Alexandra Latishev’s Feminist Fantasy Fable ‘Sirens’ Enchants Vitrine Filmes España (EXCLUSIVE)
by John Hopewell · Variety“Sirens,” the latest film from Alexandra Latishev Salazar, director of Costa Rican Oscar entry “Medea,” has been boarded by Vitrine Filmes España.
The San Sebastián-based production-distribution arm of Brazil’s Vitrine Filmes, Vitrine España will produce “Sirens” (“Sirenas”) with Costa Rica’s La Linterna Films, headed by Latishev and director-producer Federico Montero, as well as Pacifica Grey, founded by Marcelo Quesada and also one of the most prominent arthouse distributors in Central America.
Related Stories
Series Mania Awards: Poland Stands ‘Proud’ as HBO Max Series Sweeps Top European TV Festival
BBC Says Scott Mills Was Fired After ‘New Information’ Came to Light, Confirms It Knew About Prior Police Investigation: ‘We Are Doing More Work to Understand the Detail’
“We are excited to accompany Alexandra on her upcoming feature film which blends genre elements with a contemporary perspective and a strong connection to its territory. The project also marks our first co-production with Costa Rica,” said Vitrine Filmes España’s Julia Juncadella.
News of the Vitrine Filmes España deal, which gives “Sirens” a foothold in Spain and Europe, the world’s best arthouse market, comes days before “Sirens” will be pitched at Su Mirada, the IFF Panama’s extensive showcase of titles in development and post from female directors in Central America and the Caribbean.
“Sirens” reprises the focus on women’s experiences seen in Latishev Salazar’s first two fiction features “Medea” (2017), a San Sebastián Horizontes Latinos contender, and “Delirio,” acquired for international sales by Patra Spanou.
In the early stages of development, “Sirens” picks up on the gothic horror of “Delirio” (2024), moving to symbolic fantasy.
In it, after her fisherman husband disappears at sea, Telsi takes a job as a cleaning lady on a boat moored at the local marina, guarded by a group of women. Ending up living on the boat, Telsi notices her companions leave at dawn and return soaked and crying. One night, Telsi follows one of them. She approaches the estuary and dissolves into the water, her body mutating into a half-crocodile creature.
“This project was born from the intention of making a Siren film within a contemporary Central American context,” Latishev Salazar told Variety. “I am interested in exploring the mythological figure of the Siren as one that provokes fear because it breaks with the hegemonic and whose power lies in her voice. The voice as a political tool,” she added noting that the intended shoot locale, Costa Rica’s Puntarenas province, is “filled with crocodiles.”
“Sirens” was originally developed while Latishev studied a Master’s in Film Creation at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola in San Sebastián.
Written by Latishev and Camila Aboitiz (“Austral Fever”), also an Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola alum, “the way the project was born in San Sebastián and evolved through that context shaped our relationship with Spain in a very organic way,” noted Linterna Films’ Montero.
“This made the co-development structure with Vitrine Filmes España feel like a natural extension of the project itself. Their involvement will be instrumental in strengthening the project’s positioning in Europe and in shaping its broader co-production and circulation strategy.
“‘Sirens’ stands out for its strong connection to territory and community,” Montero told Variety.” “The project is developed through collaborative processes with local women, shaping both narrative and casting. Its hybrid language, between genre and auteur cinema, offers a politically reimagining of body and transformation.”
Founded in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2011, La Linterna Films has produced “Medea,” selected for San Sebastián’s Films in Progress and Horizontes Latinos, as well as doc feature “Rebel Objects,” directed by Carolina Arias and selected for 2020’s IDFA, “Delirio,” which world premiered at the 2024 Guadalajara Festival, and “Men Die Sooner,” an exploration of masculinity presented at Locarno’s Open Doors and marking Montero’s debut feature as a director.