Film writer Wendy Gosselin continues her coverage of this year’s BAFICI festival with reviews of three Argentine films: El Loro y el Cisne, El Olimpo Vacío, and Antonio Gil. Click the titles of each for more information about future showings and tickets.

El loro y el cisne (photo: BAFICI)

Right from the start, Moguillansky’s new moview leaves us whirling like the dancers on screen: what kind of film is this, exactly? A film within a film? A romantic comedy? Or Swan Lake remade with an older, pregnant Odette and a brooding Prince Siegfried? The film’s ostensible hero is El Loro, the quiet soundman for a documentary film crew who is wallowing in a worn-out relationship. He not only plays a soundman — he also is the soundman, perpetually gripping a big fuzzy microphone, even when scenes turn emotional. The crew has been hired to shoot dance troupes in Argentina — “It’s for Chicago, Miami…USA!” the director explains to a perplexed ballet man. The scenes where the documentary team films the dance troupes are truly delightful – the film guys poke each other and whisper about the dancers while the dancers study old recordings on a television screen and then assiduously replicate the steps. This humour is particularly Argentine, the passion for one’s art combined with the check-out-her-ass attitude. The search for new manifestations of dance soon leads the film crew to the Krapp group. This makeshift bunch does contemporary things indeed — “It’s like being an atheist—only with yourself,” explains Luciana, our swan, who soon fall for our soundman. So it’s a love story! Up until this point, the film is quirky, entertaining and solid — and then the documentary film ends and the real film slips out of control. Just as El Loro decides he’s in love, Lu disappears. When she returns, she’s pregnant. Undaunted, El Loro declares his love and Luciana runs off again. We return to the initial, exciting question that the film posed: what kind of film is this? Only as it creeps slowly towards the two-hour mark, it becomes apparent that not even Moguillansky himself knows the answer.

El Olimpo Vacío (Pablo Racioppi/Carolina Azzi)

This political documentary introduces us to writer and philosopher Juan José Sebreli and his book ‘Comediantes y mártires’, where he takes on four of Argentina’s most beloved icons: Gardel, Evita, el Che and Maradona. According to Sebreli, the mystique of each of these figures was created by a group with its own particular interest in transforming person into legend. Sebreli’s theory doesn’t sit well with many — “I learned to love the booing,” he clarifies early on — and the directors do an extraordinary job of countering Sebreli’s arguments with those of experts in their respective fields (tango historian José Gobello, Peronist politican Antonio Cafiero, historian Osvaldo Bayer and sports broadcaster Víctor Hugo Morales). The film also makes excellent use of archive material to present each of the four icons—news casts, photographs, radio broadcasts and the repetition ad infinitum of their images on everything from city walls to necklaces. The four segments (one for each icon) are informative and dotted with scenes of Sebreli meeting with friends, doing interviews and reiterating his points on camera.

A fifth section presents the icons that Argentina chose to represent the nation when invited to be the guest country at the 2010 Frankfurt Book Fair: coincidentally (or otherwise), President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner initially opted for the same four figures that Sebreli wrestles with in his book. The film continues with yet another section on unanimity in which Sebreli argues that the dangerous consent forged during the ’78 World Cup is what paved the way for the Malvinas War in 1982. Although these last two segments are also filled with fascinating facts and Sebreli’s honed insight, the thread of the documentary narrative starts to run thin. Nevertheless, this film is a must for anyone with a visceral relationship to Argentina.

Antonio Gil (photo: BAFICI)

According to some, he was a recruit who refused to fight; for others, he was a common thief, a local Robin Hood, a case of mistaken identity. This documentary is about “El Gauchito” Gil, one of the most colourful of Argentina’s popular saints. Like his counterparts across Latin America, El Gauchito is a figure who is not officially recognised by the Catholic Church, but to whom miracles are attributed. Gil’s sanctuary is located at the spot where he was murdered in the town of Mercedes, Corrientes. On 8th January, the day commemorating his death, followers wait hours in line for the chance to approach his altar, light a candle, ask for a miracle or thank him for fulfilling their request. This is fertile terrain for documentary filmmaking and a slow tracking shot reveals the endless line of Gauchito followers, some dressed in red, others clutching statues of their protector. There are splendid shots of the men and women transporting the red cross to the sanctuary on horseback, trotting towards camera; their grave, earnest faces hail from times past. Dansker, however, overuses the tracking shot, lingering for too long on the food stands, campsites and makeshift constructions on the garbage-strewn lands around the sanctuary. The people constantly stopping to wave and ham it up for the camera also grows tiring. Danker’s informants provide voiceovers to these images, offering their personalised accounts of ‘The Gaucho’s “true story.” The stories vary, but all concur that he suffered a bloody, merciless death. The voices of the people who worship ‘The Gaucho’ are valid sources, but Dansker misses the mark by never showing her informants onscreen. Thus, although Antonio Gil provides some insight into popular practices of worship, it would have benefited from a more dynamic, compelling film narrative.

Forty years ago Argentina’s movie industry was muzzled by a paranoid military junta, forcing some of the most promising film makers of a generation underground or into exile. Even when democracy returned to the country in the 1980s, giving rise to some highly acclaimed films like ‘La historia official’, a lack of demand for foreign language films and the apparent refusal of much of the English-speaking world to read subtitles prevented them from gaining mainstream traction outside of Latin America.

Nicolás Carreras’ ‘El camino del vino’

Fast-forward to Spring 2013 and not only is London hosting its second Argentine Film Festival (AFF), but tickets are selling out faster than freshly-baked churros on a feriado. The programme features the brightest talent to emerge from Argentina’s film studios in the past few years with titles including Hernán Belón’s documentary ‘Sofia cumple 100 años’ and Nicolás Carreras’ ‘El camino del vino’.

“I knew that there were some Argentine films being seen in London, but I thought given the quality and amount being produced right now that it would be great to give people an chance to see more of them,” says festival founder Sofia Serbin de Skalon, speaking in London ahead of the event. “I wanted audiences to be able to gain a real insight into the country, something that went beyond the traditional images of tango and so on.”

Running at the same time as indie film festival BACIFI in Buenos Aires, AFF is aimed at pulling Argentine films into the mainstream and digging deeper than well-worn images of Malbec and Maradona most associated with the country.

De Skalon says she had no idea how successful the festival would prove to be when she set out, but with this year’s event now spun across three cinemas in Brixton, the West End, and Hackney, it looks like the gamble has paid off. So how did Argentine cinema finally gain currency outside of Latin America?

El Secreto de sus ojos took the world by storm.

