“Mysterious & elegiac, a tale of warning about a collapsing ecosystem and deep family wounds” VOX

“The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future is a curious film that encourages introspection and offers a hopeful vision for collective healing” LITTLE WHITE LIES

“Francisca Alegría’s feature debut manages to be hauntingly moving and hopeful” INDIE WIRE

Sovereign is proud to announce the release of the powerful and unique THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE on 24th March in UK cinemas.

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE, the debut feature from the award-winning director Francisca Alegría, is timely, haunting and unforgettable.

Filmed in the extraordinary landscapes of Chile (by Inti Briones, the cinematographer for Sovereign release Song Without A Name), sensitively scored by Pierre Desprats, and featuring a wonderful lead performance from Mía Maestro (Hannibal) as Magdalena, a woman who, to the shock of her family, comes back from the dead, and discovers she has an important purpose to fulfil, the film is filled with striking images and quietly powerful moments. As rogerbert.com says, the film “reminds us we should go through life always thinking about how our choices will affect others”.

Like Sovereign's recent award-winning release Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton, THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE, this is a beautiful, meditative masterwork, part surreal eco-drama, part magical sci-fi, and fully unique and engaging.

Francisca Alegría is an award-winning filmmaker who obtained her degree in directing from the Universidad Católica de Chile and her M.F.A. in Screenwriting and Film Directing at Columbia University. Her short film And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye received the award for Best International Fiction Short Film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Best Latin American Short Film at Miami Film Festival and was selected at Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival. THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE is Alegría’s debut feature, and was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs and premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Her film was inspired by a real event in Chile in 2017, the unexplained death of thousands of fish in a river. “Thinking of those fish,” Alegría says, “I wondered if they knew that something was wrong before they died. I wondered if they felt fear while agonising or if they could see where they were going next. A once magnanimous belief system is falling and reaching the state of agony that Mother Earth has been in for a long time... we are all suffering together now, and I wish that we could be more aware, more empathic, and more willing to listen.”

SYNOPSIS

When thousands of fish die in a polluted river in southern Chile, Magdalena, a woman long-deceased, emerges amongst their lifeless bodies. Magdalena encounters her widowed husband, sending him into a state of shock and prompting the return of their daughter, Cecilia. Magdalena’s presence and her effect on the environment stirs curiosity and fear among her family. As the past comes into focus, mother and daughter meet an opportunity to change the future.

THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE: FESTIVAL SCREENINGS

The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future has been shown at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival 2022, where it was a nominee for the Grand Jury Prize; the 2022 Munich Film Festival where it as nominated for the CineRebels Award, the 2022 Riviera International Film Festival, where it was a nominee for Best Film, and the 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Bright Horizons Award

ABOUT SOVEREIGN

SOVEREIGN releases auteur-driven feature films in the UK, from emerging and established international talent. Our carefully curated titles have played to strong critical and audience acclaim, often premiering at renowned international film festivals, including Cannes, Berlinale, Toronto, Venice and many more.

Previously acquired titles include Peru’s entry into the Oscars ‘SONG WITHOUT A NAME’, which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival; Philippine crime drama ‘VERDICT’, which received the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at the 76th Venice Film Festival; historical drama ‘MALMKROG’, which won Best Director in the Encounter section and opened the 70th Berlin Film Festival; Argentinian psychological thriller ‘A COMMON CRIME’, which received its world premiere at the 70th Berlin Film Festival; ‘BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN’, which won the Golden Bear at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival; and controversial Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘PETROV’S FLU’, winner of the prestigious CTS Artist award at last year’s Cannes Film festival, and also nominated for the Palme d’Or; ‘MEMORIA’, from Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, starring Tilda Swinton, which won the Cannes Jury Prize in 2021; Bolivian director Kiro Russo’s ‘THE GREAT MOVEMENT’, winner of the Special Jury Prize in the Horizons strand at the 2021 Venice Film Festival; Damien Odoul’s cinematic odyssey ‘THEO AND THE METAMORPHOSIS’, Winner of the Grand Prix at the New Horizons Film Festival in Poland; Ulrich Seidl’s ‘RIMINI’, winner of the Grand Prix for Best Feature Film at the Diagonale Film Festival; Argentinian director Diego Lerman’s ‘THE SUBSTITUTE’ (El Suplente), which won the Silver Seashell for Best Supporting Performance (by Renata Lerman) at the 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival; and most recently, Bent Hamer’s quirky black comedy ‘THE MIDDLE MAN’, shown as a Special Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, and winner of the Best Actor Award at the 2022 Amanda Awards in Norway

Sovereign is a UK-based entertainment company committed to telling important and relevant stories across film, theatre, music and the arts. Sovereign’s productions include Palme d’Or winner ‘TRIANGLE OF SADNESS’, starring Woody Harrelson, from acclaimed director Ruben Ostlund (winner of the Cannes Palme d’Or for ‘The Square’) which received its UK premiere at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, ‘THE TREE OF LIFE’ (3 Oscar nominations), starring Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt; ‘EFFIE GRAY’, starring Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters; and ‘VOYAGE OF TIME’ with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Upcoming productions include ‘EUREKA’ with Viggo Mortensen and ‘INSIDE’ starring Willem Dafoe.

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