2006 FILM LISTINGS

A love story about a lonely port crane and a cute giraffe.

Well known Chilean film critic, journalist and writer, Alberto Fuguet takes a bold jump into filmmaking. He is a professional who has judged other creators in Santiago de Chile, intelligently and seriously.

This his first feature film, an urban movie set in the capital Santiago in the 80's –although it could also have been the 60’s- about a group of friends coming to terms with a more “modern view” of Chilean society. It is the rare case of a film that starts awkwardly, but slowly and surely builds up to an honest recount of past and friendship.

Gastón Fernández has reached 34 without much to brag about. He has just returned from the United States where he has lived for fifteen years. He is still trying to connect the lines between his ideals and the new world that surrounds him. And he's having trouble. He's a composer who doesn't compose, living in a city that is and is not Santiago, who is recognized by some people –very few it seems- as the talented composer in a rock band. Is this place part of his past or is it an illusion? What seems a dream is actually a movie: The Killer Ants, a film directed by his cousin Luc Fernández many years ago when everyone was young, idealistic, and thought things would turn out differently. But things change and so do people. And now it seems everyone has changed but him. His enthusiastic idealism, according to his friends, is working against him. The Killer Ants, that bizarre B movie for which he composed the music, won't let him go.

His father, owner of a real estate agency refuses to treat Gastón like the teenager he obviously is not anymore, and forces him to sell apartments. He'll meet another world of people with dramatically different lives. He'll stop being lost in the past and will start a different trip. A trip to the reality of another city; the reality of his changed friends from the past; and the reality of meeting Elisa, an insightful young woman who is the promise of hope without the weight of the past.

Alberto Lecchi, the prolific Argentinean director of EL JUEGO DE ARCIBEL, DEJALA CORRER, EL DEDO EN LA LLAGA and many others, changes rhythm and theme in this quiet, charming tale of friendship.

Taking crew and actors to the remote region of Purmamarca (Town of the Virgin Land in the Indian Aymara language) was enough of a challenge. The small village in the Province of Jujuy, nothern Argentina, is more than 3.000 kms from Buenos Aires. But the best part of the challenge of taking the production there, was to shoot a film, for once, in a region that is not THE capital. Such refreshing change as well as a fantastic visual treat. From the streets of Purmamarca one can appreciate the surrounding mountains from different angles and the "Cerro de los Siete Colores" (The Mountain of Seven Colours) behind the village, approximately 65 million years old.

Thirteen year old Estela is one of the happy inhabitants of the village. A sweet girl on the verge of becoming a teenager. Carlos, an architect from Buenos Aires, has come to build a housing project in the village, a project that has its own funny, typical Argentinean idiosyncrasies. Slowly, Estela and Carlos become friends. Then confidents… perhaps. She appreciates that when she tells him about her experiences, he cares enough to listen. In fact, the exchange is mutual; Carlos recognizes his own conflicts in the girl’s stories. And Estela, in return, becomes attached to Carlos and her imagination starts to take flight. Then Ana, Carlos’ former wife, arrives in town determined to revive the marriage. Despite Ana’s presence, Estela takes to her and they develop a good relationship. Then the day comes when Carlos’ job is done. He and Ana are off to the city where they came from…

An unusually clever and dramatic work full of twists and surprises. This is a thriller that has chosen an interesting group of people as it subject: former soldiers who fought for their country but who feel they cannot be themselves anymore in peace time.

The Immortals ironically opens the action with a funeral scene. The last of the immortals is present among the crowd, the others have died or disappeared over the years. The man being buried, however, is the policeman who found out about the criminal secrets of the immortals.

The "immortals" are a group of Portuguese war veterans who earned their title in the colonial wars in Africa in the early 1970s. When Portuguese East Africa became Mozambique, they returned to their fatherland only to feel left out and misunderstood. They were trained not to feel pain nor death and through their grueling experiences this has become their second nature, a nature that is completely useless now in the civilized streets of Portugal.

But every year, they come together for a week of remembering their past experiences and having a good time with plenty of drinking and women.

