Piano, the Mexican production and distribution company behind Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness,” has boarded Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Jengira’s Magnificent Dream,” producer Julio Chavezmontes has confirmed. Tilda Swinton is attached to the project.
Just like Östlund’s multi-Oscar-nominated dark comedy, “Jengira’s Magnificent Dream” dovetails with Piano’s ongoing commitment to international collaborations with filmmakers whose work challenges conventional cinematic boundaries.
Weerasethakul’s follow-up to “Memory,” which also starred Tilda Swinton and which Piano co-produced alongside Colombia’s Burning, among others, follows Thai widow Jengira who travels to the ancient rock forest of Sigiriya in central Sri Lanka to scatter her husband’s ashes. Blurred visions distort Jengira’s sense of time and space, drawing her across various time periods. Guided by science and empathy, she becomes a living portal between past, future and spirit. Blending 1970s sci-fi aesthetics with a timeless world where cell phones are the only markers of temporal difference, the film blurs the boundaries between memory, history and the supernatural.
Joining Swinton are Thailand’s Jenjira Pongpas (“Cemetery of Splendor”) and Sakda Kaewbuadee (“Tropical Malady”) and Canadian actor Connor Jessup (“Falling Skies”).
In an interview with Variety, Chavezmontes discussed the company’s trajectory over the past 15 years while reflecting on its approach to identifying talent and developing co-productions. He stresses that the company remains open to projects across genres and formats, prioritizing a distinctive creative vision over mainstream formula.
“If something strikes us as potentially incredible, then the format is absolutely secondary,” he says.
Piano’s international outlook has been central to its growth, says Chavezmontes, whose many credits include Lucrecia Martel’s “Our Land,” Luis Ortega’s San Sebastian Horizons-winning “The Jockey” and Abel Ferrara’s ”Siberia.”
It participates in the Morelia Film Festival this year – where it’s also throwing a big anniversary party – with Chile’s submission to the Oscars, Manuela Martelli’s “The Meltdown,” which it co-produced, and with five films it distributes: Poh Si Teng’s debut docu feature “American Doctor,” “Mickey,” “The Lost Mariachis,” “Shana” and “Beauty Salon.”
In the upcoming Ventana Sur, Piano participates in the Proyecta Co-Production Forum with “The Absence,” the debut feature of Mexico’s Jorge Sistos Moreno whose short “The Darkness” debuted at Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
The company’s approach is built on creative collaboration rather than the pursuit of awards or predictable commercial outcomes,” Chavezmontes asserts. “The secret to our success is very difficult to know,” he says. “But above all, I think it comes down to a genuine belief in cinema and a refusal to approach what we do cynically.”
Chavezmontes initially established Piano to make his own films, beginning with ‘Halley,” which he wrote and which Sebastían Hofmann directed. The company subsequently expanded into producing projects by other filmmakers, building relationships through international festivals, distribution and co-production partnerships.
One of its most prominent collaborations emerged through “Time Share” (“Tiempo Compartido”) the film Chavezmontes wrote and produced that competed at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. The jury, presided by Östlund, awarded it best screenplay. Following further connections with Östlund’s longtime producing partner Erik Hemmendorff and producer Philippe Bober, Piano, which had distributed Östlund’s “The Square” was approached about co-producing “Triangle of Sadness.” “Of course, the answer was an immediate yes!” he recalls.
The film became the company’s most internationally visible production, but Chavezmontes resists defining Piano by a single title or genre. He points to projects including Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island “and “Siberia” as examples of films whose value cannot be measured solely by their immediate reception.
“We tend to be quite chameleonic in the kinds of films we make, and we like to challenge those categories,” he says. “We do that because we’re genuinely committed to exploring new things and finding stories that move us.”
For Chavezmontes, the key criterion when evaluating a project is whether it resonates with him as a viewer. He describes himself as an ordinary moviegoer and believes that a film capable of moving him can connect with audiences beyond the industry.
“What matters to me is whether it speaks to me and whether I feel that we can contribute to making it happen, both creatively and in terms of the other aspects of production,” he notes.
Co-production as a creative engine
Reflecting on the importance of international co-productions, especially for independent cinema, he says: “Ultimately, what really defines a co-production is the people who come together to collaborate. The creative team, the technical crew – they’re the ones who actually make the films. Money simply makes it possible to hire them.”
That philosophy informs Piano’s approach to projects that cross national borders. Chavezmontes argued that the exchange of ideas and creative perspectives is at least as important as the financial benefits, particularly when filmmakers seek to realize more ambitious projects.
Mexico’s next step: a comprehensive film policy
Chavezmontes also called for Mexico to build on its new 30% tax incentive for both homegrown and international productions by establishing a broader, long-term government policy for the audiovisual sector.
He welcomed recent initiatives, including state-level incentives in Jalisco and Morelos, but argued that Mexico needs a more comprehensive system of support comparable to those in Spain, Brazil and Colombia.
