“If my films make one more person miserable, I’ll feel I have done my job!” Woody Allen famously once said. But, in general, the only reason to feel miserable after a movie should be an uncomfortable seat at the cinema complex for a drawn out blockbuster. This, however, is not a problem for short movies, which are experiencing something of a renaissance.

There is actually no real definition of ‘short films’ – it is a term used for any film not long enough to be considered a ‘feature’. Films of just a few minutes almost fall into their own category: in France, for example, the annual ‘International Festival of Very Shorts’, which occurs in dozens of cities simultaneously, only screens movies less than three minutes long (excluding title and credits), with productions coming from all over the world.

In any case, shorts are an excellent breakthrough point for any young and talented director or even actor. Some legendary names from the movie history started of with shooting short films, like Charlie Chaplin in the beginning of the 20th century. Animated cartoons also came principally in short format – who does not remember The Pink Panther?

Director Maja Prettner.

However shorts have struggled in general to capture audiences compared to features, which benefit from more money, fame, popularity, and reach, among other things. “Short films do not have a consistent audience or permanent fans. That is why they do not get that much attention,” explains Maja Prettner, a young Slovenian director.

“They are much faster than feature films, which normally include a more complex screenplay. That makes them more interesting, more professional, and of course it takes longer to shoot them. Basically that is why I think they are more popular. Average audiences spend their free time watching movies and feature films which offer a longer lasting amusement,” says Brazilian director José Roberto de Jonas Bastos.

Even though Prettner and Bastos come from different parts of the world, they agree on one thing. In their majority, short films are made by youngsters who are just starting out or hoping to launch a career in the film industry. They normally do not have a big budget or good connections with famous producers and studios. According to Bastos, making short films is ‘”a kind of training”, while Prettner adds: “Everyone is waiting for this big break, the opportunity to shoot a feature film.”

Unable to garner the attention of public broadcasters, directors of short films turn to YouTube, Vimeo and other sites on the web as place that offer a chance to be seen. But the best promotion over all are film festivals, such as BAFICI (Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival), which including many offerings for those interested in this type of film art.

Bastos explains: “Big production companies do not invest in short films, because there is no box-office. They do not make any money with the tickets, because there are no crowds infront of cinemas playing ‘shorts’. The biggest award is winning at a film festival.”

Kurdwin Ayub, in Iraqi-born director who lives in Austria, was among the directors screening a short film at this year’s BAFICI. Her ‘shorts’ do not have a direct message, she says. “I always go with my current inspiration, but without any specific goal. My focus is everywhere, not in a specific place.” In 67 minutes, BAFICI goers saw eight of her ‘shorts’ made in 2011 and 2012. “Every spectator has to understand my films in its own way and find its own meaning,” declared Ayub to the audience after the projection.

Director Jose Bastos.

Kurdwin Ayub pointed out another characteristic of short films: they can be made within a small crew or even without anyone else. “These eight movies I have done either alone either with a friend. Just two girls running around with a camera,” she described.

And just maybe this is one of the paths film industry will follow in the future: special effects and 3D technology on one side and complete simplicity and creative freedom on the other. Both have their merits: after all, ‘Fresh Guacamole’, a 100-second animated film became the shortest production ever nominated for an Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards.

Where to see short films in Buenos Aires?

Arteplex (Belgrano and Caballito)
Cine Cosmos UBA
Cine Gaumont
Fundación Proa
MALBA

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: The Top of The World.

A production company is hoping to receive enough backing to complete their short film highlighting the hardships of a young boy, Tito. The film is designed to raise awareness of widespread poverty in Argentina and to demonstrate how young children are often expected to hit the streets in search of work.

“The Top of The World” narrates one day in the life of the young Argentine. At only 10 years old, Tito bears the weight of supporting his family. Each morning he wakes up, eats breakfast, and prepares his bag before leaving the house. Once in Santa Fe, a small public playground serves as his base where he changes his clothes, eats, drinks, and rests after long hours of juggling in exchange for small change.