Tipping Point: El Secreto de Sus Ojos

Latin American films have gradually been gaining traction over the past few years, with high-profile movies such a Walter Salles’ ‘Motorcycle Diaries’ and Fernando Meirelles’ ‘City of God’ helping pave the way for Spanish language movies in non-Spanish speaking countries.

But many see the Oscar win for ‘El secreto de sus ojos’ (The Secret in their Eyes) in 2010 as the real turning point in Argentine cinema, as Hollywood shone the international spotlight on the country’s rich film heritage. Though by no means the country’s first big prize – Argentina has claimed 14 Goyas for Spanish Language Films to date including Pablo Trapero’s ‘Mundo grúa’ in 1999, and became the first Latin American country to win an academy award with best foreign title for ‘La historia official’ in 1985 – it was the surprise box office popularity of ‘El secreto’ outside Spanish-speaking regions that proved a decisive moment for the industry in terms of winning over international audiences.

“Directors like Pablo Trapero and Lucrecia Martel were already making waves on the international festival circuit, says de Skalon, “but ‘El secreto’ was a commercial success and got Argentine cinema attention with mainstream audiences.”

Uptake has been further boosted by growing demand for foreign-language films and TV content generally in countries like the UK over the past few years; highlighted by a glut of programmes emerging from the continent, including Denmark’s ‘The Killing’, and ‘The Bridge’ and France’s ‘Spiral’ – which all smashed expectations and pulled in huge TV audiences on the BBC despite being sub-titled.

“People are connecting with foreign films right now because they´re looking for real stories, films that talk to them in some way,” says de Skalon. “Argentine cinema, like Argentine society itself, is so diverse with so many influences that there is a lot of scope for telling a range of different stories.”

New Faces of Argentine Cinema

AFF is designed to be a spring board to the film makers of the future, giving them a platform on which to showcase their work and mature their work. The festival is featuring a string of short films from up-and-coming directors designed to open a window to the creativity coming out of its studios at the moment.

“The main thing is the emergence of a new group of directors, of which Pablo Trapero is perhaps the best known outside Argentina – who added a new dimension to Argentine film, telling stories of the realities of everyday life and finding new and innovative ways to do so, often with very limited resources,” says de Skalon.

The shorts include ‘Noelia’, a 15 minute film from Maria Alché about a girl turned out of her home, who walks the streets of Buenos Aires building an imaginary cityscape around her. Another is ‘Yeguas y cotorras’ from Natalia Garagiola – slightly longer at 28 minutes – painting a picture of the young Argentine aristocracy, featuring a young woman meeting her best friends at her parents’ country pile the night before her wedding. ‘Pude ver un puma’ is from Teddy Williams, telling the story of young friends playing on the rooftops of the city, who are suddenly plunged into the heart of the earth.

So who else should we be looking out for? “There’s so many!” says Professor Maria Delgado, who helped programme AFF. “Delfina Castagnino, Gonzalo Tobal, Gustavo Taretto – who won audiences over at the festival last year with his debut feature ‘Medianeras’.

The comedy ‘El hombre de al lado” (The man next door).

“This year we have one of his earlier shorts in the festival but we have another remarkable debut by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat in the black comedy ‘El hombre de al lado’ (The Man Next Door). And our closing night film is Dario Nardi’s exquisite ‘Las mariposas de Sadourni’ (Sadourni’s Butterflies). He’s a name to watch!”

El Cine Argentino

The festival is designed to highlight the broad sweep of Argentine cinema, which has its roots in 19th century silent film and has chronicled the more than a century of its heartache and troubles on the big screen, as well as holding a lens up to the everyday life of its people.

“What distinguishes Argentine cinema? Its ingenuity and craftsmanship,” says Delgado. “Argentine cinema knows how to make a little money go a long way. And its actors: at times their on-screen conversations are just exhilarating. The cross-fertilisation between stage and screen in Buenos Aires has also been seen in the quality of the work as actors, writers and directors move between stage and screen.

“We hope that it will give audiences an opportunity to see the breadth of work coming from Argentina – everything from a Jewish comedy to a stylish thriller,” concludes Delgado. “It will feature established names and new talent so we hope that it will offer the industry and film critics in the UK a chance to engage with a broader range of work beyond the established names.”

The Argentine Film Festival in London runs from 17th-21st April. Visit the website for more information.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the BAFICI catalogue and not sure where to start? Here’s a list of ten films that you may still be in time to get tickets for — but move quickly, as most of the films on this list are sure to sell out!

Berberian Sound Studio (courtesy of BAFICI)

Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland). At an Italian sound studio in the 1970s, the timid, unimposing sound engineer Gilderoy has just arrived to do the sound for a horror film. Strickland pays homage to the low-budget giallo horror flicks so popular in Italy in the 1970s in this wacky film where the line between life and art begins to blur.

O som au redor (Kleber Mendonça Filho). There is one thing that the well-to-do across Latin America share: a constant sense of danger, the threat of being robbed or violated. This is seemingly the focus of this film, which follows two security guards working in an affluent neighborhood in Recife, Brazil. The sounds are as constant as the threats — tapping, barking, the scratching of metal, water running — in an atmosphere wrought with paranoia.

El loro y el cisne (courtesy of BAFICI)

El Loro y El Cisne (Alejo Moguillansky). This young Argentina director is back at BAFICI after his 2009 film Castro won the best film award in the Argentine competition. This fictional film is about the making of a documentary about a dance troupe, exploring work, creativity and love. Another must-see in this year’s Argentine competition.

Centro Histórico (Aki Kaurismäki, Pedro Costa, Victor Erice, Manoel de Oliveira). The Portuguese city of Guimaraes commissioned four directors to make this film to celebrate its selection as a European Culture Capital. These four contemporary filmmakers engage the city in various ways, telling the story of a man working in a bar, a textile factor that has closed, tourists before an imposing bronze statue of Portugal’s first king, and the 1974 revolution.

Los Posibles (Santiago Mitre, Juan Onofri Barbato). This is Santiago Mitre’s second film after his stunning entry in Argentine cinema with ‘El Estudiante’, a sort of political thriller based on the dirty dealings of student politics at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Los Posibles is a film adaption of the dance show created by choreographer Juan Onofri Barbato.

Ma Belle Gosse (Shalimar Preuss). In this impressive film debut by Shalimar Preuss, a teenage girl at the beach for a family vacation hides a secret: she has an epistolary relationship with a prison inmate. The film took the French film award at the Belfort International Film Festival in 2012 and promises to be a favorite at this year’s festival.

