Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Argentina in the Philippines present a film cycle on contemporary Argentine cinema, one of the most dynamic and interesting cinematographies in the Spanish-speaking world, this month of August.
Captivating audiences from all over the world, Argentina’s cinema has a long tradition and has played an important role in showcasing the country’s culture for more than a century. Throughout the last few decades, the industry has produced some of the most exciting and diverse films that made the Argentine cinema one of the most important in the Spanish-speaking world.
The film cycle, in Spanish with English subtitles, opens on August 2, 7pm at Instituto Cervantes’ Salon de Actos with Director Héctor Olivera’s lush biopic The Mural about David Alfaro Siqueiros, the passionate and sensual artist who, with the help of Argentine artists Lino Enea Spilimbergo, Antonio Berni, Juan Carlos Castagnino and Uruguayan Enrique Lazarus, paints a famous mural in the “estancia” Los Granados, property of media baron Natalio Botana.
Pablo Trapero’s crime drama centering around car crashes and insurance scams in Argentina titled Carancho will screen on August 4, 2pm. On August 11, 2pm, Fernando Spiner’s gaucho-western Aballay, the Man Without Fear will follow.
A documentary profile of Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, through interviews with the author and recreations of some of his most celebrated stories, will be depicted in Tristán Bauer’s Cortázar showing on August 18, 2pm. Meanwhile, Camila, the 1984 Argentine drama film directed by María Luisa Bemberg, based on the story of the 19th-century Argentine socialite Camila O’Gorman will be screened on August 25, 2pm.
The film cycle closes on August 30, 6pm, with The Internal Debt, which follows the story of the fraternal friendship between a rural teacher and an aboriginal kid in one of the most remote parts of northern Argentina, that years later is interrupted by the youngster’s drafting to combat in the Malvinas Islands.
The Contemporary Argentine film cycle is organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila and the Embassy of Argentina, in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID).<
Free admission to all screenings. First-come, first-served basis. For information, call 526-1482 or visit http://manila.cervantes.es. Instituto Cervantes de Manila is at 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.