Tito performs on the street (Photo courtesy of idea.me)

Dressed in a makeshift clown suit, Tito moves out in front of cars waiting at traffic lights to perform various juggling tricks with three hoops. Just before the lights turn green he finishes his routine and walks to each car hoping that the drivers hand him some form of reward, no matter how small.

As the day unfolds, the film follows Tito counting his earnings and changing from his costume before a chance meeting with a girl who is playing on the swings. After watching the girl for a while they begin talking and the attention of the film moves to focus on the different views of the playground. From Tito’s perspective it is merely somewhere related to his work, from the girl’s it is a place of freedom and expression.

Santa Fe-based Mutantecine are the production company behind the project and they have experience in not only making short films but television series as well. “We’ve been working on this project for a long time. It has a very special meaning to us and we are certain that it is a story that needs to be told,” Mutantecine write on their IdeaMe page.

So far only $2,133 of a required $15,000 has been raised and the project is hinged on an all or nothing basis, so with only 33 days to go the producers are hoping to gain further support. Those who donate will be in line to receive the “Awarded Producer” pack including printed high definition stills of the film, a personalised signed script, and a printed version of the production diary.

For more information and to support this project, visit its IdeaMe page.

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!

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams. This week: La Birrilata: Una vuelta en tren

Creator of the iconic 1902 film A Trip to the Moon and its indelible image of a spaceship landing in the eye of the Man on the Moon, French filmmaker Georges Mélies was quoted as saying, “Cinema has the power of capturing dreams.” Argentine filmmaker and theorist Fernando Birri continues that line of thought with the question, “What are the dreams we have not yet dreamt?” Herein lies the premise for the film ‘La Birrilata, Una vuelta en tren’ (A train ride).

The film explores the development of Latin American cinema in the years since the emergence of film maker Birri, who was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, 88 years ago. Hailed as the “Father of the New Latin American Cinema,” Birri is most well known for his work ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’, based on the fictional short story by magic realist author Gabriel García Márquez.

Birri also is believed to lay claim to making the film with the longest title ever: “Vera historia de la primera fundación de Buenos Aires como también de varias navegaciones de muchas partes desconocidas, islas de reinos, también de muchos peligros, peleas y escaramuzas, tanto por tierra como mar, que nunca han sido descriptos en otras historias o crónicas, extraídos del libro ‘Viajes al río de La Plata’, original del soldado alemán Ulrico Schmidl, miembro de la expedición capitaneada por don Pedro de Mendoza, quien publicó por primera vez estas memorias, bien anotadas para utilidad pública en la ciudad de Francfort el año 1567,” or “The First Foundation,” for short.

The film is currently in post-production, and needs funding to release the movie, define and edit the soundtrack, and create the high definition master of the work. The project is headed by LatinaLate, a group dedicated to the idea that there is “no future without memory,” and furthers this belief through works of cinema and audiovisual media.

The film was a recipient of a grant from the National Film Institute of Argentina (INCAA), but still requires funds to reach its goals. LatinaLate hopes to reach $40,000 to complete its project, and it is an all-or-nothing project, meaning no money will be used unless latinaLate reaches its proposed number. You can help this dream become reality via the film’s IdeaMe page.

Noemi Weis

Argentine-Canadian Noemi Weis is a relative newcomer to documentary film making, but has thrown herself into topics that can only be described as harrowing: the damage domestic violence wrecks on children, homophobic discrimination that forces gays to flee their home countries, the search for the missing grandchildren born from the disappeared here in Argentina, and the horrific chastisement Indian widows face – blamed for their husbands´ death and banished from their homes. Desert Riders, her recent documentary about the plight of child camel jockeys, trafficked to the Middle East, abused and injected with hormones to stunt growth, is currently on air in 14 countries.

Here in Argentina, she has recently been interviewing and researching for MILK, a film about the importance of breastfeeding as a means of creating a healthier society, among other activities. She talks to The Argentina Independent about objectivity, heartbreak, and porteño taxi drivers.

