Argentina - Argentina: a movie set

A census conducted by the National Institute of Filmmaking and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) has revealed that there are over 12000 undergraduates currently in state and private institutions programs in filmmaking direction, scriptwriting and technical issues. 

The increasing location demand in Buenos Aires has led the city government to eventually found the “Buenos Aires movie set” (BASET), an entity in charge of centralizing the management of filming location permits requests and granting. According to data available from the Buenos Aires city Office of Cultural Businesses Affairs, 5731 permits for public city areas filming were issued during 2006. Furthermore, 794 productions were recorded over the same period, vis-a-vis the 669 figure of 2005.

 “There are outstanding advantages here: basically geography and exchange rate. But we do not actually mean to rely just on these situations, because this would render us highly vulnerable in the face of a different international scenario.  We actually aim at leveraging this momentum to forge long-term policies", states Jorge Alvarez, chairman of the INCAA. That is the reason why the institution is currently engaged in the drafting of a location and service guide offered by all Argentine provinces, which is to be presented at the Cannes International Film Festival to be held over the coming May 14 through 25.

Four key projects

Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola, one of greatest film directors of all time, is scheduled to start shooting his new film, Tetro, in the Buenos Aires and Patagonia regions next March. The cast will include Alden Ehrenreich (of the CSI series), Maribel Verdú, Javier Bardem, as well as the argentine actors Leticia Bredice, Malena Solda, Sofía Gala, Silvia Pérez, Mike Amigorena and Rodrigo de la Serna

Almodóvar

“El deseo”, the prestigious Spanish production company of Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar brothers, will be co-funding five films in Argentina. “La mujer sin cabeza”, the new Lucrecia Martel film (director of “La ciénaga” and “La niña santa”), “Hermanas” and “Choripán”, the theater playwright and director Alfredo Arias’ first work

High School Musical

Three different versions of the High School Musical film are currently being shot in Argentina. The challenge is that these films are based on the popular TV program, are intended for the Brazilian, Mexican and Argentine audiences, and they are the first Disney-brand films ever produced in Latin America. Opening July 2008

China

The Department of Radio, Filmmaking and Television of the People’s Republic of China and the INCAA are jointly moving towards the undersigning of a coproduction agreement providing for the establishment in Argentina of a “Movie City” in the Hengdian style, where Asia’s largest film sets, with an average 17 filmmaking teams daily at work, are located