VIEJO CALAVERA

DARK SKULL
A film by Kiro Russo

www.socavoncine.com
LA PAZ - BOLIVIA
THERE IS
NOTHING
INSIDE BUT YOU,
A JOURNEY
DEEP INSIDE
YOURSELF, A
DARKER KIND
OF JOURNEY.
- LOGLINE
 -SYNOPSIS-
After his father has died, Elder Mamani
is forced to live with his grandmother -far
from the city- to stay away from trouble.
He has to learn to be a worker.

His godfather, Francisco has to take care

of Elder's acceptance in the mining com-
pany. Francisco and Elder end up
working together. But Elder skips work
daily. Francisco endures this grudgingly.
His co workers mock him because of the
behaviour of his godson.
FRANSISCO
ELDERS GODFATHER
POSOKONI
120TH LEVEL
2016

When Francisco finds Elder lost in the

smokey alleys about to be blasted, he
leaves him alone there, because of his
survival, the miners that rescue him see
him as an amulet of good luck.

Now the miners have to travel together to

ELDER MAMANI the tropic, in which context the conflict
ACCIDENT
POSOKONI between Elder and Francisco unravels.
240TH LEVEL
2016
 JULIOS CESAR
TICONA AS ELDER
MAMANI
HUANUNI
2016
-DIRECTORS STATEMENT-
We started developing Viejo Calavera in
2011. We had just filmed JUKU (a short
film set in the mines of Huanuni, that
was an exploration of narrative values
with sensory means, a lost of darkness,
and a rich sound design).
z a mine through his eyes, and we experien-
Even though the aesthetical values we
accomplished in this short film filled us
with hope, it s way of portraying the
people didn t have anything to do with
what we had seen and learned. It s
cinematic strength as an image can easily
turn the miner s image it into a stereoty-
pe. The conclusion where we arrived: to
film a story that portraits and concerns
the people that we keep meeting in
Huanuni. Not just thematically, but as
images of their life
THE MOVIE TELLS
THE STORY OF A YOUNG
DRUNKEN HOODLUM
The main characters of this film are
friends I have been meeting in the trips I
made to Huanuni from 2012 until the
shooting of the film. This friends repre-
sent different social and working classes
of Huanuni, and the experiences they
told me, and the ones we got to live
together, have always been the main
inspiration that kept us going through 8
script processes.
We see the miner and rural world around
ce a sudden and
quiet revelation he has towards life, even
though the movie doesn t tell whether
this revelation has produced any change.
To have a drunk as a main character is a
kind of statement towards cinema, and
towards the way we as bolivians have
been representing ourselves, being
alcoholism a cultural characteristic of
our people in one hand, and completely
absent from our film tradition in the
other
We shot in October 2015. The miners
Labor Union (Sindicato Mixto de
Trabajadores Mineros), helped us organi-
ze the workers for some scenes, -for
example the miners meeting-. Location
work was the result of years of
travelling, years of thinking about this
film.
We hope to premiere Viejo Calavera
(Dark Skull) in the mines.
 -Project status-
The project development started in July
2011. The Director Kiro Russo wrote a
first treatment that was sent to the TYPA
Workshop in Coln, Argentina; In April
2012 the project participated at BAFICIs
Buenos Aires Lab (Development),
z winning the Haye Post award.
In mid-2013, the project participated in
Des 3 Continents Produire Au Sud Festi-
val (Caracas, Venezuela). A fourth version
of the script was finished later that year,
in August, when Kiro went to live to
Huanuni.
In 2015 the Labor Union of Mineworkers
of Huanuni, Universal Brockers S.A.
and Fernando Ballivian Vela Produc-
tions; joined the production, making
them our main associates.
On June 15, 2015, with the seventh
version of the script, the pre-production
stage of the film started. This stage lasted
56 days.
The shooting took place between Octo-
ber 10th and November 4th 2015. Five
weeks.
The editing of the film began on
Monday, January 4th, 2016 and a first cut
was ready on February 11th of the same
year. Now (April 2016) we have the 3rd
cut of the film.
THE MINERS We need to complete funds for Post-Pro-
POSOKONI
HUANUNI duction and Distribution stages.
2016
 LA DIOSA
DISCOTEQUE
HUANUNI
2016
z
Kiro Russo
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Kiro Russo was born in La Paz,