Call Girl (courtesy of BAFICI)

Call Girl (Mikael Marcimain). Based on a political scandal that occurred in Sweden in the 1970s, this film tells the story of two adolescents living in a home for girls who are recruited as prostitutes. As it progresses, they work their way up to sleeping with some of the top Swedish politicians. Macrimain offers a faithful recreation of the 1970s with its disco music, tacky colours, and general free-for-all.

The Great North Korean Picture Show (Lynn Lee, James Leong). This film is on Artistic Director Marcelo Panozzo’s list of the top ten films to see at BAFICI 2013. It offers an inside look at the only film school of North Korea, where aspiring filmmakers learn not only technique but also how to shape the national imaginary. A unique look at the creation and perpetuation of propaganda.

Viola (courtesy of BAFICI)

Viola (Matías Piñeiro). Tickets are going fast for this film by yet another young Argentine director, Matías Piñeiro, who won an award at last year’s Buenos Aires Lab. Viola is a delivery girl who brings pirated DVDs from Metropolis, the company she has started with her boyfriend. The film follows her down the streets of Buenos Aires and leads us into Viola‘s world.

Hahaha (or any of the fifteen films by Hong Sang Soo). This BAFICI offers a retrospective of all fifteen films by the magnificent Korean director whose off-kilter films explore the awkward way we communicate with friends, lovers, strangers, the people we meet. The retrospective goes from the first film that made a name for Sang Soo in film festivals worldwide, ‘The Day a Pig Fell into a Well’, to his latest film, ‘Nobody’s Daughter Haewon’.

Just a reminder, tickets are on sale either online (with a credit card) at www.buenosaires.gob.ar/festivales, at the Village Recoleta Mall (Vicente López and Junín, 4th floor, every day from 10AM to 8PM) or at Casa de la Culture (Av. de Mayo 575, Monday through Friday from 10AM-8PM). Check back here at the Independent for film reviews once the festival kicks off!

Leandro Listorti has what many would consider a dream job: he is one of the five members of the programming team for the BAFICI film festival. Wendy Gosselin caught up with him at the launch event for this year’s festival to discuss how he got one of the coveted programmer posts, how the film selection process works, and what not to miss in this year’s festival.

Leandro Listorti (Photo by Simon Guerra)

Tell me how you got into this—how you became a BAFICI programmer?

My first job was working as a film projector operator. So when I first started working for BAFICI, I was actually doing the technical work—making sure the copies were good to go, going over the film formats, etc. And later, when Fernando Martín Peña became the Artistic Director of the festival at the end of 2004, he put together a team and asked me to be a part of it. Then Sergio Wolff replaced Peña and this year, Marcelo Panozzo has replaced Wolff, and I’ve been a programmer the whole time.

How did you become a film projector operator? Did you study film?

Yes, I studied film and I also make film—experimental films, documentary films. As a film projector operator, well, I was young, looking for work, and I loved film. So I took a class, I got a credential, and I started working.

There is something very romantic about being a film projector operator and seeing the screen from that little box way up high… Do operators actually watch the movies from the projection booth?

Well, I worked in all sorts of venues, from shopping malls to the MALBA. At MALBA, there’s only one projector so you can actually sit down and watch the film, but at the malls, there can be as many as eight. Now, the mall’s projection system runs pretty much on its own, but things can go wrong, so you have to be on top of things. In the malls, you see movies in bits and pieces, in fragments, but luckily I never stopped loving film. I watched whenever I could.

What about the film formats? Is everything digital now?

When I first started working as a film projector operator, almost all the films were either in 16mm or 35mm. And now more than half are digital. Very few are still actually film. However, since BAFICI does a lot of retrospectives and shows a lot of old flicks, there are a good number of actual films shown in the festival—I mean, films shot on 16 or 35 mm. This year, for example, there’s the retrospective on Argentine director Adolfo Aristarain, whose films were all originally shot and screened in 35mm. There’s also the films in the Austrian Avant-Garde section, a very special section that includes ten programmes of experimental Austrian films dating back to the 1960s, many of which were also shot on 16mm. So because of the nature of this festival, there are always a lot of actual films being shown. But in terms of the films that are being produced nowadays, 80 or 90% are digital. So BAFICI has also been forced to adapt.

When did the work begin for this year’s BAFICI?

Practically as soon as last year’s BAFICI ended. As soon as the festival ends each year, we take a few days off and then we’re back at it. As a matter of fact, we are sort of already working on next year’s festival—considering things that we were not able to include this year due to time or space constraints. So Cannes is in May, and that’s when we start working on next year’s festival. Another strong point of the BAFICI is Argentine film, and the work in that area happens year-round. We are in touch with producers, directors and even actors to find out what is being produced, who received funding for their film, etc. That work is continuous. We are always looking into it.

Leandro Listorti (Photo by Simon Guerra)

Interesting you mention that, because BAFICI is actually renowned for showcasing Argentine film, isn’t it?

Yes, we particularly emphasise Latin American film and above all, Argentine film. Many people in fact come to BAFICI to see the Argentine films in the festival and for this reason, Argentine directors vie to get their films included in the programme. This year, to celebrate BAFICI’s 15th anniversary, we asked the local branch of FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics) to select 15 contemporary Argentine films by different directors to include in the festival, and these have been included in their own section. It’s a great chance to see some recent “classics” like Mundo Grúa by Pablo Trapero.

Tell me how a film gets chosen for the festival.

There are many ways a film can be selected for the festival. In terms of Argentine film, we often find out about a film that is being made, keep track of production, and then include it in the programming. Then there are films that we like from other festivals and decide to invite for screening at BAFICI. And then, of course, there are the films that get sent to us. After fifteen years, BAFICI has become a festival that attracts filmmakers from all over the world, so we receive films year round, especially in summer here, when the festival is approaching. So we work the most when everyone else is on vacation.

And you also receive an overwhelming number of short films, is that correct? Marcelo Panozzo mentioned having received around 600 short films.

Yes, that’s correct, which is why for several years now, we only accept short films by Argentine directors. The reason is that it would be too much to open it up to international filmmakers—we simply wouldn’t be able to handle the quantity. This year was especially prolific in terms of shorts. We watched 560 short films. It was a lot of work.

So a short films comes in and you get assigned to watch it. Then what happens? What’s the next step?

In terms of Argentine productions, all of the programmers try to watch all the films. So I see the film, I take some notes, and then I send it to the other programmers so they can see it. Usually by June, we are having regular meetings to swap materials and discuss what we’ve seen. As the festival approaches, we are in touch via email and send each other material on Google docs to keep everyone informed of what’s going on and to keep the films circulating. And everyone takes a stance on what they would like to see in the festival. That’s how it works in a nutshell. A lot of talking, a lot of debate.

