Acclaimed Mexican director Natalia López Gallardo, whose first feature film, The Dress of Precious Stones, won the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, is currently developing her second feature film, Only Love Exists. The contemporary drama about the intertwining of digital and real life will be screened at the European-Latin American Co-Production Forum at this year’s San Sebastián Film Festival.
Only Love Exists follows Teresa, a medical assistant who cares for patients in her work and interacts with the fears and desires of others online. Over time, the virtual world begins to encroach on her real life as Teresa surrenders more and more to her own desires somewhere on the border of the two dimensions.
After facing death, Teresa becomes more aware of the material world around her, where beauty and oppression coexist, the synopsis says. Through the care of a friend, Teresa begins a journey of redemption.
Lopez also wrote the screenplay for the film and will produce it with “The Robe of Gems” producer Fernanda de la Peza (“The Untamed,” “The Hole in the Fence”). Co-producers include Marie-Pierre Massia and Sacha Ben Haroche.
“The strongest impression I had when reading the first treatment of 'The Only Love Exists' was the feeling of being present, of living in today's world,” said producer Fernanda de la Pesa. diverse“A novel of great originality that places a character in a profession as old as humanity itself, now part of technological capitalism without creating a new framework for (moral and legal) evaluation. Only Love Exists aims to harness the power of cinema to explore, express and glorify the complexity of the human spirit.”
Mexico's Cárcava Cine, a brand owned by de la Peza, and Lobo en Medio de Lobos are producing, in collaboration with France's MPM Premium and NousNous in the United States. Filming is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2025.
Founded in Mexico City in 2018, Carcava is dedicated to showcasing the work of independent filmmakers. In addition to López’s Robe of Gems, the company has had huge success at festivals and awards with films such as Amat Escalante’s Lost in the Night, winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Director Award and three-time Mexican Academy Award nominee, and Joaquín del Paso’s The Hole in the Fence, winner of the Venice Horizons Award.
