With film month in full swing here at The Indy, we took to the streets and researched the Top 5 historic cinemas in Buenos Aires. We looked for the hidden gems the city has to offer: cinemas with a history, architecturally fascinating spaces, and the cinemas currently offering a unique film-going experience.

Maybe you’ve passed these buildings whilst rushing around the city, and wondered of the history that lies behind them, or are looking to explore some less obvious architectural and cinematic delights. We have compiled a list of interesting cinematic spaces, from the retro haven that is Cine Lorca and the hub of Argentine cinema over at the Gaumont, to the lesser-known past of the famous El Ateneo bookshop. Here are our favourites:

Photo: Simon Guerra

Cine 25 de Mayo

Cine 25 de Mayo started life in the minds of a group of entrepreneurs in the city’s Villa Urquiza district in the 1920s. The group dreamed of bringing the beauty of film to their barrio, in a golden era of Hollywood and cinema across the globe. In less than a year, in 1927, the doors to the grand Cine 25 de Mayo opened.

The ornate façade was the vision of architect Miximo Gasparutti, while artist Felipe Galante designed the sumptuous interior, both of whom were residents of the barrio at the time. The cinema became the pride of the neighborhood, and went on to act as one of the most famous musical theatre locations of the early 20th century.

Nicknamed El Coloncito or El Petit Colón, due to the cinema’s resemblance to Buenos Aires’ iconic Teatro Colón, the main hall once held an astounding 1,500 cinema goers across three balcony floors. During its golden period, it featured exquisitely detailed ionic columns, domes painted with scenes from theatre performances, and imposing stained-glass windows.

The winter of 1982 saw the closure of the cinema, followed by years of silence, neglect, and unsuccessful attempts to have the building listed. The rebirth of the cultural site came when the mayor of Buenos Aires, Aníbal Ibarra, together with Culture Secretary Gustavo López, signed a document agreeing to purchase the building. This agreement promised the restoration, reopening, and reintroduction of the cinema into the cultural life of the city.

Now called Complejo Cultural 25 de Mayo, the spot plays hosts to a variety of performances and activities, from a milonga for tango and concerts, to theatre performances and film screenings. Details of their current schedule can be found on their website here.

Cine 25 de Mayo can be found on Avenida Triunvirato 4440 in Villa Urquiza.

Photo: Simon Guerra

El Ateneo

You have probably paid a visit to this Buenos Aires institution at some point during your time here, or at least heard countless recommendations to visit the opulent and elegant building. Now functioning as a bookshop, and frequently hailed as one of the finest in the world, El Ateneo is the former cinema and theatre that this list wouldn’t be complete without. It’s beautiful on the outside, of course, but the real architectural and historical delights can be found inside its walls.

The building opened as Teatro Gran Splendid in 1919 after architects Peró and Torres Armengol were commissioned for the project by film and music pioneer Max Glucksmann. The theatre hosted tango performances from the likes of Carlos Gardel, Francisco Canaro, and Ignacion Corsini, as well as housing radio station ‘Radio Splendid’ on the upper floors.

After only seven years, and with Glucksmann’s growing interest in cinema, he converted the theatre into the city’s most luxurious film house. Initially screening silent films accompanied by vast orchestras, the cinema later screened the first moving picture with sound in Buenos Aires – the love story ‘La Divina Dama’, or The Divine Lady. The cinema’s reign as the best picture house in the city – frequented by high society and only the most fashionable of porteños – came to an end in 1973. A brief three-year conversion into a theatre was followed by 18 further years of the Cine El Ateneo. The final film to be screened was the modern classic American Beauty in 1991, before the reels stopped turning for good and El Ateneo became the famous bookshop we know today.

Though extensive restorations worth $3million were undertaken before the reopening as a bookshop, many of the original features remain intact. The amphitheater’s seating area of over 1,000 people now holds around 120,000 books, whilst the theatre boxes remain as they were, although now featuring comfy seating for visitors to try before they buy. Original architecture is not missing either, with ceilings painted by Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi, and caryatid female figures sculpted by Troiano Troiani.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid is located on Avenida Santa Fe 1860 in Recoleta.

Photo: Simon Guerra

Cine Gaumont

Next up is the Art Nouveau-style Cine Gaumont, named after the French inventor and cinema pioneer Leon Gaumont. Flanked on either side by nondescript apartment buildings, this cine is very much a hidden gem in the Congreso neighbourhood. The façade featuring vertical white stripes against a wall of brick, topped by the cinema’s name in giant illuminated letters, certainly makes for a unique looking cinema.

Gaumont was founded in 1912 but moved to its current location 1946 and is a prime example of the rationalism style of architecture. Gaumont was, and remains to this day, one of the prime spots to watch Argentine film, but faced an uphill battle when competing with city’s increasingly popular multiplexes. It was remodelled in 1995 to increase capacity and split into three smaller rooms – a practice followed by most of the old cinemas in Buenos Aires as film-viewing trends changed.

