MARIA & MAYER
Portugal
CONTACT
MARIA JOÃO MAYER
Founder and Producer
ISABEL PESTANA
Head of Development
isabel.pestana@mariaemayer.com
+35 1919365759
COMPANY PROFILE
Maria & Mayer Production Company is led by the experienced producer Maria João Mayer. She is responsible for such films as DIAMANTINO, SÃO JORGE (SAINT GEORGE), MONTANHA (MOUNTAIN), and YVONE KANE, and continues to develop her work at both national and international levels.
Mayer’s major purpose is to discover new talents in the cinematic creation, as previously seen with the cases of João Salaviza and Gabriel Abrantes, as well as to offer established filmmakers the right conditions and the possibility to develop their artistic skills with total freedom. Her films have been presented in multiple international film festivals, such as Venice, United States, Brazil, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Switzerland, where Mayer is a regular attendant. Her work is internationally recognized, as confirmed by the awards received in Cannes (Grand Prix, Cannes 2018, Semaine de la Critique), Venice (Best Actor, Venice 2016, Orizzonti Competition) and Berlin (Golden Bear, Berlinale 2012, Best Short-Film).
Recently, she has also dedicated part of her work to developing fiction and documentary series, premiering on the main Portuguese television channels as well as global streaming platforms, of which stand out: PECADO - TVI, CAPITÃES DO AÇÚCAR RTP1, EMÍLIA RTP1, MADRUGADA SUJA RTP1, VAGABOND - Netflix, ARMÁRIO - RTP2 (distinguished with Best Entertainment Show Award, Prémio Autores 2020), AS COISAS EM VOLTA - RTP2.
Mayer’s commitment and determination in creating a national and international audience results in productions with strong visibility in the most varied platforms: festivals, movie theaters, television, and streaming platforms (HBO, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Filmin).
Maria & Mayer is currently developing a period feature film entitled EXILE, directed by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, about a Portuguese Marquise in decay from the 18th century, a genre film, THE ADVENT, written and directed by Gonçalo Almeida, and a feature film based in the myth of D. Sebastião, and THE CONQUEROR, directed by João Trabulo.
COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
A CUP OF COFFEE AND NEW SHOES ON 2022
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Drama
Director: Gentian Koçi
Screenplay: Gentian Koçi
Two inseparable identical unhearing twin brothers in their thirties, after they discover that due to a genetic disease, they will progressively, but irreversibly go blind, emotionally struggle to give to their intolerable existential conditions a different twist.
Press Articles
CINE LINK INDUSTRY DAYS- A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On by Gentian Koçi
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
DIAMANTINO 2018
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Comedy
Director: Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
Screenplay: Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
Cast: Carloto Cotta,Cleo Diára, Anabela Moreira, Margarida Moreira, Chico Chapas, Carla Maciel, Filipe Vargas, Manuela, Moura Guedes, Joana Barrios, Maria Leite
Diamantino, the world’s premiere soccer star loses his special touch and ends his career in disgrace. Searching for a new purpose, the international icon sets on a delirious odyssey where he confronts neo-fascism, the refugee crisis, genetic modification, and the hunt for the source of genius.
Press Articles
THE GUARDIAN- Diamantino review – delightfully daft football fantasy
The GUARDIAN- 'Feel free to nod off!' Meet the DIY directors of wild screwball comedy Diamantino
VARIETY- Film Review: ‘Diamantino’
Grand Prix Winner, Cannes 2018, Semaine de la Critique.
Nominated for European Film Awards 2018, Best European Comedy.
Jury’ Special Mention - Narrative fiction, Philadelphia Film Festival 2018, EUA
SÃO JORGE 2016
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Drama
Director: Marco Martins
Screenplay: Marco Martins, Ricardo Adolfo
Cast: Nuno Lopes, Mariana Nunes, David Semedo, Gonçalo Waddington, Beatriz Batarda, José Raposo, Jean-Pierre Martins, Ricardo Fernandes, Rodrigo Almeida, Adriano Luz
An unemployed boxer turned collection agency employee deals with the deplorable methods they have to use when collecting bad debts
Press Articles
The Hollywood Reporter- ‘Saint George’ (‘Sao Jorge’): Film Review | Venice 2016
Cineuropa- Saint George: Fighting the crisis with your fists
Publico- São Jorge, até agora a melhor estreia do ano de um filme português
Best Actor, Nuno Lopes, Venice Film Festival 2016, Orizzonti Competition
Nominated for Best Film, Orizzonti Competition, Venice Film Festival 2016
Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor for Cinema, Nuno Lopes, Prémios Autores 2018 — Portuguese Society of Authors
Best Film, Prémios Sophia, 2018 — Portuguese Cinema Academy
EXILE DEVELOPMENT
Format: Digital
Genre: Period Film / Drama
Director: Miguel Gonçalves Mendes
Screenplay: Rui Cardoso Martins
Leonor de Almeida, Marquise of Alorna, warns the Portuguese Crown about the invasions Napoleon intends to make. Snubbed by everyone in the Crown for being a woman and an aristocrat in decay, Leonor seeks exile for her and her family in London. When she returns to Lisbon, she finds the country poorer, destroyed by the Napoleonic expansion, and with the Portuguese Crown happily and safely exiled in Brazil. Along her journey to and from London, she meets Forestier, a general from the French resistance against Napoleon, whom she admirers and sees as the salvation for Portugal.
THE ADVENT DEVELOPMENT
Format: Digital
Genre: Sci-fi horror
Director: Gonçalo Almeida
Screenplay: Gonçalo Almeida, Fredrik Gustafsson
During a bleak winter, Rita, an ex-heroin addict, arrives in the Portuguese countryside to work at a pig farm. Unbeknownst to her, the worker she came to replace has gone missing, and there have been many strange occurrences on the farm. Just before her arrival, a pig was found with a high-frequency antenna fused to its body.
THE CONQUERER DEVELOPMENT
Format: Digital
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: João Trabulo
Screenplay: Almeida Faria, João Trabulo
Cast: Vicente Gil, Lyna Khoudri, Isabel Abreu, Joana Ribeiro, João Reis, Melvil Poupaud, Françoise Lebrun, Ricardo Araújo Pereira
The Conqueror explores, on a parodic level, a greatest national myth. The disappearance of King Sebastian is used in this film as a framework for the unusual environment surrounding the protagonist's birth, homonymous with the king who disappeared in Alcácer-Quibir. Sebastião de Castro, king or not, reappears four centuries later as a blond boy, found on a beach in Sintra, Portugal, inside an egg, to live and exorcise what "The Gone One" was never able to do - get involved with women.