De noche los gatos son pardos

Trailer.

Photo Gallery.

De noche los gatos son pardos.

A crew is shooting a libertine costume film in the French countryside when Valentin, the director, suddenly disappears. While the local police investigates, the film shoot continues but takes an odd turn. Robin, the cameraman and director’s lover, follows a promise and reaches the Mexican Pacific.

Director.

Valentin Merz was born 1985 in Zurich, where his mother migrated to from Istanbul. He worked in Mexico City, as a typographer, and in Berlin for five years in cinema and theatre. In 2014, he then made film studies at the Haute École d’Art et de Design (HEAD) in Geneva. His short films have screened at festivals around the world. Brüder – Ein Familienfilm, his latest, premiered at Visions du Réel 2020. De noche los gatos son pardos is his feature debut, which premiered in 2022 in Locarno, where it won a Special Mention for Best First Feature. Since then, it screens at international festivals, including Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, Sevilla, São Paulo and the Berlin Critics’Week. Valentin is the founder of the production company Andrea Film and he also acts in his own productions and films, as recently happened in Cyril Schäublins Unrest.

Details.

  • Title
    De noche los gatos son pardos
  • Rights
    Festivals,
    Sales
  • Country
    Switzerland
  • Year
    2022
  • Length
    110′, col.

  • Director 
    Valentin Merz
  • Screenplay
    Valentin Merz
  • Editing
    Andreea Vescan
  • Photography
    Robin Mognetti

  • Sound
    Miguel Moraes Cabral
  • Cast
    Alain Labrune, Andoni de la Cruz, Bishop Black, Candida Sanchez, Dogartzi Magunagoicoechea, Céline Carridroit, Daniel Binggeli, Donaji Mendoza, Jean-Charles de Quillacq, Jean Legros, Kahlil Dahi, Leon David Salazar, Mara Thurnheer, Maxi Schmitz, Natalia Portnoy, Printille Davigo, Robin Mognetti, Sharon Celeste, Tatiana Pozzo di Borgo, Valentin Merz, Yanna Rüger

  • Producers
    Marie Lanne-Chesnot,
    Valentin Merz
  • Production
    Andrea Film


  • Locarno International Film Festival 2022 – Concorso Internazionale
  • São Paulo International Film Festival 2022 – New Directors Competition
  • Seville European Film Festival 2022 – The New Waves Competition
  • Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2022 – Round Midnight
  • Lesgaicinemad Madrid 2022 – Cine Disidente
  • Rome Independent Film Festival 2022 – International Feature Film Competition
  • Chéries-Chéris Paris LGBT Film Festival 2022 – Feature Film Competition
  • Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023 – Harbour
  • Solothurn International Film Festival 2023
  • Berlin Critics’ Week 2023
  • Porn Film Festival Vienna 2023
  • La fête du slip Lausanne 2023
  • Roxie Theatre San Francisco 2023
  • Zinegoak Bilbao 2023
  • OutFilm Festival Poznan 2023
  • Molodist Kyv 2023 – Midnight Screenings
  • Queerischt Bern 2023
  • Blonde Cobra Queer and Experimental Film Festival Cologne 2023


  • Locarno International Film Festival 2022 – Special Mention Best First Feature


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