2024-04-28 04:28:00
As has happened every year since that distant 1999 – with the only exception of 2020, in the midst of the strict stage of mandatory isolation – the new edition of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival (Bafici) It took place over ten intense days. This year more intense than ever: There was practically no presentation of a national feature or short film, and even one of foreign origin, in which those responsible did not mention the difficult situation that Argentine cinema is experiencing. Some of these mentions were listed in the pessimistic category, others were more hopeful and, in a third group, the slogans followed a more path. combative.
Equivalently, the aggressive restructuring of the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (Incaa) became the recurring topic of conversation in hallways, rooms and public talks, a logical and inevitable monotheme that flew over the 25th Bafici, soaking up anxiety and anguish which, in any case, was still a film festival. The good news, at the close of this edition of the festival, which will have its latest screenings this sundayis the announcement of the programming of Argentine premieres of the Gaumont for next week, confirmation of something that has been rumored for a couple of days: for the moment and until further notice, the cinema in the Congreso neighborhood it doesn’t close.
Like any cinematographic party, there is no celebration without prizes, and the jury composed of the Italian Giacomo Abbruzzese, the Austrian Angela Christlieb, the Portuguese Jorge de Carvalho, and the Argentines Néstor Frenkel and María Negroni ended up choosing, after the corresponding deliberation, the winning feature films and shorts of the International Competition. It is possible to imagine an intense discussion before reaching the decision to award the Grand Jury Prize to two feature films that couldn’t be more dissimilar, both in form and content, opting for the figure of the equally, which usually generates some resentment due to its Solomonic condition, but many times it is the only resource to reach a middle ground between the extremes.
Thus, the second feature film by the Brazilian Luiz Fernando Carvalho and the debut of his compatriot Sacha Amaral They share the podium with two main prizes. In the case of this last film, The pleasure is mineit is a mostly Argentine production (Amaral has lived in our country for many years), and it is the portrait of a young man in eternal conflict with his friends, family, multiple lovers and with himself with a precise dramatic structure, notable performances and a realistic style not exempt from poetry.
Passion according to GHa very personal adaptation of the novel of the same name by Clarice Lispector, marks Carvalho’s return to cinema after two decades of intense work on television in his country. With a extraordinary performance by Maria Fernanda Cândido, who deservedly took the prize for Best Performance (for a few years the award has not distinguished between sexes), the film describes the inner journey of a woman from high society after having an epiphany in the most unexpected circumstances. Unlike The pleasure is mine, The passion… It is a movie almost experimental, a collage of memories and wishes shot on beautiful 35mm analogue media.
The award for Best Feature Film was awarded to Riddle of Firefrom the American Weston Razooli, a particular youth story with a trio of friends between six and twelve years old immersed in the adventure of their lives, at the same time as the one corresponding to the Best Address ended up in the hands of Ukrainian-Canadian documentary filmmaker Oksana Karpovych for his magnificent portrait of the first months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Intercepted. He Special Jury Prize, meanwhile, it was for The Man of Clayfrom the French Anaïs Tellene, another feature film debut in which Emmanuelle Devos she plays an artist who establishes a particular relationship with a man who seems to come out of a medieval fairy tale.
In the short film field, the winning title, The Ghosts You Draw on My Backby the young Serbian director Nikola Stojanović, It is a story of elliptical growth of great sensitivity, starring a teenager in the midst of discovering her sexuality, adult life and also death.
The Argentine Competition It also made public the list of its winners. It follows that the jury, made up this year of the Swedish Annie Karlsson, the Swiss Serge Michel and the Uruguayan Valentina Otormin Dall’Oglio, along with the Argentinian María Fernanda Mugica and Laura Nevole, had the feature film as a big favorite. Vrutos. The film directed and written by the Buenos Aires filmmaker Miguel Bou, the fourth that he performed alone, became worthy of both the Big prize of the section, as of Best Address, the two of greatest importance that this competition gave. A work with many merits that justify the decision made by the members of the jury.
Halfway between genre cinema and fiction of social denunciation, Vrutos portrays life in the “slums” of Buenos Aires, taking as its setting the recognizable urban landscapes of Lugano I y II, one of the poorest territories within the city of Buenos Aires. A father lives there with his son, who maintain a tense relationship that does not escape the general provisions of the law, but with notable marks of class. The first is a man who lived his youth between crime and marginality, paths that he seeks to leave behind through study and distancing himself from his old teams. On the contrary, The son begins to repeat his father’s steps, excited to find in crime a quick way out of that reality full of deprivation.
This desire for paternal improvement collides with the expected adolescent rebellion, fueled by the universal desire to find a path of one’s own. Bou portrays everything with pure nerve, reflecting not only the tension of the bond, but also that of the social context in which the action takes place, under the marks of lack and sordidness. The handheld camera transmits the constant instability of the situations that take place in front of it. The saturated black and white photography, which gives the film a family resemblance to both the old westerns of John Ford o Howard Hawks like with film noir. A strictly dirty naturalism that refers to neorealism, the nouvelle vague or the independent epic of John Cassavettes. With modesty, all these references come together in Vrutoswhich also finds a lineage within Argentine cinema, inheriting aesthetics and interests that already had a place in the works of filmmakers such as Adrián Caetano, José Campusano, Bruno Stagnaro or Raúl Perrone, to mention only those closest to him.
The jury also highlighted the documentary The changing of the guardof Martin Farina, whom they distinguished with the award for Best Feature Film. A well-deserved recognition, which celebrates Farina’s great work in the portrait of a group of men who forged a solid friendship from their time in military service, in the tragic 1970s, but today stressed by the political situation of the present. . This award can also be read as a way of recognizing a format such as the documentary, which is usually undervalued even within the world of cinema, granting it a lower rank compared to the commercial power of fiction. However, historically, documentary production has provided Argentine cinema and its major festivals with some of their best work each year. A fact that in this 25th edition of Bafici is confirmed with the mentions awarded to the photographic production of two other exponents: Leave Romeroof Alejandro Fernández Mouján and Hernán Khourian, e Printersof Lorena Vega and Gonzalo Javier Zapico. A mention that was also shared with Ships and cathedralsof Nicolás Aráoz, film with a body of fiction, but a spirit that openly draws on the documentary.
The list of winners of the Argentine Bafici Competition is completed with the award to Best Performance, who shared Spanish Javier Oran and the Argentine Lautaro Bettoni, endearing protagonists of astronaut loversthe bright and dirty romantic comedy directed by Marco Berger. While in the field of short films they were distinguished When everything burnsof María Belén Pontio, winner of the section’s Best Short Film award, while The hot water bottleof Juliana Brutti, received the Special Jury Prize. Two pearls to finish off this crown of winners of Bafici, which will close its activities this Sunday. It will be until next year.