For their week out in 1985, they have chosen the beaches of Algarve, and this time they organize something unusual and different: a bank robbery. But they will have to deal with Joaquim (Nicolau Breyner) a police officer on the verge of retiring, who stumbles across the case just by chance. Joaquim, who lost a son in the African wars, decides to investigate the case in his spare time, and soon becomes intrigued and fascinated with the group's activities. And despite the presence of international star Joaquim de Ameida, Breyner is also the actor who steals this film.

This “fresh from the oven” feature documentary about iconic Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, was long awaited by fans and film industry alike…everywhere. It examines his life, his struggles and success through candid interviews with his family, fellow actors, and of course his take on himself. His sweet look sly smile and legendary indolence, allowed him to remain slightly detached as a shield to his privacy. Even today, in a different world, the name Mastroianni or simply Marcello in Italy, evokes an era: a world and a film industry made up of skill, beauty, charm, and seduction.

The film blends several sources: interviews with Mastroianni shot at different instances of his life; on and off camera; testimonies from his daughters Barbara and Chiara, as well as the Italian and international stars, directors and colleagues who worked with him throughout his career.

He makes confessions about his acting, his inability to stay away from the set, his uncontrollable addiction to the phone (the cell phone would have been a dream come true to him); his insecurities and fears, to whomever his interlocutor is. Many times criticized for being indolent, the accusation, as witnessed in the film, has proven nothing but a defensive armor that never stopped him from being ready for the next take nor from making 150 films. The majority of them classics in the history of cinema. Not bad for an actor of poor origins who worked with some of the most beautiful actresses and best directors in the world. A polite, reserved and yes, sweet man. An actor who once used his typical irony with a pestering journalist, to describe himself as a “Latin lover” who interpreted priests, impotent men and homosexuals.

AWARDS: Cannes Film Festival, Classics, Official Selection, 2006.

What do a child playing in the streets of Villa Fiorito and a bar owner in Naples have in common? What brings together five hundred people celebrating Christmas on October 30th, and a large group of tattooed soccer fanatics? The answer is simple: they all share a feeling of admiration and love for Diego Maradona: for many, the best Nº 10 in the History Of Soccer.

A co-production with New Zealand, this is a relaxed but fast moving feature documentary with no “voice overs”. There is no need. Maradona himself is the main narrator. It starts with an obese Diego telling us about when he was a little boy and understood why his mother’s stomach hurt all the time: she was hungry. From there on, his account touches on all of the known but really unknown details of a life dedicated to soccer.

It is a documentary that is as much a Maradona film as about the people who LOVE Maradona the person, and Maradona the player. People who well nigh worship him.

After 3 years of pursuit and 70 hours of filming in Buenos Aires, Naples, Barcelona, Cuba, Rio de Janeiro, Switzerland and Patagonia, Director Javier Vázquez delivers a sharp, intelligent film, devoid of clichés. Maradona recounts his life, talks about his family and his incredible career. Full of humor, drama and passion, the film has interviews with many of those who helped him -or not- along the way; Testimonies very seldom seen on camera, like the one of his parents, or the one by famed Argentinean rock star Charlie García; his love-hate relationship with the press; the tragic drug abuse that brought him down; his weight problems, and in the end, his triumphal entry in “La Noche Del Diez” (The Night Of The Ten) the successful Buenos Aires’ TV program that showed him a fit, rejuvenated Maradona for everyone to see. Of course you will witness also the best Maradona genius soccer scenes ever captured on film for posterity…

We don’t call it “Animation” but Animated art, because really, that’s what it is. A wonderful, lyrical piece of work for ANYONE no matter the age.

Once upon a time, a lonely dog decided to adopt an old, retired Russian general…

When the old soldier eventually gives in to the dog’s unshakable affection and takes him in, his nightmares are soon replaced by magical, fun-filled dreams. He names the dog Bonaparte, in honor of his former enemy. Clever Bonaparte quickly notices the General has a problem: birds won’t let him walk in peace among St. Petersburg’s palaces and parks. The birds are still angry about the tragic role the General forced birds to play in his great battle years ago against Napoleon.

