Argentine Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Armanda Bó has set as his next feature a film on the heroic opposition of the Buenos Aires Herald and its editor Robert Cox to Argentina’s heinous 1976-83 military dictatorship.
To make the film, About Entertainment, Bó’s new Buenos Aires based production house, has acquired the rights to the script “Dirty War,” written by Michael Steinberger, a journalist for The New York Times Magazine.
The screenplay is based on the book “Dirty Secrets, Dirty War: The Exile of Robert J. Cox,” written by Cox’s son, David Cox.
Bó, who won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for co-writing the screenplay of “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” will produce and direct the movie.
It will tell an inspiring story of exemplary courage in extraordinary and horrifying circumstance: How the Buenos Aires Herald, an English-language daily newspaper, became under Robert...
To make the film, About Entertainment, Bó’s new Buenos Aires based production house, has acquired the rights to the script “Dirty War,” written by Michael Steinberger, a journalist for The New York Times Magazine.
The screenplay is based on the book “Dirty Secrets, Dirty War: The Exile of Robert J. Cox,” written by Cox’s son, David Cox.
Bó, who won an Academy Award and Golden Globe for co-writing the screenplay of “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” will produce and direct the movie.
It will tell an inspiring story of exemplary courage in extraordinary and horrifying circumstance: How the Buenos Aires Herald, an English-language daily newspaper, became under Robert...
- 12/2/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Showtime has set its latest documentary slate with projects from the likes of Jesus Camp directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, A Private War director Matthew Heineman, Homeland’s Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, Generation Wealth director Lauren Greenfield and Dirty War director Rick Rowley.
The 2020 slate was revealed by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks at the Winter TCA press tour.
Grady and Ewing are making their first foray into episodic television with Love Fraud, which will launch at the Sundance Film Festival, the first time a TV series will run on day one of the festival. The project follows the search for one man, Richard Scott Smith, who over the past 20 years used the internet and his dubious charms to prey upon unsuspecting women in search of love – conning them out of their money and dignity. It will launch on May 8 and is directed and exec produced...
The 2020 slate was revealed by Gary Levine, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks at the Winter TCA press tour.
Grady and Ewing are making their first foray into episodic television with Love Fraud, which will launch at the Sundance Film Festival, the first time a TV series will run on day one of the festival. The project follows the search for one man, Richard Scott Smith, who over the past 20 years used the internet and his dubious charms to prey upon unsuspecting women in search of love – conning them out of their money and dignity. It will launch on May 8 and is directed and exec produced...
- 1/13/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Bryce Dessner of the National unveils the new acoustic ballad, “Pope Francis,” premiering via Rolling Stone. The song appears in the upcoming Netflix film, The Two Popes. Dessner scored the soundtrack, which is available for preorder and will be released on December 6th via Milan Records.
The contemplative song was recorded at Abbey Road and features London Contemporary Orchestra. It opens with a tender guitar melody, which blends with warm orchestral swells in the arrangement.
“I wrote this simple guitar piece for one of the most important moments in the film,...
The contemplative song was recorded at Abbey Road and features London Contemporary Orchestra. It opens with a tender guitar melody, which blends with warm orchestral swells in the arrangement.
“I wrote this simple guitar piece for one of the most important moments in the film,...
- 11/22/2019
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
’I’m Catholic myself, but a very bad Catholic.’
“I knew nothing about the Vatican,” confesses Fernando Meirelles, director of Netflix’s feelgood awards contender The Two Popes, which has its Canadian premiere in Toronto on Monday (9). “I wasn’t very interested in the politics of the Church. I’m Catholic myself, but a very bad Catholic.”
Yet when producer Dan Lin handed him Anthony McCarten’s script, about a series of conversations that took place in the Vatican in 2012-13 between then Pope Benedict XVI and the man who would become his successor as Pope Francis, Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio,...
“I knew nothing about the Vatican,” confesses Fernando Meirelles, director of Netflix’s feelgood awards contender The Two Popes, which has its Canadian premiere in Toronto on Monday (9). “I wasn’t very interested in the politics of the Church. I’m Catholic myself, but a very bad Catholic.”
Yet when producer Dan Lin handed him Anthony McCarten’s script, about a series of conversations that took place in the Vatican in 2012-13 between then Pope Benedict XVI and the man who would become his successor as Pope Francis, Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio,...
- 9/8/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Boston Globe announced this week that they would dedicate a new vertical to all things weed.
“The Boston Globe creates a new section dedicated to marijuana coverage,” said a headline announcing the vertical Monday. The decision comes amid a rising tide of state legalizations and an industry that had ballooned to billions of dollars. Both factors were cited by the paper explaining their decision.
“Cannabis is growing to be a multi-billion dollar consumer business that is spreading across the United States, Canada, and elsewhere around the globe,” it said. “Almost half of New Englanders live in a state that has recreational laws on the books. Another roughly 20 percent live within a one hour drive of a state that has legalized recreational use.”
Also Read: 128 Newspapers to Denounce Trump's 'Dirty War' Against Free Press With Op-Eds (Update)
On Tuesday, Massachusetts became the first state in New England to...
“The Boston Globe creates a new section dedicated to marijuana coverage,” said a headline announcing the vertical Monday. The decision comes amid a rising tide of state legalizations and an industry that had ballooned to billions of dollars. Both factors were cited by the paper explaining their decision.
“Cannabis is growing to be a multi-billion dollar consumer business that is spreading across the United States, Canada, and elsewhere around the globe,” it said. “Almost half of New Englanders live in a state that has recreational laws on the books. Another roughly 20 percent live within a one hour drive of a state that has legalized recreational use.”
Also Read: 128 Newspapers to Denounce Trump's 'Dirty War' Against Free Press With Op-Eds (Update)
On Tuesday, Massachusetts became the first state in New England to...