And then who makes the final decision?

All of us work together. There is a lot of arguing, of course, but eventually we reach an agreement. There are five of us working on this, four programmers—Violeta Bava, Javier Porta Fouz, Fran Gayo and I—plus Artistic Director Marcelo Panozzo. All of us have experience writing, directing or producing film. Towards the end of the year, we start stopping by each other’s houses to drop off material. There is a lot of work that takes place outside the office. Then by February, March, we have to do the catalogue, the schedule. It’s a 24-hour-a-day job for a while. Then after months of this reclusive work of watching movies by yourself, the festival comes and you’re talking with all these people, meeting the directors!

Any films you would especially recommend this BAFICI?

I really recommend the Austrian Avant-Garde Section. It’s exactly the kind of experimental cinema I enjoy the most, and it’s rare to be able to see it in theaters, on the big screen. There is another programme, Britannia B Side, which includes films produced by the British agency for the arts, Lux. These are mainly documentary films and there are some real gems in the different programmes. Another section to watch is avant-garde and genre—there are many great films in that section as well. There is a lot to see.

Just one last question—do you ever walk out on a film?

I almost never get up and actually leave the theater. I generally stick around to see if a bad film has some redeeming value. When I do choose to leave the theater, it’s usually at a film festival, just because there is a chance that you got stuck seeing the wrong film and you may be missing a masterpiece.

BAFICI 2013 kicks off this Wednesday, April 10th. Stay tuned to the Independent for tips on what to see and do at this year’s festival!

The Buenos Aires Film Festival set to open on Wednesday, April 10th.

Put away that box of popcorn and get ready for some serious cinema: it’s almost time for the 15th edition of BAFICI, the annual Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival that has become one of the most exciting events on the city’s cultural calendar.

The curtain is set to open on BAFICI on Wednesday 10th April. With a selection of more than 400 feature films and shorts, this year’s festival offers an exciting line-up of premier films, retrospectives, discussions on film and music programs.

There are many new and exciting things brewing for this year’s BAFICI. The first and perhaps most important change is the festival’s move “uptown” from the Abasto Shopping Centre to the Village Recoleta Mall. Wherever you live in the city, however, there will likely be some BAFICI events nearby —as with previous editions, films will be shown across the city at venues like Arte Multiplex Belgrano, Malba Cine, Teatro San Martín, and even the Planetario, where several trippy films are projected 360º on the planetarium dome (get these tickets in advance -they are sure to sell out quickly)!

This year, the festival also has a new artistic director, film critic Marcelo Panozzo, who has already begun to make his mark on the event. In a move to democratise the opening night’s film —’No’, directed by Pablo Larrain— it will be screened not only at the traditional event for festival insiders but also at a free open-air showing at the Parque Centenario ampitheater (7.30pm, 2nd April). The choice of this Chilean film (which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year) was no coincidence, since BAFICI has decided to invite Chile as ‘guest country’, another new feature of this year’s festival. Chilean films are featured in the official competition and the ‘Panorama’ section, and two Chilean directors have also been chosen for retrospectives -documentary filmmaker Ignacio Agüero and genre director Ernesto Díaz Espinosa, whose fast-paced action films are populated with bounty hunters and real-life superheroes.

And speaking of the ‘Retrospective’ session, this year marks the first edition of BAFICI that will include an Argentine director, Adolfo Aristarain, among those chosen for a long look at their filming career. Another in the ‘Retrospective’ spotlight is Brazilian filmmaker Júlio Bressane. Unlike 1960s Cinema Nôvo directors like Glauber Rocha, whose works pursued an urgent social agenda, Bressane opted for more radical, experimental films that came to be known as ‘udigrudi‘, or ‘Cinema Marginal‘. Korean director Hong Sangsoo has also been selected for a retrospective of his whimsical films and will be in Buenos Aires for the festival to present his latest, ‘Nobody’s Daughter Haewon’, which recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.

The ‘Focus’ section for this year’s festival looks promising as well, with a spot reserved for ‘Austrian Avant-Garde’ filmmaking. This is a stunning selection of short Austrian films that date from 1955 to 2010, covering a plethora of genres and filmmaking techniques. Spanish director Lois Patiño is also included in this year’s ‘Focus’ section, with several shorts that have been shown as frequently in museums as they have at international film festivals. The documentaries of Erich Langjahr, another director included in the ‘Focus’ section, offer quiet and thoughtful views of life in and around the Swiss Alps. Contemporary British short films are included in ‘Britannia B Side’, ‘Lux’ as well as ‘Filmmakers of Our Times’, a French TV series that portrays contemporary filmmakers such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Lewis, and Jean Vigo.

BAFICI Programmer Lisandro Listorti (right) (photo by Simon Guerra)

The traditional BAFICI section ‘Cinema of the Future’ has been replaced this year by ‘Avant-Garde and Genre’, a section that presents a scope of films ranging from radical, experimental pieces that are often shown only at museums to genre films that were classically relegated to grindhouses and late-night showings. Some other classic BAFICI sections are still on the agenda, including ‘Little BAFICI’ (‘Baficito‘), with films for kids of all ages, free open-air screenings at Parque Centario, works-in-progress from the Buenos Aires Lab (BAL) -which supports film production in Latin America-, round tables, and other events.

Finally, as part of BAFICI’s 15th anniversary, the local branch of the International Federation of Film Critics was asked to choose 15 contemporary films to include in a special section dedicated to Argentine films. This is a great chance to see some of the very best in Argentine film from the past decade, including ‘El Estudiante‘ by director Santiago Mitre, ‘Silvia Prieto‘ by Martín Rejtman, and Pablo Trapero’s first film, ‘Mundo Grúa’. This year, BAFICI organisers honoured Trapero by asking him to film all three of the BAFICI institutional shorts: the result was ‘Mar’, ‘Cielo’, and ‘Tierra’, which will be shown alternately before each of the festival’s films.

The Argentina Independent will be covering the festival, so check back for our exclusive interview with BAFICI programmer Leandro Listorti and our favorite picks for the festival. In the meantime, you can visit the official BAFICI website (available in a full English language version), the Village Recoleta Mall (Vicente López and Junín, 4th floor, every day 10am-8pm), or Casa de la Cultura (Av. de Mayo 575, Monday through Friday 10am-8pm) for more information.