The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) rented the space and Cine Gaumont became INCAA Km 0, the first step in the project to create a network of screening rooms and national cinemas across the country. April 2012 saw an uncertain period for the historic Gaumont after the building owners refused to renew the lease to INCAA, which would expire the following year, and planned to demolish the building in order to make space for a planned real-estate development.

Within days, Buenos Aires legislature Juan Cabandié presented a project to protect Cine Gaumont; a project supported by top Argentine actors Graciela Borges, Luis Puenzo, and Pablo Echarri. On 6th July of that year the legislature of Buenos Aires passed the law granting the building structural protection, which paved the way for the official purchase of the cinema by INCAA, and the ongoing screening of Argentine cinema and culture.

Cine Gaumont can be found in Plaza del Congreso, Av. Rivadavia 1635. More information can be found here.

Cine Lorca

Cine Lorca is a classic art cinema, and makes the list for its retro details and mix of blockbuster, foreign and Argentine films; its a true rarity to find all screened under the same roof. Some might say this place out-dated and shabby, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say charming and retro, with an enchanting history.

Photo: Simon Guerra

Inaugurated in 1968 under the name of Cine Lion (a big name for a two-room building), the space was previously occupied by Cine Éclair, a staple of the early 1970s film circuit of the Av Corrientes stretch between Callao and 9 de Julio, of which Cine Lorca is one of the few remaining spots. The likes of el Lorange, el Lorraine, el Losuar y el Loire have since vanished, leaving Lorca as something of a looking-glass into the fascinating past of this section of the city.

The façade is of glazed black mirror with an illuminating sign that has been there since the opening of the cinema. The interior includes two rooms, one upstairs one downstairs, with old-school seats, plenty of wood panelling, and other retro details that add to the experience.

Now screening a mix of films, heavily weighted in favour of mainstream and new releases, the films on show juxtapose the old-fashioned surroundings to create a unique film-viewing experience.

Cine Lorca is located in the heart of the city’s theatre district over at Av Corrientes 1428. Film listings and times can be found here.

Cine York

Cine York (Photo: Jorge Macri)

And finally we have Cine York, all pink-hued and sparkly-lit, a gem that you’ll have to venture outside of the city a little to enjoy.

Located in Olivos, around a 30-minute ride away, the cinema, set amongst tree-lined and cobbled streets, was founded in 1904 after an initiative by a group of Olivos residents to set up the cinema in a house for a monthly rent of $50. Two lots of land were subsequently purchased at auction by the cinema treasurer, and after some years of construction, the Cine Teatro York was opened on 2nd February 1910. (For a glimpse into what the cinema looked like for some of its first visitors, click here). The big break for the cinema came when Bartolomé Repetto donated a state of the art Gaumont cinematic projector. The space also soon became a go-to location for dances, theatrical performances, and social gatherings. The cinema dipped in and out of screening films throughout the years, but the owners remained adamant in keeping it open for public use, meaning schools and public entities always had access to the space and its services.

Re-inaugurated in 2000 with the latest cinematic technology, Cine York now screens art-house and commercial films from Tuesday to Sunday. Additionally, they host various plays, ballet performances, folk recitals, tango shows, workshops, seminars, and tours.

Cine York can be found on Juan Bautista Alberdi 895 in Olivos. More information on their Facebook page.

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.

La historia oficial

In December 2013, Argentina will celebrate 30 years since the end of one of the darkest periods in its history, the 1976-83 military dictatorship. Yet the scars of this period remain, in the ominous places where people were once detained and tortured, at Plaza de Mayo as the mothers continue to march every Thursday, and in countless other imperceptible ways. Meanwhile, the people of Argentina continue to try to make sense of what happened during los años de plomo– the ‘years of lead’ as they are referred to here. What do people old enough to remember those years actually remember? What have they chosen to forget? How can partial memories be woven into a common narrative? What about the complicity of the people who stood by as the horrors occurred – is anyone innocent?

Cinema provides a privileged way to approach questions such as these. At the beginning, it served not only to denounce the regime but also to consolidate it: during the dictatorship, different fictional films like ‘Comandos Azules en Acción’ (Emilio Vieyra, 1978) and ‘Dos Locos en el Aire’ (Palito Ortega, 1976) depicted the armed forces as noble civil servants while promoting the conservative, religious, and patriotic values of the military.

When the dictatorship was over, film directors began exploring the dark period that had recently come to an end. They did so tentatively at first, still fearful of censorship, often by exploring other historical events that shared some aspect of the authoritarian regime. One film of this kind is ‘Camila’ (María Luisa Bemberg, 1984), which tells the story of a young pregnant woman who was sentenced to death for the “crime” of marrying a priest in the mid-19th century.

