Lucio Castro’s End of the Century
Lucio Castro’s debut feature End of the Century / Fin de siglo, which recently had its world premiere at New Directors/New Films festival in New York City, was the top winner for Best Argentine film at the 21st edition of the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival.
Starring Juan Barberini, Ramón Pujol, and Mia Maestro, the film tells the story of two men—an Argentine man from New York and a Spanish man from Berlin—who hook up by chance in Barcelona and after spending a day together they realize that they had already met twenty years ago.
In the international competition, The Sharks / Los tiburones, the debut feature by Uruguayan filmmaker Lucía Garibaldi was the winner of the Special Jury Prize. The coming-of-age drama follows 14-year-old Rosina who begins to circle her own prey as her intense attraction to an older co-worker grows while reports of shark sightings create panic in a small beach town in Uruguay.
The Latin American competition was topped by the Uruguayan film La fundición del tiempo by Juan Álvarez Neme. The Argentine filmmaker Peri Azar was the winner of the Best Director award also in the Latin American competition for his film Gran Orquesta.
In the Argentine competition, former BAFICI programmer Eloísa Solaas took home the award for Best Director for her debut documentary The Faculties, while Berlinale's Teddy Award winner Brief Story of the Green Planet by Argentina’s Santiago Loza, received a Special Mention.