You recently screened your documentary ‘Abuelas – Grandmothers on a Mission’ to the grandmothers themselves. How did they react to it?

Poster for Weis’ ‘Abuelas: Grandmothers on a Mission’ (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

It was extremely well received, that was really wonderful. I was actually quite anxious to hear their response because I didn´t know how they would see themselves.

They were very touched by the film, they said it was done in a way without showing any blood or anything that would be really traumatic for the viewers. It was done in a very honest way by the protagonists themselves, being themselves, and the grandchildren, and they felt very good about it.

There have been many films done about the Abuelas, this is just a half an hour with the purpose of being an educational documentary, more than anything it´s a tribute to them, and I hope that it will go to schools to tell their story.

I saw on your website that you have no less than 15 works in progress. How do you sleep?

Someone asked me that the other day, I sleep eight hours and I think very fast.

Your films deal with really raw, emotional and powerful subjects. When you were approached to do Desert Riders you said, ¨I don´t know if my heart can take another film of that nature.¨ How do you deal with hearing such tragic stories?

It´s not easy. Every time I finish a film I say to myself ¨I am going to be much stronger and I am going to be very objective and not going to take it to heart¨, but actually it´s not true. Every time I get involved in one of the films it becomes very, very personal. I think that is one of the reasons I am able to talk with people at their level, they always tell me that they have told me things they haven´t talked about before, and in way it´s a very honest conversation I am able to capture.

I have worked with wonderful directors, they also felt every time we got involved in any of the films there was a reason we were doing this and we wanted to be able to raise the voices of these people in the world. Maybe I came to this life to have this kind of mission – that someone needs to bring the voice of the most vulnerable. I am driven by the passion of wanting to help.

The medium of film, with voice and images, is really powerful. I always say that if I am able to change one life, it´s all worth it. My films have been able to make a difference in communities. They´re out there in classrooms and universities and they do make a difference, or also in inspiring people to change their lives, provoking change, and that´s what keeps me going.

A still from ‘Desert Riders’, which portrays the tough lives of boys who are trafficked and forced to work as camel jockeys. (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

How has your work changed people´s lives?

‘Let´s Talk About It’ deals with domestic violence, and shows intimate conversations between parents and children. For some it was the first time they had talked about that intimately with their parents, so there was healing between parents and children in the process of the film. That´s being used in women´s shelters, correctional centres, and classrooms as a tool. That´s definitely made a big impact.

I also made ‘Gloriously Free’, about gay people that had to flee from their countries because of discrimination. I was called by a teacher from a college wanted it to be shown in their Toronto sociology class, and a lawyer from California used the film to defend one of his cases.

Poster for ‘Teaching the Life of Music’, produced by Weis, which shows how community integration can be achieved through music. (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

‘Teaching the Life of Music’, launched the beginning of last year, deals with El Sistema in Venezuela, rescuing kids through music. It´s a tool that brings people together. When it launched in Canada, the next day I got a call from a man in a tiny town in the north of Ontario, he couldn´t sleep all night, he wanted to create El Sistema in his town. He was ready to create something similar. It´s about motivating and inspiring people to create a better society, giving people the opportunity to be together.

Do you feel that your films in some way (in representing struggles and then hope) reflect your own story as an immigrant? It must have been tough for you to settle in Canada.

For an immigrant no matter what you do, it´s not easy in another country with a different set of rules, a different language and culture. Whenever people tell me they are going to leave their country I say to them, think twice, it´s not all about the money. People who move think they will be more stable financially but there’s a lot more that goes with that. Being an immigrant means that you are away from the things that you grew up with, your family, the most important things. It´s not that easy, but I don´t think I am an exception to the rule. I´ve never had difficulty using my voice. Now I am communicating with documentaries, before it was in advertising.

How was it making the change from working in advertising to making documentaries?

Dramatic. A very dramatic change, from one opposite to the other of the spectrum. Financially, very, very, very different. Though I can tell you, for some reason, I feel very rich right now. It´s the richness of the spirit that keeps me going. I am doing something that I really love.

