Paraguay's lone film thrills Toronto festival

Two Paraguay filmmakers proved this week that a hit movie can be made on a small budget, with the international premiere of their crime thriller "7 boxes" (7 Cajas) at the Toronto film festival. Directors Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori's first feature film is the only one from Paraguay being screened at North America's biggest film festival. Only about 20 films have ever been made in the small Latin American country, according to Maneglia and Schembori, which makes "7 Boxes" -- shot and edited for only $500,000 -- a must see for festival audiences in Toronto. The action in the film takes place entirely in the squalid, overcrowded labyrinth of outdoor markets in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion. Victor, a 17-year-old wheelbarrow carter played by Celso Franco, is offered a crisp $100 bill for a seemingly simple task: transport seven boxes to an undisclosed location on the outskirts of the market. The pay is a small fortune for the boy and more than enough money to buy a camera cell phone that he hopes will help him achieve his dream of launching a movie acting career. A wisecracking neighbor, Lise (Lalil Gonzalez), joins him on the quest. But as the night wears on, a terrified Victor realizes he may be a pawn in a dangerous game and that the seven boxes' contents may be more than he bargained for in this homage to the Hollywood action genre. Beset by thieves, rival gangs and the police, he pushes a rickety wooden wheelbarrow past butchers' blocks, pawnbrokers and vendors to an explosive, nail-biting finale. "Tana and I made television commercials before this. One day, we filmed a spot in the Asuncion market and it made us want to shoot a feature film there," Maneglia told AFP. "It's a very Paraguayan film: the locals' sense of humor, their way of talking... In fact Victor and Lise are actual people," says Tana Schembori. "Victor in real life transports crates in the market and his girlfriend is very bold." The longtime friends and collaborators secured funds to start making the movie from Paraguay's state-owned utility and Asuncion's cultural center. In 2011 they showed an unpolished version to audiences at the San Sebastian film festival, where it won the Work in Progress Award. The prize consisted of cash to carry out post-production and completion of the film in Spain. The movie was finally released in Paraguay on August 10, 2012, receiving praise from critics and the public, and breaking local box office records.