A year later, an Argentine film about the dictatorship won the Oscar for best foreign feature. ‘La Historia Oficial’ (Luis Puenzo, 1985) tells the story of a woman who gradually realises that her adopted child is the kidnapped daughter of a disappeared couple. It is a film that remains uncannily relevant even today, as children of the disappeared continue to discover the truth about their own past.

During the transition to democracy, other films searched for poetic representations of what had occurred among those who stayed in the country and those who left. ‘Tangos: El Exilio de Gardel’ (Fernando Solanas, 1985) drew on the junctures between Argentines and exile that predate the dictatorship by at least a century and gave Carlos Gardel’s rendition of the famous tango ‘Volver’ a new, haunting tone. Soon after, Héctor Olivera filmed ‘La Noche de los Lápices’ (1986), the first of several fictionalised accounts of real-life disappearances – in this case, that of high school students in La Plata who were kidnapped after trying to get the city to approve a lower student bus fare.

Near the end of the 1980s, the number of films dealing with the dictatorship tapered off, as if filmmakers had taken to heart the laws that put an end to the legal inquiries into the atrocities and the clamour for justice. Towards the end of the 1990s, the topic returned to the forefront. This coincided with the growing demand to reclaim the actual locations where the clandestine torture centres were located and turn them into sites for ‘memory’, a loose term that encompasses not only remembering the victims of the repression but also keeping their work alive through cultural activities and social activism.

‘Garage Olimpo’ (Marco Bechis, 1999) is a fictional film about a detainee in the infamous detention centre in Floresta. When the film was released, the actual “garage”—originally a British tram station—was being used for municipal vehicle inspections. In 2005, the location became a site of memory by order of the federal government.

In addition to fictional films that recreate episodes of the dictatorship, documentaries about the period have also abounded. ‘Botín de Guerra’ (David Blaustein, 1999), a lauded Argentine-Spanish co-production, provides testimonies of the abuelas about their efforts to recover their lost grandchildren. Several documentaries provide close-ups of the incredible women who were part of Madres and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, including ‘Estela’ (Silvia Di Florio, Walter Goobar, 2008), in which one of the founding abuelas takes the camera for her disappeared grandson—who has yet to be recovered—and tells the story of their family. Estela de Carlotto, a particularly compelling figure, is also the subject of a fictional film entitled ‘Verdades Verdaderas’ (Nicolás Gil Lavedra, 2011).

Infancia clandestina

Another recent film that is pervaded by the dictatorship is ‘El Secreto de Sus Ojos’ (Juan José Campanella, 2010), which also won the Oscar for best foreign film. The film is set in the years before the dictatorship but explores similar questions of impunity, the need for justice, and reconstructing memory. Even more recently, ‘La Infancia Clandestina’ (Benjamín Ávila, 2012) is a whole new type of film about the period: a fictionalised autobiography of the director’s childhood as the son of Montonero militants. While some have argued that Ávila’s film depicts the period as too simplistic, others claim that the film helps understand the motives of the militants and faithfully depicts a child’s life during the late 1970s.

Whatever the critiques of films such as these, no one questions their importance or their relevance. It seems logical to think that Argentine filmmakers will be shooting films about the dictatorship for years to come—perhaps until all of the stories have been told. Fiction or documentary, alternative or mainstream, these films form a corpus of life stories, perspectives and hopes that keep the past present as Argentines look towards the future.

During a speech at the Bicentennial Museum yesterday, president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the creation of a new audiovisual district on Demarchi Island, in Puerto Madero. She also signed a decree raising subsidies to the film industry.

The new district will be placed on Demarchi Island, near the Puerto Madero casino, on state-owned land. The newly created Agency for the Administration of State Property will transfer ownership of 120,000 m2 of land to social security body Anses. Anses will then have 30 days to call for tenders, as all the development will be carried out by private investors. The government estimates investments for up to US$150m in offices, shops, recreational spaces, a stadium, and the areas dedicated specifically to film production.

President Fernández also signed two decrees which will favour the film industry. The first one names filming a “productive industrial activity”, thus awarding the audiovisual industry with the same type of benefits other industries receive, such as access to credits for small and medium-sized companies and tax exemptions. The second decree raises the amount of subsidies the state will give the film industry, as well as the maximum amount the National Institute of Film and Audiovisual Arts (Incaa) can give individual projects, from the current $3.5m to $5.5m.

During the presentation, president Fernández highlighted the fact that “Argentina is the fourth worldwide exporter of audiovisual content.”

The announcements were well received by the film industry. “The country needed an audiovisual disctrict, and filming to be considered an industry to strengthen production,” said Liliana Mazure, president of Incaa, to Página 12.

The city government, however, rejected the initiative, claiming that the city already has a similar project underway. They were referring to a city law which awards tax exemptions to production companies located in the neighbourhoods of Palermo, Chacarita, and Colegiales. Buenos Aires chief of cabinet Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said that the government will need the city’s approval to use the land on Dimarchi Island.