One day, all the city’s dogs enthusiastically run away from their masters and sit in protest on the frozen river. Perplexed citizens wonder who is behind the dogs’ demands of “Liberty for Birds”. Cold and hungry, hundred of dogs soon find themselves in danger as the approaching Spring threatens to thaw out the river’s icy surface. It’s up to the General to come to the rescue in what will be his most noble battle. A touching, poetic battle the history books seem to have forgotten…

Director Gustavo Loza belongs to the new generation of filmmakers in Mexico. The one that is creating waves internationally. What separates him from the others, however, is his expertise in directing children. Something that many talented directors have failed in miserably. With projects such as Bizbirije (1996), La Barra infantil, and Atletico San Pancho (2001) under his belt, he now takes us on a poignant odyssey of immigration dilemmas.

Shot in Morocco, Mexico and Cuba, the stories are witnessed through the eyes of two boys and a girl who have to cope with the fact that their fathers are forced to work in other countries to better support their families. And though the children in these stories are from different backgrounds they do share similar situations. The realization of the harsh sense of desertion when one of the parents has to leave. In one of the three parallel stories, Prisciliano’s father leaves his family in Mexico to go work in the United States. On the second we have Fatima, a Moroccan girl who has to cross the Mediterranean in a small boat to Spain in an attempt to find her dad. And in the third, the setting is Cuba, where a boy dreams of meeting his father, who left long ago. Life goes on and the desire for a better life develops with each attempt to reclaim the love of their fathers, who have gone “to the other side.”

While focusing on the common theme of migration, the film also shows the social problems and resulting emotional turmoil caused by the absence of the father. Three stories told with a caring, unsentimental hand that show us that, regardless of social or geopolitical differences, the response of a child to a broken family is universal. The film features breathtaking shots of Michoacán, Mexico, the Havana coast, and the Moroccan desert.

AWARDS: Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Film (Audience Award) at the Lérida International Latin American Film Festival 2006 (Spain).

Argentinean Director Daniel Burman doesn’t need presentation. Not after his last couple of acclaimed films: Lost Embrace (El Abrazo Partido), that won Best Original Script from Canal + and two Silver Bears at the Berlin Film Festival, 2004 for Best Film and Best Actor (Daniel Hendler). And before that, for winning several International Prizes (Biarritz; Fipresci (Press); Coral Prize; Buenos Aires; and more) with two other films: Every Stewardess Goes To Heaven, and Waiting For The Messiah.

“Paternity for me is a fascinating theme” says the director “and I’ve used this as the framework for Family Law. When our children are born, the first thing they do is look to their mother to be fed, they instinctively know where to go and what to do. We, the fathers, just sit there, waiting for paternity to “emerge”. At this point, fathers are as present to a kid as the nurse or a cab driver. It was at this moment that I discovered the relationship has to be built, and in a way, it’s like creating a fiction: to convince our child that we are the father, to invent a language”.

With this film, writer-director Burman continues with his trilogy on the theme of family relations, Jewish identity and the ever present city of Buenos Aires. With a quick humorous pace, the film uncovers the subtle connections between the world of ideas, the pragmatic world of lawyers and the reality of family life. With good visual narrative and little gems of acting and dialogue, Burman follows Ariel Perelman (Daniel Hendler) through the Buenos Aires’ cafes and corridors where lawyers breath, laugh and discuss deals.

Ariel Perelman is a lawyer, like his father. Or not. But while his father’s clients represent a variety of colorful petty criminals and he cuts a lively figure, Ariel deals, literally, with ghosts. He works for the Justice Department representing clients “in absentia”. And while his life is sort of manageable, it is definitely grey. But things change for the better when Ariel marries a beautiful woman whom he felt was out of his reach. Pretty soon he has his own child and his confidence grows. In the midst of these changes, his father begins to reach out to him with some urgency. Ariel must then make life-changing decisions. Will he become his own man, or will he remain a shadow of the old man?

AWARDS: Berlin International Film Festival 2006, Official Entry, Panorama. Golden Astor for Best Film, Mar del Plata Int Film Festival 2006.

