20TH EDITION OF THE MAR DEL PLATA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 20th edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival will be held on March 10 to 20. The AWARD will be the ASTOR for the second time, according to the name of one of the most famous people from the city. This year the film fest have a new logo (see image). It combines the blue colour of sea and a sea lion, two elements characteristics of the place.

The film TURTLES CAN FLY by Bahman Ghobadi is set to open the film festival.
The iranian-iraqi film received the GOLDEN SHELL AWARD at the last edition of San Sebastian International Film Festival. The first feature film of the director, A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES, was presented at Cannes in 2000 where it won the Prix de la Caméra d’Or.

There are fifteen films confirmed for the Official Competition section (list below). The 20th Edition will offer four tributes to importants argentine cinema figures. The director Jorge Prelorán, who was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1981 for his film LUTHER METKE AT 94; the actor Federico Luppi (SWEET CASH, THE REBEL PATAGONIA, THE DEAL and A PLACE IN THE WORLD, among others); the journalist Salvador Sammaritano who created the “Cine Club Núcleo”; and the film by Alejandro Doria ESPERANDO LA CARROZA on twenty years after its release, will be clapped at the festival. This year two retrospectives are included into the festival programme: “Films from Central Asia” and “Hugo del Carril films”. The first one will show movies from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, particulary films from the 1980´s movement called “New wave”. The second one is dedicated to one of most popular argentine stars and directors, who was made the movie RIVER OF BLOOD in 1952.

FILMS CONFIRMED AT THE MOMENT:

IN COMPETITION

“3 Rooms of Melancolía”, by Pirjo Honkasalo (Finland)
“L’Enfant Endormi” (The sleeping child), by Yasmine Kassari (Morocco/ Belgium)
“Guilles' wife”, by Frédéric Fonteyne (Belgium / France / Luxembourg / Italy / Switzerland)
“Le Grand Voyage”, by Ismaël Ferroukhi (France / Morocco)
“P.S.”, by Dylan Kidd (USA)
“Vital”, by Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
“A Hole in My Heart”, by Lukas Moodysson (Sweden / Denmark)
“Almost Brothers”, by Lúcia Murat (Brazil / Chile / France)
“They came back”, by Robin Campillo (France)
“Springtime”, by Ryu Jang-Ha (Korea)
“Antares”, by Götz Spielmann (Austria)
“Bitter dream”, by Mohsen Amiryoussefi (Iran)
“Tatuado”, by Eduardo Raspo (Argentina)
“Un año sin amor”, by Anahí Berneri (Argentina)
“The Ninth Day”, by Volker Schlondorf (Germany / Luxembourg)


OUT OF COMPETITION

“Being Julia”, by István Szabó (Canada / USA / Hungary / Great Britain)
“Life is a miracle”, by Emir Kusturica

LATIN AMERICA XXI SECTION

“Temporada de Patos”, by Fernando Eimbeke (Mexico)

ARGENTINE SHOW WINDOW SECTION

“Cautiva”, by Gastón Birabent (Argentina)

SPAIN IN FOCUS SECTION

“El milagro de candeal”, by Fernando Trueba (Spain)


By Fernando Madedo
FOR FILMFESTIVALS.COM