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MARIA & MAYER

Portugal

Contact 

Maria João Mayer

Founder and Producer

Maria João Mayer

Head of Development

maria.joao@mariaemayer.com

+35 1919365759

COMPANY PROFILE

Maria & Mayer Production Company, is led by the experienced producer Maria João Mayer. She is responsible for such films as Diamantino, São Jorge (Saint George), Montanha (Mountain) and Yvone Kane, and continues to develop her work at both national and internacional level. Mayer’s major purpose is to discover new talents in the cinematic creation, as previously seen with the cases of João Salaviza and Gabriel Abrantes, as well as to offer established filmmakers the right conditions and the possibility to develop their artistic skills with total freedom. Her films have been presented in multiple international film festivals, such as Venice, United States, Brazil, Dubai, Hong Kong, Switzerland, where Mayer is a regular attendant. Her work is internationally recognised, as confirmed by the awards received in Cannes (Grand Prix, Cannes 2018, Semaine de la Critique), Venice (Best Actor, Venice 2016, Orizzonti Competition) and Berlin (Golden Bear, Berlinale 2012, Best Short-Film). Recently, she has also dedicated part of her work to develop fiction and documentary series, premiering on the main Portuguese television channels as well as global streaming platforms, of which stand out: Pecado - TVI, Capitães do Açúcar RTP1, Emília RTP1, Madrugada Suja RTP1, Vagabond - Netflix, Armário - RTP2 (distinguished with Best Entertainment Show Award, Prémio Autores 2020), As Coisas Em Volta - RTP2. Mayer’s commitment and determination in creating a national and international audience results in productions with strong visibility in the most varied platforms: festivals, movie theaters, television, and streaming platforms (HBO, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Filmin). Maria & Mayer is currently developing a period feature film entitled Exile, directed by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, about a Portuguese Marquise in decay from the 18th century, a genre film, The Advent, written and directed by Gonçalo Almeida, and a feature film based in the myth of D. Sebastião, The Conqueror, directed by João Trabulo.

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Maria João Mayer

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

Exile                 Development

Genre:             Period Film / Drama

Director:         Miguel Gonçalves Mendes

Screenplay:     Rui Cardoso Martins

Cast:                Dalila Carmo

Leonor de Almeida, Marquise of Alorna, warns the Portuguese Crown about the invasions Napoleon intends to make. Snubbed by everyone in the Crown for being a woman and an aristocrat in decay, Leonor seeks exile for her and her family in London. When she returns to Lisbon, she finds the country poorer, destroyed by the Napoleonic expansion and with the Portuguese Crown happily and safely exiled in Brazil. Along her journey to and from London, she meets Forestier, a general from the French resistance against Napoleon, whom she admirers and sees as the salvation for Portugal.

The Advent    Development

Genre:             Sci-fi horror

Director:         Gonçalo Almeida

Screenplay:     Gonçalo Almeida Fredrik Gustafsson

During a bleak winter, Rita, an ex-heroin addict, arrives in the Portuguese countryside to work at a pig farm. Unbeknownst to her, the worker she came to replace has gone missing, and there have been many strange occurrences on the farm. Just before her arrival, a pig was found with a high-frequency antenna fused to its body.

The Conqueror  Development

Genre:              Drama/Comedy          

Director:          João Trabulo

Screenplay:      Almeida Faria João Trabulo

Cast:                 Vicente Gil Lyna Khoudri Isabel Abreu Joana Ribeiro João Reis Melvil Poupaud Françoise Lebrun Ricardo                                       Araújo Pereira

The Conqueror explores, on a parodic level, a greatest national myth. The disappearance of King Sebastian is used in this film as a framework for the unusual environment surrounding the protagonist's birth, homonymous with the king who disappeared in Alcácer-Quibir. Sebastião de Castro, king or not, reappears four centuries later as a blond boy, found on a beach in Sintra, Portugal, inside an egg, to live and exorcise what "The Gone One" was never able to do - get involved with women.

A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On 2022

Genre:             Drama

Director:         Gentian Koçi

Screenplay:     Gentian Koçi

Cast:                 Edgar Morais Rafael Morais Drita Kabashi

Two inseparable identical unhearing twin brothers in their thirties, after they discover that due to a genetic disease they will progressively, but irreversibly go blind, emotionally struggle to give to their intolerable existential conditions a different twist.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

São Jorge  2019

Genre:             Drama

Director:        Marco Martins

Screenplay:    Marco Martins Ricardo Adolfo

Cast:               Nuno Lopes Mariana Nunes David Semedo

 

An unemployed boxer turned collection agency employee deals with the deplorable methods they have to use when collecting bad debts

Best Actor, Nuno Lopes, Venice Film Festival 2016, Orizzonti Competition

Nominated for Best Film, Orizzonti Competition, Venice Film Festival 2016

Best Film, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Cinema, Nuno Lopes, Prémios Autores

2018 — Portuguese Society of Authors

Best Film, Prémios Sophia, 2018 — Portuguese Cinema Academy

 

DIAMANTINO  2018

Genre:             Comedy

Director:         Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

Cast:                Carloto Cotta,Cleo Diára

Diamantino, the world’s premiere soccer star loses his special touch and ends his career in disgrace. Searching for a new purpose, the international icon sets on a delirious odyssey where he confronts neo-fascism, the refugee crisis, genetic modification, and the hunt for the source of genius.

Grand Prix Winner, Cannes 2018, Semaine de la Critique.

Nominated for European Film Awards 2018, Best European Comedy.

Jury’ Special Mention - Narrative fiction, Philadelphia Film Festival 2018, EUA

 

 

 

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