Review: “El Dedo” Gets a Thumbs Up

by Adam Davis, contributing blogger

For a film ostensibly about a finger, “El Dedo,” the latest release from director Sergio Teubal, certainly displays a lot of heart. (Watch trailer with English subtitles below)

The movie begins when the acting leader of a rural Argentine village, Don Hidalgo (Gabriel Goity), announces that, with the birth of the village’s 501st resident, they have officially become a town. As such, Hidalgo exclaims, they can now elect a mayor. Though Hidalgo considers himself the obvious choice, Baldomero (Martín Seefeld), the pensive older brother of local shopkeeper Florencio (Fabián Vena), is considered a prime candidate by many of the town’s residents. That is, until Baldomero shows up dead.

Florencio decides to keep his brother’s finger, the one seen tapping away so methodically in the trailer, in a jar at the front of his store as a memento. But when strange things start happening in town, not even Florencio is prepared for the effect that Baldomero’s finger will have on the townspeople and the election.

Mar del Plata Film Festival–The Most Important in South America has begun

by Rob Sykes, contributing blogger

Most famous for its fishing port and stretches of sandy beaches which attract thousands of Argentinean sun bathers every summer, for the next week Mar del Plata, on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, sees the return of an event of more high brow cultural significance. The 25^th Mar del Plata Film Festival begins on Saturday13th November, its rich and varied programme continuing until the following Sunday.

Crowds line up for the Mar del Plata film festival at the famous Ambassador Cinema.

The Festival was first held in 1954, more as a showcase of world cinema than a competitive event. It has existed in its current format since 1996, when it returned after a 26 year absence. This year will see nearly 250 films (new and old) screened over the seven days and with awards in various categories, there is certainly something more at stake than in the festival’s early days. A fact illustrated by the excellent company the festival keeps; ranked in the same class ‘A’ category as other illustrious showcases of cinema such as Cannes, San Sebastián, Berlin and Venice by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations), the only South American film festival to be bestowed with such lofty status, making it the most important on the continent.

The sandy beach of Mar del Plata is surrounded by a buzzing city famous for its cultural offerings.

Whilst opening night focus will be honed on Oscar nominated (for Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray) Director Sofia Coppola’s latest work, Somewhere. There is a great deal more on offer throughout the festival’s week long stay down by the beach. Competition categories cover Latin American long and short films (with actor/director Diego Luna’s Abel in contention in the former and Luis Carlos Uribe´s animation Go To Sleep in the latter); Argentinean long and short films (now minus Luis Ortega’s Verano Maldito as it is not considered a soley Argentinean production); works in progress; and alongside Best International Film (such as the French-English co-production of L’ilusionniste directed by Sylvain Chomet), there are awards for best Actor, Actress, screenplay and Director within the International category. As such the vanguard of world cinema, with films showing from Mexico to China, Poland to the Philippines, Georgia to Germany, will converge on Mar del Plata this week.

Shantytown Residents Film Their Own Movie

by Amelia Batho, Contributing Blogger

No make up, no set, no fake guns needed. In this movie, the slum dwellers acted, shot and scripted a movie
that reflects their own violent reality.

Far from the glamor of Palermo and the pleasing aesthetics of San Telmo architecture, in the neighborhood of Barracas lies a Buenos Aires slum, Villa 21Directed by Victor Ramos, ‘La 21, Barracas’ is the story of Villa 21, the storyline is fictional but the story it tells about daily life is very real. The film is based on the slum during the 90′s when a number of gangs were controlling the squalid streets – there was no state rule and no laws, and without police, the gangs took the law into their own hands.

In the film, two opposing gangs control different areas within the slum and are separated by the physical barrier of the Riachuelo River which further incites the territorial conflict. This conflict is part of daily life for the residents and no one bats an eye to a group of men walking down the street laden with dangerous weapons. The plot revolves around the disappearance of a local girl and what happens as a result – speculation leads to assumption which leads to a gang member sentenced to death. And of course, no war tale can be told without the accompanying love story – which in this case is unfortunately entangled into the conflict.

Sundance Winner “El Hombre de al Lado” opens in Argentina

By Tracey Chandler, contributing blogger

Winner of Best Film of Mar del Plata Film Festival 2009, World Cinema Cinematography Award for Dramatic Filmmaking premiers in Argentina.

