A Contracorriente Picks Up for Spain Cohn and Duprat’s ‘Homo Sapiens?’ Sold by Latido, Setting a Dec. 25 Theatrical Release (EXCLUSIVE)

Leading Spanish indie distributor A Contracorriente Films has acquired “Homo Sapiens?” (“Homo Argentum”), the black-comedy anthology from Argentina’s Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn (“Official Competition,” “The Distinguished Citizen”). A Contracorriente will release the film in Spain on Dec. 25.

Handled by Latido Films, “Homo Argentum” has also been sold to Israel and Greece and English-speaking Cyprus, with offers in from Poland and active interest from the U.K., France, Switzerland and former Yugoslavia, according to the Madrid-based sales company.

The film opened in Argentina on Aug. 14 via Disney’s Star Distribution and surged immediately, crossing one million admissions in 11 days. 

Per Ultracine, by Oct. 26, it had cumed around 1.8 million tickets —one of the standout local box-office results of the post-pandemic era. 

The Disney launch sets up a broad roll-out across Latin America, where the studio controls key rights, adding tailwind to the international rollout.

Headlined by Guillermo Francella (“The Secret in Their Eyes,” “The Boss”), “Homo Sapiens?” is structured as a 16-segment anthology aiming to have the zest of ’70s Italian comedy. 

Francella shape-shifts in the film from international film director to street dollar-seller to billionaire, the portraits interlacing into a brisk mosaic of contemporary Argentina. Everyday absurdities, moral failings and big-city tension carry a pointed social sting.

“Although the film obviously focuses on different ways of being Argentinean, those are also traits that are recognizable in all human societies, thus making the humor universal,” noted Latido Films head Antonio Saura.

The film marks Cohn-Duprat’s follow-up to 2021’s acclaimed “Official Competition,” toplined by Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, and lands on the heels of Hulu’s “Nada,” starring Robert De Niro, further cementing the duo’s crossover profile. 

It also reteams them with Francella, lead of their Disney+/Star+ hit “The Boss,” one of Argentina’s most lauded actors and a proven box-office draw.

“Homo Sapiens?” is produced by Argentina’s Pampa Films in partnership with Spain’s Gloriamundi Producciones. Cohn and Duprat join Pampa Films’ Pablo Enrique Bossi, Pol Bossi, Agustín Bossi and Maxi Lasansky as producers.