Bolivia in 1984. Studied Film
Directing at Universidad del
Cine in Buenos Aires. His
Shorts: Enterprisse (2010), Juku
(2012) premiered at Sundance
Film Festival and won the Grand
Prize for Shortfilm at IndieLis-
boA, Best shortfilm award at
Ficunam and Best shortfilm
green in Kaohsiung film festival .
New Life and The Beast (2015)
are his new shorts. Recently
NEW LIFE (2015) won the Jury
Special Mention at Locarno Film
Festival , and five awards in San
Sebastian Film Festival. Dark
Skull is his first feature film.
Pablo Paniagua
PRODUCER
Pablo Paniagua (Bolivia 1985).
Producer, DoP and Editor.
Studied at Universidad del Cine
in Buenos Aires. Producer of 10
shortfilms from Socavoncine
among which stand out Amazo-
nas (European Premiere in Cler-
mont-Ferrand Short Film Festi-
val 2016), and New Life (Jury-
Mention at Festival del Film
Locarno 2015). As DoP and
Editor has worked on several
productions in Boivia, Argentina
and Brazil.
He has directed and produced
two Shortfilms; One(2010) and
Valediction (2015), winner of a
Jury Mention at XVII BAFICI
2015.
THE WINCHE
POSOKONI
HUANUNI
2016
 AWARDS
-COMPANY PROFILE-
Founded in 2009, SocavnCine is active in introducing and
supporting fresh gazes, new narrative forms and experi- - SHORTFILMS -
mental films in Bolivia. In the last years, our La Paz based
company has produced the most awarded Shortfilms of ENTERPRISSE (2010)
the country. KIRO RUSSO
Oficial Selection Praga FreshFilmFest - CHE
Oficial Selection La Alternativa - Barcelona - ESP
Oficial Selection Munich Film Festival - ALE
Winner 2nd Prize Toma nica - ESP
Winner, Best director Cambridge Festival - ENG
FEATURE FILMS IN DEVELOPMENT JUKU (2012)
KIRO RUSSO
Mejor cortometraje, festival internacional de la UNAM de Mxico DF -MEX
VIEJO CALAVERA Best Shortfilm award, IndieLisboa Film Festival - POR
FICTION 90 MIN. (DIRECTED BY KIRO RUSSO) Best Shortfilm award, Kaosiuhng Film Festival- TAI
Best Shortfilm, Best Documentaryl. FEISALP -ARG
Jury Mention Kino Forum Sao Paulo-BR
ANTAWARA World Premiere Sundance Film Festival -US
FICTION 90 MIN. (DIRECTED BY CARLOS PINEIRO) Oficial Selection La Alternativa -ESP
Oficial Selection Reencontres de Toulouse -FRA
DEVELOPMENT LOBO LAB MAR DEL PLATA FILM FESTIVAL.
Oficial Selection Londres Documentary Film Festivals -ING
- WINNER, JURY MENTION LOBO LAB 2015. Oficial Selection Berlin Latino Film Festival ALE
NUEVA VIDA (2015)
LAS EDADES KIRO RUSSO
DOCUMENTARY 75MIN. (DIRECTED BY MIGUEL HILARI) MenJury Mention. Festival del Film Locarno 2015
-SELECTED IN EDOC FILM LAB (ECUADOR) Best Shortfilm San Sebastian Film Festival
-WINNER "A CIELO ABIERTO" FILM FESTIVAL 2014 (BOLIVIA) Best Documentary Jilavva Film Festival
Best Director Pachamama Film Festival
MARTES DE CHALLA (2008)
CARLOS PIEIRO
Best Shortfilm Amalia Gallardo contest
MAX JUTAM (2010)
CARLOS PIEIRO
Best SHortfilm Amalia Gallardo contest
Best shortfilm Foro de Creacin Oaxaca Mexico
PLATO PACEO(2012)
CARLOS PIEIRO
Best Shortfilm Premios Eduardo Abaroa
Best Shortfilm Festival Pachamama
Cinematography MentionFestival San Juan
Best Shortfilm Tigre Film Festival Argentina
Best Director Rosario Film Festival, Argentina
Best Production Design, Rosario Film Festival Argentina
AMAZONAS (2015)
CARLOS PIEIRO
World Premiere Mar del Plata Film Festival
Oficial Selection Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival
DESPEDIDA (2015)
PABLO PANIAGUA
Jury Mention, XVII BAFICI
 CREDITS
CAST
Julio Cesar Ticona
Narciso Choquecallata
Anastasia Daza Lopez

Directed by
Kiro Russo
Producers
Kiro Russo
Pablo Paniagua
Gilmar Gonzales
Asociate Producer
Camilo Restrepo
Director of Photography
TECHNICAL SPECS Pablo Paniagua
Line Producer
DRAMA / 95 MIN. / 1,85:1 / COLOR Juan Pablo Pineiro
LANGUAGE Production Designer
Spanish Carlos Pineiro
SUBTITLES Production Assistants
English Miguel Hilari
SHOOTING FORMAT Fernando Ballivin
UHD 4K ProRes HQ 3840 x 2160px
Sound
EXHIBITION FORMAT Pepo Razzari
DCP 2K Gilmar Gonzales
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION
BOLIVIA
-CONTACT-
Mendez Arcos 819 Sopocachi
P.O.Box15024
Phone: +591 67171720
+591 60628428
e-mail: socavoncine@gmail.com
info@socavoncine.com
La Paz, Bolivia

SOCAVONCINE.COM

LOS MINEROSI
LOS YUNGAS
COROICO
LA PAZ
2016