{"id":36565,"date":"2026-08-10T14:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T09:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=36565"},"modified":"2026-08-10T14:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T09:17:09","slug":"latin-quarter-nabs-uruguayan-crime-thriller-maltrato-animal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=36565","title":{"rendered":"Latin Quarter Nabs Uruguayan Crime Thriller &#8216;Maltrato Animal&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/latin-quarter-distribution\/\" id=\"auto-tag_latin-quarter-distribution\" data-tag=\"latin-quarter-distribution\">Latin Quarter Distribution<\/a> has acquired world sales rights to Jos\u00e9 Dell\u2019Acqua\u2019s Uruguayan crime thriller \u201cMaltrato Animal\u201d (\u201cAnimal Budget\u201d). <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe deal was closed after a screening of \u201cMaltrato Animal\u201d at Locarno\u2019s First Look, a pix-in-post competition focused on rough-cut screenings of emerging and established talent from a territory around the world, this year <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/uruguay\/\" id=\"auto-tag_uruguay\" data-tag=\"uruguay\">Uruguay<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPresented in Locarno by the Agencia del Cine y el Audiovisual del Uruguay (ACAU), which is still building Uruguay\u2019s film-TV ecosysytem, the film, currently in the editing stage, is set against the backdrop of Uruguay\u2019s 2002 economic crisis and explores a generation shaped by that pivotal moment in the country\u2019s history. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tBankrupted by the financial crisis, a Montevideo veterinarian is pushed to desperate straits and doesn\u2019t have enough money to eat. In order to survive, he enters a clandestine network of illegal breeding operations and pharmaceutical peddling. In this downward spiral, an unexpected encounter potentially opens a new chapter in his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tProduced by Dell\u2019Acqua and German Ormaechea, the film was shot over a four-year period \u2014 one week each year \u2014 with the support of numerous Uruguayan technicians and rental companies. The project brought together many first-time department heads, including cinematographer Germ\u00e1n Couto and costume designer Victoria Zavaleta, as well as an entirely Uruguayan cast, according to Dell\u2019Aqua. Developed over eight years, the film blends fiction and reality to portray a deeply personal and collective memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201c\u2018Maltrato Animal\u2019 was born from the need to revisit the generation that grew up during Uruguay\u2019s 2002 economic crisis,\u201d Dell\u2019Acqua said. \u201cOver eight years, I wrote, directed, and produced the film, seeking to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. It is also a celebration of the talent of a new generation of Uruguayan filmmakers, many of whom took on leading creative roles in their first feature film.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cAfter such a long and personal journey with \u2018Maltrato Animal,\u2019 I\u2019m very happy to begin this next stage with Latin Quarter Distribution,\u201d Dell\u2019Aqua told <em>Variety<\/em>. \u201cTheir bold approach and distinctive curation feel deeply aligned with the spirit of the film. I believe they understand the kind of cinema we are trying to make and, most importantly, have the commitment and passion to bring it to audiences beyond Uruguay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tJuan G. Castro, founder and managing director of The Hague-based Latin Quarter Distribution, added:\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re excited to add \u2018Maltrato Animal\u2019 to the Latin Quarter slate. We\u2019re always searching for new gems and distinctive voices in Latin American arthouse cinema, and Jos\u00e9 Dell\u2019Acqua\u2019s first feature immediately stood out to us. Discovering the film through ACAU\u2019s presentation of Uruguayan cinema at Locarno makes this acquisition particularly meaningful, and we\u2019re proud to support a film that showcases the talent and originality emerging from Uruguay today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tPost-production on \u201cMaltrato Animal\u201d is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Latin Quarter Distribution has acquired world sales rights to Jos\u00e9 Dell\u2019Acqua\u2019s Uruguayan crime thriller \u201cMaltrato Animal\u201d (\u201cAnimal Budget\u201d). The deal was closed after a screening of \u201cMaltrato Animal\u201d at Locarno\u2019s First Look, a pix-in-post competition focused on rough-cut screenings of emerging and established talent from a territory around the world, this year Uruguay. Presented in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_2842.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}