I have only being making documentaries for seven or eight years, I have produced seven, eight films, it´s a lot, and I have been extremely busy.

I think maybe the background that I had, being an entrepreneur, having my own company, having the discipline of working in business, having a marketing background as well, it all helped. I think for me personally I have to find a balance financially, there´s no question about it. I have been driven by passion and the passion has kept me going. Eventually it will find a balance itself I think.

You make films which give voice to the voiceless, that give power to the disempowered. Was there a specific life experience that you had that led you to follow this path?

Personally I don´t think it comes from my own life. I have always had a strong sense of justice and human rights. When I started Filmblanc back in 1998, I was very busy with my own advertising agency. It was created with an anthropological approach, my business plan was to create an association with producers around the world. I intended to continue the advertising work.

Once I started to make documentaries, it took a life of its own and my time to become completely absorbed by the stories, by the places, by the mission, by where I had to travel and be part of, which was not always next to me at home, so it took a life of its own.

Abuelas gathering as portrayed in ‘Abuelas’ (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

How is it to be back in Argentina working?

I adjust very easily to wherever I go, I love different cultures and I travel easily to many places, and I speak several languages which gives me a very easy way to communicate with people.

I am from Argentina, I was born here and I grew up here, but I lived my adult life in Canada.

I left for Canada in 1975, so very, very young, thinking I was going to go for a year as an adventure. It was hard to come back, the situation here in Argentina was not the best situation in those days, so what was an adventure became a lifetime.

So in a lot of things I am an outsider, in the sense that I don´t know the day to day things that people manage, but I feel comfortable because I do understand the culture completely and speak the language. But on the other hand, people are very surprised when I ask very simple questions, they look at me because I speak Spanish like everyone else, I never lost my Argentine accent, and all of a sudden I come out with a question that I should have known, but I have to explain that I don´t live here, and I am not from here.

It´s the same for me to be working here as anywhere else, because I am always an outsider wherever I am, but I do understand the culture and the language, and I can communicate. That´s the main thing for me.

A still from ‘Abuelas’, portraying Weis’ vision of the city (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

How difficult is it to find funding? Have social media and crowdfunding made an impact?

Funding is the worst part, it´s very difficult. It´s a lot of work. Crowdfunding has been very successful for a lot of people out there, but I haven´t tried it yet. I´ve been fortunate to get funding with an enormous amount of effort. I work very long hours and I don´t give up, I think it´s a lot of patience and determination, if you believe in it, but it can take a very long time to get funding for a film. Once you have funding, the work is not difficult.

With the kind of topics that I do, people should be knocking on the door, society would save (money) in so many other ways.

How has being Argentine-Canadian impacted your work?

As a writer, director and producer, I think film making is very personal. I am Argentine, my Argentine culture is strong in me and people know me as Argentine around the world. My language and culture is very Latin.

When I was here I studied architecture, I have always been a very visual person, all of that has to do with who I am. As a half Canadian half Argentine, I feel very comfortable in both worlds, but then I feel comfortable in Paris, or in Italy or in Spain. It´s part of being Argentine. Argentines are really encyclopaedic, the European influence that we have here is very, very strong, it´s part of our identity problem. They feel themselves European but they are part of Latin America, so they never know where they belong. I guess I am Argentine because I never know where I belong.

You´re used to being the interviewer, not the interviewee. How does it feel for you? Would you consider yourself a private person?

I am private, but I don´t have any problem being interviewed, I interview people all the time. I think it´s important to be able to share the ins and outs of how films are made, the audience is always interested to know.

‘Abuelas’ deals with a painful period in Argentina´s history. How did this affect you and your family?

I left Argentina before it started. I lived it all from a distance. There was talk, there was something in the air. My (immediate) family was not affected directly, though there were a couple of cousins who disappeared. I remember being in Canada and receiving letters from people who were studying with me in the faculty of architecture telling me what was happening, and I heard it all from a distance.

