Amalia Ulman’s sophomore feature bridged her Argentinian family’s story of unrest with an “unserious” American crew that finds themselves stuck in the middle.
The “El Planeta” director wanted to tell the story of her family, who had been affected by the springs in northern Argentina, for years and finally found that her film “Magic Farm,” which debuted at Sundance Film Festival last weekend, was the right avenue to tell it.
“It was in the back of my mind for a few years until I came up with a story and the way to bridge and create the story was through this crew–this very unserious crew that comes from New York that are all dealing with their own problems,” the writer-director told TheWrap at our Sundance Studio presented by World of Hyatt. “The real story is happening, but they’re trying to fake some stupid, clickbaity trend.”
“Magic Farm” follows an American media crew who mistakenly ends up in the wrong country while trying to profile a musician. As they collaborate with locals to create a viral trend, they discover an unfolding health crisis ripe for content.
“Amalia is a very visual artist,” one of the film’s stars Chloe Sevigny said. She told TheWrap that the director articulately laid out her vision for the film before they even started shooting. “I think the movie looks very much like what she sent in the original deck.”
Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Simon Rex, Camila del Campo and Joe Appollonia star alongside Ulman herself in this ensemble cast. Several of the stars told TheWrap that they had wanted to work with the director because of her unique eye for visual storytelling.
The “Magic Farm” director had a specific vision for her work and wanted to create the film organically. She encouraged improvisation from her actors, using the script as a jumping off point, and while acting herself in scenes, she kept her own camera running.
“I really wanted to be open to be filming all the time, so within the film I am filming all the time,” Ulman said. She added that, whenever she held a camera on set, it was shooting. “You have to be open to that magic.”
She remembered that while filming in Argentina, animals were running wild everywhere, but she encouraged it. It felt authentic to the South American city. One moment a horse on set moved his ear so that the camera could better see Sevigny’s facial expressions –”that’s just magic,” Ulman said. She even placed cameras on horses and dogs to create different perspectives to include in the film.
“Especially in film everybody wants to be a certain kind of chic so they have a level of cache,” Wolff said. “Amalia didn’t give a shit about that. It was about being original and being funny and taking something that would in other hands maybe be self-serious or an issue movie and turning it into a real biting satire.”
The film has already been acquired by Mubi for a 2025 release. “Magic Farm” was produced by Spacemaker Productions, MUBI, and REI Cine and co-financed by Spacemaker Productions, MUBI, and Tango Entertainment. Producers included Alex Hughes, Eugene Kotlyarenko and Riccardo Maddalosso of Spacemaker Productions. Robert Pattinson’s production company Icki Eneo Arlo was also among the executive producers.
“When you read the description of this movie, I promise it is nothing like what you expect,” Wolff said. “It is a completely trippy, hilarious, original film.”