SAMBA is a delightful experience, a portrait of carnaval and the music behind a cultural tradition that captivated Hollywood. This outstanding documentary exposes, for the first time, the brewing scenes of carnaval and the turmoil that hides deep within the soul and history of the music. SAMBA, roots and perspectives, flesh and ghosts, entities and divinities spread out along sidewalks and slums of Rio de Janeiro along with the voices of Cartola , Caetano Veloso, Martinho da Vila, Ismael Silva, Clara Nunes and the unforgettable Clementina.

Black and white; African gods and the Holy Cross of the Conquistadores; the old guard and the new talents blended to redefine Brazilian music from a singular perspective.

Xango da Mangueira, Carlinhos de Jesus and the extravagant priestess Mae Helena D’Oxosse; talent hunter and poet Herminio Bello de Carvalho and the warmest of all hostesses: Tía Surica, Martnalia and Teresa Cristina, all gathered around to tell the untold story of samba & carnaval.

If you’ve already been to Cuba, or if you are planning to go, this is the kind of film you should take a look now. It is a direct, candid approach to a subject that is coming more and more relevant by the hour. Specially after the health problems –or could it simply be old age?- of Fidel Castro. The feature documentary is a fresh, human view thankfully free of any hint of propaganda coming from either Right or Left.

Many unresolved questions lie ahead for the Cubans in the near future. Dilemmas such as the lifting of the US economic embargo that have accompanied them for decades; or the Latin American countries commitment to pressure for the closure of the naval base at Guantanamo Bay and the return of the territory to Cuba. But perhaps the main one, creating the conditions for the Cuban people to choose a government for themselves, will prove the most difficult one.

Cuba embraced tourism in the early 90’s as a means of surviving the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, the Island has begun to witness many changes which now threaten the whole idea of the revolution: racial discrimination, consumerism, prostitution, and the re-emergence of class divisions. This frank, non partisan approach to the theme takes the viewer on a journey through the lives of ordinary Cubans, examining the results of the Cuban revolution from the perspective of the Cuban people, and asks the question:

Can the revolution survive after the death of Castro?

Perhaps one of the best Argentinean films in many years. It touches on one of the most painful episodes in the recent history of the country: the story of the almost boys, inexpert soldiers sent by an opportunistic General to recover the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands from the English.

While everybody in Argentina and England involved in that war knows that the reality was much worse than what we see here, the film economically portrays the same deadly experience. The number of dead was high and the soldiers suffered a war they were not ready to fight, with almost no food, no weapons and no training. Youngsters facing a professionally trained army, equipped with some of the most sophisticated intelligence and war machinery in the world.

The drama is based on the book written by Edgardo Esteban, the Argentinean journalist who was there as a soldier during the violent conflict.

Esteban (Gastón Pauls) is a writer edging on middle age who has received word that Vargas (Pablo Ribba), who served with him in the Argentine Army during the 1980s, has attempted to commit suicide and is now in a coma. The news floods Esteban's mind with memories of their days in the Falkland Islands war of 1982.

Esteban, Vargas, and Juan (César Albarracín) were all new recruits who knew next to nothing about battle when they were sent to the rocky islands to fend off a possible invasion by the British military. Juan and Vargas both have more on their minds than imminent battle. Juan worries about his young son at home, while Vargas left for the islands on bad terms with both his parents and his girlfriend.

As the soldiers struggle to pass the time while waiting for the seemingly inevitable war to start, Esteban, Juan, and Vargas capture and roast a sheep; Vargas is severely punished for his part in the sheep-napping, and is on emotionally shaking ground when the British Navy begins raining death upon the ill-equipped Argentineans.

AWARDS: New York Tribeca International Film Festival 2006: Winner of The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature Film - Silver Condor for Best Screenplay Adapted and Best Editing – Best Supporting Actress: Virginia Innocenti, by the Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards 2006. –Goya Award 2006 (Spain) for Best Spanish Foreign Language Film – Havana Film Festival 2006: Best Sound – San Sebastian Int. Film Festival: Special Jury Prize to Director Tristán Bauer.