Adults and children enjoy the animation festival. (Photo courtesy of BAFICI)

The first edition of BAFICI Animado, a downsized version of the regular Buenos Aires film festival that features exclusively animated films, came to a close last week. The four-day festival included several premier screenings of well-known animators, a retrospective of the history of Argentine animated films, several award-winning foreign movies and even a chance to get an insider’s peak at a short excerpt of Metegol, the much anticipated 3-D film directed by celebrated Argentine filmmaker Juan José Campanella. Below is a brief overview of some of the most outstanding and outlandish shorts, feature-length films and filmmakers included in the latest festival and featuring on the busy Buenos Aires cultural agenda:

Argentine animation

One of the most exciting programs in the festival was undoubtedly ‘Animación Clásica Argentina’. Although a lot of early Argentine animation seems to be mimicking Disney productions, there are some notable exceptions, like the short animated film ‘La Caza del Puma’. In this film, the wild feline is an allegory for the indigenous people of Argentina which is tricked into drunkenness by the criollo’s horse; the criollo trims its fingernails and ties it up to parade it behind him. “The puma won’t bother anyone ever again,” marks the happy ending of this rarity in national cinema.

Moving forward in history, the Homenaje Luis Bras offered a retrospective of this radical Rosario native, including Bongo Rock, a film which Bras ”animated” by using a phonograph needle to scratch his stick figures onto the film frame by frame. That’s one way to make your mark on film history!

An olive has fun in the kitchen in the Los Autores (Photo courtesy of BAFICI)

In terms of what Argentine animators have been doing nowadays, the section ‘Los Autores’ included some highly humorous shorts based on the characters of the cartoonist Liniers, including one about the adventures of an olive. A new 3-D animated film by Esteban Echeverría, ‘La Máquina que Hace Estrellas’, also premiered during the festival—and quickly sold out.

Finally, viewers were invited for a sneak peak at the upcoming and much awaited Metegol. Based on a story by Fontanarrosa, it is about a foosball player who believes he is actually a football star. Although this is a little reminiscent of the plot line of one of the most beloved Pixar films, it promises its own local flair at the very least. In any case, this was only an advance, as Metegol will not reach theaters until sometime next year.

International animation

One exciting foreign film included in the festival was Arriety, a feature-length production by the mythic Japanese studio Ghibli and based on the beloved children’s story ‘The Borrowers’. This film has all the trappings of any Miyazaki film — friendly little insects scattering about, big luscious drops of tea or rain — but it also presents the viewer with an extremely pleasurable change in perspective as we view the “real world” from the eyes of the tiny Borrowers. A needle can be wielded as a dangerous sword and a food jar can become a glass prison. If you didn’t get a chance to see it during the festival, rest assured that most of Miyazaki’s creations make their way onto the big screen in Argentina and the Spanish language dubs fit strangely well on these timeless creations.

In terms of the animated short films for adults, if you didn’t get a chance to see the Mundo Exterior or Basuritas program, a lot of the shorts and others by the same filmmakers can be found on youtube. Mundo Exterior included the ‘Wonder Hospital, a sensual but terrifying take on hospitals and plastic surgery, a world of warped mirrors and ominous surgeons in old 3-D glasses.

As for the Basuritas program, it is all about that morbid fascination with twisting the usual connection between animated films and their usually innocent topics. Here the animated medium is used to explore the outlandish and sordid: there is a wave of dismembered bodies, zombies, drunken creatures, 1980s horror and even edible tampons in what one of the films warns to be “content offensive to some viewers.”

Animator Bill Plympton interacts with one of his creations. (Photo courtesy of BAFICI)

Another renowned animator featured in the festival was Bill Plympton, in a program that includes several of his farcical but often chilling shorts along with an entertaining documentary (I suspect partly “mockumentary”), where a supposed “film critic” declares on screen, “I love Disney. You know, Cinderella, Lady in the Tramp… Those are beautiful Films. Plympton does this sex and violence… nobody wants to see that!”

For those looking for that Disney side to animation, the Cortos BAFICITO program included several amusing shorts which met with the oohs and ahs of the children present, along with a few feature-length films like ‘Freddy Frogface’, which had won the public’s award at the BAFICITO in April of this year.

Finally, the festival came to an end on Sunday with the screening of the film Ted, directed by Seth MacFarlane. In this oddball buddy film, an animated teddy bear takes the place of the “buddy” who is always butting his way into the relationship between his best friend John (Mark Wahlberg) and his girlfriend (Mila Kunis). If you missed it at the festival, don’t worry, it seems highly likely that this kind of commercial Hollywood film will find its way into local theaters sometime this year.

All in all, the BAFICI Animado succeeded in getting cinema onto the usual winter holiday agenda and also expanded BAFICI beyond its sole appearance in April each year. In addition, the festival marked the debut of Marcelo Panozzo as the new Artistic Director of BAFICI, in what was certainly an auspicious start. If the regular BAFICI is any indication, we can only hope that BAFICI Animado will also become a classic annual event.

Due to the enormous success of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (BAFICI), the Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires has decided to add a new winter version of the festival that features animated films. This mini-festival, which starts this week, is divided into two sections, BAFICI and BAFICITO—the first is geared to adult audiences and the second, to young viewers. Altogether, nine feature-length films and seven programs of several short films will be shown at the two new theatres of the Centro Cultural San Martín (corner of Paraná and Sarmiento).

Arrugas (Wrinkles) a Spanish movie about Alzheimer’s disease which took the Goya award for the best animated film.

For adults, the BAFICI section offers a range of animated options, including the Argentine premier of ‘Arrugas’ (Wrinkles), a Spanish movie about Alzheimer’s disease which took the Goya award for the best animated film. Others not to be missed include ‘Crulic—The Path to Beyond’, a Romanian-Polish animated biography of a Romanian dissident who died during a hunger strike at a Polish prison; ‘Plymptoons!’ by Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton; and a newly restored version of a classic animated short film from 1914 by comic strip master Winsor McCay. In the short film programs, keep an eye out for The External World by David O’Reilly and ‘Los Autores’ (The Authors) by Liniers, the Argentine creator of the Macanudo series.

Younger film lovers will also be delighted by the options in this new festival, which include ‘La máquina que hace estrellas’ (The Star Making Machine), a 3-D animated Argentine film by Esteban Echeverría, and the exclusive screening of ‘Arriety’, the latest feature-length film from the mythic Ghibli studio based on the classic story of ‘The Borrowers’.

Argentine Animated Film – History and Future

Few people know that the first feature-length animated movie in film history was made in Argentina. ‘El Apóstol’ (also known as ‘La Carmen Criolla’) was a political satire depicting President Hipólito Irigoyen that was released in Argentine cinemas in 1917 to great acclaim. “The film is magnificent,” said the review in the newspaper Critica, “and demonstrates the wonderful progress our national cinema has made.”

