Death Has No Master
Date:
January 9, 2023
Death Has No Master
Death Has No Master
by Jorge Thielen Armand
La Faena Films | Venezuela/Canada
Volos Films Italia | Italy
Deal Productions | Luxembourg
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Logline
After decades of living abroad, a Venezuelan woman finds her family’s plantation occupied by the former workers. In her quest for justice in a lawless environment, she unleashes her brutal side.
Synopsis
Carolina, a middle-aged woman with a taste for risk, returns to Venezuela after 30 years to sell her father’s cacao plantation, and perhaps to stay forever. Soon she discovers the plantation is occupied by its former workers, who are determined to stay at all costs. A game of manipulation ensues, where victims become as violent as their oppressors. No one will escape the death that rules this land.
Director’s Profile
Jorge Thielen Armand (Caracas, 1990) is a writer, director, and producer. He studied communication and cinema in Montreal.
His films have been presented in both art venues and film festivals such as the Venice Biennale, Sundance, IFF Rotterdam, Busan IFF, London Institute of Contemporary Arts, New York Museum of the Moving Image, the Istanbul Biennial, Visions du Réel, BAFICI, Cartagena IFF, Cairo IFF, Filmfest München, among others.
His first film La Soledad (2016) was part of the 73rd Venice Film Festival in the Biennale College section. His sophomore feature, La Fortaleza was screened in the Tiger Competition at Rotterdam IFFR and was sold to HBO Europe. His latest short, Pasta Negra (2025) premiered at Sundance.
Jorge has been granted several fellowships such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, The Rockefeller Foundation – Bellagio Center, Résidence Chalet Mauriac, Südkulturfunds 100 Artists Prize, Cine Qua Non Lab, and the Venice Biennale College. He is an alumnus of ScriptLab – Torino Film Lab, TIFF Studio, Berlinale Script Station, and BAFICI Buenos Aires Lab.
His work has been acquired by ARTE La Lucarne, MUBI, HBO Europe, Filmin, Kinoscope, AppleTV, Amazon, and other platforms. His films have had cinema releases in the UK, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Company Profile
Volos Films Italia SRL is a Rome-based production company founded by Italian–Taiwanese producer Stefano Centini, a graduate of the Italian National Film School (CSC – Lombardia).
Established in 2022, it aims to strengthen ties between Europe and Asia. The company co-produced Lav Diaz’s Essential Truths of the Lake (Locarno Competition). Recent works include I, The Song (Tallinn Best Director), Some Nights I Feel Like Walking (Tallinn Best Music), Pasta Negra (Sundance), Waking Hours (Venice Critics’ Week), and Testa o Croce (UCR 2025). In development: Hallyu (MIC Selective fund development support, Piemonte Film TV Fund), Death Has No Master (Cannes Investor Circle, Venice Financing Gap Market), and I Have to Fuck Before the World Ends (Best Pitch Award at MIA).