A dramatic, funny, and ultimately moving film coming from the lively streets of Seville, Spain. A story that’s happening more and more in any city of the western world. And that includes downtown Toronto The Good, as anyone who walks its streets any and everyday can witness.

Isabel (Isabel Ampudio) has just recover her freedom and is out of jail. One thing is clear in her mind: she won’t loose her freedom again. That is her main reason for not to become involved with anything or anyone that has been part of her recent past. And that includes her neighborhood, but doesn’t include the encounter with Rufo (Sebastián Haro) an old friend of hers. The encounter presupposes a contradiction: while he offers company, affection, and the “know-how” to survive on the streets, he is all the same, the least travel companion she needs at this time in her life. Because Rufo is now a total addict who lives for his fix and nothing more, or so it seems. But this fact will not get in the way of Isabel’s fight for a better life. Easy to say, but it is hard to live penniless and without a roof. And Isabel accepts his help and companionship joining Rufo in his residence: a covered area on the street. This is the refuge they’ll have between frugal meals and some unexpected adventures, but not for long…

AWARDS: Best New Actress, Turia Award (Spain), to Isabel Ampudio; Turia Award for Best First Work, to Jesús Ponce; Goya Award, Nominated for Best New Actress, Isabel Ampudio; Spanish Actors Union, Nominated for Newcomer Award: Isabel Ampudio; Toulouse Cinespaña Festival: Nominated for Best Director: Jesús Ponce.

Director and documentarist Eve Lamont consistently strives to bring to the screen alternative solutions to social and environmental problems. She has been doing so for over fifteen years, mostly independently. Her works focus on people whose lives and opinions are rarely taken into account, people who remain in the shadows of our market-driven societies. With this film Lamont amply succeeds in capturing reality in direct cinema fashion, shooting scenes that encourages debate-true vehicles for social intervention.

Agriculture is in a global crisis. The agribusiness corporations' obsession with productivity is harming the environment and the quality of our food. Under pressure from globalization, farmers are seeing declining revenues, and family farms are disappearing one after the other. "The money doesn't go to the farms now: it goes to the companies' lab,"says one farmer.

Director Lamont sides with well-informed farmers all over the world in condemning the social, environmental and health problems caused by factory farming. The documentary filmmaker –and sometimes farmer-, travels to rural areas of Quebec, the Canadian West, the US Northeast and France. Everywhere, her camera captures the ravages of industrial agriculture: excessive use of fertilizers and other chemicals that cause water pollution; intensive deforestation and single-crop farming, which progressively destroys wetlands and entire ecosystems; large-scale animal farming that uses drugs and other growth stimulants; and the proliferation of GMO, with the attendant threat to bio-diversity. Lamont meets with farmers who are worried that their organic crops will be contaminated by genetically modified ones.

In Europe and North America, farmers promote a new vision of agriculture, opting to grow organic crops and rely on methods that limit the use of chemical inputs. In doing so, they have developed new strategies that favour direct links to consumers.

A film of great lucidity but also irrepressible hope. Yes, it is possible to grow and produce food differently, even on a large scale, while maintaining respect for the environment and self-sufficiency for growers.

With the arrival of RUIDO/NOISE, from director Marcelo Bertalmío, we have another example of the flourishing of a new wave of talent coming from all countries from Latin America. Let's not forget that Uruguay, despite being a small country in comparison to the "Big Brothers" of South America, was in the 30's and 40's the Switzerland of that area. A country with practically total literacy, and an active film industry.

Director Bertalmío brings with this film what he calls an "existential comedy". A dead-pan humoresque story with black humor touches and a couple of lovable, quirky, characters.

