions that have sold in several territories, as well as new projects currently in development. "Since we are a small distributor, we take pride in nurturing our filmmakers," stated Ester Català, Sales and Acquisitions Executive at the company, in a chat with Señal News. "It’s important for us to commit to content that we believe in, stories that are wide-reaching and that present audiences with unique angles or points of view,” she commented.

One of Limonero’s newest acquisitions is "The Mission" (3x52’), produced by SBS Documentary Unit in Australia. It's a crime and investigation series featuring award-winning journalist Marc Fennell, who tries to piece together the hidden story of the strangest art heist most people have never heard of: the theft of 26 masterpieces from a Western Australian monastery. "It's a dynamic and impactful story which is full of surprising twists all the way to the end,” she said. The distributor has recently sold the title to Netflix in Australia and New Zealand and to Proximus in Belgium, with more conversations currently in the works.

Català also mentioned the one-off current affairs documentary "The Sharp Edge of Peace" (1x60’) by director Roya Sadat. It's an Afghanistan and USA co-production about women's rights and politics set after the Taliban took over in 2021. "It's a strong political thriller that has attracted great interest globally," she asserted. Limonero Films sold the title to SIC Notícias in Portugal and to DW in Germany, and they are about to announce more sales.

Another recent Limonero acquisition is “Nazi Ratlines in Franco's Madrid” (1x58’), a one-off history documentary from Spain directed by Javier Reyes, commissioned by RTVE. The title was recently sold to AMC Networks Iberia, PBS UK, and SBS Australia. "It explores how Madrid and Franco's regime became a crucial nexus for a great number of German Nazis and Italian fascists fleeing Europe at the time. It's insightful and international in scope," Català commented.

In addition, Limonero Films picked up a new program from the US called “Americonned” (1x97’), a feature-length documentary that tackles economic inequality in the USA. The TV version is being edited down, due to popular demand.

GLOBAL SALES
Limonero Films kicked off the year on the right track. “Blue Carbon”, a CNN original, Canal Plus France and NDR documentary, produced in collaboration with Make Waves Media and Tangle Bank Studios, recently sold to CBC in Canada, Pro Plus in Slovenia, Caracol TV in Colombia, RTBF and Proximus in Belgium, RTVE in Spain and QuiverTree Media for inflight. The film has also been licensed to Betevé in Catalonia and Brite Now in Thailand. “It presents a very positive look at the climate emergency situation now, offering solutions" she said.

The company also recently sold “La Dolce Vita” (3x52’) to Mediawan in France. The mini-series, produced by Secuoya Studios, follows pastry chefs Paco and Jacob Torreblanca as they travel through France, Italy, and Spain, meeting iconic pastry chefs and learning techniques and traditional recipes. "It's an excellent, well-produced series where one gets to meet the most iconic pastry chefs out there," she added.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Barcelona-based distributor is committed to a series of new projects at different stages of development and/or production. Among their project slate, they are happy to be reaching the late stages of development for “Antiquity Seekers”, a 6x60 series produced by Limmat Films, in which renowned archaeologist and TV presenter Prof. Joann Fletcher and her partner, acclaimed archaeological scientist Dr. Stephen Buckley, embark on an epic expedition across ancient Africa, Asia, America and Europe. “We have great partners already on board and are very excited to be moving the series to their production phase soon,” Catalá concluded.