- 11/20/2018
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
New York Times reporter Ken Vogel revealed in a tweet that he received a chilling voicemail that was a thinly veiled threat against both him and the press at large.
“You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the Ak-47,” said the unnamed male in the voicemail left for Vogel. “And just remember Ken, there’s nothing civil about a civil war.”
Vogel shared audio of the recording on Monday evening.
Also Read: NY Times Joins 200-Plus Newspapers: We're Not 'Enemy of the People'
Voicemail From A Fan: “You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the Ak-47.” pic.twitter.com/hKHTsGm9KL
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) August 20, 2018
The message, which used...
“You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the Ak-47,” said the unnamed male in the voicemail left for Vogel. “And just remember Ken, there’s nothing civil about a civil war.”
Vogel shared audio of the recording on Monday evening.
Also Read: NY Times Joins 200-Plus Newspapers: We're Not 'Enemy of the People'
Voicemail From A Fan: “You’re the problem. You are the enemy of the people. And although the pen might be mightier than the sword, the pen is not mightier than the Ak-47.” pic.twitter.com/hKHTsGm9KL
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) August 20, 2018
The message, which used...
- 8/21/2018
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
Mubi's retrospective New Argentine Cinema is playing from August 7 - September 28, 2017 in most countries around the world. La CiénagaBeginning in the mid-1990s, young directors, the majority of whom had graduated from one of many film schools in Argentina, began producing low-budget, independent films in a style that earned this group the classification of the New Independent Argentine Cinema.Part of this upsurge had to do with a small grants program that was initiated by the National Film Institute (Incaa) in the mid-1990s. These recent graduates have made short films (cortometrajes), and then have gone on to raise funds through co-production funding (Hubert Bals Fund at the Rotterdam film festival, the Visions Sud Est program from Switzerland, among others). They have relied on their own networks of like-minded young people rather than depend on the traditional film sector structure (the film union, established director’s associations, and the few...
- 9/6/2017
- MUBI
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is back to work following the death of her father.
The Argentinian-born royal visited the Jessehof homeless center in Delft, Netherlands, on Tuesday after losing her father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, earlier this month. Zorreguieta died at the age 89 following a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on August 8.
Maxima wore a pink and yellow patterned shirtdress with bold pink earrings for her day at the center, where she met with people at the center. Jessehof provides a safe space for the homeless and those dealing with social isolation.
Less than two weeks ago, Maxima — along with her husband,...
The Argentinian-born royal visited the Jessehof homeless center in Delft, Netherlands, on Tuesday after losing her father, Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, earlier this month. Zorreguieta died at the age 89 following a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on August 8.
Maxima wore a pink and yellow patterned shirtdress with bold pink earrings for her day at the center, where she met with people at the center. Jessehof provides a safe space for the homeless and those dealing with social isolation.
Less than two weeks ago, Maxima — along with her husband,...
- 8/22/2017
- by Diana Pearl
- PEOPLE.com
The Film Society of Lincoln Center
and Cinema Tropical announce
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American CinemaJanuary 26–31: The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces the second annual Neighboring Scenes, a showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema, co-presented with Cinema Tropical
Exhibiting the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today, the festival highlights impressive recent productions from across the region. Featuring titles from Paraguay, Peru, and the Dominican Republic for the first time, as well as films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, Neighboring Scenes celebrates the expanding range of contemporary Latin American filmmaking in its second edition.
“This year, we are pleased to highlight several emerging filmmakers, with many fantastic debut and second films in a range of styles — from political thriller and bleak comedy to observational documentary,” said Film Society of Lincoln Center Programmer at Large Rachael Rakes. “Furthermore, half of the works...
and Cinema Tropical announce
Neighboring Scenes: New Latin American CinemaJanuary 26–31: The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces the second annual Neighboring Scenes, a showcase of contemporary Latin American cinema, co-presented with Cinema Tropical
Exhibiting the breadth of styles, techniques, and approaches employed by Latin American filmmakers today, the festival highlights impressive recent productions from across the region. Featuring titles from Paraguay, Peru, and the Dominican Republic for the first time, as well as films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, Neighboring Scenes celebrates the expanding range of contemporary Latin American filmmaking in its second edition.
“This year, we are pleased to highlight several emerging filmmakers, with many fantastic debut and second films in a range of styles — from political thriller and bleak comedy to observational documentary,” said Film Society of Lincoln Center Programmer at Large Rachael Rakes. “Furthermore, half of the works...
- 1/9/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Spanish-language drama recently premiered in Busan.
FilmSharks has licensed territories on 1970s-set Ricardo Darin thriller Captain Koblic following its recent international premiere in Busan.
Rights have gone in the Us (Somos Distribution), Japan (Only Hearts), Australia and New Zealand (Bonsai), Colombia (Cinecolor) and Turkey (Filmarti).
The Buenos Aires-based sales agent is in advanced talks here with buyers for France, Italy and Germany.
Captain Koblic (formerly Koblic) previously sold to Disney for Latin America, Paris Filmes for Brazil, Dea Planeta for Spain and Seven Films for Greece.
Sebastian Borensztein directed the film about a Navy officer during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ who refuses to take part in death flights and flees to a coastal city.
There he encounters a thuggish police chief played by Coppa Colpi winner Oscar Martinez.
FilmSharks has licensed territories on 1970s-set Ricardo Darin thriller Captain Koblic following its recent international premiere in Busan.
Rights have gone in the Us (Somos Distribution), Japan (Only Hearts), Australia and New Zealand (Bonsai), Colombia (Cinecolor) and Turkey (Filmarti).
The Buenos Aires-based sales agent is in advanced talks here with buyers for France, Italy and Germany.