IdeaMe: is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. Each week, the Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: Ciclos de Cine Para Vecinos, by Biblioteca Popular Eduardo Martedí.

Biblioteca Eduardo Martedi (Photo: Diego Cupolo)

“To spread those films, those directors and those ideas which as of yet are not widely known and seem to us that they would be of interest to others”.

Such is the goal of the Ciclos de Cine para Vecinos project, according to Martín Echenbaum, a spokesperson for the team at the Biblioteca Popular Eduardo Martedí that has proposed this project on Ideame.

The Biblioteca Popular Eduardo Martedí was founded in 2010 by a group of students from the University of Buenos Aires with the idea of “encouraging reading, education… but in a comprehensive way, not only to encourage the culture of reading – that is, the written word – but also a more comprehensive political education.”

The library – which today holds around 3,000 volumes – is housed in what was formerly the garage of the Spanish Cultural centre Centro Español de Sada y sus Contornos.

Martín explains that the library was founded with the hope of making books more accessible to all. Asking only “minimum requirements” for membership – such as a fee of $2 per month – the library seeks to confront challenges to the accessibility of books in Buenos Aires.

Martín observes several obstacles in this regard. First, he notes, “there is generally not much familiarity today with the concept of public libraries. You walk down the street and you don’t find a public library.” And second, he remarks that “books are very expensive”, and that because many books are imported to Argentina, “they come at a price that is vey difficult to access”.

While books are central to the library’s mission, however, Martín also observes that “we thought that with a library alone isn’t sufficient.”

Presentation at the library (Photo courtesy of Biblioteca Popular Eduardo Martedi)

In this spirit, the library not only offers its members the chance to borrow books, but also a wide range of activities. Taking advantage of the space of the Centro Español de Sada y sus Contornos, the team has organised “book presentations, discussions about a variety of themes, including literature, politics, history, anthropology, music presentations, poetry readings, theatre.”

Now, they would like to add one more activity to their agenda: Los ciclos de cine para vecinos, or Cinema Cycles for Neighbours. In order to make this project a reality, the group has turned to crowd funding on Ideame to raise money to purchase a projector and a screen.

The idea of the cinema cycles is that each cycle would be based around a particular theme; proposed themes to date include the Spanish civil war, World War I, and Italian cinema, among others.

Martín observes that the topics of the cycles are “themes that are important to us… and in which there is also an interesting cinematographic production that allows us to unite the two goals that we have: on the one hand, the artistic question, the cinema, the language; but also the political and cultural issue”.

He emphasises, “we’re not interested in having a projector and holding cinema cycles to show films that can be seen at the cinema, but rather to approach history, politics; these are the things that interest us”.

The themes, Martín says, “are very important historical events with which all of us have some familiarity, but if we accompany them with reading texts and watching films, we can see them in a new way, with new depth. We can take something away from all of this.”

To support the Ciclos de Cine Para Vecinos project, click here.

Children at the 'Taller de Cine Rodante' (Photo: La Grifa)

Cinema is a part of our cultural fabric. It combines visual, verbal and musical components to tell a story (our story, everyone’s story). Outside the city, going to the cinema is more difficult and in a country that prides itself on film, this seems confounding. Some of the country roads are difficult to handle and those who have ventured Ruta 40 through Patagonia can attest to it. The terrain and lack of media infrastructure make it difficult to connect people and interweave the people’s stories. Even though the city life may seem more familiar, the rural Argentine identity is fascinating and still remains to be explored.

The NGOs Fundacion Ruta 40 and La Grifa have taken on the challenge of artistically integrating the different stories of rural life. They have also taken on a different angle: the child’s perspective. Together, the organisations hope to teach children how to make short films and share them with other children of the country. They believe this will create a better understanding of one’s identity as an Argentine in Latin America. By helping develop this awareness, the organisations hope it will also provide a better sense of their roles as community actors.

The people at Fundacion Ruta 40 have driven throughout Argentina’s interior, specifically around Ruta 40. Through their travels, they encountered people who taught them a lot of what rural life was like in Argentina. It inspired them to give back by donating money and time to provide the kids an opportunity at learning about their own country through film. So far, they have worked with 23 schools.

Ruta 40 Organisation

La Grifa travels around Argentina offering workshops on creating short-films and collecting these small stories in, what they refer to as, their “backpack”. This organisation started in 2009 with Colectivo Salpicón, but are now working on their own. So far, the trio of Ailén, Josefina y Delfina have been helping build children’s creativity through learning how to create three animation-shorts, audiovisual games and flip-books. When La Grifa leaves, they take the small films to other schools to show other children the kinds of projects have been created by other kids in the country.

“Taller de Cine Rodante” as a project is to keep travelling to various provinces in the nation teaching and working with children to realise their creativity. Their current project hopes to reach three rural schools in Salta in August. The creations will be versions of stop motion film with the children telling their own story, combining elements of  their history, expressions of their personality, designing the script, as well as making the titles, credits and the poster.

