Argentina - Argentine Movies as Argentine Brand

The local film industry has recovered – and at times beaten – the pace of first screenings during the initial years of the ’50’s, when more than 55 Argentine films were being shown in the movie theaters. In 2004 64 films came onto the screens, local ones and several joint productions; in 2006 these amounted to 59 and 23, respectively. And the audiences  filled the theaters. 

Juan José Campanella’s Luna de Avellaneda http://www.lunadeavellaneda.com/ (the Moon in Avellaneda) for example, was watched by one million spectators. While Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens), directed by the sadly deceased Fabián Bielinsky, grossed a total of  14 million dollars in the 20 countries it was shown. This year the screening of more than 50 films is foreseen, according to the Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA) (the Argentine Institute of Film and Audiovisual Arts).

Argentine films constitute a strategic industry for the country. During the 21^st Film Festival of Mar del Plata (2006) the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs steered the second business meeting with the aim of associating our film industry to the products that make up Argentina Brand. About 100 Argentine firms and around 300 entrepreneurs from Italy, France, Spain, Finland, the U.S.A., Chile, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, among other countries, took part in the meeting. The objective is to increase proceeds from film exports to 50,000 million dollars in the next two years, according to the strategy set down by the country’s government (Fundación Export.AR and the  INCAA).

Prizes

The various prizes awarded to the film industry attest to the success of this cultural and economic activity. In 2006 Rodrigo Moreno’s  film El custodio, won the important Alfred Bauer prize for Artistic Contribution in Berlin. In September, the official jury of San Sebastián awarded the Special Prize to Carlos Sorín’s El camino de San Diego (the trail to San Diego) . As regards actors, last year prizes were awarded to Luís Luque, Pablo Echarri, Julio Chávez, Pepe Soriano and Marina Viste,among others (see the complete list).

Praise has continued during 2007. Ariel Rotter’s  El Otro  (The Other One ) won the Silver Bear – the Jury’s Great Special Prize – at  Berlin’s 57^th International Film Festival. For his role in the same film Julio Chávez was awarded the Silver Bear to the Best Actor.

Moreover, the Argentine film industry was awarded the most important prizes at the XIII Muestra de Cine Latinoamericano (the 13^th Latin American Film Exhibit) held at Lérida in Spain:  Best Film for  A través de tus ojos (Through Your Eyes);  Best Director for  Marcelo Paván for his La punta del Diablo (a joint production of Argentina, Venezuela and Uruguay); and The Most Popular Film  for Abrígate (Put on Warm Clothes), a joint production of  Argentina and Spain.

El cine argentino obtuvo además los principales premios en la XIII Muestra de Cine Latinoamericano de Lérida (España): mejor película para A través de tus ojos; mejor director para Marcelo Paván por La punta del diablo (coproducción de Argentina, Venezuela y Uruguay) y preferida del público para Abrígate, una producción hispano argentina.

Cannes. The film director Lucía Puenzo was awarded the prize of the Reviewers’ International Week for her first film XXY, a movie  produced jointly by Argentina, Spain and  France that narrates the drama of a hermaphrodite teenager who begins to question his sexual identity. Gonzalo Tobal was awarded the first prize of the Cinefondation exhibit, which exclusively accepts productions of film schools from all over the world, for his short film Ahora todos parecen contentos  (Now They All Seems Happy).     

Latin America also awards prizes to Argentine films. At the Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de Ciudad de México  ( México city’s  International Festival of Contemporary Film ) “Yo presidente”  (I, the President) by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat was considered the best documentary film by the audience. Martín Rejtman’s Copacabana  won the international reviewer’s prize. Paz Encina’s “Y Hamaca paraguaya” (And the Paraguayan Hammock)  was awarded the prize of the jury of the  Universidad Autónoma de México.