Captain Koblic (formerly Koblic) previously sold to Disney for Latin America, Paris Filmes for Brazil, Dea Planeta for Spain and Seven Films for Greece.
Sebastian Borensztein directed the film about a Navy officer during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ who refuses to take part in death flights and flees to a coastal city.
There he encounters a thuggish police chief played by Coppa Colpi winner Oscar Martinez.
- 11/6/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
If made with the best of intentions to explore the always effective chestnut of memory through photographic means, it’s with great misfortune that, in the case of Milagros Mumenthaler’s second feature, The Idea of a Lake, we instead have to zero in on its predominate bad arthouse trait. Of course, this being that the film seemingly admits defeat: a narrative that circles around a lead character moving fruitlessly towards something they’ll never reach, as if we’re supposed to applaud the same vague statement over and over again.
The misguided lead in question, Ines (Carla Crespo), appearing to be in the third trimester of her pregnancy, a point where, obviously, lineage becomes a greater pressure on the mind. This isn’t helped by her strained relationship with her mother, Tessa (Rosario Bléfari); the telephone exchange that opens Idea of a Lake includes the classic parental line about...
The misguided lead in question, Ines (Carla Crespo), appearing to be in the third trimester of her pregnancy, a point where, obviously, lineage becomes a greater pressure on the mind. This isn’t helped by her strained relationship with her mother, Tessa (Rosario Bléfari); the telephone exchange that opens Idea of a Lake includes the classic parental line about...
- 8/9/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
On Mubi Off is a column exploring two films: one currently available on Mubi in the United States, and the other screening offsite (in theaters, on VOD, Blu-ray/DVD, etc).On MUBIThe Official Story (Luis Puenzo, 1985)My instinct to stand, whenever possible, slightly outside the zeitgeist leads me to look askew at things like the Academy Awards. To my mind, they're a good excuse to have a party (heavily attended, so I can pay that much less attention to the ceremony itself), though I realize they have a certain fleeting cachet that can boost the prospects of a film or a career. As a metric of quality, however, they're about as worthless as any mass-consensus accolade. I love Oscar-feted films like The Silence of the Lambs and Schindler's List—to name two stopped-clock cases where AMPAS's tastes corresponded to my own—despite and not because of the number of nude...
- 3/7/2016
- by Keith Uhlich
- MUBI
Exclusive: Disney has swooped on Latin American and Spanish rights to Kóblic, a thriller that reunites Argentinian idol Ricardo Darin with his Chinese Take-Out director Sebastián Borensztein.
Guido Rud’s Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks closed the early deal on the $3.5m project and has scored a Greek pre-sale with Seven Films.
Production on Kóblic is set to start in Argentina on July 20 with Darin playing a Navy captain in the late 1970s during the country’s ‘Dirty War’ who refuses to take part in the death flights, whereby drugged dissidents are dropped from planes.
The officer takes refuge in a coastal city and flies crop dusters for a family friend. He eventually falls for a local woman and confronts a thuggish police chief as the dictatorship’s agents close in on his whereabouts.
Darin, who appeared in Argentina’s Oscar-nominated Wild Tales as well as Oscar winner The Secret In Their Eyes and Nine Queens, will star alongside...
Guido Rud’s Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks closed the early deal on the $3.5m project and has scored a Greek pre-sale with Seven Films.
Production on Kóblic is set to start in Argentina on July 20 with Darin playing a Navy captain in the late 1970s during the country’s ‘Dirty War’ who refuses to take part in the death flights, whereby drugged dissidents are dropped from planes.
The officer takes refuge in a coastal city and flies crop dusters for a family friend. He eventually falls for a local woman and confronts a thuggish police chief as the dictatorship’s agents close in on his whereabouts.
Darin, who appeared in Argentina’s Oscar-nominated Wild Tales as well as Oscar winner The Secret In Their Eyes and Nine Queens, will star alongside...
- 5/14/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Thrillers come in all shapes and sizes, from sophisticated legal dramas to high-octane and shocking action features.
With the atmospheric and absorbing Netflix original series Bloodline arriving this week, here are some of the best TV and movie thrillers on Netflix:
Oldboy
Not for the faint of heart, South Korean director Park Chan-wook's Oldboy tells the story of a man who is locked away for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor or the reason for his punishment.
When he is released just as inexplicably, he finds himself with only five days to unravel the mystery, save the woman he loves and seek vengeance against the people who destroyed his life.
Damages
The amazing Glenn Close and Rose Byrne star as two dysfunctional lawyers in the show that combines legal drama with psychological thriller.
With non-linear storytelling and a powerful atmosphere of paranoia over five seasons, you'll learn to suspect everyone,...
With the atmospheric and absorbing Netflix original series Bloodline arriving this week, here are some of the best TV and movie thrillers on Netflix:
Oldboy
Not for the faint of heart, South Korean director Park Chan-wook's Oldboy tells the story of a man who is locked away for 15 years without knowing the identity of his captor or the reason for his punishment.
When he is released just as inexplicably, he finds himself with only five days to unravel the mystery, save the woman he loves and seek vengeance against the people who destroyed his life.
Damages
The amazing Glenn Close and Rose Byrne star as two dysfunctional lawyers in the show that combines legal drama with psychological thriller.
With non-linear storytelling and a powerful atmosphere of paranoia over five seasons, you'll learn to suspect everyone,...
- 3/18/2015
- Digital Spy
If you’ve had trouble dealing with the gaping hole in your TV viewing life since The Strain concluded its first season (guilty), hope has arrived! Not only is the eccentric supernatural thriller available to own on Blu-Ray starting on December 2nd, but we also had the chance to speak with the star of the FX hit, Mia Maestro.