“El hombre de al lado,” (The Man Next Door) written by Andrés Duprat and directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, is an excellent film not only because of the simple and yet exceptionally well structured plot line, but also because of the brilliantly natural performances given by leading actors Rafael Spregelburd (who plays Leonardo, an incredibly successful architect with a self-designed property that attracts visitors and fans of his work on a daily basis) and Daniel Aráoz (who plays Victor, Leonardo’s next door neighbor, or better said… “El hombre de al lado”).

The film in terms of location and structure is so simple that it would work excellently as a piece of live theatre, just as much as it does on the screen, and it is in this simplicity that “El hombre de al lado” manages to reach an unexpected and dramatic ending. (No more will be said about this…. Go and see it!)

The story follows a few months in the life of Leonardo and his “neighbor from hell,” Victor, from the moment that Victor decides to break through one of the walls in his apartment in order to create a window that looks directly into the living area of Leonardo’s house.

Leonardo and his wife complain about the window and threaten legal action from the beginning of the film to the end, but Victor, despite agreeing to filling in the hole that he has created on a number of occasions, continues to enjoy the light that the hole brings to his home and the view that it gives him of his neighbor’s house.

What is most interesting about the narrative of this film, however, is that basic stereotypes and pre-conceived notions that we all perhaps hold about who is a respectable neighbor and who is a “neighbor from hell” are manipulated and turned on their heads.

Is Victor really the one in the wrong? Is Victor really the neighbor that is causing all of the problems? Is Victor really the neighbor that you shouldn’t trust? Or is it Leonardo; the supposedly hard-working architect, with a wife and child and a well-organized life style?

“El hombre de al lado” is a spectacular Argentine flick, full of moral questions that begin to revolve around inside the audience’s heads as soon as the credits begin to scroll. For this reason Duprat and Cohn’s movie has a lot more to offer than perhaps it appears on the surface.

For only 8 pesos you can see “El hombre de al lado” at the INCAA Gaumont Cinema in Congreso every day at 2pm, 6pm and 10pm. Don’t miss out!

Link to Gaumont page: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/cartelera-cine/PeliculaCineFicha.asp?cine_id=107

First Green Film Festival Comes to Buenos Aires

by Amelia Batho, Contributing Blogger

Right now the environment is a hot topic and a major concern for many of us from all different walks of life. So why not combine your love of film with your concern for all things green and head down to the Green Film Festival taking place from the 12^th to the 16^th August at Cinemark Alto Palermo (Beruti 3399, Esquina Burnes). The aim of the festival is to showcase the best in current environmental cinema while providing interesting, high quality entertainment.

Tickets are available now from the Cinemark box office and cost $17 for one film or $150 for ten. It proves to be a diverse and thought provoking festival with ten unique, award winning films covering themes from climate change to sustainable development, and directed by a range of international Directors from the United States to Japan. A few notable films are “Food, Inc” and “The Age of Stupid.”

Check out the website for more details on showing times and film information, http://www.greenfilmfest.com.ar/index.html and have a look at this short trailer for a sneak preview of some of the fantastic cinematography on show.

And I’ll be updating you with reviews of films in the next few weeks!

Cinema and Soccer in Gaumont Cinema NOW!

Argentina may have been booted out of The World Cup 2010, but there´s still room to celebrate football in the cinematic arena thanks to a program that has been organized by the INCAA (Argentine Film Board) here in Buenos Aires.

In the Gaumont INCAA Cinema, on Avenida Rivadavia 1635, until Wednesday 7^th July 2010, a series of different feature films, documentaries and shorts are going to be shown to celebrate the world of soccer. Click here to see the full schedule.

The program developed is a real mixture in order to delight a wide range of tastes and interests. The program includes films such as El Hincha (Manuel Romero), El Crack (José Martínez Suárez) and Amando a Maradona (Javier Vázquez) to name but a few.

Soak up a little of the football spirit that seems to have been lost in the city since Saturday´s defeat through the cinema instead.

link: http://www.incaa.gov.ar/castellano/nuevo_espaciosincaa_programacion.php

Free Documentary Film Showings in Buenos Aires

By Tracey Chandler, Contributing Blogger

On Wednesday 12th May, Wednesday 19th May and Wednesday 9th June, at The Centro Cultural de la Cooperación on Avenida Corrientes 1543, 1st Floor, Sala Tuñón, is a series of FREE documentary film showings about Argentina.

The films vary in length from 5 minutes to full length features and each evening is organized so that at least two or three films are shown every session. The topics cover everything from the reign of Peron to Argentine Rock; from the history of Boca Juniors Football squad to Argentina’s female boxing champion, “La Tigresa” Marcela Acuña. There is something in this documentary cycle for everyone and The Centro Cultural de la Cooperación is an excellent venue in which to view the works.

