Alpha Violet Boards Fernanda Tovar’s ‘Sad Girlz’ Ahead of Berlin World Premiere (Exclusive)

Paris-based sales agent Alpha Violet has acquired the rights to Fernanda Tovar’s feature debut “Sad Girlz.” The sensitive coming-of-ager, which will world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival as part of the Generation strand, follows two best friends in the aftermath of a traumatic event.

In “Sad Girlz,” it’s summer in Mexico, and sixteen-year-olds Paula (Darana Álvarez) and La Maestra (Rocio Guzmán) are training to represent their country at the Junior Pan American Swimming Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They play with pictures of Brazil’s uber-famous soccer player Vini Jr. and teach each other words in Portuguese before heading to reggaeton dancing on cobbled streets, long afternoons melting into one another with the heat.

One night, Paula ends up alone with a teammate, Daniel. Soon after, La Maestra senses something has shifted in her best friend. What happened that fateful night changes the girls’ lives over the course of the summer,…