During our recent interview with her, we gained insights into the development of her character Nora, how her own experiences growing up in Argentina have come into play, and her complex on-screen relationship with Eph (Corey Stoll).
Check out what the actress had to say about her role on The Strain below and enjoy!
In the books, Nora is on the sidelines. One of the major changes that happened when you came on board the project though was that the character was made to be a more involved in the action.
During our recent interview with her, we gained insights into the development of her character Nora, how her own experiences growing up in Argentina have come into play, and her complex on-screen relationship with Eph (Corey Stoll).
Check out what the actress had to say about her role on The Strain below and enjoy!
In the books, Nora is on the sidelines. One of the major changes that happened when you came on board the project though was that the character was made to be a more involved in the action.
- 12/1/2014
- by Justine Browning
- We Got This Covered
I will admit to having mixed feelings about Nicole Kidman. The actress has had some interesting roles in her varied career, but she’s only rarely proven herself to be more than just a pretty face. Her appearance in Stoker gave the lie to anyone who thinks she can’t act, but the ill-conceived Grace of Monaco showcased her ephemeral beauty and little else. Now, the actress is in talks to replace Gwyneth Paltrow in The Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of an Argentine thriller.
The Secret in Their Eyes tells the story of a retired attorney who turns back the clock on an unsolved case, seeking closure for it and his unrequited passion for his former superior. Writing a book about the case, he begins to uncover new and potentially damaging secrets about the past.
The original Argentine film was written and directed by Juan Jose Campanella and...
The Secret in Their Eyes tells the story of a retired attorney who turns back the clock on an unsolved case, seeking closure for it and his unrequited passion for his former superior. Writing a book about the case, he begins to uncover new and potentially damaging secrets about the past.
The original Argentine film was written and directed by Juan Jose Campanella and...
- 11/4/2014
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
Operation Condor was a United States–aided effort to crush communism in several South American countries during the 1970s and 1980s. It empowered rightwing military dictatorships that kidnapped, tortured, and killed citizens deemed political dissidents; somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 such people died during Argentina's Dirty War alone. Young Argentine filmmaker Santiago Mitre's dynamically paced debut feature, The Student—an international festival hit in 2011 only now entering its U.S. theatrical premiere run—studies what can be learned from this period through the contemporary tale of Roque Espinosa (played by wide-eyed Esteban Lamothe), a pensive, aggressive young man attending the University of Buenos Aires. The son of a former leftwing activist faces i...
- 8/21/2013
- Village Voice
Title: Clandestine Childhood Director: Benjamín Ávila Starring: Natalia Oreiro, Ernesto Alterio, César Troncoso, Teo Gutiérrez Romero, Cristina Banegas, Douglas Simon, Violeta Palukas, Marcelo Mininno, Mayana Neiva. When abuse of power and violence take over, the crossroads between ideals and the safeguard of your loved ones is inevitable. The Argentinian director, Benjamín Ávila, was inspired by his personal infancy in the making of this historical film, set during the “Dirty War,” the time of state terrorism in Argentina. ‘Clandestine Childhood’ portrays the story of a married couple of Montoneros (the organisation fighting against the Military Junta ruling the country) living in Cuba with their two children, who manage, through the help [ Read More ]
The post Clandestine Childhood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Clandestine Childhood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/24/2013
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
In Clandestine Childhood (Infancia Clandestina), writer/director Benjamín Ávila drew inspiration from his personal exiled childhood during Argentina's Dirty War as the son of two Montoneros guerillas. The film, which took prizes at both San Sebastian and Havana Film Festivals last year, is set in 1979 during the family's return from Cuba to fight in the Montoneros counteroffensive operation under new assumed identities. Benjamín spoke to LatinoBuzz about what it meant to see memories from his formative years unfold on the big screen.
Clandestine Childhood is being released in NY and CA on Friday, January 11th, 2013.
LatinoBuzz: What did the actors take away from spending several days with former Montoneros?
Benjamín Ávila: I wanted the actors to have the chance to physically live that era. The most complex challenge for an actor is the ability to give dimension to the story from the time that it happened, not from the present. For them it was important to get rid of all the Whys and be able to answer them by themselves. So I decided to have the actors meet a couple of former guerrilla members to do a training drill for two days, the way it was done back then, as well as for them to have a chance to talk and for the actors to be able to ask anything they wanted.
It was very productive because their body changed, as well as their stand before history. It also helped me to confirm some doubts that had arisen during the process of writing the script. And from that moment on, the improvisations we did were very important in defining some scenes of the film. Particularly the argument scene between the grandmother and mother. That improvisation came after the work we did, and some glorious moments emerged as a result, very complex and incorrect that served to give another dimension to the movie.
LatinoBuzz: Was there a particular audience for this film that was most important for you to see it?
Benjamín Ávila: Not really. But firstly, it is a film that I made for my brothers. And for the children of the disappeared and those killed during the last dictatorship in Argentina. They are the primary audience, but the story is not constructed so that only they understand. On the contrary, I wanted the film to move people, to it would provoke feelings and ideas, without sacrificing the cinematic and artistic construction. Luckily, for all the feedback that I receive from the people who have seen it, I think we have achieved that goal. It's a film that provokes many emotions, that endures for days within the people who see it, and that generates the need to reiterate the questions that were supposedly already answered.
LatinoBuzz: When was the first time you realized that 'Infancia Clandestina' was the story you had to tell?
Benjamín Ávila: I always knew it. Since I was 13, I knew I wanted to work in film. I also knew back then that one day I would film my childhood. Somehow I made a tacit commitment at that time with myself, with my family, and with my own story. Therefore it is very important for me to have completed this process. It is a feeling of a debt paid, like I "had to do" this film. It was a duty rather than a necessity. Now that the film is finished I feel a relief, that of mission accomplished. Now I can be at peace.
