Triple wins at this year’s Paris International Film Festival – for Best Narrative Feature, Best Cinematography (by Philippe Kress), and Best Editing (by Marco Perez of bicoastal Union) – affirm that “A Beautiful Curse” is as beloved in Europe as it has been in the United States. Since its world premiere at California’s Cinequest 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Genre Film, “A Beautiful Curse” has been invited to more than fifteen festivals across the US, garnering a slew of awards, including Best Editing and Best Cinematography at the RiverRun International Film Festival. “A Beautiful Curse” is the feature debut of Danish writer/director Martin Garde Abildgaard; it was produced by Rikke Katborg and Francois Chilot of Les Producers in association with Circus Alphaville, and Creative Alliance. Union’s Perez and Michael Raimondi serve as Executive Producers on the film. This international team previously collaborated on Abildgaard’s award-winning short, “Lovebirds.”
“I’m extremely happy that ‘A Beautiful Curse’ has received this amazing recognition in Paris, and I wish to thank the entire cast, crew and festival, for making it happen,” said Abildgaard. "It has been a privilege to work with the team at Union Editorial in Los Angeles, and a huge pleasure to put the story together with Marco Perez, who is so deserving of his award for Best Editing."
Filmed before the pandemic, yet oddly prescient, “A Beautiful Curse” tells the story of photographer Samuel, played by Mark Strepan, who sneaks onto an island which is under quarantine due to a mysterious phenomenon where all the inhabitants have fallen into a sleep from which they cannot wake. While there, he falls in love with the sleeping Stella, played by Olivia Vinall, as he tries to unravel the mystery of the deep sleep that has overtaken everyone. Abildgaard describes it as “a modern-day fairy tale…a tribute to life.”
“Paris International Film Festival is the first festival in Europe to which ‘A Beautiful Curse’ has been invited. To receive these three prestigious awards makes us doubly honoured and proud, as Paris is the city in which Les Producers was born,” said Chilot. “Congratulations to our cinematographer Philippe Kress, and to our editor, Marco Perez, who are both shining stars in their field.”
“I am proud of how strongly the film resonated with a diverse public, and am gratified by the European reaction to it,” Perez said. He added that “A Beautiful Curse” reflects Union's ever-expanding reach into the global film marketplace. “Seeking out unique stories told by award-winning filmmakers has proved a wonderful formula for Union’s entertainment division, and for me as an editor and partner in the company,” he said.
Perez recently cut “Edge of the World,” directed by Michael Haussman and starring John Rhys Myers. Distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films in the US and Signature in the UK, that film ranked #1 among iTunes’ new releases on its debut weekend in the US, was among the 10 most-watched movies in the US in that frame, and has been nominated for Best American Feature Film at Amsterdam's New Visions Film Festival. His recent spot credits include projects for Chevy, Samsung, North Face, and Cox Cable.
In addition to the awards mentioned above, “A Beautiful Curse” has been honored with Best Sound Design (30th Woods Hole Film Festival 2021), Best Cinematography (Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021 and Mystic Film Festival 2021), Best Production Design (Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021), and Best Actor (Loudoun Arts Film Festival 2021).
About Union
Union Editorial has offices located in Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and London, where it maintains an alliance with Marshall Street Editors. The company also develops and produces original content. Other Union companies include Hunter, which provides finishing services, vfx, graphics and mix for commercials, features and gaming. Union is presided over by Partner/Managing Director Michael Raimondi alongside Executive Producer Joe Ross and Head of Production Dani DuHadway in LA, Partner/Managing Director Caryn Maclean alongside Executive Producer Melissa Lubin in NY, Executive Producer Vicki Russell in Austin, and Logan Aries, Executive Producer of Hunter. The Union roster is comprised of Partner/Editors Jim Haygood, Einar Thorsteinsson, Jay Friedkin, Sloane Klevin, Marco Perez, Merritt Duff, Graham Turner, and Chris Huth, editors Daniel Luna, Laura Milstein, Jason Lucas, Karen Kourtessis, Kevin Ray, Nicholas Wayman-Harris, Rachael Connelly, Zach Kashkett, Andrea MacArthur, Amanda Perry, Justin “Q” Quagliata, and Rick Lawley, as well as select projects with Guicho Flores, Teddy Gersten, Tim Thornton-Allan, Matt Chesse, John Mayes, Spencer Ferszt, Paul Plew and the Marshall Street roster.
