This Saturday, the 34th edition of Mar del Plata International Film Festival began, an event that stands out as the only A-Class festival in Latin America and that boasts a program including no fewer than 500 projections, 300 films, 51 countries, 15 screens, and 7 official competitions. The Trans-Andean festival will show first features, renowned filmmakers, retrospectives, and Super 8 and 16mm films, among other novelties.
Chile landed in Argentina with films in several categories: participating in the Latin American Competition are I Never Climbed the Provincia by documentary filmmaker Ignacio Agüero, which was awarded at the latest edition of the Marseilles International Film Festival; Lemebel, a documentary film by Joanna Reposi, which won the Teddy Award at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival; Lina from Lima by María Paz González (interview below), which premiered in the Discovery Section at the Toronto Film Festival in September; Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes by José Luis Torres Leiva, a feature film that competed for the Golden Shell at the 67th San Sebastián Film Festival; and Sirena (“Mermaid”) by Carlos Piñeiro, a co-production between Bolivia, Qatar, and Chile.
Meanwhile, in the Argentina Competition are: co-production De la Noche a la Mañana, directed by Manuel Ferrari and produced by Le Tiro, Tresmilmundos Cine, and Lucho Films; and in the Altered States competition is the latest piece by director Camila José Donoso, Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them, which premiered in 2019 in the official section Tiger Competition at the Rotterdam Film Festival, produced by Mimbre Producciones.
Likewise, in the New Authors section, first feature The Man of the Future by Felipe Ríos (interview below) was selected, a film that earned actress Antonia Giesen the “Artist Revelation” Special Jury Mention at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival for her starring role in the film. It was produced by Giancarlo Nasi of Quijote Films (Chile), Sagrado Cine, and Unión de los Ríos (Argentina).
In Panorama of Argentine Cinema, Ceniza Negra by Sofía Quirós (interview below) will be shown, a co-production between Costa Rica, Chile, Argentina, and France, which premiered this year during Critics’ Week at Cannes. Meanwhile, participating in the Industry Work In Progress space is La Piedra de Ambrosetti, produced by Pilar Quinteros and Alan Segal.
Finally, presenting in the Mar de Chicos category are Extrañas Criaturas by Cristóbal León and Cristina Sitja — which, just like Agüeros film, premiered at the 2019 Marseilles Film Festival — and the recent production by Jorge Olguín, La Casa, which is part of the Open Veins section.
The Mar del Plata International Film Festival is organized by the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) and seeks to promote audiovisual activity in all of its forms. Films of diverse origins, themes, and styles — ranging from classic cinema to new trends, new voices, and new technologies — are exhibited annually. This opportunity accommodates the richness of Chilean films, which approach contingent narratives, with protagonists of all ages, and all kinds of stories, tracing a complete map of national filmmaking.