LatinoBuzz: How much of what was going on were you very much aware of and how did you process that as a young boy?
Benjamín Ávila: My older brother and I were very aware, even though we were 7 and 8 years old at the time. I always think we were like the kids living in the street, who have a very conscious relationship with their environment. We knew what was happening, what we could and could not say. Although we were doing and saying what we were living, we could not have a dialectical discussion nor a real argument. We understood it all.
For us what we lived was not anything special, but it was normal. It was our life. We could not imagine anything different. This is why we were never traumatized. Even nowadays I miss that lifestyle. That clear and powerful bonding we all had. What was traumatizing was everything else: the absence, the persecution, the disappearance of my mother and not knowing anything to this day, not having been raised with my younger brother (Vicky in the movie). It was not until three yeas ago that we started having a life of ordinary siblings. And it cost a lot to have it...
LatinoBuzz: You were a child of Montoneros, so your childhood was unlike many others yet in the film we largely see this sweet portrayal of this blossoming first love between Juan and Maria –just like any teenager experiences. How much of that was Benjamín wishing that childhood was that innocent?
Benjamín Ávila: What you need to understand is that living in hiding was not something different to normality. It had parameters that were unusual, but we lived them like any other, even inside the house. I remember many common and normal family moments. Like waking up too late at night to watch the matches of the national team playing the World Cup youth soccer, Maradona’s first in Japan, and the matches were at 4 or 6 am. I remember going out at 7am in the morning with all the neighbors to celebrate the championship. My mother chastising me because I was late for school, or because I hadn't made my bed. Family barbecues, like any other Sunday, and so on, thousands of memories as normal as any other.
LatinoBuzz: What happened to “María”?
Benjamín Ávila: Maria never existed at that time. I had my Marías, but in other places and other times!
LatinoBuzz: In writing such a personal story what was the hardest thing to
write and did you avoid anything?
Benjamín Ávila: The most difficult part was at the beginning, trying to detach myself from my own history. Because several things were clear to me: the subject of film, that I did not want to be the protagonist of the story, that the most important part was the reconstruction of a routine
that has never been shown but that was not only mine but of many. That's why I took anecdotes and stories from others... Writing the script with Marcelo Muller, a dear Brazilian friend, helped me to achieve that distance I wanted for the construction of the story. With him I was able to rule out what wasn't important to the film’s story even if it was personally very important to me, and so we achieved that distance even though I deepened what remained. It was as if Marcelo pulled out to keep it to the essential, and I pulled inwards to deepen what remained.
LatinoBuzz: Was the casting difficult? Were you looking for yourself in
the Actor?
Benjamín Ávila: The casting of the children was complicated. We did it with María Laura Berch, an incredible casting director specializing in children, and we elaborated a very clear, yet complex, strategy. We saw over 700 children in total for all the roles, and it took us three months as planned.
But most importantly, we wanted to cast very homely, to give the kids the idea of what the shooting was going to be right from the beginning. And as I do my own camerawork every time I film, I decided I was going to shoot the casting so the kids could get used to my presence close to them and behind the camera from the beginning. And it worked really well.
With the adults it was very different. I saw Ernesto Alterio in the TV series "Vientos de Agua" by Campanella miniseries and compared to other roles I've seen him perform, I found the construction of his character wonderful. Something similar happened with Natalia Oreiro, she is very famous in Argentina but because of roles in comedies or romantic comedies, but seeing her in Caetano's "Francia" I noticed a dramatic profile in which I was very interested. With Cesar Troncoso, he was recommended by Luis Puenzo who had worked with him in "Xxy" the film he produced, directed by his daughter Lucía Puenzo. I had seen him in "The Pope's Toilet" and I had loved his role. And it was always a dream that Cristina Banegas play the role of the grandmother, and luckily we did it!
LatinoBuzz: Was seeing the film for the first time like looking at
photographs of your childhood?
Benjamín Ávila: No, this film has a lot of traits that belong to my childhood but they're for the most part, changed or modified. What does happen to me, is that I see through them my own memories. That happens to me, but it's something very intimate. The photos that appear at the end, which are from my family in reality, is the moment that moves me the most as I get haunted by the echoes of that wonderful past that was destroyed at the moment portrayed by the film.
My production company is called Room 1520 in tribute to the last scene of Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders, where the young kid (Hunter) is reunited with his mother after a long time in that same room... My childhood accompanies much of what I do.
LatinoBuzz: How many details from set design and wardrobe to how the actors who played your parents looked and acted did you involve yourself or were you able to separate yourself?
Benjamín Ávila: The shooting process was very intimate, intense and emotional. All of the staff, technicians and actors, we were involved in a special way. I have a way of working which at first puzzled the team. I like getting carried away by what is happening and then decide each scene based on the actors, the set and the light.
I operate the camera, I always do it when I'm the director, and I like to approach it as a documentary, finding the images based on what happens, as it happens. In that sense, each take was a particular universe of its own, unique and not replicable. Of course some takes came out really bad. But others were magical ... and those are the ones remained.
