Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

ARGENTINA: The Movie Stars Next Door

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18 2005 (IPS) - It was opening night, but the only stars present were shining overhead. Under a clear sky, with no electric lighting, the local residents gathered outside of the packed theatre, sitting on the town’s main street to watch the last film – in which they themselves formed the entire cast.

It was the last night of the second national festival of films casting local non-actors, in Saladillo, a town of 30,000 in the eastern province of Buenos Aires, 180 km north of the Argentine capital.

The success of the Oct. 6-9 exhibit showed that the phenomenon of producing films with casts completely made up of ordinary people is in full expansion.

Twelve full-length films casting local residents from towns around Argentina were featured in the first edition of the festival last year. This year, the number doubled, and half of the films competed in all six categories. In addition, there were 12 short films shot with the filmmakers’ friends or neighbours.

The event closed with the premiere of “Poor Women”, by Saladillo film-makers Julio Midú and Fabio Junco, before the prizes were announced. The local residents filled up the Teatro de la Comedia on the main square, which has a seating capacity for more than 500. When there wasn’t even floor space left inside, people began to make themselves as comfortable as possible on the street outside.

The city government, expecting a large crowd, had placed 400 plastic chairs on the main street of Saladillo and set up a large outdoor screen for the people outside, where the film was simultaneously shown. The street lights on San Martin avenue, which runs past the theatre, were turned off, and under a starry sky, the spectators watched the moving story of two long-suffering sisters.

The event consists of two parts – the screening of the films and the competition in the different categories. But in this unique film festival, the challenge is not only to win over the public and the jury, but to do so on the lowest possible budget.

In order for a film to participate, “the actors cannot be professionals,” Junco, one of the film-makers who began in the 1990s to produce low- or no-budget soap operas and films featuring locals from Saladillo, told IPS. He and Midú have so far produced 18 full-length films casting a total of around 300 local residents.

After enjoying success last year in Saladillo with “Lo bueno de los otros” (roughly, “The Good Things About Others”), the two directors took part this year in the Toulouse Latin American Film Festival in France, which for the first time had a special section known as Cinema des Voisins (films casting local residents). Seven films produced in Saladillo were shown, along with a documentary explaining the whole phenomenon.

The splash made by “Lo bueno de los otros”, which also made the rounds of other international film festivals, generated intense interest throughout Argentina, which became apparent at this month’s exhibit in Saladillo.

Junco and Midú convinced the city government to cover the hotel expenses of the participating amateur film-makers, to enable them to stay in town for the entire three-day event and watch all of the movies.

“That was the purpose of the festival: for all of us to see what everyone else is doing,” said Junco. The first edition of the festival lasted seven days, and the film-makers, who had to pay their own travel and lodging expenses, came only for the award ceremony on the last day, which meant the audience was basically limited to the people from Saladillo.

But this time the festival was held in the Teatro de la Comedia and the auditorium of Saladillo’s technical institute, which was specially equipped for the event. Two films a day were screened in each locale, preceded by a short film. The Marconi cinema, which reopened its doors in the 1990s as part of the new phenomenon of films featuring local non-actors, could not be used because the roof was leaking.

“The roof needs to be fixed, but that’s very expensive, and there is a risk of collapse, so we had to find other options,” said Junco.

The winning film at the festival was “Markarián 348”, shot by Francisco Ananía and featuring locals from Pehuajó, a farming town in the northern part of the province of Buenos Aires. The star of the film, Mabel Snaola, walked away with the statuette for best actress.

The jury, made up of film-makers and movie critics, awarded the prize for “best director” to Alejandro Millán, from the suburb of Olivos on the outskirts of the capital, for “Las Complicaciones” (“Complications”). “Best production” went to “Reminiscencias, el pasado está aún por venir” (“Reminiscences, the Past Is Still to Come”), also filmed in Olivos by a local group of friends.

“The most outstanding aspect of this film (‘Reminiscencias, el pasado está aún por venir’) was the huge effort made to tell a story set in 1890 on a rural estate, using the props, carriages and costumes of that era,” said Junco.

The “best actor” award went to Jorge Rebollo, a homeless man from Tandil, another town in the province of Buenos Aires, for his starring role in “A Jerónimo Josué”, produced by amateur film-makers from that town. “Best screenplay” was taken by the screenwriters of “Muertos de hambre” (roughly, “Dying of Hunger”) from La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires.

The local press celebrated the second edition of the festival, dedicating special attention to the film “Pobres Mujeres”. But some critics from Saladillo, who like the local residents and film-makers “came of age” as the new genre grew, were harsh in their judgements.

For columnists writing in the local newspaper La Síntesis, Junco and Midú’s latest production falls short when compared to “Lo bueno de los otros”, which they took to Toulouse. On the other hand, the critics described the specific talents of each one of the participating locals, who were praised for their straightforward performances.

The La Mañana newspaper was more generous towards the two film-makers, and said the closing film “captivated the audience” with its plot focusing on a touching social and family drama.

Saladillo Mayor Carlos Gorosito was exultant over the public’s response to the festival, and promised to finance the third edition “with contributions from patrons who are committed to culture.”

Gorosito himself appears in the films of Junco and Midú, playing a doctor in their latest production.