New York-based Argentine filmmaker Lucio Castro was the winner of the Best First Feature Award at the 43rd edition of Frameline, San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, for End of the Century / Fin de siglo.
In his alluring debut feature, Castro offers both a sun-soaked European travelogue and an epic, decades-spanning romance. When Ocho (Juan Barberini), a 30-something Argentine poet on vacation in Barcelona, spots Javi (Ramón Pujol), a Spaniard from Berlin, from the balcony of his Airbnb, the attraction is subtle but persistent. After a missed connection on the beach, a third chance encounter escalates to a seemingly random hookup. But are these two merely beautiful strangers in a foreign city or are they part of each other’s histories—and maybe even their destinies?
Castro deliberately parses out mystery after mystery, leading the audience on a journey of discovery as the two leading men discover themselves and each other. With sumptuous lensing of a Barcelona summertime and tangible chemistry between the actors, End of the Century is a love story that echoes across time.
The film will be released in theaters later this summer by the hand of Cinema Guid. End of the Century opens August 16 at the IFC Center in New York City, September 20 at the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles, and September 27 at the Opera Plaza Cinemas in San Francisco.
The 43rd edition of Frameline took place June 20-30 in San Francisco, California.
