The Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Cosquín = FICIC (International Festival of Independent Cinema) is held every May since 2011 in Cosquín, a small resort town in Cordoba Province 800km from Buenos Aires. It showcases independent movies from Argentina and other countries, both fiction (feature and short) and documentaries. Unlike in Hollywood, "independent" is understood strictly. Studio films are out; most movies presented have modest or no outside funding, feature nonprofessional actors and are filmed in natural settings (sort of Dogme 95 without dogma). Many of the works, even the ones that receive awards will not have commercial release and some will not even make it to the paid streaming services; for diffusion they depend on other festivals and on posting on You Tube. The works in the Festival are referred to as "author films" (probably inspired by the auteur concept of the New Wave critics/directors).
The film is a series of happenings at the FCIC, some of them connected, some not. With a sort of lighthearted documentary feeling that sometimes evokes other movies/about/movies, such as Truffaut's Day for Night, Wenders' State of Things or Fassbinder's Beware of a Holy Whore. One of this film's motives is: the boundaries between documentary and fiction are difficult to place and this is shown by mixing fictional characters like protagonist Matías and his assistant Mica with real people. The latter are directors, critics, producers and technicians. One is a projectionist of old fashioned 35mm actual film that speaks. Of "feeling the warmth of the images with your hands." Another is an elderly amateur documentary filmmaker who dedicates himself, for love of cinema, to recording the events of each festival since its inception. There are also the characters one expects to find in a festival; hangers on, would be script writers trying to elicit the interest of a producer or director, would be actors doing the same. There are some inside jokes; as one character declares herself an actress we hear the music that accompanies the iconic initial screens of Argentine films shown abroad.
There is a subplot (in the realm of the fantastic) that relates an incoming solar storm with perception of colors. To avoid distortion one must use either good quality big dark glasses or 3D glasses, which explains the title. In the context of this movie this probably means (trough the last scenes) that different people see different realities, each distorted by perception. A fascinating, entertaining film.
The film is a series of happenings at the FCIC, some of them connected, some not. With a sort of lighthearted documentary feeling that sometimes evokes other movies/about/movies, such as Truffaut's Day for Night, Wenders' State of Things or Fassbinder's Beware of a Holy Whore. One of this film's motives is: the boundaries between documentary and fiction are difficult to place and this is shown by mixing fictional characters like protagonist Matías and his assistant Mica with real people. The latter are directors, critics, producers and technicians. One is a projectionist of old fashioned 35mm actual film that speaks. Of "feeling the warmth of the images with your hands." Another is an elderly amateur documentary filmmaker who dedicates himself, for love of cinema, to recording the events of each festival since its inception. There are also the characters one expects to find in a festival; hangers on, would be script writers trying to elicit the interest of a producer or director, would be actors doing the same. There are some inside jokes; as one character declares herself an actress we hear the music that accompanies the iconic initial screens of Argentine films shown abroad.
There is a subplot (in the realm of the fantastic) that relates an incoming solar storm with perception of colors. To avoid distortion one must use either good quality big dark glasses or 3D glasses, which explains the title. In the context of this movie this probably means (trough the last scenes) that different people see different realities, each distorted by perception. A fascinating, entertaining film.
