Mexico’s Piano Boards Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ‘Jengira’s Magnificent Dream’ Starring Tilda Swinton

Piano, the acclaimed Mexican production and distribution powerhouse renowned for backing Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning dark comedy “Triangle of Sadness,” has officially boarded Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s highly anticipated upcoming feature, “Jengira’s Magnificent Dream.” Producer Julio Chavezmontes confirmed the partnership, which marks yet another high-profile international collaboration for the company. Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton is already officially attached to star in the project, cementing a continuing creative relationship with both the visionary Thai director and the Mexico-based banner.

Just like Östlund’s multi-Oscar-nominated satire, “Jengira’s Magnificent Dream” dovetails seamlessly with Piano’s ongoing, steadfast commitment to ambitious international collaborations. The company consistently aligns itself with daring filmmakers whose work actively challenges conventional cinematic boundaries, favoring distinct artistic visions over predictable commercial formulas.

Weerasethakul’s ambitious project serves as his narrative follow-up to “Memory,” the acclaimed feature that also starred Tilda Swinton and was co-produced by Piano alongside Colombia’s Burning, among other international partners. The narrative of “Jengira’s Magnificent Dream” follows a Thai widow named Jengira, who embarks on a poignant journey to the ancient rock forest of Sigiriya in central Sri Lanka to scatter her late husband’s ashes. Along the way, fractured and blurred visions begin to profoundly distort Jengira’s sense of time and space, drawing her fluidly across various historical time periods. Guided by a unique combination of science and deep empathy, she ultimately transforms into a living portal bridging the past, the future, and the spirit world. Blending 1970s science-fiction aesthetics with a timeless environment where modern cell phones remain the sole markers of temporal difference, the film brilliantly blurs the elusive boundaries connecting memory, history, and the supernatural.

Joining Tilda Swinton in the ambitious international cast are prominent figures from Thai cinema, including Jenjira Pongpas, celebrated for her work in “Cemetery of Splendor,” and Sakda Kaewbuadee, known for “Tropical Malady.” They are joined by Canadian actor Connor Jessup, widely recognized for his role in the television series “Falling Skies.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Variety, producer Julio Chavezmontes discussed Piano’s remarkable trajectory over the past 15 years, reflecting deeply on the company’s distinct approach to identifying raw talent and developing complex, cross-border co-productions. He emphasized that the company remains permanently open to diverse projects spanning a wide spectrum of genres and formats, prioritizing a singular, uncompromising creative vision over mainstream industry formulas.

“If something strikes us as potentially incredible, then the format is absolutely secondary,” Chavezmontes noted during the discussion.

Piano’s outward-looking international outlook has proven central to its steady corporate and artistic growth. Chavezmontes’ extensive and prestigious producing credits include Lucrecia Martel’s “Our Land,” Luis Ortega’s San Sebastian Horizons-winning feature “The Jockey,” and Abel Ferrara’s avant-garde project “Siberia.”

The company’s heavy footprint across the global festival circuit continues this season at the Morelia Film Festival, where Piano is celebrating its milestone 15-year anniversary with high-profile selections. These include Chile’s official submission to the Academy Awards, Manuela Martelli’s “The Meltdown,” which Piano proudly co-produced, alongside five diverse titles it handles for distribution: Poh Si Teng’s debut feature documentary “American Doctor,” “Mickey,” “The Lost Mariachis,” “Shana,” and “Beauty Salon.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming Ventana Sur market, Piano is set to participate actively in the Proyecta Co-Production Forum with “The Absence,” the eagerly awaited debut feature from Mexican filmmaker Jorge Sistos Moreno, whose short film “The Darkness” previously debuted in the Critics’ Week section at the Cannes Film Festival.

Chavezmontes asserts that the foundation of Piano’s operational philosophy is built entirely on genuine creative collaboration rather than a calculated pursuit of awards or predictable commercial outcomes. Reflecting on the elusive nature of the company’s sustained industry acclaim, he admits that finding a repeatable formula is neither possible nor desired.

“The secret to our success is very difficult to know,” he reflects. “Pero 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 with the foundational goal of producing his own cinematic works, beginning with “Halley,” a feature he personally wrote and which Sebastián Hofmann directed. Over time, the company naturally expanded its operational scope to produce compelling projects initiated by other gifted filmmakers, steadily forging lasting relationships through international film festivals, robust distribution networks, and strategic co-production partnerships.

One of the company’s most prominent and transformative international collaborations emerged directly through “Time Share” (“Tiempo Compartido”), the psychological drama that Chavezmontes wrote and produced, which competed at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2018. The festival’s international jury, presided over by Ruben Östlund himself, honored the film with the award for best screenplay. Following subsequent professional connections with Östlund’s longtime producing partner Erik Hemmendorff and producer Philippe Bober—and having previously distributed Östlund’s acclaimed feature “The Square” in Mexico—Piano was naturally approached about joining “Triangle of Sadness” as a co-producer.

“Of course, the answer was an immediate yes!” Chavezmontes recalls.

While that monumental collaboration became the company’s most internationally visible and commercially recognized production to date, Chavezmontes consistently resists the urge to define Piano by a single title, genre, or breakout success. He points to eclectic projects such as Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Bergman Island” and Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia” as prime examples of films whose true artistic and cultural value cannot be measured solely by their immediate commercial reception or box office returns.

“We tend to be quite chameleonic in the kinds of films we make, and we like to challenge those categories,” he explains. “We do that because we’re genuinely committed to exploring new things and finding stories that move us.”

For Chavezmontes, the ultimate criterion when evaluating any incoming project is whether it resonates deeply with him as an ordinary viewer. Describing himself fundamentally as an everyday moviegoer, he maintains a firm belief that a film capable of genuinely moving him will naturally connect with broader audiences well beyond the insular confines of the film 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 further on the critical importance of international co-productions, particularly within the fragile ecosystem of independent cinema, Chavezmontes offers a grounded perspective on what truly drives the filmmaking process.

“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,” he states.

That philosophy directly informs Piano’s approach to handling complex projects that successfully cross national borders. Chavezmontes argues passionately that the invaluable exchange of ideas and diverse creative perspectives is at least as important as the financial mechanics, especially when filmmakers strive to realize technically and narratively ambitious visions that a single country’s resources could never support alone.

Mexico’s next step: a comprehensive film policy

Beyond his work as a producer, Chavezmontes has also been a vocal advocate for systemic improvements within his home country’s film industry. He recently called upon Mexico to proactively build upon its newly established 30% tax incentive—designed to attract both homegrown and international productions—by implementing a broader, long-term governmental policy dedicated to the audiovisual sector as a whole.

While welcoming recent regional initiatives, including localized state-level incentives introduced in Jalisco and Morelos, Chavezmontes argues that Mexico desperately requires a more comprehensive national system of support comparable to the robust frameworks currently active 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 firmly believes that Mexico possesses the extraordinary artistic talent, world-class infrastructure, stunning geographical locations, and thriving tourism sector required to compete far more effectively in the hyper-competitive global production market. The singular missing element, he argues, remains a stable policy framework that formally recognizes the deep economic, cultural, and social value inherent in film and audiovisual production.

An independent vision

Despite the steadily growing scale of its international productions and its expanding global footprint, Chavezmontes emphasizes that Piano’s core guiding principle remains rooted entirely in its unyielding conviction regarding the projects it chooses to support.

“We make films we genuinely believe in,” he concludes. “And I think that conviction is what people recognize in us: that there’s an authentic vision behind Piano, rather than a cynical one.”