Mystery Surrounds a Red Stain in This Delightful Film for the Francis Ford Coppola Winery

The Francis Ford Coppola winery enlisted the talents of Brazilian director Rodrigo Saavedra for a delightfully entertaining branded short film, "The Red Stain," that premiered at Sundance this week.

The 10-minute film is set in a stunningly photographed Italian town, where Billy, a young American abroad, takes his shirt to the local dry cleaner, sporting a large red stain. The dry cleaner and his wife then speculate wildly as to the cause of the stain, competing to outdo each other on fantastical stories, which we see played out on the screen. The wife is convinced there's a romantic tale behind it, while the husband has a theory involving boxing, chess, spies and more. Each of the stories becomes crazier and crazier, with aliens, vampires, threesomes and more piled into the storylines. But will we ever discover what the innocent-looking Billy, (played by Francesco di Raimundo), was really up to?

Saavedra, who directed via The Directors Bureau, lends several inventive and hilarious touches to the film, in which Coppola wine plays a small, but significant, role. Roman Coppola helped select the Brazilian director, who according to the company "captured the essence of the Coppola brand." Saavedra's recent commercial work includes spots for Nissan, Modelo, Nufferton and Scrabble.

Also at Sundance (of which the Francis Ford Coppola winery is the wine sponsor), the brand unveiled the winner of the Francis Coppola Director's Short Film Competition, a film named "Sombras" (Shadows), directed by Jon Ayon. All five short film competition finalists and The Red Stain can be viewed in their entirety at TheCoppolaClub.com.