“We’ve reached a point where people understand that the audiovisual sector isn’t simply a matter of cultural support,” he points out. “It’s an industrial catalyst.”
He believes Mexico has the talent, infrastructure, locations and tourism sector to compete more effectively in the international production market. The missing element, he argued, is a stable policy framework that recognizes the economic, cultural and social value of film and audiovisual production.
An independent vision
Despite the growing scale of international production, Chavezmontes says that Piano’s guiding principle remains its belief in the projects it chooses to support.
“We make films we genuinely believe in,” he says. “And I think that conviction is what people recognize in us: that there’s an authentic vision behind Piano, rather than a cynical one.”
Filmography:
“The Meltdown” (“El Deshielo”) (2025) – Co-producer
Director: Manuela Martelli
World Premiere: Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival
“November” (“Noviembre”) (2025) – Producer
Director:Tomás Corredor
World Premiere: Toronto Film Festival, Competition
“Our Land” (“Nuestra Tierra”) (2025) / Documentary – Producer
Director: Lucrecia Martel.
World Premiere: Venice Film Festival
“Disappearance” (2025) – Co-producer
Director: Kirill Serebrennikov.
World Premiere: Cannes Film Festival
“The Jockey “(2024) – Co-producer
Director:Luis Ortega.
World Premiere: Venice Film Festival, Competition
“Triangle of Sadness “(2022) – Co-producer
Director: Ruben Östlund.
World Premiere: Cannes, Winner Palme d’Or
“EAMI” (2022) – Co-producer
Director: Paz Encina.
World Premiere: Rotterdam Film Festival, Competition
“Malintzin 17“ (2022) / Documentary – Producer
Directors: Mara Polgovsky, Eugenio Polgovsky.
World Premiere: Rotterdam, Competition
“Annette” (2021) – Co-producer
Director: Leos Carax.
World Premiere: Cannes Film Festival, Competition
“Memory” (2021) – Producer
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
World Premiere: Cannes Film Festival, Competition. Winner Jury Prize, Ex Aequo
“Bergman Island” (2021) – Co-producer
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve.
World Premiere: Cannes Film Festival, Competition
“Pobo ‘Tzu “(2021) / Documentary- Producer
Directors: Yollotl Alvarado, Tania Ximena.
Mexican Premiere: Morelia Film Festival, Competition
International Premiere: Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Competition
“Siberia” (2020) – Producer
Director: Abel Ferrara.
World Premiere: Berlínale, Competition
“The Intruder” (“El Prófugo “) (2020) – Co-producer
Director: Natalia Meta.
World Premiere: Berlínale, Competition
“Love Me Not “(2019) – Producer
Director: Lluis Miñarro
World Premiere: Rotterdam Film Festival
“The Accused” (“Acusada”) (2018) – Co-producer
Director: Gonzalo Tobal.
World Premiere: Venice Film Festival, Competition
“Knife+Hart” (“La Daga en el Corazón”) (2018) – Coproducer
Director: Yann Gonzalez.
World Premiere: Cannes Film Festival, Competition
“Antígona” (2018) / Documentary – Executive Producer
Director: Pedro González-Rubio.
Mexican Premiere: Ficunam, Competition.
International Premiere: Cinema du Réel, Competition
“Land “(2018) – Coproducer / Executive Producer
Director: Babak Jalali.
World Premiere: Berlínale
“Time Share” (“Tiempo Compartido”) (2018) – Producer /Screenwriter (Julio Chavezmontes)
Director: Sebastian Hofmann.
World Premiere: Sundance Film, Competition, Winner Special Jury Prize, Screenplay
“Opus Zero “(2017) – Producer
Director: Daniel Graham.
Premiere: Los Cabos Film Festival
“The Gaze of the Sea” (“Los Ojos del Mar”) (2017) / Documentary- Producer
Director: José Álvarez.
Mexican Premiere: Guadalajara Film Festival
International Premiere: Visions du Réel
“Resurrection” “Resurrección” (2016) / Documentary – Producer
Director: Eugenio Polgovsky.
World Premiere: Eco Film Festival, París.
Mexican Premiere: Guanajuato Festival
“We are the Flesh” (“Tenemos la Carne”) (2016) – Producer
Director: Emiliano Rocha Minter.
World Premiere: Rotterdam Film Festival
“Death in Arizona” (2014) / Documentary – Producer
Director: Tin Dirdamal.
World Premiere: Visions du Réel.
“Echo of the Mountain” (“Eco de la Montaña”) (2014) / Documentary- Producer
Director: Nicolás Echevarría.
Mexican Premiere: Guadalajara Film Festival, Competition
International Premiere: Cinema du Réel, Competition
“Kwaku Ananse” (2013) / Short – Producer
Director: Akosua Adoma Owusu.
World Premiere: Berlinale Festival, Competition
“Halley” (2012) – Producer / Screenwriter (Julio Chavezmontes)
Director: Sebastian Hofmann.
Mexican Premiere: Morelia Film Festival
International Premiere: Sundance Film Festival