Stars + Copacabana

Stars

Julio Arreta runs a company specialising in film extras. They come in all shapes and sizes and cater to all tastes and demands. No job is too tricky, no project too daunting. Only this isn’t a company based in central Buenos Aires but rather in one of the city’s less affluent areas where Arreta offers the inhabitants a way of making a living by looking up at the stars in more ways than one.

Arreta is a larger than life character, a hustler whose ‘stars’ have the chances to play thieves and wasters. There are some extremely funny comments on Alan Parker coming to town to shoot Evita, some astute observations on what it means to use non-professional actors, and a guide to constructing a shack in record time.

Federico León (Everything Together, LFF 2002) joins forces with Marcos Martínez for this quirky take on the film industry.

Maria Delgado

Copacabana

Martín Rejtman's black comedies have proved amongst the most distinctive features of the new Argentine cinema. Copacabana offers a discerning change of direction, an almost forensic examination of a community of Bolivians living on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in which Rejtman casts his discerning eye over the annual Copacabana festival. A beautifully observed study of the rites and rituals of a community at work and at play.

Maria Delgado