News

The retrospective that BAFICI dedicates to the immense figure (qualitatively speaking) of Adolfo Aristarain, with his ten 35mm films and in some cases brand new copies, is an act of justice for one of Argentina’s most important filmmakers of all times. The list ranges from the commissioned films La playa del amor and La discoteca del amor to the unforgettable La parte del león, Últimos días de la víctima and Tiempo de revancha, to the most recent ones, such as Martín (Hache), Lugares comunes and Roma, his latest film. In all of his movies, including the odd first two titles, one can find the masterful hand of a director that is vital to define an enduring aesthetic and narrative form. This is one of the treats of BAFICI this year, a definite program highlight. You’d better not miss it!

The full-dome theater of the Planetario, providing a 360-degree view, turned out to be one of the greatest new features in last year’s BAFICI, and it was so highly attended that new screenings had to be added. For the 2013 edition, the planetarium will again host a program of films related to dance, nature and music. The lineup includes the Welsh documentaries “The Beautiful” and “The Sublime”, part of the Submergence trilogy that combines cinema and contemporary dance; and the Dutch production El universo de Escher, based on the fascinating life of artist, astronomer and mathematician (among many other things) Mauricio Cornelio Escher, with a visualization of his works from his studio. Equally fascinating will be the screening of Kilpisjärvellä, a film that follows two explorers on a journey through Lapland as they try to capture the aurora borealis in all its grandeur; and Coral Renkindling Venus, an installation by Australian artist Lynett Wallworth which explores the intrinsic beauty of the coral reef ecosystem. And just like in 2012, the ever-inspiring classic rock will be present with the music from Pink Floyd’s extraordinary albums The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and a collection of the powerful rock songs by Led Zeppelin.

You can already purchase your Festival tickets in advance online on this website. General admission tickets cost ARS $20 (and discount tickets are ARS $15). The purchase fee is the same when buying more than 10 tickets. Plan your roadmap, fill your cart and start to feel the vibes of a new edition of BAFICI, which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary! You can also buy your tickets in person at Casa de la Cultura (Av. de Mayo 575), from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Mon-Fri) and at Village Recoleta Mall (Vicente López and Junín, 4th floor), same hours (every day). Start to enjoy Latin America’s most important independent film festival.

At the different ticket outlets, there is an express lane for the purchase of up to 6 tickets. In order to use it, we recommend that you plan out your choices in advance and complete the purchase form available at the Information Desk close to the box offices. Please be reminded that in case you have purchased your tickets online, you must print them in order to be allowed into the theater. Other tips and suggestions: at the moment of purchasing your tickets, bear in mind the time gap between films, because once the film starts, you will not be allowed into the theater, and your ticket will no longer be valid; all the films scheduled are for people aged 18 and over, except for the films in the Little BAFICI section which are for general audiences; and last, all the films scheduled that are not in Spanish will have electronic subtitles.

In the fifteenth edition of BAFICI, the members of the Argentine branch of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) have programmed “BAFICI + Fipresci x 15”, a section that revisits many of the most relevant films of the so-called “new Argentine cinema” shown in the Festival. Here are some remarkable – and in some cases prizewinning – films: El amor (primera parte), by Alejandro Fadel, Martín Mauregui, Santiago Mitre and Juan Schnitman; Historias extraordinarias, by Mariano Llinás; El estudiante, by Santiago Mitre; Mundo grúa, by Pablo Trapero; Silvia Prieto, by Martín Rejtman; and La libertad, by Lisandro Alonso. This compilation including greatest hits and best kept secrets of contemporary Argentine cinema, a section that deserves special attention for what it represents, turned out to be “a winding composition work that should allow to rethink these films separately and in relation to the rest,” wrote film critic Diego Lerer, president of the association that groups film critics in Argentina, on the Festival catalogue.

The comfortable Anfiteatro del Parque Centenario – with 1,620 seats, a big screen and eye-appealing natural surroundings – will be the venue for the “Open- Air BAFICI” series, which includes, as was mentioned yesterday, the Little BAFICI films Rodencia y el diente de la princesa and AninA on Saturday, April 13 and 20. The programming will actually begin on the Festival’s opening night – Wednesday 10 at 7.30 p.m. – with the screening of No, the Chilean film by Pablo Larraín that competed for an Oscar in 2013, and will continue on Friday 12 at 8 p.m. with Tráiganme la cabeza de la mujer metralleta, an amazing Chilean film directed by the wonderful Ernesto Díaz Espinoza. On Saturday 13, in addition to Rodencia…, there will be a screening of Mapa, the first feature film by Spanish short film maker León Siminiani, at 10 p.m. And on Sunday 14, Vamps, by American director Amy Heckerling, will be shown at 8 p.m. During the following weekend, apart from AninA on Saturday 20, there will be a screening of A Hijacking, by Danish director Tobías Lindholm at 10 p.m. And the great finale on Sunday 21 at 8 p.m., including an invitation to dance at the amphitheater, will feature Shut Up and Play the Hits, the documentary that portrays the moments before and after the last show of electro-rock band LCD Soundsystem.