For a full outline of the dates, keep reading. . .

INCAA (Argentine State Film Board) to Launch Video on Demand and TV Channel to Promote Argentine Films

From Variety, by Charles Newbery

BUENOS AIRES – Argentina’s state film board Incaa is preparing to launch a
video-on-demand service as soon as this year, a latest effort to help
homegrown films turn a profit as theatrical and DVD markets falter, piracy
swells and the demand for home entertainment rises.

The pay-per-view service will be for local and international fare streamed
on a dedicated site.

The filmmaker will pocket 90% of the proceeds and Incaa the rest for helping
fund Argentina’s annual production of 80 features.

In another effort, Incaa this year will launch INCAAtv, a satellite feed for
beaming free-for-view films to the country’s 10 million TV homes, the first
of its kind in Latin America.

Read the complete Story http://www.variety. com/index. asp?layout= bio&peopleID= 4025

OSCAR Winning Producer of “Secret of their Eyes” Reveals Secrets of Argentina Movie Production

Oscar Winning Producer Vanessa Ragone

We all love a little glamour (and let’s face it, often filmmaking is anything but glamorous) and the talk offered by Vanessa Ragone, had a bit of glamour when she unveiled the Oscar she won for producing “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (The Secret of Their Eyes). For a moment, all of us gathered yesterday in the Ministry of Economy felt like we were on the red carpet and whipped out our cell phones for a quick photo-op.

Vanessa pointed out a lot of differences between producing in Argentina and in Hollywood.

1) In Argentina, the director, not the producer or production company, has the right to final cut.

2) No completion bonds are available in Argentina (this is insurance that guarantees that the film will be completed no matter what or the insurance company will pay investors, in the case of the star dropping dead half way though the shoot, for example. Also, if the director does not meet the schedule, the insurance company can replace him or her and become the owner of the film). In Spanish this is called “seguro de buen fin”.

3) Ironically, it is much easier to sell Argentine films to the US and Europe than other Latin American Countries.

4) Banks won’t make loans to movies in Argentina–not one Bank wanted to participate in “The Secret of their Eyes”, even with a director, Campanella, who normally has huge box office success in Argentina and renowned actors like Franchella and Darin. Most of the financing comes from the INCAA (Argentine Film Board which is a government entity funded by tax on movie tickets), pre-sales to foreign distributors and co-productions.

Vanessa then outlined what made the Secret of their Eyes one of the biggest commercial successes in Argentina in 2009 (more than one million people saw the movie).

1) Campanella himself picked the date–the long weekend after the winter school vacation, when parents would be tired of watching children’s movies.

2) A partnership with TELEFE, one of the largest television stations, which gave them free television spots.

3) Releasing on 90 screens during the first week, unheard of for an Argentine movie.

4) A strong anti-pirated dvd campaign, involving police raids.

5) Releasing the dvd in all points of sale at the same time, and for the low price of 30 pesos (normally dvds cost 70 pesos, which is very high for the public).

Overall, the talk made me feel very hopeful about the future of Argentine cinema and happy to meet a woman who rose from a poor country family to become one of the most successful movie producers in the country. In addition, government officials that were present mentioned new economic initiatives aimed at the audiovisual industry: low interest loans and a special film studio to be built outside of the city. This industry contributes over 3% of the GDP and is growing fast.

Is Guillermo Francella Stealing “Secret of their Eyes” Oscar-Win Spotlight?

With good reason fans of Argentinean cinema are celebrating: its been more than 25 years since the industry won the best foreign language Oscar, and when “The Secret of their Eyes” (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) won last Sunday so many people were happy that a much loved film had gotten the international recognition that it deserved.

But the reaction of supporting actor Guillermo Francella has been a bit, well, over the top. For those who know nothing about Argentinean b-movies and television, Francella is the most revered comic in the country, famous for crazy skits where he fumbles his way around beautiful woman. He is also beloved throughout Latin America, and even Fidel Castro is a fan. Director Campanella made him shave off his trademark mustache and put him in a serious role (although Francella added a few funny one-liners) and took advantage of his great acting ability. The result: a great performance, kind of like Jim Carry doing Shakespeare.

Francella with his famous smile and mustache.

And after the awards ceremony, Franchella has been acting like HE won the award, while the other actors like Ricardo Darin were very clear that the movie and CAMPANELLA won the award. Francella hasn’t stopped giving press conferences and he was even greated at the airport like a returning hero, while Campanela has gone back to filming episodes of House for the TV.

A typical Francella Film.