Doing ‘Abuelas’ was important to me, I felt I needed to tell the story of what happened in my country.

An Abuela de Plaza de Mayo in Weis’ film ‘Abuelas’ (Photo courtesy of Filmblanc)

What do you miss about Argentina when you are outside the country?

I miss my family and my friends. It´s nice to be here in the summer, I miss the cosmopolitan part of the city, the romance, the passion of the city, the culture of the coffee, that you can sit for hours and talk about changing the world. The culture here is more laid back and people have more time to do that.

You are currently doing interviews here for MILK, your documentary about the benefits of breastfeeding. What is it like interviewing Argentines?

People are very open, they love to talk, the moment you open the microphone you have a hard time getting a break in there to ask a question. People have a lot to say. They have a lot of opinions, a lot of stories; they have no problem in telling them. Even in a taxi the conversations are fantastic! They tell me so many things without me saying one thing. The cameraman says that I ask questions and I trigger them, maybe I do, but my god they tell me so many stories, it´s wonderful!

What is it about the topic of breastfeeding that interests you?

I think people need to know about breastfeeding. It´s incredible that in 2013 there are still controversies about breastfeeding, when it should be something so natural. My interest is in showing the benefits, bringing a message to society at large.

There are many issues that need to be covered: number one is the health community, the doctors are not prepared to help the mothers as much as they need to and that´s why so many mothers have so much trouble.

There are also issues culturally. Each country has different laws, here in Argentina the mother has to go back to work within three months, if she wants to breastfeed it´s not that easy because it´s a very short period of maternity leave.

Multinational companies continue to spend a lot of money on marketing, when it should be something that comes from governments. Governments should realise that they would be spending less money in health, if they were taking care of breastfeeding.

In every documentary that I work on, it all has to come to the root of the problem. We can´t resolve anything, yes, we can raise awareness, but we can´t raise awareness with the mission of making a change until we realise what the problem is, with the hope and the goal that someone will pay attention and maybe make a difference. That´s the idea.

We´ll be covering the documentary from different angles, without placing judgement on women who decide not to breastfeed, but I will give them the opportunity to explain why.

For more information and to buy Noemi Weis’ films, visit the Filmblanc website.

Argentine film producer Fernando Sulichin’s Hollywood career began by accident; a classroom mix-up in college propelled him headlong into the world of cinema, and he has since worked around the globe with such well-known directors as Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, David Lynch and Martin Scorcese, to name just a few.

Sulichin’s films range from adrenaline-filled blockbusters (such as 2012’s “Savages”) to thoughtful political documentaries. The television series “The Untold History of the United States”, directed by Oliver Stone, critically re-examines the role of the U.S. after the Second World War and is currently screening on Showtime.

On a brief visit to his native Buenos Aires, Sulichin sat down with The Argentina Independent to discuss his early years in Hollywood, his views on the current state of Latin American politics, and what’s in store for his production company, Central Films.

Fernando Sulichin (Photo by Helena Andell)

You came to the U.S. to study architecture originally. Could you talk a little bit about your move from Argentina to the States and how you became involved in film?

Here in Argentina they always tell you that the States are a better place. The patriotism here, or self-esteem was a little bit low and they thought that everything that came from abroad was better, especially the U.S. And with the monopoly of media and Hollywood, you dream of American culture; I was always thinking that the U.S. was the best place in the world. I was really looking forward to going. And when I was dealing with questions like ‘what do I want to do with the rest of my life? Where do I want to spend my energy?’ I thought that maybe the U.S. was a place where you could expand yourself better than you could have done here. So in a certain moment, when I had my first frustrations, I said ‘OK, I’m going to Los Angeles, where Zorro was from, and I’m going to expand my life there.’ I had been in the U.S. many times during my youth as a tourist, like many people do here, but I never went to really approach real life. So I went to work there, I wanted to try it. I went to study architecture, and I misplaced the class at UCLA. I went to the wrong class; I went to Peter Guber’s producing class. And Peter Guber at that time was the producer of “Rain Man”, but he was ‘cooking’ “Batman”, the first Batman of Tim Burton. I saw the energy of that guy and I really, really freaked out. I said ‘I want to be that guy. I want to have this enthusiasm and I want to learn. How does he do it, who is this guy?’ So I continued studying production, and that was the beginning of the end.