It is the story of quiet Basilio (Jorge Visca) a young guy with a big heart, who is a bit sad, but unfortunately, no one seems to notice. Mistreated by his wife -who has run away with all the furniture leaving him a nasty note-, humiliated by his co-workers, and spurned by the man who walks his dog, Basilio decides to end it all forever. But suddenly, Irene (Mariana Olazábal) appears in his life and introduces him to Méndez, an astute, rough, and-not-very-subtle contractor looking just for the perfect partner. He hires our resigned hero to work with him as Noise Inspector of the City. The city could be any city, but in this case, it's the city of Montevideo, and Méndez patrols it with uncommon enthusiasm and street smarts. At the same time, precocious 12 year old Vera (Lucía Carlevari) enters Basilio's life with an unusual story of a doctor who purposely misdiagnoses patients telling them they have cancer so they can re-evaluate their lives. She convinces Basilio that all these people, who are perfectly healthy, need her help and advise. Will he be on board considering that his ex-wife is one of the persons in the list?

AWARDS: Winner of Audience Award, Valladolid Int. Film Festival (Spain), 2006 - Nominated for Mar del Plata Int. Film Festival (Argentina), 2006.

Bruno Barreto, the famed director of the Brazilian world box office hit "Doña Flor & Her Two Husbands" is back with another comedy. This time it is a fast, romantic comedy set in Brazil's kingdom of SOCCER/FOOTBALL.

The film starts at night with a breathtaking aerial shot over a huge soccer stadium in Brazil. The two most popular teams in Sao Paulo: the intense rivals Palmeiras and Corinthians are playing.

Alfredo Baragatti, lawyer, son of Italians, a die-hard Palmeiras fan (the equivalent of let’s say, Boca Juniors in Argentina) is watching the game with his beautiful daughter Juliet and booing the Corinthians every other second.

Baragatti has raised his only daughter Juliet to be just like him: in love with the team and the sport. He has even named her after two Palmeiras' players, taking "Juli" from Julinho and "et" from player Echevarietta to make Juli-et.

She is a professional center forward soccer player with the same obsessive streak as her father.

One afternoon, while watching a classic soccer confrontation between the rival teams, Juliet discovers she is attracted to another passionate fan. The problem is that Romeo, a handsome 45 year-old ophthalmologist, as she will learn later, is a die-hard Corinthians fan, the Palmeiras' hated enemy.

Romeo pretends to be Palmeirense out of love for Juliet and in order to win over his future father-in-law. He even becomes a member of The Palmeiras Soccer Club and cheers at the games like a true Palmeiras fan. Romeo risks losing his own family's respect and love – Zilinho, his 22 year-old son and his grandma Nenzica – both radical Corinthians fans. The lie creates a series of hilarious twists and turns, and the characters start to get themselves into very complicated situations. The film, taking a hilarious approach to their national sport obsession, could not be more Brazilian and it is a welcome pause from the well known realities of life in Sao Paulo...

A surprising recently finished French film from a new director with a great cinematic sense of subtlety and insight. A beautiful piece to meditate on the real meaning of "love thy neighbour as yourself."

Stéphane is a 30-year-old biochemist with a promising career and a good life. He's got a great, understanding, girlfriend, and his future looks bright. One evening he learns from his cousin Mathiew that their grandmother, Mütter, is on her deathbed. As neither of Mütter's children is around, Mathiew asks Stéphane for help. Stéphane arrives at his grandmother's house in Alsace during the night. The dog won't allow him in. The following morning, Marguerite, the neighbour, who is caring for Mütter, awakens Stéphane in his car. The trip back to the place where he spent his holidays as a child and adolescent , does not turn as he expected. He would like to be of some help to Mütter, to assist and comfort her during her final ordeal, but his own opinions about death are not always shared by those around him. He has been away for so long...Will he manage to make himself useful and, more importantly, feel that this help is worthwhile and that he is no longer a stranger here?

Variety, Lisa Neelson: "A thoughtful study of how the living behave around an elderly woman who's about to die, MÜTTER makes the most of its spare components: life, death, the harsh winter light of Alsace and a fine cast."

L'Humanité: "Occasionally a film grabs you and doesn't let you go...MüTTER is here, it exists and it must be seen. Beware, this is a major work. A major work that is also intimate, timeless, fragile, diffident; a film that demands more than it gives. A work to be seen quickly, so that it doesn't get buried under the dregs of the latest releases. See it. See it."