Early Argentine Animation

The film was directed by an Italian immigrant, Quirino Cristiani, who went on to release the world’s second feature-length animated film, ‘Sin Dejar Rastros’ (Without a Trace) a year later. Although there are no remaining copies of either of these two films, one of Cristiani’s short films, ‘El Mono Relojero’ (The Monkey Watchmaker) is included in the ‘Argentine Classic Animation – ¡ACÁ!’ of this week’s festival.

During Walt Disney’s goodwill tour of South America, he sought out Cristiani to discuss a possible collaboration. Cristiani recommended that he meet with Molina Campos, whose humorous gaucho figures would later be the basis for the characters in the 1942 Disney film ‘Saludos Amigos’. That same year, Argentine filmmaker Dante Quinterno presented the first Argentine animated short film in color, ‘¡Upa en Apuros!’ (Upa in Trouble!) with the popular comic strip character Patoruzú, another film that will be screened in this year’s festival. A short time later, and owed in part to the difficulty in importing film during the Second World War, the animated film industry in Argentina came to a standstill. This hiatus extended until the 1960s, years of experimentation for animators such as Luis Bras and claymation/stop motion master Rodolfo Pastor.

As the years went by, local comic strip characters became the focus of animated Argentine films, which turned somewhat more traditionalist in a search for stories that young Argentine audiences could identify with. In 1972, the beloved García Ferré character Anteojito got his own movie, ‘Anteojito y Antifaz: Mil Intentos y Un Invento’ (Anteojito and Antifaz, A Thousand Attempts and One Invention). Other renowned local characters would follow in the years to come, including Mafalda (1982), María Elena Walsh’s renowned turtle Manuelita (1999), Patoruzito (2004), Isidoro (2007) and Gaturro (in 3-D, 2010). Another more “adult” character that made his way into a movie is Boogie el Aceitoso, a Roberto Fontanarrosa character.

In recent years, Argentine animation has spread beyond comic strip characters. The feature-length ‘Cóndor Crux’, released in 2000, was a science fiction adventure and one of the first local productions to use computer animation and well-known Argentine actors on voices. In 2007, Fierro offered an animated version of the powerful José Hernández story using the brilliant drawings of Roberto Fontanarrosa. And last year, a female director, María Seone told the story of Eva Perón in an animated version, ‘Eva de la Argentina’. Finally, Academy Award winning director Juan José Campanella is working on his first animated film – Metegol – which BAFICITO goers can get a glimpse of during the winter festival (there is a screening of about 15 minutes of the highly anticipated film, which will not be released until June 2013).

Metegol by Academy Award winning director Juan José Campanella.

New short films by other young Argentine filmmakers (including Esteban Sapir, Gabriel Nicoli, Antonio Balseiro and Gabino Calónico) are also included in this week’s festival. Clearly, for a glimpse of the past as well as what’s to come in Argentine animation, the BAFICITO Animado is a good place to start.

Special thanks to Demián Aiello of cinenacional.com for his assistance in putting together this brief summary of Argentine animation.

The 2012 BAFICI awards were handed out in Centro Cultural Recoleta (Photo: BAFICI 2012)

The enthusiasm for alternative cinema continues to grow, if the Buenos Aires Film Festival BAFICI is any indication. From 11th-22nd April, approximately 350,000 people participated in the screenings, round tables, outdoor screenings, book presentations and other events. Eleven different locations were employed this year, including the Planetarium (for fulldome screenings), two new theatres at the Centro Cultural San Martín, and the Parque Centenario Amphitheatre.

The BAFICI is not only an important event for porteños: around 2,000 guests from other parts of Argentina and abroad flocked to Buenos Aires for the event, including directors, producers, jury members, musicians, actors, critics and other figures from film industries. Some of the well-known foreigners included filmmakers Oskar Alegría and Pilar López Ayala (Spain), Fernand Melgar (Switzerland), Gérard Courant and Valérie Massadian (France), Josh Siegel and Jim Finn (USA), Miguel Gomes and Joao Canijo (Portugal), and Grant Gee (UK).

At a total of 1,012 screenings during the ten days of the festival, 449 films from all six continents were shown. Once again, Argentine films played an important role in the festival, with 111 participating in the different sections. There were several sections that have come to be favourites, including Little BAFICI for children and the young at heart; Careers, which highlights certain filmmakers and takes a look at a selection of their films; Music, with both fiction and documentaries on bands and music; and Cinema of the Future, which includes radical new forms of filmmaking. However, several new sections met with great success at this year’s edition, including Law of Desire, where sex takes a starring role; Pagan Visions, which plays on themes related to the pagan and the sacred; Adolescences, about the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood; Cinema and Architecture, which explores building and design; Family Album, with family portraits of all sorts, and Trances, which is about recreational drugs and their circulation.

In terms of activities for filmmakers, BAFICI continues to offers the Laboratory, where those who are just starting a project for a movie can meet and discuss production with people from the industry. For filmmakers who have advanced to the stage of editing, the Work in Progress section gave them a chance to screen what they have and receive feedback on their work. Many of these works in progress will undoubtedly go on to premier at BAFICI in the years to come.

The 2012 BAFICI winners in Centro Cultural Recoleta (Photo: BAFICI 2012)

The Planetarium screenings merit a special note. This was the first year that BAFICI incorporated fulldome movies, that is, films designed to be shown on a 360º dome. The films chosen for this section attracted a wide range of moviegoers, including children (with films like ‘Moles. What’s out there?’) as well as music lovers (the fulldome version of ‘The Wall’ was so popular that several additional screenings were added) and all those interested in new forms of cinema.

All in all, the 14th edition of BAFICI was another great event for film lovers in Buenos Aires, one that shows how much the city craves a broader selection of films to see. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if the Buenos Aires City Government and the organizers found a way to expand on BAFICI so that films as diverse as these could be screened at comfortable, modern theatres throughout the year? In the meantime, we can only hope that some of the wonderful films we didn’t get to see at the festival will be released in theatres as the year progresses.

Film writer Wendy Gosselin continues reporting from this year’s BAFICI Festival, picking six Latin American films – five Argentine and one Brazilian – that come highly recommended.

'Los Salvajes' a story of adolescents escaping from a juvenile detention center, directed by Alejandro Fadel.