The first film you worked on was Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” in 1992. It had a lot of issues regarding budget constraints, and time issues, it was a controversial film…

It was a tiny budget for a huge film, so we had to be very creative. But I was so happy to work, and to work as a producer, that nothing could make me upset. Every difficulty was a fantastic challenge. Every problem was a possibility for a breakthrough. It was a party for me.

How aware were you before you came to the United States of race relations in the country, and of Malcolm X as a person?

Well, unfortunately, here [in Argentina] there were not many black people. My relationship with black people was through cinema. Like, Eddy Murphy, Richard Pryor, Miles Davis…so I always saw black people as happy people! Even when I saw films like “Roots”, or situations like that, I was not really conscious of the struggles that black people had. As soon as I understood these struggles, I immediately had a lot of sympathy and solidarity, and it touched my heart. I could relate to them in a closer way…I read the “Autobiography of Malcolm X”, and then I read a fantastic book called “Mama Black Widow” by Iceberg Slim. I couldn’t believe that in this wonderful society I had been looking forward to joining, there existed this kind of misery and injustice, which they’re still carrying now. Then I got…it grew in me and is still there, trying to work for justice and equality. So the U.S. gave me a great platform and great knowledge, I got my whole professional education there. You know, I could say I am professionally a North American. I learned how to work there, I learned how to think there. That’s where my culture relates to.

You worked again with Spike Lee in 2004 on the film “She Hate Me”.

Yes, a comedy. A comedy that was not that funny (laughs).

In the 12 years that had passed from your first movie till then, how had you changed as a producer and how had Spike changed as a director?

As a producer I became more secure. I became more confident. I created my own identity as a producer, which is to work on author’s films, or with difficult directors. Basically I had the opportunity to pay back Spike, by financing a film, for the big, enormous, huge breakthrough that he gave me when I was a young 26-year old Argentine man, with a big smile and ambition and enthusiasm.

The untold history of the United States

Another director that you’ve worked with often is Oliver Stone. Could you talk about the television series you’ve produced with him [“The Untold History of the United States”]?

The television series is the best work I have done, and the best work I will do. It creates film karma for me for my next two or three generations. It is a very important piece of work. Why? Because “The Untold History of America” is really revisiting history the right way, in the correct way. It was a lot of work, it was highly researched by my master, the great Oliver Stone, who educated me like a big brother. We spent a lot of time really making sure that I was thinking in the right direction, that I’m aware of things. I opened my eyes. That also taught me about enjoying life and being committed at the same time; one doesn’t compromise the other. He has a fantastic purist approach to things. So, that was fantastic.

Oliver Stone is a pretty controversial figure in Hollywood, and this series in particular has been getting a lot of criticism.

He’s controversial, but…he’s not controversial. He just tells the truth. Everything that tells the truth, and has a different point of view, becomes, in a way, controversial. But it is not a controversial thing, you know, it is quite normal.

In 2009 you and Stone worked on “South of the Border”, a documentary about the “pink tide” in Latin America. I was wondering if, after being based abroad for so long, these documentaries focusing on issues in Latin America were a way of staying connected to the continent, and to the political life here?

No. Basically, we were connected to South America but we also made some films on Palestine, a film called “Persona Non Grata”. The thing is, what’s happening in Latin America is fantastic, and it’s very interesting worldwide at the moment. There are a lot of things happening. You had a president like Lula [da Silva, of Brazil] who took 30 million people out of poverty. You have an indigenous president, Evo Morales. You have a lot of issues which are hard to understand from a foreign point of view. So we went there and we filmed, and we explained to people who are just fed the media’s point of view, which is not truthful or real.