On the third day of filming something happened that made the whole team realize the scope of what we were doing, and from that moment on, everybody trusted my working technique. It happened that we were shooting Juan's (played by Teo Gutiérrez Moreno) first sequence where he burns the photos, near the end of the film. A tough sequence due to the mood that Juan had to reflect (as he just learns that his father was killed and had just hopelessly cried with his mother), and with children you don't work from a rational place but rather from the body directly, something very natural to them. So, I asked Natalia Oreiro to stand off-screen next to me, and that at moment I said 'action', for her to scream inconsolably, begging for help. On the other hand I told Teo that regardless of whatever was happening, he should not take his eyes off the fire, and that he should run out when I called his name. We got ready and at the moment of saying 'action' Natalia started to scream, heart wrenching, and all that I wanted to happen to Teo, started happening to me with the camera on my shoulder. I began to cry inconsolably (if you look carefully at the scene, the camera moves because I'm crying), as if it was an ancestral cry from some other time, and at some point I yelled at Teo and he perfectly did what he had to do, as usual, an he ran. I said 'cut', gave the camera to my assistant and as I was leaving I saw Natalia crying uncontrollably, everyone saw me and realized I was crying. I went to the video assist and as I entered everybody was very excited, they saw me crying. I asked to see the take… At that moment, everybody including actors, technicians and me, realized that we were doing something more than professional, but also very personal.
LatinoBuzz: Were there any films that influenced the look of the film?
Benjamín Ávila: Absolutely. For the tone of the performance and the gaze of the kids, "My Life as a Dog" by Lasse Halstrom. All of Krystof Kieslowski's filmography, and the political view of the films that Ken Loach made in
England such as "Raining Stones", "Riff-Raff" and "Hidden Agenda".
LatinoBuzz: What's the next project?
Benjamín Ávila: I am writing for a TV series of 40 single chapters. Additionally, I am adapting a novel by Elsa Osorio that I've been wanting to do for 12 years. I'm adapting it with her to make a miniseries of 13 chapters. It's about 40 years of history and involves many characters. A different look at the people who survived or were involved in Argentina's dictatorship.
For Screening times in NY and CA visit: http://www.filmmovement.com/theatrical/index.asp?MerchandiseID=314
Like em at: https://www.facebook.com/Infancia.clandestina
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
Clandestine Childhood is being released in NY and CA on Friday, January 11th, 2013.
LatinoBuzz: What did the actors take away from spending several days with former Montoneros?
Benjamín Ávila: I wanted the actors to have the chance to physically live that era. The most complex challenge for an actor is the ability to give dimension to the story from the time that it happened, not from the present. For them it was important to get rid of all the Whys and be able to answer them by themselves. So I decided to have the actors meet a couple of former guerrilla members to do a training drill for two days, the way it was done back then, as well as for them to have a chance to talk and for the actors to be able to ask anything they wanted.
It was very productive because their body changed, as well as their stand before history. It also helped me to confirm some doubts that had arisen during the process of writing the script. And from that moment on, the improvisations we did were very important in defining some scenes of the film. Particularly the argument scene between the grandmother and mother. That improvisation came after the work we did, and some glorious moments emerged as a result, very complex and incorrect that served to give another dimension to the movie.
LatinoBuzz: Was there a particular audience for this film that was most important for you to see it?
Benjamín Ávila: Not really. But firstly, it is a film that I made for my brothers. And for the children of the disappeared and those killed during the last dictatorship in Argentina. They are the primary audience, but the story is not constructed so that only they understand. On the contrary, I wanted the film to move people, to it would provoke feelings and ideas, without sacrificing the cinematic and artistic construction. Luckily, for all the feedback that I receive from the people who have seen it, I think we have achieved that goal. It's a film that provokes many emotions, that endures for days within the people who see it, and that generates the need to reiterate the questions that were supposedly already answered.
LatinoBuzz: When was the first time you realized that 'Infancia Clandestina' was the story you had to tell?
Benjamín Ávila: I always knew it. Since I was 13, I knew I wanted to work in film. I also knew back then that one day I would film my childhood. Somehow I made a tacit commitment at that time with myself, with my family, and with my own story. Therefore it is very important for me to have completed this process. It is a feeling of a debt paid, like I "had to do" this film. It was a duty rather than a necessity. Now that the film is finished I feel a relief, that of mission accomplished. Now I can be at peace.
LatinoBuzz: How much of what was going on were you very much aware of and how did you process that as a young boy?
Benjamín Ávila: My older brother and I were very aware, even though we were 7 and 8 years old at the time. I always think we were like the kids living in the street, who have a very conscious relationship with their environment. We knew what was happening, what we could and could not say. Although we were doing and saying what we were living, we could not have a dialectical discussion nor a real argument. We understood it all.
For us what we lived was not anything special, but it was normal. It was our life. We could not imagine anything different. This is why we were never traumatized. Even nowadays I miss that lifestyle. That clear and powerful bonding we all had. What was traumatizing was everything else: the absence, the persecution, the disappearance of my mother and not knowing anything to this day, not having been raised with my younger brother (Vicky in the movie). It was not until three yeas ago that we started having a life of ordinary siblings. And it cost a lot to have it...
LatinoBuzz: You were a child of Montoneros, so your childhood was unlike many others yet in the film we largely see this sweet portrayal of this blossoming first love between Juan and Maria –just like any teenager experiences. How much of that was Benjamín wishing that childhood was that innocent?
Benjamín Ávila: What you need to understand is that living in hiding was not something different to normality. It had parameters that were unusual, but we lived them like any other, even inside the house. I remember many common and normal family moments. Like waking up too late at night to watch the matches of the national team playing the World Cup youth soccer, Maradona’s first in Japan, and the matches were at 4 or 6 am. I remember going out at 7am in the morning with all the neighbors to celebrate the championship. My mother chastising me because I was late for school, or because I hadn't made my bed. Family barbecues, like any other Sunday, and so on, thousands of memories as normal as any other.
LatinoBuzz: What happened to “María”?
Benjamín Ávila: Maria never existed at that time. I had my Marías, but in other places and other times!
LatinoBuzz: In writing such a personal story what was the hardest thing to
write and did you avoid anything?