Los Salvajes

Director: Alejandro Fadel

Los Salvajes is a dense, troubling film that follows a group of five adolescents (Gaucho and his brother Simon, Grace, Monzón and Demián) as they break out of a juvenile detention centre and head for the hills. Gaucho, the leader,  plans to take the group on the six-day trek to his godfather’s house. “We can all live there together, like a family,” Gaucho promises. Idyllic though that sounds, this group of young people has no morals and very few codes of conduct, which quickly unravel whenever a whim, desire or feeling of anger surfaces. Far from any signs of civilization, they struggle against nature and each other to survive, slaughtering animals and cutting down whatever stands in their path. There is a certain poetry within this crude reality: Demián holding a transistor radio up to the sky, trying to find some music amidst the static; Simón donning the head of a wild boar he has slaughtered, or Grace trying futilely to wash away her menstrual blood in the river. Ultimately, however, the film offers little except this florid depiction of savagery.

La Araña Vampiro

La Araña Vampiro

Director: Gabriel Medina

In the mid-20th century, ailing Argentines were prescribed restful stays in Córdoba, where the fresh mountain air was expected to restore them to health. In Gabriel Medina’s second feature-length film, ‘La Araña Vampiro‘, a father takes his downcast and neurotic son Jerónimo to the province, hoping to reconnect with him in the quiet countryside. The trip takes a sharp turn when the teenager is bitten by the fatal “vampire spider”, as it is known by the locals. Abandoning his father, Jerónimo takes up with Ruiz, a ruddy and taciturn woodsman, who agrees to lead him into the sierras to search for the antidote. A feverish Jerónimo and increasingly unpredictable Ruiz are soon stumbling through a devastated wasteland; the earth thunders beneath them as dynamite explodes in the distance. “They’re ripping apart the mountain,” slurs Ruiz, lurching forward. The landscape turns increasingly skewed and bleak with his apocalyptic rambling; meanwhile, Jerónimo’s spider bite continues to spread. Will the two find the elusive and terrifying antidote? Medina forges a new world out of this parched and rocky wilderness. This is definitely one of the top films of this year’s BAFICI.

In 'Masterplan' everything doesn't go according to plan.

Masterplan

Director: Diego and Pablo Levy

What if you gave a friend your credit card, let him buy you everything you needed for your new apartment, and then called the credit card company and reported it stolen? This is the ‘Masterplan’, which quickly runs amok, forcing the protagonist, Mariano, to abandon his beloved Siam Di Tella 1500 (the pride and joy of Argentine car manufacturing from the late 1950s and 1960s) by the railroad tracks and report it as stolen as well. The constant questions about the incident from his girlfriend, future parents-in-law, co-workers and pesky credit card company investigator soon begin to take their toll on Mariano, who starts to blame his restlessness and foul mood on the stolen vehicle. Comic relief is provided by Andrés, a homeless man who “occupies” the abandoned car and decides to call it home (played brilliantly by one of the “stars” of the Levys’ 2011 documentary ‘Novias, Madrinas, 15 años’). This is a funny, tender story, and in the end, Mariano gets advice from the most unexpected source. Stick around for the credits to see the hilarious dance by Andrés Calabria!

17 Monumentos

17 Monumentos

Director: Jonathan Perel

In all of Argentina, there are just 17 monuments commemorating the locations where clandestine detention centres operated during the last military dictatorship (1976-1983). They are all based on the same architectural plan, which we are shown at the beginning of the film. Perel films each of them for around three minutes. In these static shots, Justice, Truth, Memory—the words that appear on the monument’s three pillars—are burned into your retina. You cannot help but imagine the evil that occurred at each of these now quiet spots. But if the purpose of a monument is to commemorate, do these actually serve their purpose? Little action occurs near these monuments. A cat creeps by one (ludicrously placed nearly on top of a bust of Don Quijote); cars blaze by others, shrouding them for a moment in dust. Perel’s film—though difficult to sit through—poses the important question of what memory is and how it is constructed.

Production still from the making of 'El Ultimo Elvis'

El Último Elvis

Director: Armando Bo

In this stellar debut by Armando Bo, we meet an Elvis impersonator, Carlos Gutiérrez, who goes to great lengths to uphold his image as Elvis: his daughter is named Lisa Marie, he insists on calling his ex-wife Priscilla, he pops pills and downs peanut butter and banana sandwiches. In fact, he seems as out of touch with reality as Elvis himself near the end of his life. But Gutiérrez’s daily life —the talent agency full of other impersonators where payments are always late, the junk yard of abandoned refrigerators where he takes a break after his day job, the apocalyptic landscapes of the outskirts of Buenos Aires—is infinitely more sordid than Elvis’ ever was. Gutiérrez is played by first-time actor (and real-life Elvis impersonator) John McInery, who pours out his heart and soul in every song. In one beautiful scene, only the stage is in focus, and the flashing lights surrounding it make us think we are in Las Vegas; when the camera angle shifts, though, we see that our “Elvis” is actually playing at a bingo club on the outskirts of the city. ‘El Último Elvis’ poses the question of authenticity and imitation, and how far someone will actually go to become their hero or heroine. Ultimately, Gutiérrez will see his Elvis through to the very end.

As Cançoes

As Cançoes

Director: Eduardo Coutinho

Music pervades our lives, piping into our consciousness and remaining long after a moment has past. The songs we have sung (or which were sung to us) are small testaments that put other’s lyrics to our emotions. This is what Brazilian director Eduardo Coutinho explores in this splendid film. He approaches the topic in a simple and straightforward way, inviting his interviewees to enter a theatre, take a seat and sing for him their most cherished song. Before, after and sometimes in between singing, they tell the story of how this particular song came into their lives and then stayed on with them forever. Coutinho is always off screen; we only hear his voice, and his interventions are generally limited to bringing our protagonists back when they get lost in a memory. The stories are touching and even extraordinary; one of the men concludes that this world “is not big enough to hold all of my happiness.” A joyous film of song.

As the 14th international BAFICI film festival gets underway and the city is awash with cinephiles, we thought we’d give you a run down of great Argentine directors so that you can hold your own this week when chatting to the moustache-twiddling, beret-sporting, Deleuze loving (that one’s for the real pros) film enthusiasts.

Far from a comprehensive list, our Top 5 Argentine Directors sets out to tell you five directors you should know about, and should give you plenty to chew on while BAFICI is underway.

Leopoldo Torre Nilsson

Leopoldo Torre Nilsson (1924-78)

The grandfather of Argentine film, Leopoldo Torre Nilsson helped bring prestige to Argentine cinema and was the most important figure in inspiring the younger generation of film-makers who started the new-wave in Argentine cinema at the beginning of the 1960s. According to international filmmaker Roman Polanski, he helped bring Argentine cinema up to international quality without ignoring subjects that were integral to Argentina.

