MMM Film Sales Acquires Ecuadorian Queer Drama 'Princess' Ahead of Tallinn Premiere

Paris-based MMM Film Sales has acquired international rights to "Princess" ("Ñusta"), the debut feature of Ecuadorian filmmaker Christian Rojas, ahead of its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).

The film screens in PÖFF's First Feature Competition. It follows Kallpa, a 12-year-old Indigenous girl from the Andes, as her community prepares for its annual festivities, where the ñusta — the princess — is chosen. Kallpa dreams of taking part. She was born in a boy's body. The story traces her search for identity and her gender transition, set within her Indigenous roots, her community and the Andean worldview.

What did the sales company say?

The film's "sensory, singular approach to storytelling floored us from the first frames," Matthias Angoulvant of MMM Film Sales said. "Through the eyes and body of an Indigenous child fighting to exist beyond the identity and role imposed on them, the film renders an intimate pain with extraordinary restraint. A bold, deeply moving queer debut, it embodies the daring cinema we champion at MMM."

"Princess" is produced by Ecuador's Epopeya and Oso Rojo Films, in co-production with Agua Florida (Peru), Hain Cine (Argentina), Woo Films (Mexico) and Chao Pescao (Bolivia).

"For us, more than a business deal, partnering with MMM Film Sales was a meeting of perspectives," said producer María de los Angeles Palacios of Epopeya. "'Ñusta' is a delicate film; it speaks from a place of intimacy, from the body and from a memory that has been silenced."

Palacios said the choice of Tallinn carried a special resonance. The festival turns 30 this year; it was founded in 1997, the same year in which "Ñusta" is set. "That coincidence holds a very special meaning for us," she said.

How was the film made?

Rojas stressed that the film does not depict one particular community. "In Ecuador there are more than 18 Indigenous peoples and 14 Indigenous nationalities, and they are very diverse," he said. "Indigeneity is not one single thing; it is heterogeneous."

The production worked with the community of Sid Sid Anejo, in Cañar, its filming location. After the filmmakers shared the story, one community response was: "These stories happen, but we don't talk about them." Community members joined as crew, Rojas said, and the director pledged to return to Sid Sid Anejo to screen the film there upon its Ecuadorian release.

The young lead, Kuri Fuerez, was cast after an extensive search with casting director Nicolás Yacelga. "He has an extraordinary sensitivity and understanding of the character," Rojas said. "Kuri didn't just play Kallpa: He managed to approach her with a tenderness and an honesty that moved me deeply."

The director also cited Chawpi Runakuna, Ecuador's first Indigenous LGBTQ collective, whose member Ninari Chimba, an Indigenous lesbian activist, appears in the cast. He said he hoped the film could reach conservative sectors of Ecuadorian society "not through confrontation, but through sensitivity, through encounter and through the possibility of listening to one another."

Why does 1997 matter?

The setting marks a pivotal year. In 1997, police in Cuenca, a conservative city in the Austro, raided a trans beauty pageant at the Abanicos bar and arrested several people. The episode, known as "The Night of the Abanicos," became a symbol of the persecution of LGBTIQ+ people in Ecuador. "That same year, the struggle began," Rojas said.

With MMM's backing, the film now travels from the Ecuadorean Andes to Estonia, where its sales journey — and its conversation with audiences worldwide — begins.