Benjamín Ávila: The most difficult part was at the beginning, trying to detach myself from my own history. Because several things were clear to me: the subject of film, that I did not want to be the protagonist of the story, that the most important part was the reconstruction of a routine
that has never been shown but that was not only mine but of many. That's why I took anecdotes and stories from others... Writing the script with Marcelo Muller, a dear Brazilian friend, helped me to achieve that distance I wanted for the construction of the story. With him I was able to rule out what wasn't important to the film’s story even if it was personally very important to me, and so we achieved that distance even though I deepened what remained. It was as if Marcelo pulled out to keep it to the essential, and I pulled inwards to deepen what remained.
LatinoBuzz: Was the casting difficult? Were you looking for yourself in
the Actor?
Benjamín Ávila: The casting of the children was complicated. We did it with María Laura Berch, an incredible casting director specializing in children, and we elaborated a very clear, yet complex, strategy. We saw over 700 children in total for all the roles, and it took us three months as planned.
But most importantly, we wanted to cast very homely, to give the kids the idea of what the shooting was going to be right from the beginning. And as I do my own camerawork every time I film, I decided I was going to shoot the casting so the kids could get used to my presence close to them and behind the camera from the beginning. And it worked really well.
With the adults it was very different. I saw Ernesto Alterio in the TV series "Vientos de Agua" by Campanella miniseries and compared to other roles I've seen him perform, I found the construction of his character wonderful. Something similar happened with Natalia Oreiro, she is very famous in Argentina but because of roles in comedies or romantic comedies, but seeing her in Caetano's "Francia" I noticed a dramatic profile in which I was very interested. With Cesar Troncoso, he was recommended by Luis Puenzo who had worked with him in "Xxy" the film he produced, directed by his daughter Lucía Puenzo. I had seen him in "The Pope's Toilet" and I had loved his role. And it was always a dream that Cristina Banegas play the role of the grandmother, and luckily we did it!
LatinoBuzz: Was seeing the film for the first time like looking at
photographs of your childhood?
Benjamín Ávila: No, this film has a lot of traits that belong to my childhood but they're for the most part, changed or modified. What does happen to me, is that I see through them my own memories. That happens to me, but it's something very intimate. The photos that appear at the end, which are from my family in reality, is the moment that moves me the most as I get haunted by the echoes of that wonderful past that was destroyed at the moment portrayed by the film.
My production company is called Room 1520 in tribute to the last scene of Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders, where the young kid (Hunter) is reunited with his mother after a long time in that same room... My childhood accompanies much of what I do.
LatinoBuzz: How many details from set design and wardrobe to how the actors who played your parents looked and acted did you involve yourself or were you able to separate yourself?
Benjamín Ávila: The shooting process was very intimate, intense and emotional. All of the staff, technicians and actors, we were involved in a special way. I have a way of working which at first puzzled the team. I like getting carried away by what is happening and then decide each scene based on the actors, the set and the light.
I operate the camera, I always do it when I'm the director, and I like to approach it as a documentary, finding the images based on what happens, as it happens. In that sense, each take was a particular universe of its own, unique and not replicable. Of course some takes came out really bad. But others were magical ... and those are the ones remained.
On the third day of filming something happened that made the whole team realize the scope of what we were doing, and from that moment on, everybody trusted my working technique. It happened that we were shooting Juan's (played by Teo Gutiérrez Moreno) first sequence where he burns the photos, near the end of the film. A tough sequence due to the mood that Juan had to reflect (as he just learns that his father was killed and had just hopelessly cried with his mother), and with children you don't work from a rational place but rather from the body directly, something very natural to them. So, I asked Natalia Oreiro to stand off-screen next to me, and that at moment I said 'action', for her to scream inconsolably, begging for help. On the other hand I told Teo that regardless of whatever was happening, he should not take his eyes off the fire, and that he should run out when I called his name. We got ready and at the moment of saying 'action' Natalia started to scream, heart wrenching, and all that I wanted to happen to Teo, started happening to me with the camera on my shoulder. I began to cry inconsolably (if you look carefully at the scene, the camera moves because I'm crying), as if it was an ancestral cry from some other time, and at some point I yelled at Teo and he perfectly did what he had to do, as usual, an he ran. I said 'cut', gave the camera to my assistant and as I was leaving I saw Natalia crying uncontrollably, everyone saw me and realized I was crying. I went to the video assist and as I entered everybody was very excited, they saw me crying. I asked to see the take… At that moment, everybody including actors, technicians and me, realized that we were doing something more than professional, but also very personal.
LatinoBuzz: Were there any films that influenced the look of the film?
Benjamín Ávila: Absolutely. For the tone of the performance and the gaze of the kids, "My Life as a Dog" by Lasse Halstrom. All of Krystof Kieslowski's filmography, and the political view of the films that Ken Loach made in
England such as "Raining Stones", "Riff-Raff" and "Hidden Agenda".
LatinoBuzz: What's the next project?
Benjamín Ávila: I am writing for a TV series of 40 single chapters. Additionally, I am adapting a novel by Elsa Osorio that I've been wanting to do for 12 years. I'm adapting it with her to make a miniseries of 13 chapters. It's about 40 years of history and involves many characters. A different look at the people who survived or were involved in Argentina's dictatorship.
For Screening times in NY and CA visit: http://www.filmmovement.com/theatrical/index.asp?MerchandiseID=314
Like em at: https://www.facebook.com/Infancia.clandestina
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 1/9/2013
- by Juan Caceres
- Sydney's Buzz
The Prize
Written and directed by Paula Markovitch
Mexico, 2011
After winning an essay contest at her school, seven-year old Cecilia (Paula Galinelli Hertzog) is showered with praise. Her teacher has the entire class form a line, and one-by-one, she has everyone give Cecilia a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. That is, except for one.
Cecilia’s best friend, Silvia (Sharon Herrera), refuses to acknowledge her achievements, and when she is confronted, she says to her, “you pretend to be intelligent, but you’re just bad.”
