Film Factory Nabs Guillermo Arriaga’s ‘A Cielo Abierto’ (EXCLUSIVE)

“A Cielo Abierto,” the latest film from Oscar-nominated Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (“Babel”), is being brought onto Berlin’s European Film Market by Film Factory Entertainment.

Produced by Argentina’s K&S Films, whose credits include “Wild Tales,” “The Clan” and “The Summit” — the last by “Argentina, 1985” director Santiago Mitre — “A Cielo Abierto” is directed by Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga, Guillermo Arriaga’s daughter and son, making their feature film debut.  

“A Cielo Abierto” turns on two teen brothers who take a road trip to the Mexico-U.S. border to track down the man responsible for the car accident that caused their father’s death. 

Joined by their beautiful newly-met stepsister, their trip becomes a “tense revenge journey to adulthood,” the synopsis runs. 

During the journey, the trio, from Mexico’s upper-middle class, will also encounter “violence, tenderness, a wild inclement landscape, instinct, animals and seriousness,” Guillermo Arriaga said. 

“A Cielo Abierto” shot in the northern Coahuila desert, a “sacred land” for the Arriagas, where “light, space, fauna and flora have a special significance for all three of us,” he added.

“We wanted to covert this landscape into another lead character of the film,” Arriaga recalled. “My daughter and son shot in the most merciless conditions: Scorching sun, sweltering afternoons, to pass in just a few days to rain, blustering icy wind and temperatures below zero.”

Film Factory is currently showing a first promo at Berlin’s European Film Market. The film is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2023.

“Guillermo Arriaga is one of the greatest and most innovative scriptwriters of our time and we are confident his new screenplay will thrill audiences worldwide,” said Film Factory’s Vicente Canales. 

“Mariana Arriaga and Santiago Arriaga have stunningly directed this masterpiece script penned by Guillermo Arriaga. Shooting our first production in Mexico traveling through the desert together with all of them was a joy and a truly inspiring experience,” K&S’ Matías Mosteirin told Variety.

“Just like the characters in this story, this adventure has allowed us to discover new horizons and be part of a very contemporary and daring film about youth, loss, guilt, sense of revenge, love and choices in life.” 

Arriaga also wrote “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” a Cannes’ best screenplay award winner, Oscar-nominated “Amores Perros” and double Oscar-nominated “21 Grams.” He served as a producer on Venice Golden Lion laureate “From Afar.”