The project is looking for financing for their August trip to Salta, specifically targeting El Trigal  and two other rural schools close to Cachi and La Poma. The funds raised will also help the group get materials and a camera that will stay at El Trigal school so that the children can continue to create stop-motion animation.

So far, they have 65% of their funds raised. You can learn more about the project or help fund it through their idea.me campaign.

Now in it’s 14th year, Instituto Multimedia DerHumALC’s (IMD) International Human Rights Film Festival has brought films focusing on human rights and environmental issues from all corners of the globe to Buenos Aires.

Still from Australian film 'Abendland'

The festival is putting on a mixture of short, medium and long documentary and fiction films, consistently focused on global human rights – a subject that occupies the consciousness of Latin Americans and Argentines due to a far too recent heritage of dictatorships, civil wars and social movements. It therefore makes it fitting for this consciousness to be embodied in the film festival’s theme this year: Identity.

“We chose the issue of Identity because we see it, metaphorically speaking, as a tree deeply rooted in the past to bloom in the actions and choices of the present,” explains IMC festival director, Florencia Santucho.

“Just like the branches and leaves turn towards the sun in search of vital energy, each person needs their identity to freely develop their potential and choose their own path.”

The Greek documentary The Argentina Experiment, one of the films running for the festival’s Feature Films Official Competition, illustrates this mentality by investigating how identity can be derived from the development of present decisions from the actions of the past. It follows Greek director Yorgos Avgeropoulos’s return to Argentina ten years after the economic crisis to see if Greece can learn fiscally from Argentina’s example.

Although constantly framed by the theme of identity, the festival branches off into many sub-topics covering a diverse range of issues, both international and national – from the environment, native peoples, childhood and youth, to migrants and gender views. The festival casts a wide scope, showing films on Colombia, on the Middle East, the Arab Spring, while also opening the ‘window’ to controversial political movements in Venezuela and Cuba.

Films competing in the Feature Films Contest include the Austrian documentary Abendland (meaning ‘evening land’ in German), a critical commentary on the Europe’s addiction to technology and security, and the influence of the Western world. In Acorzado, a Mexican fictional entry, the protagonist decides to make a raft from his neglected taxi and sail off for a better life in the USA, only to find himself in Cuba. The British documentary Cocaine Unwrapped on the other-hand offers a start to finish look at the cocaine trade and asks some important questions about the way governments are fighting back against the industry.

Each film in the festival teaches the viewer lessons on the way we look at life – from Journey to Portugal’s questioning of border control’s treatment of people, to the Canadian short documentary, Keepers of the Water, chronicling the plight of group of children protesting about environmental crime.

Putos Peronistas, Cumbia de un Sentimiento is in competition this year.

This year’s festival also sees the addition of the National Film Contest category, which focuses on homegrown talent. Drawing on the central theme of identity, Sin Punto y Aparte (No Full Stop) follows its director’s return to Argentina after fleeing to Israel during the military dictatorship, and discovering the role of Judaism in modern day Argentina. Putos Peronistas, Cumbia de un Sentimiento (The Peronist Fags, Cumbia Feeling) tells the fascinating story of a revolutionary political group of Peronist homosexuals in a district of Buenos Aires. Also catch the woman’s prison based Captive Moons, and the documentary Jopoi, All Together, on the legacy of Paraguayan indigenous language.

As festival director Florencia Santucho explains, each film corresponds to a “social memory [which] is deeply rooted to the identity of all communities where each and everyone knows who he or she is in view of the sum of past experiences, present commitments and future objectives.”

Through others’ exploration of identity the festival tries to make the viewer question their own perceptions, asking, “how much does the judgement of others influence our perception of ourselves?” The theme of Identity isn’t just there to tie the films together neatly; it’s also a recommendation on how to view these films.

All films are showing in ten venues across the city from the 23^rd to the 30^th May. For more information see the IMD festival’s website for the programme.

Prior to an epiphany in 2003, Korean/Brazilian film director Iara Lee had been immersed in the study of adapting the human limits of experience through technology. ‘Synthetic Pleasures’ (1995) panned across the subjects of virtual reality, biotechnology, plastic surgery, and designer drugs, previewing the facets of a transhuman future. “We amuse ourselves to death,” Lee quipped in a 1996 interview with Ruse Magazine.

Iara Lee at a Friday prayer at a mosque in Kabul (photo courtesy of 'Cultures of Resistance')

An adoptive US-citizen and spouse of pro sports entrepreneur George Gund III, Lee was less amused by 2003. Observing the US invasion of Iraq with horror and concern over a future of self-destruction, she embarked on a documentary journey spanning five continents and answering those critics who questioned her political engagement as a filmmaker.

‘Cultures of Resistance’ (2010) – the product of Lee’s journey – is above all a testament to the power of cultural expression as a form of political activism. From the Amazon Basin to Nigeria, the Congo, Burma, Iran, and Palestine, among other locales, citizens and featured artists discuss the complexities of peace, violence, art, and resistance in pursuit of social justice.

