The 40th Mar del Plata International Film Festival, set to run from November 6 to 16, announced its competitions lineupat the Gaumont Cinema in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
The event included a tribute to veteran filmmaker Juan José Jusid, who received the Silver Astor Award for Lifetime Achievement. In his short speech, Jusid pointed to the current halt in Argentine film production, a consequence of the draconian austerity policies implemented by Javier Milei’s administration on state film funding.
“The current lack of film shoots highlights, among many other things, that the audiovisual sector’s inactivity has left us without a fundamental mirror to reveal what’s happening to us. A mirror to reflect on and recognize ourselves,” he said to an audience that included Argentine Film Institute president Carlos Pirovano, who championed the slashing of film subsidies.
Jusid’s 1975 classic Los gauchos judíos will be screened as part of the new Mar del Plata Classics section as a celebration for its 50th anniversary. Actor and director Víctor Laplace, who collaborated with Jusid on several films, presented the award. The festival will also grant a Silver Astor for Lifetime Achievement to director Juan José Jusid and actors Marilina Ross and Miguel Angel Solá. The festival had previously announced special programs on renowned directors Fabián Bielinsky, Yuzo Kawashima, Fernando Birri, and Milos Forman.
Artistic directors Gabriel Lerman and Jorge Stamadianos took the stage at the Gaumont to present the festival’s programming. Stamadianos pointed out the high quality of the film submissions this year, describing how each film “not only carried a message from its creator but, encrypted in its art, opened the door to a problem humanity is currently facing.”
“What was the most important sign? The war,” he said.
International Competition This year’s International Competition features films from across the globe. Local cinema will be represented by Gustavo Treviño’s La casa, starring Diego Peretti, and Paula Morel Kristof’s Muña Muña.
Other highlights include Leo & Lou from Spain’s Carlos Solano, La gioia by Italian filmmaker Nicolangelo Gelormini, and Israel’s Oscar submission The Sea by Shai Carmelli-Pollak. Moroccan director Maryam Touzan will attend the festival with her film Calle Málaga, featuring Spanish star Carmen Maura in the lead role.
Also competing are Oca by Mexico’s Karla Badillo, 18 Holes to Paradiso from Portugal’s Joao Nuno Pinto, and & Sons, the latest film from Argentine director Pablo Trapero, representing the United Kingdom and starring Bill Nighy and Dominic West.
The lineup continues with Ungrateful Beings from the Czech Republic’s Olmo Omerzu, Flood by Martin Gonda of Slovakia, and Vache Folle from Swiss filmmakers Hugo Diego García and Lorenzo Ventivoglio.
The international jury includes Colombian journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas, U.S. producer Paul Zaentz, Argentine filmmaker Juan Baldana, Ibiza Film Festival director Helher Escribano, and Dominican actress Nashla Bogaert.
Latin American Competition In the Latin American Competition, Argentina has two entries: La muerte de un comediante, which is actor Diego Peretti’s directorial debut alongside Javier Beltramino; and the documentary 3000 kilómetros en bicicleta, directed by Iván Vescovo.
Mexico’s entries include Dreams by Cannes-regular Michel Franco, starring Jessica Chastain and dancer Isaac Hernández, and La vida es, directed by Lorena Villarreal.
Other competing titles include Rey del ring by Rodrigo Sepúlveda (Chile), Cordillera de fuego by Jayro Bustamante (Guatemala), and Perros by Gerardo Minutti (Uruguay). Brazil’s Night Shift by Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, El corazón del lobo by Francisco J. Lombardi (Peru), Extranjera by Michelle Malley Campos (Puerto Rico), and Malecón by Carlos Larrazabal (Cuba) round out the selection.
Espina, a Panamanian entry by Daniel Poler, features Aarón Díaz and Lola Ponce, both of whom will attend the festival.
Argentine Competition The Argentine Competition brings a diverse lineup, including Risa y la cabina del viento by Juan Cabral, featuring trap star Cazzu in her film debut alongside Joaquín Furriel and Diego Peretti.
Other selections include El hombre de la luna by Rodrigo Pérez Green, The Letter by Rodrigo H. Vila, starring Harvey Keitel and Britt Robertson, and Pensamiento lateral by Mariano Hueter, with Money Heist star Itziar Ituño, Alberto Ammann, and César Bordón (The Eternaut).
The competition also features Desbarrancada by Guadalupe Yepes, Criollos by Matías Tamborenea, Recen por mí: La historia de Francisco by Facundo Bartucci, and Vlasta, el recuerdo no es eterno by Candela Vey and Tino Pereira, about pioneer filmmaker Vlastah Lah, the first Argentine woman to direct a feature-length film. Two of her films will be screened in restored versions within the Mar del Plata Classics section.
Completing the selection are Tres tiempos by Marlene Grinberg, Weser by Fernando Spiner — a former artistic director of the festival — and No preguntes, a comedy by Agustín Palleres.
