“Motel Destino”, film by Karim Aïnouz was selected for the official competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz will return for the second consecutive year to the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25), once again with a feature film in the official competition. This time, the project was entirely shot in Brazil, specifically in Ceará, his home state. The premiere of “Motel Destino,” an erotic thriller marking the director’s sixth appearance at the most prestigious European cinema event, stars Iago Xavier, Nataly Rocha – selected from over 500 actors – and Fabio Assunção.

“Motel Destino” is a production of Cinema Inflamável and Gullane, co-produced internationally by France’s Maneki Films and Germany’s The Match Factory, in association with Brouhaha Entertainment and Written Rock Films (UK). The film is also co-produced by Globo Filmes, Telecine, and Canal Brasil, with sponsorship from the Ceará State Department of Culture and investment from the FSA. In Brazil, the film will be distributed by Pandora Filmes with co-distribution by Gullane+ and international sales by The Match Factory.

A recurring element in Karim Aïnouz’s filmography, eroticism serves as the backdrop for the director’s eighth fiction feature, focusing on the vibrant and intense colors of the northeastern state’s coastline, the visual-narrative tone of the new work. The film also represents the director’s return to his Ceará roots, something he hasn’t done since “Love for Sale” (2006).