There’s a lot that’s changed since 2009, in Latin America specifically. Hugo Chávez’s health is very uncertain; Lula has become involved in this mensalão corruption scandal; Néstor [Kirchner] has passed away and Cristina [Fernández de Kirchner] is facing a lot of criticism here in Argentina. What’s your take on the current political state of Latin America?

These are new countries, and beyond that they are new democracies. When you want to change a system that has been in the power of so few people for so long, it will take a lot of time to and it will create a lot of social revolt. Why? Because the people who used to have it very easy, and now don’t, are very uncomfortable. So I think it’s a question of time, for things to settle. Also, Latin America is a very anxious continent. In the U.S. people are not concerned with what Obama does every day, or they’re not aware of what the Minister of the Economy does every day. They’re not really involved in the management of government day to day, they just go to work, focus on their situation, and once the government is elected, the government is elected. They don’t really micromanage. In Latin America they do micromanage, and they do criticise every single decision, so it’s a little bit hard with so much media pressure. Everything that happens in these places, it also happens in other places in the world. It’s part of human nature. You could look at Egypt now, you could look at France now. But on this continent they think that this is the centre of the problem and that the rest is great. The rest is not great. The rest is the same.

How do you see the relationship changing between the United States and Latin America in the next few years?

One thing is the U.S. government, and another thing is the U.S. people. The people of the U.S. are fantastic. The government of the U.S… it’s very slow in catching up with changes. And they’re really very self-centred, thinking that everyone should follow their example, which isn’t true. I think the Americans have an opportunity to learn from different experiences. For instance, how is Brazil getting people out of poverty? There is a lot to learn from different places. They should assimilate the culture a bit more, in order to get out of their own fiscal and financial crisis. It’s a fantastic opportunity, but the government has to be more open-minded and less judgmental.

You opened your own production company, Central Films, in 2004. You’re based in Paris…

And Hong Kong, and the U.S. I work in Los Angeles, I live part-time in Paris and I reside in Hong Kong because I’m very interested in China. They own the world now. I think that my American time, I have it in a fantastic way, I was a participant of the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s and created culture in those situations, however everything is owned now and manufactured by Chinese. So I want to get to understand them a little bit better. I still have my job and my offices in Los Angeles, and I get financing from Paris. It’s a weird combination, but it works.

When “Babel” was produced by Central Films it won the Golden Globe for Best Picture [in 2007]. Did you feel then that you’d made it as a producer?

I wasn’t really involved day to day in “Babel”. I was very keen to watch it, but it was just a fantastic investment.

What’s next for you and what would be your dream movie to produce?

I would like to work with Michael Mann. I would like to make something with Scorcese as well, with whom I’ve worked before. I want to make a great ‘70s movie like “French Connection”. Something like that.

Is there a film you’re currently working on?

I’m working on a great film called “Spring Breakers” by Harmony Korine, with Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. It’s coming out during…spring break.

KONEX (Photo: Beatrice Murch)

January in Buenos Aires is known as the quietest month of the year, when most locals escape from the heat and humidity to the coastor neighbouring countries. At the same time, others call it the best time for enjoying summer cultural activities, when big crowds can be avoided.

Known for its traditional Monday La Bomba del Tiempo performance, Ciudad Cultural Konex kicked off a rich cultural programme on 6th January, offering several cycles of events that unite various artists and genres throughout the summer. Branded as ‘Parador Konex’ the project covers every day and night in January and February with an immense number of activities for those who stay in the city of Buenos Aires.

Mondays are obviously given to La Bomba del Tiempo, now a must see act for all visitors to the city. ‘Proyecciones fuera de la común: cine + música al aire libre’ is a regular Tuesday activity devoted to cinema and music. Every Tuesday one director presents a new film to the public, and then an invited musician takes over, and everyone joins the party. Films are watched in a relaxed summer atmosphere, where timing is not important and nothing can distract you from the light reflexive mood. Maybe that is why most of the chairs provided by Konex team resemble beach seats and create a relaxed and joyful cinema experience.