Central to Lee’s depiction of global conflicts is the tension between waging violent and peaceful campaigns of resistance. After a barrage of themes imposed over a roving aerial map – “Imperialism”, “Oppressed Becomes Oppressor”, “Nonviolence”, “Art” – the film begins with footage from around the world on International Peace Day.

Following a disparate timeline of events that span roughly from the end of the 1980s to the present day, ‘Cultures of Resistance’ explores, side by side, the despairing mentality of resistance and hope. From the execution of Nigerian pacifist Ken Saro Wiwa in 1995, to the terror of repeated rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the fatal logic of violent mobilisation receives necessary if disheartening scrutiny, crucial to Lee’s candid portrayal of social struggle.

In the Amazon basin, chaos ensues over the Xingu dam project as an audience of sword-wielding indigenous residents ambush a representative of the project. Former child soldiers in Liberia provide chilling testimony of their abandoned life of drugs and violence. In the favelas of Rio, wanton attacks by both police and gangs prompt one artist to call the situation an “epidemic of minor conflicts everywhere”.

“Your mind must look at the darkness, but your will and action must be driven toward change,” says an Iranian activist.

A Touareg performs at the Festival Au Desert in Mali (photo courtesy of 'Cultures of Resistance'

The true alternative to violence, the film suggests, is resistance through art forms committed to activism. Musicians, editorial cartoonists, graffiti artists, poets, and dancers exhibit the ways in which cultural resistance facilitates education, unity, renewed identity, and the possibility of nonviolent reconciliation.

Some of the most alarming images in the film revolve around displaced children and their exposure to habitual violence. Many of the individuals interviewed lament and warn that the poverty and instability in these children’s lives will perpetuate cycles of violence in the absence of just reforms.

As in many documentaries that examine child poverty, the footage of wide-eyed kids staring into the camera lens highlights not only the gross inequality of electronics constructed from expropriated minerals, but the inadequacies of portraying daily life as these communities understand and live it. The range of locations and struggles considered in ‘Cultures of Resistance’ is so manifold that each and every instance, in its own right, could warrant several documentaries apiece.

To analyse this film strictly on the basis of the material presented would be inexcusably naïve, however, and too often ‘Cultures of Resistance’ contradicts its own criticism of the Western media’s suppression of facts.

It is beyond necessary for these underrepresented viewpoints to be heard and dignified with meaningful, committed dialogue, but the film seeks blamelessly to present a panoramic vision of a world in dire need, meanwhile condemning the left’s usual suspects of oppression to the status of monoliths.

The effect, unfortunate and short-sighted, is that deeply complicated and crucially different struggles, while informative in relative isolation, are minimised by an unspoken conviction: the superpowers of the world (“The United States and global public opinion” the film wryly jokes) will be locked in eternal antagonism.

It is no secret that Iara Lee was a proud participant in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a humanitarian mission protesting the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza. Lee was a passenger on board the Turkish MV Mavi Marmara, the only one of six vessels to clash violently with the blockading Israeli Defence Forces. In international waters, nine activists were killed and seven Israeli soldiers injured in a clear mismatch of defence capabilities.

The United Nations Human Rights Council later produced a report detailing the circumstances of the confrontation, calling Israel’s conduct a violation of human rights but also casting doubt on organisations involved in the Flotilla. More significantly for global public opinion, Lee managed to withhold some footage of the incident despite Israeli forces confiscating nearly all traces of what happened.

While Israel got a lead on international media coverage of the event, Lee’s below deck footage went severely underreported in mainstream sources until long after, giving credence to accusations of a Western stranglehold in the global public relations war.

The incident in Gaza bears significance to ‘Cultures of Resistance’ because it underscores the critical role and responsibility of the media in bringing conflicts around the world to the attention of populations everywhere.

While Lee’s film courageously empowers voices buried beneath the prevailing slant, it does too little in the way of engaging precisely those audiences it deems sources of the problem. The segment on Palestine – at times a damning and disturbing indictment of Israeli practice (deemed an apartheid regime) – lacks the kind of full contextualisation that would better serve the peace process than inflaming an intransigent neoconservative reaction. ‘Cultures of Resistance’ risks such audiences watching without seeing.

Perhaps this is part of the calculus of making a film that will encourage social and political activism. “Your anger is a gift,” Rage Against the Machine’s Zach de la Rocha often said. Rooted in the left’s countercultural tradition, it is little surprise that Lee skilfully bridges art and politics – just like the protagonists of her film and members of the Cultures of Resistance Network who do, undoubtedly, effect positive change in communities around the world.

There is a certain kind of synthetic pleasure in depicting a political aesthetic of resistance, one that assimilates righteousness, technology, and the human heart in the service of awakening cultural identity.