One of the favorite sections of the de Festival, more and more established and compelling, presents a varied 8-piece program in this edition, which notably includes as new this year a movie that participates in the International Competition: the Uruguayan film Anina, by Alfredo Soderguit. At the same time, the beautiful story of this girl who is troubled by her name and receives a long-term punishment will be shown in a free screening at Anfiteatro de Parque Centenario on Saturday 20 at 7.30 p.m. Also, there will be screenings of El corazón del roble (Spain), by Ricardo Ramón and Ángel Izquierdo; the Danish films Jelly T, by Michael Hegner and Marco Macaco, by Jan Rahbek; Moon Man (Germany/France/Ireland), by Stephan Schesch; Zarafa (France/Belgium), by Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie; and the Argentine representative Rodencia y el diente de la princesa, by David Bisbano. The last one, which narrates the incredible adventures of a little apprentice magician mouse, will also be shown in a free screening at Parque Centenario on Satuday 13 at 7.30 p.m. Additionally, children will be able to enjoy the Little BAFICI Area on the 4th floor of the Recoleta Mall: recreational and artistic activities will be held there every day from 2 to 9 p.m.

The always attractive Argentine Competition of the Festival presents nationally produced films in this 15th edition (there are also some co-productions), including the following: AB, by Ivan Fund and Danish Andreas Koedfoed; Antonio Gil, by Lía Dansker; Barroco, by Estanislao Buisel; Beatriz Portinari. Un documental sobre Aurora Venturini, by Agustina Massa and Fernando Krapp; Bomba, by Sergio Bizzio; Deshora, by Bárbara Sarasola-Day; Habi, la extranjera, by María Florencia Alvarez; Hawai, by Marco Berger; La paz, by Santiago Loza; El loro y el cisne, by Alejo Moguillansky; Noche, by Leonardo Brzezicki; P3nd3jo5, by Raúl Perrone; Ramón Ayala, by Marcos López; Ricardo Bär, by Gerardo Naumann and German Nele Wohlatz; and Los Tentados, by Mariano Blanco. As you may see, the list includes filmmakers who were awarded in previous editions of the Festival (Fund, Alvarez, Loza, Moguilansky, Perrone), debutants with their first movies and the surprising participation of renowned visual artists and photographer Marcos López – peculiarities that increase the interest in watching this section’s films.

Three films by young Argentine directors will participate in the International Competition of the Festival. They are Viola, by Matías Piñeiro; Leones, by Jazmín López;and Acá adentro, by Mateo Bendesky. Viola, Piñeiro’s third film, follows the love adventures of two women: an actress (Agustina Muñoz), who plays Viola in the rehearsals of a play by Shakespeare, and a young woman called Viola (María Villar), who delivers DVD copies of movies for a living. Leones (Lions), which had its world premiere at the 69th edition of the Mostra de Venecia, shows the wandering of five teenagers in the woods and their conversations inspired by a game in which they make up phrases from five, six or seven words, often from quotes by Alejandra Pizarnik, Alfonsina Storni and Kurt Cobain. Acá adentro (In Here) reveals the inner world of David, a young man who doubts a lot, analyzes everything and spends his life expressing his thoughts, which can actually be heard by the viewer.

The Chilean film No, by Pablo Larraín, which was recently nominated for the 2013 Oscars, will be screened at the opening night of the Festival, on Wednesday, April 10 at 7.30 p.m., at the Anfiteatro del Parque Centenario, with free admission. No centers its story around the moments before the 1988 plebiscite that decided to put an end to Augusto Pinochet’s ruling: René Saavedra (Gael García Bernal) is a creative ad man who returns to the country to direct the advertising campaign against the dictator’s continuity in power. After overcoming prejudice and internal resistance, Saavedra brings a touch of youthful and festive humor to the nightly 15-minute TV spots, allotted to the “Yes” and “No” advocates during the month before the election. This is the story of a film that has notably traveled to the most important international festivals and received, for the first time in the history of Chilean cinema, an Oscar nomination.