Palmera by Leo Damari was the first film of the cycle, presented on 8th January. The whole film of 100 minutes length shows six females who spend their weekend in a summerhouse in Tigre and try psychoactive drugs. The women speak through the voice of Erica García, a singer specially invited by Damari as a narrator, as the recall the most important and painful moments of their lives, connecting them with dreams and desires that never became a reality. The only way to be close to reality that never happened is to take drugs. The euphoria is ended when one of the characters suffers a stroke, and the cruel reality punches through scenes from the hospital, where the friends are now patients with serious problems.

And the activities continue. ‘Club 3131: música + ping pong’ is a Wednesday club for those who like to play table tennis, dance a bit, and interact with others; DJ Villa Diamante is in charge of the music with invited artists that change every week. Thursdays belong to ‘Dancing Mood’, a band specialised in retro music and especially jazz.

Fridays and Saturdays, meanwhile are designed for festival lovers, because they require an ability to dance all night long. And finally Sundays are set up for early activities led by the famous band Flor de Mambo. They define themselves as a group that knows how to survive a porteño summer, which requires an oasis and some illusion: “That is why we plan to build up this illusion through dancing in the hot summer.”

Tickets for ‘Parador Konex’ events cost between $35 and $80 and can be purchased by Ticketek platform or directly in Konex (Sarmiento 3131, http://www.ciudadculturalkonex.org). Most events start at 7pm, however, there is no strict timekeeping and there is rarely a need to rush when going there.

IdeaMe is an online platform, which helps creators, be they inventors, artists, or designers, among others, to finance their projects through crowd funding. The Indy features and promotes one project every week, with the aim of helping the creators finance and achieve their dreams.

“Just like everyone else I have always had my doubts about our origins.” These are the words of young Argentine director Alan Stivelman, the man behind a new ground-breaking documentary called “Humano” (Human) that seeks to uncover the hidden truths about Latin America’s Andean ancestry.

Photo by Humano

Defined by its makers as “a documentary that tries to break old paradigms and myths regarding the Andean world and its philosophy,” Humano is certainly a unique project. It employs non-traditional methods of financing to allow for the completion of the production and is one of the first films to be created using the crowd funding method. It is the first feature film to be produced by Orgon Films, and the aim is to release the documentary online; free for all to see when it is complete.

The film’s trailer explains Stivelman’s motivation: “The truth about people living in the Andes has been hidden for centuries. Tired of the lack of answers, I took my camera and went to find out for myself.” The aim was to uncover the ancient culture of his Andean ancestors, which many people argue is on the verge of extinction.

In many ways, the majority of the content, as well as the storyline, came to Stivelman by a stroke of luck. As he suggested, he just pitched up in the Andes with a camera and the goal of finding answers to hundreds of questions about his ancestors’ beliefs and culture. Fortunately for the 25-year-old filmmaker, he came across Placido, an Andean paqo (priest) with very little contact with the outside world, who then took Stivelman on a journey through traditional Andean history. Through the eyes of Placido, whom Stivelman describes as “one of the most special beings I have ever met in my life,” Humano reveals the existence of an invisible world that coexists with the visible daily. The priest guides Stivelman through the deep-seeded beliefs of his ancestors. Former ways of life, about which so little are known are discussed in depth, to try to make sense of this “completely unknown and unfamiliar world” that Stivelman discovered.

Humano points to the idea of a silenced Andean ancestry, suggesting that history urgently needs to be revised, and people need to become more aware of their roots. “I want to share the voices of the mountains with you. And together understand why we are one. It is up to us to ensure that the voices of South America are never again silenced. Together we can unravel the truth about this earth.”

Orgon Films is a film production company that looks for new ways to make films more organic and sustainable, where viewers can access the art form without paying. Their goal is absolute freedom in art, yet production costs are unavoidable. As a result the makers of Humano need help from the public to fund the completion of the film production. Some tasks that still need to be completed include sound post-production, animation and translation.

To offer a donation to this worthwhile project, visit their ideame page at http://idea.me/proyecto/359/humano.

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.