Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo

Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo

Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo
Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo Hollywood rules the film industry. It is the place for actors and actresses to be if they want to become world stars. It also happens to be the center of not only traditional film, but its...
Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo Hollywood rules the film industry. It is the place for actors and actresses to be if they want to become world stars. It also happens to be the center of not only traditional film, but its...

Metegol and going outside the film industry’s status quo

Hollywood rules the film industry. It is the place for actors and actresses to be if they want to become world stars. It also happens to be the center of not only traditional film, but its animated cousin as well. Companies like Pixar and DreamWorks form the bedrock of the medium. Outside of the Hollywood spotlight, the probability for animated films to garner worldwide acclaim decreases drastically. However, a new kid on the block could be set to change that. That’s according to The New Yorker’s Ian Mount at least, who wrote an article about the challenger earlier this week. Argentina is an unlikely point of origin, but it perhaps comes as no surprise that a movie with the chance to break the status quo has football as its core element.

Metegol (Foosball in English) was directed by Oscar Winner Juan Jose Campanella (El Secreto De Sus Ojos) and has as its protagonists a young bookworm and the sentient foosball figures who help him on his quest to thwart a rival’s devious scheme and – of course – attract the attention of his childhood sweetheart.

Based on the short story Memorias de un wing derecho (Memoirs of a Right Winger), Metegol was made on the fraction of the budget usually associated with its Hollywood counterparts, but still stands as the most expensive Argentina film ever made. It achieved widespread success in its home country, and a strong showing at the Toronto International Film festival precipitated a journey to see the wider world. Distribution rights have already been snatched up for Russia, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East – just to name a few places. Will the beautiful game be the catalyst for a momentous moment in the history of this corner of the film industry? [Posted by Gordon]