This statement is prophetic in its simplistic irony, because Paula Markovitch’s The Prize, which won a host of accolades at the 61st Berlin Film Festival, is a film that tries to affect greater importance and artistic significance, but under the many layers of pretention, it’s just simply bad.
Set during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, Cecilia Edelstein and her mother (Laura Agorreca) have recently...
Written and directed by Paula Markovitch
Mexico, 2011
After winning an essay contest at her school, seven-year old Cecilia (Paula Galinelli Hertzog) is showered with praise. Her teacher has the entire class form a line, and one-by-one, she has everyone give Cecilia a congratulatory kiss on the cheek. That is, except for one.
Cecilia’s best friend, Silvia (Sharon Herrera), refuses to acknowledge her achievements, and when she is confronted, she says to her, “you pretend to be intelligent, but you’re just bad.”
This statement is prophetic in its simplistic irony, because Paula Markovitch’s The Prize, which won a host of accolades at the 61st Berlin Film Festival, is a film that tries to affect greater importance and artistic significance, but under the many layers of pretention, it’s just simply bad.
Set during Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’, Cecilia Edelstein and her mother (Laura Agorreca) have recently...
- 5/10/2012
- by Justin Li
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – Throughout his extensive work as a film columnist, author and journalist, Robert K. Elder has been drawn to exploring both the universality and striking diversity of the human experience. In his books, Elder is intent on capturing specific moments within the lives of his subjects, while discovering their universal truths through their juxtaposition.
Elder’s latest book, “The Film That Changed My Life,” is no exception. The book compiles one-on-one interviews with thirty directors about the pivotal moviegoing experience that altered their sense of cinema (and sense of self). Filmmakers and film buffs alike will undoubtedly find the book to be a compulsive page turner. John Woo discusses his idolization of James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause,” while Frank Oz gushes about his love of Welles in “Touch of Evil” and Atom Egoyan recalls the moment he first stumbled upon Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona.”
On June 11, Elder will...
Elder’s latest book, “The Film That Changed My Life,” is no exception. The book compiles one-on-one interviews with thirty directors about the pivotal moviegoing experience that altered their sense of cinema (and sense of self). Filmmakers and film buffs alike will undoubtedly find the book to be a compulsive page turner. John Woo discusses his idolization of James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause,” while Frank Oz gushes about his love of Welles in “Touch of Evil” and Atom Egoyan recalls the moment he first stumbled upon Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona.”
On June 11, Elder will...
- 6/7/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Marcelo Figueras’ novel “ Kamchatka” is his first to be translated into English. It’s the story of a family – Harry, Midget and their parents — as they go into hiding. The foursome takes on new identities at the beginning of Argentina’s Dirty War in 1976; the 309-page book is told from Harry’s perspective and takes its title from a key territory in the board game Risk.
Figueras grew up in Argentina and currently lives in Barcelona. The 49-year-old author was...
Figueras grew up in Argentina and currently lives in Barcelona. The 49-year-old author was...
- 5/17/2011
- by Erin Mendell
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Director: Diego Lerman Writers: Diego Lerman, Maria Meira Starring: Julieta Zylberberg, Osmar Nuñez, Marta Lubos, Gaby Ferrero, Diego Veggezzi, Pablo Sigal Much of 20th century Latin American history is marred by viscous dictators who actively sought to repress any and all opposed to their regimes. The history of Argentina is no exception to this. The period between 1976 and 1983 is known as the Dirty War in Argentina when thousands of students, unionists, activists, journalists and anyone who sympathized with left-wing politics were “disappeared” by the military dictator Jorge Rafael Videla and his ruthless entourage. This period of intense repression is artistically manifested in much of the art of Argentina from the latter part of the 20th century on. Diego Lerman’s allegorical film, La mirada invisible (The Invisible Eye), is set in a Buenos Aires high school in 1982. The world of the school starkly contrasts the world beyond its courtyard walls...
- 5/6/2011
- by Caitlyn Collins
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
HBO's sibling pay-cable channel Cinemax is venturing into original programming with its first scripted primetime drama, Strike Back, a 10-hour action series it will co-produce with British satcaster Sky and U.K.-based Left Bank Pictures (The Special Relationship). The project, written by The X-Files alum Frank Spotnitz and British TV writer Richard Zadjlic (EastEnders), is inspired by the Sky series Strike Back, which in turn was based on Chris Ryan's book of the same name. That series, produced by Left Bank Pictures, premiered last summer and starred Richard Armitage as John Porter, former British Special Forces soldier drafted back into service by MI6. The Cinemax/Sky version will have new settings/storylines and will introduce new characters, led by Damien Scott (Animal Kingdom's Sullivan Stapleton), a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative who teams up with a British military unit led by Section 20 officer Michael Stone...
- 2/9/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
PBS cutting into HBO's originals
Some of what HBO giveth, PBS will taketh away. As a result of new, more stringent federal guidelines on indecency, the public television service will need to make a few small edits before it distributes the HBO film Dirty War to affiliates, PBS president and CEO Pat Mitchell told TV critics Saturday. Under an agreement announced last week, Dirty War, about a fictional radiological attack on London, will air Jan. 24 on HBO and then Feb. 23 on PBS stations. The agreement also includes two other films: Sometimes in April, about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and Yesterday, a drama about AIDS in South Africa. One scene in Dirty War shows brief glimpses of frontal nudity as people exposed to radiation are hosed down. That scene will be edited, Mitchell told reporters during PBS' portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour at the Universal City Hilton. In addition, there will be "a couple of word changes here and there," PBS senior programming executive Jacoba Atlas said. She said the changes already had been made for an international version of the film.
- 1/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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