The question is whether ‘Cultures of Resistance’, with its global aspirations for justice and peace, stirs up viewers’ unflinching conviction at the expense of critical examination. To bring true understanding of one’s adversaries, as well as the divides separating us’s from them’s to begin with, would seem a more arduous and insecure road. But it would make us all rely less on cynicism for inspiration. Art will survive.

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

While Hollywood is known for action and special effects, France scores with intellectual depths, the British go for realism and Italian movies show us what la dolce vita looks like – what comes to our mind when we think of argentine cinema?

Nothing? Really? No problem, you are about to find out.

The world of Argentine cinema has many faces. La Argentina is a traditional country, and to a great extent, so are its movies. Very true to its culture, Argentine movies will give you an insight into their people’s way of thinking and behaving. In accordance to its turbulent past, many films treat hard subjects, such as politics and social injustice. On the other hand, modern Argentine cinema goes beyond traditionalism and keeps up with international standards.

Argentina’s film scene is growing rapidly. The highest number of films in the history of the country were produced in 2009. Due to the talent of its directors and actors, Argentina has managed to become one of the most important producers of films in the Spanish speaking world.

Our Top 5 will give you the “Introduction to Argentine Cinema 1.01”: What Argentines love and what moves them, which films received international attention, what does el cine argentino offer cinematography wise – these movies will lay the foundation to understand all the aspects of the country’s cinema.

1. Nueve Reinas, 2000, Dir: Fabián Bielinsky

If you ever find yourself discussing cinema with a group of Argentines, mention the “nine queens” and you’ll be sure to impress. Showing you everything you need to know about the world of dodgy porteños, this movie is Argentina’s favourite.

‘Nueve Reinas’ is a movie written and directed by Fabián Bielinsky in 2000. It features Argentina’s best loved actor, Ricardo Darín.

Juan and Marcos are typical porteño con-men, whose paths cross while Juan is scamming a cashier. Impressed with his skills, Marcos lets Juan come along to his cons. Juan’s dad is in jail, so he hopes to raise money with the help of Marcos, to bribe his dad’s judge and get him out of jail. Then an unexpected opportunity presents itself: a former con friend of Marcos convinces them to sell his fake copies of the high value ‘Nine Queens’ stamps to a rich collector. He promises them a profit margin of US$200,000. The two accept, but right before closing the deal things start to go wrong. A thieve steals the fake stamps right out of their hands. They try to buy the real stamps off a widow for a price low enough to still make profit. Though Juan mistrusts Marcos, he puts in US$50,000 on top of Marcus’s contribution of US$200,000 to buy the stamps and resell them at US$450,000. After receiving the cheque, the two go to the bank to cash it. Unfortunately for them the bank just crashed, making the cheque worthless. It seems that the two cons are ruined, but the final scene reveals that things did not happen exactly the way they seemed – you can never trust a porteño con!

This movie is funny, light and smart, perfect for a relaxed evening when all you want is some light entertainment. Pleasant side effect: No Argentine will ever have the chance to screw you over, because you will be ahead of the game!

2. El Secreto de sus Ojos, 2009, Dir: Juan José Campanella

This breathtaking movie is the second Argentine export to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010. It is directed by Juan José Campanella. ‘The secret in their eyes’ is a 2009 production starring once again Argentina’s favourite, Ricardo Darín.

It tells the story of the legal counsellor Benjamin Espósito (Ricardo Darín), who after 25 years comes back to Buenos Aires to write a novel about one of his old murder cases, hoping to find closure. The case haunted him ever since, just as his secret love for his former superior Irene had.

In 1974 a young women was violated and later killed. Espósito reluctantly takes on the case. When talking to the dead woman’s husband, he is deeply touched and develops a strong bond with him. Together with Irene they hunt down the killer and bring him to jail.

The movie is influenced by Argentina’s 1976-83 dictatorship. This period is widely recognised as one of the bloodiest historical episodes of the 20th century, with human right activists estimating that 30,000 people disappeared during that time. ‘El secreto de sus ojos’ includes the issue in the plot. The killer collaborates with the regime and is therefore released after just one year of imprisonment. Benjamin, Irene and the victim’s husband Ricardo have to live with the knowledge that the killer will go unpunished. With this, director Campanella demonstrates the open wounds from which many Argentines suffer until today with respect to the happenings and unresolved cases during the dictatorship.

When Benjamin returns, not only does he discover new information concerning the case, but he reunites with Irene and gets a second chance to tell her how he always felt about her.

‘El secreto de sus ojos’, as the title already suggests, puts focus on the eyes of the protagonists, and the secrets they betray. The victim’s eyes and the secretive expression in those of her husband plague Benjamin’s mind. The tension between Irene and Benjamin is not vocalised in the movie; it is only to be found in the way they look at each other.

This movie is an argentine masterpiece in terms of photography, direction, acting and suspense. Though it is not rich in action, you will be highly touched and surprised – their eyes will follow you all night!

