November 12 & 14, 2009
92YTribeca
Despite the recent success of Lucrecia Martel's The Headless Woman, U.S. art-house audiences remain largely unfamiliar with the remarkable dynamism and vitality of the Argentinean cinema of the past decade. Cinema Tropical partners with 92YTribeca to pay tribute to the great influence and creative output of the cinema of this South American country featuring the work of four key filmmakers of this generation. In addition to Martel's astonishing debut feature La Ciénaga, the series also includes equally seminal works by three other Argentine writer/directors that any respectable cinephile should be familiar with: Martín Rejtman, Pablo Trapero and Adrián Caetano.
The series is sponsored by New York Loft Hostel. It is also made possible in part with public funds from the New YorkState Council on the Arts and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Special thanks to Juan A. Figueroa, Daniela Bajar and Guido Herzovich.
All films are in Spanish with English subtitles. All prints are 35mm.
All screenings at 92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. (at Canal St.), New York City
BOLIVIA
(Adrián Caetano, Argentina. 2001, 75 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
With Freddy Flores, Rosa Sánchez, Óscar Bertea, Enrique Liporace.
"Packs a wallop" —V.A. Musetto, New York Post
A starkly realistic story of an illegal immigrant from Bolivia who lands a job with a greasy spoon on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, poignantly depicts the world of poverty, racism and casual violence that characterize his newfound reality. Bolivia is an urgent and timely drama of life in Argentina, a nation that at the time of the film's release was immersed in a massive crisis reaching unprecedented poverty levels, vast unemployment, bankruptcy, and a dramatically shrinking economy. The second feature by Adrián Caetano, which was awarded the Young Critic's Award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, manages to be both powerful and understated.
Thursday, November 12, 7pm
SILVIA PRIETO
(Martín Rejtman, Argentina, 1999, 92 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
With Rosario Bléfari, Valeria Bertucelli, Gabriel Fernández Capello, Mirtha Busnelli.
"Rejtman reveals a mastery of his minimalist style." —Los Angeles Times
A minimalist deadpan comedy involving drifting characters and objects, the film focuses on Silvia Prieto, a rather unexceptional young woman who on her 27th birthday resolves to make some changes in her life – changes that bring out a few eccentricities. When she discovers that there are other women with her name, she develops a bizarre obsession with the "other" Silvia Prieto, an obsession that has to do with unraveling the riddle of her own identity. Written and directed by Martín Rejtman, credited as the precursor of the New Argentine Cinema, Silvia Prieto was hailed by Los Angeles Times as a "refreshingly venturesome film," and is a witty meditation on what it means, or doesn't mean, to be yourself.
Thursday, November 12, 9pm
MUNDO GRÚA / CRANE WORLD
(Pablo Trapero, Argentina, 1999, 90 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
With Luis Margani, Adriana Aizemberg, Daniel Valenzuela
"Remarkable for the tenderness and tenacity it shares with its memorable protagonist." — Amy Taubin, Village Voice
A new variant on Neo-realism, Pablo Trapero's multiple award-winning feature debut paints a portrait of working class life that is simultaneously gritty and poetic. The film follows the changing fortunes in the life of Rulo, an unemployed suburban man, who tries to earn a living as a crane operator. Rulo is a likeable, pot-bellied 50 year-old who had a brief taste of success as a young rock musician. Now, with both an elderly mother and a musician son to support, Rulo plunges into a hazardous and arduous work of heavy metal construction. Directed with an unusual combination of aesthetic freshness and emotional soundness Trapero's first film became a key work in the current resurgence of Argentine cinema.
Saturday, November 14, 6:30pm
LA CIÉNAGA
(Lucrecia Martel, Argentina, 2001, 102 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
With Mercedes Morán, Graciela Borges, Martín Adjemián.
"Superb filmmaking." — J. Hoberman, Village Voice
February in Argentina's Northeast can be uncomfortably hot and humid. Bodies become sluggish and sticky... and tensions rise. Mecha is in her 50's and must deal with four accident-prone teenagers, a husband who dyes his hair and the tedious problem of sullen servants. Nothing that a few drinks can't cure. Tali is Mecha's cousin. She has four noisy small children and a husband who loves his house, loves his kids, and loves to hunt. Mecha and her family spend their summers at a country estate whose glory has long faded, and where the two families, reunited by an accident, will attempt to survive a summer from hell. With uncompromising talent, Martel's astonishing feature debut —which preceded the celebrated films The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman— brilliantly depicts the decadence of the Argentine middle-class through this family's story.
Saturday, November 14, 8:30pm
