M-Appeal Secures World Sales for ‘When I Existed’ Ahead of Tallinn

By Marcus Bennett

Berlin-based M-Appeal has acquired international sales rights to “When I Existed” just weeks before the film’s world premiere in the Critics’ Picks Competition at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Variety described the Uruguay-made feature as a feel-good second-chance comedy-drama and a Kafkian social satire.

The film marks the feature debut of writer-directors Alejandro Damiani and Martin Avdolov. It follows Silvio Bertolini, who retires after 40 years building Uruguay’s foremost gates construction company. When he tries to draw his pension, his credit cards freeze and the National Pension and Retirement Fund, which also serves as his bank, registers him as deceased.

Silvio moves from pillar to post through the bank’s Accounts, Payments and Claims departments, along dark, puddled basement corridors and long queues. He reconnects with friends from his youth sculling club. He also tries to rebuild his life with the wife who has hoped retirement would open a new chapter for them. The film asks whether it is too late to recover what it means to be alive.

Variety described César Troncoso’s performance as notably modulated, moving from smiling containment to outrage, anxiety, regret and loneliness. Troncoso, a star of “The Pope’s Toilet” and “The Eternaut,” plays Silvio. Silvia Kutica, known for “Avellaneda’s Moon” and “Argentina, Land of Love and Revenge,” plays Silvio’s increasingly estranged wife of 40 years.

What does the sales deal change for the film?

The acquisition changes the film’s commercial position. M-Appeal can handle international sales during Tallinn’s festival run rather than beginning after the world premiere. That gives Damiani and Avdolov a sales channel while the film remains a festival prospect. The company focuses on Latin American cinema.

“What won us over about ‘When I Existed’ was its rare mix of humor and humanity,” said M-Appeal co-founder Maren Kroymann.

“Silvio is a charming man who struggles to accept retirement, while his wife has been waiting for this moment, hoping they can finally enjoy life together.”

“Their story is both touching and deeply relatable, reminding us how easily we can get caught up in our habits and lose sight of what matters most. It’s a film that makes you laugh, moves you, and reminds us that it’s never too late to reconnect with the people we love.”

The international co-production credits are specific:

• Lead producer: Federico Cetta for Uruguay’s El Cielo Cine.
• Co-producers: David Matamoros at Barcelona’s Doce Entertainment and Andrés Rosenblatt at Montevideo’s Metropolis Films.
• Associate producer: Matías Burgos at Montevideo’s Moon Ideas.

Cetta described the film as “a story of reinvention built around the things that truly matter.”

“This story speaks to us in a world where we have the constant feeling that time is slipping away between obligations we don’t always choose,” Avdolov said.

“What do we do with the time we have? Today we need small acts of resistance against a logic that tends to make everything increasingly automatic and artificial. For me, making this film has something of that.”

Photography, bureaucracy and the making of the film

Manuel Branaa, a camera operator on J.A. Bayona’s Netflix film “Society of the Snow,” shot “When I Existed.” Variety described the photography as unusually elegant and humorous. Its opening lateral tracking shot crosses a dark granite stone tomb and takes in red and yellow flowers left there. The composition is pleasing, but the flowers are wilting.

The open marshlands, where Silvio meets friends from his youth, contrast with the fund’s charcoal-grey and black corridors, barred doors and barred windows. The visual design turns the office into a maze and frames Silvio as trapped by bureaucracy and his own self-absorption.

Damiani and Avdolov said the film examines “the nature of the system, the ego, bureaucracy, technological trends, the dangers of alienation, and the erosion of humanity.” They added: “We poured our souls into even the smallest details – things that might go unnoticed by others, but which, to us, made the work feel complete and purposeful.”

Damiani worked in advertising as a copywriter and designer and won Uruguay’s first Golden Lion. He later rose to creative director at the Uruguayan visual-effects house Aparato. Avdolov came from fiction, with the novels “Violeta Corazón” and “Camba,” short stories and the nonfiction book “El Corazón Creativo” (“The Creative Heart”).

Damiani told Variety: “‘When I Existed’ is born from the deepest fear any human being can have: how are we supposed to live? No one teaches you that.”

“Working on ‘When I Existed’ made us realize how much of ourselves we poured into the film’s protagonist,” they added.

“For many years, we had channeled our energy and creativity into other people’s projects. Following the pandemic – and having passed the age of 40– we decided to commit ourselves to our own meaningful projects. We see this film as a reminder that we are not here to live someone else’s life;”

Before the feature, Damiani’s 2016 short “M.A.M.O.N. (Monitor Against Mexicans Over Nationwide)” went viral and passed 13 million views on YouTube.

El Cielo Cine also produced the 2025 Argentine adopted-son drama “Emi,” directed by Ezequiel Erríquez. Its 2023 production “Norma,” directed by Santiago Giralt, follows later-life self-discovery. Mercedes Morán starred and co-wrote it, after appearing in “Neruda” and “My Sad Dead.” “Norma” received a best comedy Platino Award nomination.

At Tallinn, M-Appeal must convert Cannes Market attention into international business for a debut that has not yet held its world premiere. The festival will provide the first test.