3. El Hombre De Al Lado, 2009, Dir: Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat

This movie breaks with the mould of Argentine movies. No screaming and cursing argentines, no political context and no family get-together – this film is a smart black comedy that shows what Argentina has to offer in terms of photography and intelligent portrayals of social relationships, especially among different classes.

‘The man next door’ is directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat. The 2009 production won the award for cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010.

The main character Leonardo is a popular industrial designer who lives with his wife and daughter in a house famous for having been built by Le Corbusier. He appears to be a distant and narcissistic person. Next door lives Victor, an unpleasant and vulgar salesman. When Victor starts to put in a window in his apartment that is located directly in front of Leonardo’s kitchen window, a conflict is inevitable. The situation is intensified by daily incidents between the two neighbours. While Victor mostly ignores the complaints of his neighbour, Leonardo becomes obsessed with the conflict and it destroys his everyday life.

Actor Rafael Spregelburg does a remarkable job interpreting the main character Leonardo and his ambivalent personality. During the film, sympathies switch between the characters and you will never be quite sure whose side you are on.

The ending bears a surprise that divides the audience between loving and hating the film. However, one thing is certain: the intelligence and cinematography of the film will impress you. The movie also successfully breaks with the mould of culturally specific Argentine productions. Those from Europe or the US will be able to identify with the characters just as easily as any Argentine would.

This movie is perfect to watch if you want to see modern Argentine cinema that gives a universal perspective on human behaviour and excels in photography and story development. Though you might not get an adrenaline kick out of this movie, it will definitely make you think!

4. La Historia Oficial, 1985, Dir: Luis Puenzo

‘The Official Story’ is an Academy Award winning drama from 1985. Directed by Luis Puenzo, this movie treats the delicate time after the dictatorship in Argentina. It was honoured with not only an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986, but also with a Golden Globe in the same category. Actress Norma Aleandro won the award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985.

The story is based on real events that occurred during the dictatorship in Argentina from 1976 to 1983. The new born babies of the desaparecidos (people who went missing after being persecuted by the regime) were often given up for adoption to people who were either involved in the regime or did not ask questions about the family background of the child. Until this day, the families of the desaparecidos, along with the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, are fighting to get the children of their dead relatives back.

Alicia, a teacher in middle school, and Roberto, a well situated business man, fulfil their long-cherished dream of parenthood by adopting little Gaby. After a few years of happiness, Alicia cannot ignore the feeling that the adoption of Gaby might have had something to do with the dictatorship. She starts to investigate to find out the truth about her daughter’s birth.

Alicia, naive and unaware of the environment she lives in, did not know about the bloody events that occurred during the dictatorship. Only when a friend of hers returns to Argentina after years in exile and tells her about her destiny, does Alicia start to realize what really happened in her country. For the first time she listens to her students, who tell her that the books authorised for teaching are written by murderers, hired by the regime. She begins to notice people demonstrating in the street, fighting to get their children back, which were taken by the regime.

When she realises that she never had the chance to meet Gaby’s birth mother, she gets curious and is determined to find out the truth about her daughter’s parents. What she is about to find out will change her life forever.

This movie finds a way of helping the viewer to understand what it was truly like to live in Argentina after the dictatorship. How people found out only bit by bit what really happened in their country, how the country mourned for the victims that were never found and the crimes that were never acknowledged. While history books may have given you the facts, this movie will make you experience what it means to feel the desperation of losing your loved ones.

This film will overwhelm you with its abundance of emotion and its touching performances. Be prepared to be touched – and dive into the years after Argentina’s most violent decade.

5. Esperando La Carroza, 1985, Dir: Alejandro Doria

If you ever want to experience an ordinary Argentine Sunday, this movie will bring the adventure right into your living room. Family members shouting at each other de la puta madre, deception and madness at its best – this movie shows you what goes on behind Argentine doors when the family comes together.

Alejandro Doria directed the cult comedy from 1985. It is an adaption of a theatre play written by the Uruguayan Jacob Langsner, first performed in 1962. The movie features some of the best known Argentine theatre actors of the time, such as Antonio Gasalla, China Zorilaa, Luis Brandoni and Betiana Blum.

Family time – three siblings get together with their wives to enjoy a lunch together – which after a mere two minutes turns into a heated discussion about who will take care of their mother, Mama Cora. By the time you get the feeling they are about to kill each other, the group receives surprising news: Mama Cora has killed herself.

Feeling guilty about their attempts to shake off the responsibility of looking after their own mother, and the verbal attacks that accompanied them, an emotional outburst ensues, resulting in an even more aggressive and yet hilarious fight. Too bad they do not know the confused Mama Cora is right next door.

Make sure to have some aspirin at hand when you watch the movie, the screaming matches might give you a headache. However, you cannot help but love the characters, so do not miss out on an opportunity to take a seat and lunch with the Argentines.