Obsessed with the decline of the bourgeois society in his country, his films were often filled with sexual and societal frustration and peopled with dark characters with shadowy pasts who move in decadent environments. He directed. with humour and finesse.

Born in Buenos Aires, the son of the pioneering Argentine director, Leopoldo Torres Ríos, Leopoldo spent his formative years working under with his father and lost in the books of Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Proust and James Joyce. His mother was an Argentine of Swedish descent and he cited her compatriot, the director Ingmar Bergman, as one of his greatest influences. He lived young and directed fast, making 30 features in little over 25 years.

His most fruitful collaboration was with his wife, the writer Beatriz Guido. Together, they adapted her novels ‘La mano en la trampa’ and ‘La casa del ángel’ into screenplays that became two of his most successful and critically acclaimed films. When the latter came out, French filmmaker and critic Éric Rohmer called it “the best film to have arrived from South America since the beginnings of cinema.”

No stranger to Argentine literature, Torre Nilsson was a friend of the author Ernesto Sabato and also known for directing screenplays based on the work of other Argentine writers including Roberto Arlt, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges, and gauchesque poet, José Hernández.

For more information find Leopoldo Torre Nilsson on IMDB or visit his website

Leonardo Favio

Leonardo Favio (born 1938) 

Born Fuad Jorge Jury, Leonardo Favio lived through a tough childhood in a small town in the north of Mendoza. An Argentine of Syrian descent, he is a true artistic polymath who built a career out of directing, writing, composing, singing and acting. Much lauded in his home continent, many believe he never got the recognition he deserved on the international scene.

Working under the tutelage of Argentine director Torre Nilsson, he was invited to act in films at the end of the 1950s, and the beginning of his career as a director followed shortly after with the production of his first short film in 1960. Four years later, his debut feature ‘Crónica de un niño solo’ cemented his place at the forefront of Argentine cinema.

The influence of filmmakers like the Spanish born Luis Buñuel and founder of French new-wave cinema François Truffaut was evident, although his personal style and strong aesthetics also shone through. He turned the focus away from a popular fixation with the urban bourgeoisie, towards the tough life at the fringes of society. For this reason he is credited with helping to break the barrier between popular culture and high art.

His films, despite shirking away from the mainstream and embracing the experimental, enjoyed a mass appeal in Argentina. Another of his most acclaimed films, ‘El romance del Aniceta y la Francisca’, is considered by many to be one of Argentina’s best.

An element in his life that cannot be ignored is his vehement support of Peronism. In 1999 he released an exhaustive 340-minute documentary about his political idol: ex-president and controversial figure Juan Domingo Perón.

In 2010, he was appointed Argentina’s Cultural Ambassador by fellow Peronist and current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

For more information find Leonardo Favio on IMDB

Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas

Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas (born 1936)

Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas was born in Buenos Aires province and has made his name as one of the most important Argentine directors and documentary-makers.

Unlike Favio, Solanas has gained a global recognition, winning the Golden Bear at Germany’s Berlinale, the Special Jury prize at the Venice film festival and the Best Director award at Cannes.

Solanas’ work comes inextricably linked with politics. Any discussion on the director must surely go hand-in-hand with the mention of ‘Grupo Cine Liberación’ – a cinematic movement with which he was strongly affiliated. In the 1960s and 70s, the movement offered a reaction to Latin American politics and global cinema, focusing on making films that were socially and politically committed rather than purely entertainment driven. With their militant cinema they tried to demonstrate that Argentina was a society in crisis.

Their trademark was to make films anonymously, a move that encouraged collective creative processes and also protected them from political repression at a time when dictatorships were starting to emerge across the continent. Their most acclaimed film from the period was a four-hour documentary titled ‘La hora de los hornos: Notas y testimonios sobre el neocolonialismo, la violencia y la liberación’. The film became a symbol of activist cinema during the zenith of leftist politics.

For more information find Fernando ‘Pino’ Solanas on IMDB or visit his website

Armando Bó

Armando Bó (1914-81)

The inclusion of director Armando Bó in this list might raise a few eyebrows, but his influence and cult following should not be underestimated.

US filmmaker John Waters once said that when he was searching for inspiration he would look to the Argentine director’s films and wish he spoke Spanish. And well, that’s about as apt an introduction as the director could hope for. He described ‘Fuego’ (Bó’s best-known film) as “a huge influence”, admitting “I forgot how much I stole”.

In a time when sexploitation films were taken more seriously and the line between art-house and soft-core was slightly blurrier, Armando Bó was king. This auteur of sorts made 30 films between 1954 and 1980 – none of which were too subtle or nuanced. He hacked his way through plots, played for slapstick laughs and flashed a lot of flesh but the audience loved it and kept coming back for more.

He made 27 films starring the now retired model and actress Isabel Sarli. Sarli was Miss Argentina 1955, the Brigitte Bardot of Latin America and the filmmaker’s real-life lover.

“You inspired us all to a life of cheap exhibitionism, exaggerated sexual desires and a love for all that is trash-ridden in cinema,” Waters once said of Sarli, but it’s a comment that works just fine for Bó too.

For more information find Armando Bó on IMDB 

Juan José Campanella

Juan José Campanella (born 1959)

Probably the most recognisable name on this list for a contemporary audience, Juan José Campanella is a member of the exclusive two-man club of Oscar-winning Argentine directors. He has spent much of his working life in the United States and has directed several English language films as well as a number of North American television series.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, he began studying engineering at university but famously dropped out with only a year to go to pursue a career in filmmaking.

He is credited with helping to restore pride in the Argentine film industry which has historically suffered from “chronic self-depreciation”. “In Argentina, a Hollywood movie is innocent until proven guilty. An Argentine movie is the other way around. I have to work really hard to break down that barrier,” he told one US publication in an interview.

Having been previously nominated for an Oscar in 2001 for his film ‘El hijo de la novia’ (‘The son of the bride’), Campanella’s talents as a director were finally recognised in 2010 when his film ‘El secreto de sus ojos’ (‘The secret in their eyes’) was awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

A classy, unpredictable film noir set in 1975 Buenos Aires – it brought the spotlight back on Argentine cinema and helped make him the most bankable homegrown director in Argentine history.

He is currently working on an animated feature called ‘Metegol’ (‘Foosball’) and, the way things are going, it probably won’t be the last time we see him fumbling at his collar nervously at another red carpet event.

For more information find Juan J. Campanella on IMDB