This Friday a new edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival started, traditional meeting that will take place in the spa city until the 12 of November.

This only competitive festival in Latin America will dedicate this edition to celebrating the 40 years of democracy in the country.

This is the edition 38 of the Festival, whose opening ceremony took place in the Astor Piazzolla Room of the Teatro Auditorium , which was attended by different cultural personalities, of the film industry and politics.

For the 40 years of democracy, 40 years of uncensored cinema, The spots that will accompany each of the functions were presented, which were made thanks to the joint work between the INCAA National Cinematheque and the “Beatriz A” Library and Documentation and Archive Center. Little Gaffet” (ENERC-INCAA), who have recovered from the archive of the Film Rating Entity materials censored by the last civil-military dictatorship, that will be exhibited with the aim of shedding light and making public what was prohibited. The digitization of these materials has been carried out by Cubic, Argentina Sono Film and the Society for Audiovisual Heritage.

As for the opening film, it was “Man on Pink Corner.” (1962), by René Mugica —based on a story by Jorge Luis Borges— in its digitally restored version in 4K from the original negatives.

This edition will feature the visit of the Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona – thanks to the support of Netflix –, who will receive a lifetime achievement award, will present his latest work on the tragedy of the Andes, "The Snow Society", and will give one of the three Talks with Teachers.

Tribute will also be paid to the renowned actress's career., director, Argentine screenwriter and producer Ana Katz and the Uruguayan Cinemateca – a fundamental institution for the continent's cinematography, founded in 1952–. Your director, María José Santacreu, will give another of the Talks with Teachers, which will include an outstanding meeting with one of the main figures of our culture: actress Graciela Borges, who will reflect on his important career.

In its premise of spreading the freshest looks, diverse and heterogeneous, The Festival proposes in Panorama and in Autoras y Autores films from both renowned and experienced directors and from new generations.. That is why in the parallel sections you can see, among others, the most recent works of Taika Waititi, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bertrand Bonello, Michael Gondry, Hong Sang-soo, Lisandro Alonso, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Victor Erice, Martin Rejtman, Andres Di Tella, Edgardo Cozarinsky and Rafael Ferro, Alice Rohrwacher, Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo, Angela Schanelec, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, Nora Niasari, Laura Ferrés and Liz Lobato. The closing performance will be Fallen Leaves, the most recent work of the Finnish Aki Kaurismäki.

Directors from different parts of the world will also be present., with diverse looks and aesthetic searches, to accompany the films that are part of the programming. Between them and them, They will visit the Fernando Frías de la Parra Festival, Meredith Hama-Brown, João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, Gonzalo Garcia Pelayo, Paulo Abreu, Liz Lobato, Marco Panatonic, Shane Atkinson, Alessandro Pugno, André Novais Oliveira, Martha von Mechow, Francis Rodriguez Teare, Javier Macipe and Victor Iriarte.

In the 38th edition there will be seven official competitive sections, among which are the International, Latin American and Argentine – the latter divided between short films and feature films –, Altered States and In Transit / Work in Progress (WIP).

The International Competition has participation from eleven countries in eleven titles, among which six world premieres will be presented: the Argentinian Elena knows (Anahi Berneri), A ship left me taking me (Cecilia Kang) and the souls (Laura Basombrío); the Peruvian Kinra (Marco Panatonic); la portuguesa NOW (Paulo Abreu) and Animal/Human (Alessandro Pugno), co-production between Spain, Italy and Mexico.

This year's thematic spotlights will be dedicated to the Argentine director Esteban Sapir; to the actress, Spanish screenwriter and director Ana Mariscal; to the mutual influence between cinema and comics; of who of Georgia, with three films selected and presented by Georgian director Aleksandre Koberidze; and fantastic: new voices from British genre cinema. With the support of the French Institute and the French Embassy in Argentina, the History focus will be carried out(s) of french cinema. further, in the Super section 8/16 mm you can see films directed by Marta Minujín, Leandro Katz, Elda Cerrato, David Lamelas and Narcisa Hirsch.

Special Activities present a wide variety of proposals between panels, book presentations, workshops and outdoor functions. they, The public can participate and exchange experiences with exhibitors on the different aspects of audiovisual production.. In that sense, The sixth edition of the Cinema and Gender Perspective Forum will be held, a space for thought, exchange of knowledge and experiences that contribute to making visible, problematize and reflect on gender inequalities, among other, in different areas related to cinema. Among the panels stand out Behind the scenes: how to make a horror movie today, with exponents of the Prano Bailey-Bond genus, Toby Poser and Demián Rugna; and From paper to the world: Exploring the creative process of film adaptation, with writers and screenwriters Tamara Tenenbaum and Josefina Licitra, who will speak on the adaptation of literary works to cinema.

Mar del Plata will once again have an open-air cinema, with free screenings at the Unzué Space of the year's major national premieres, that will be presented by their directors and protagonists. There will be Blondi performances, by Dolores Fonzi; Ma'am, by María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat; almost dead, by Fernán Mirás, The criminals, by Rodrigo Moreno, Don't break me, from Blue Lombardy and The Abduction, by Daniela Goggi.

As every year, INCAA will present various activities and exhibitions organized through its programs, such as the presentation of Short Stories 21, the winning short films of the traditional contest that has been running for more than 20 years presenting the new views of Argentine cinema; the 7th exhibition of the National School of Film Experimentation and Production (ENERC), with the theses carried out by students from the Patagonia campuses, Whose, NOAH, NEA and AMBA; while the Schools go to the cinema program will carry out activities under the motto Paint cinema in democracy.

Between 6 and the 11 of November, INCAA will offer the Croma Experience, a space dedicated to the whole family on Paseo Aldrey (Sarmiento 2685), in which people will be able to take photos in front of a green screen that will be replaced by the most diverse backgrounds - such as participating in scenes from national movies or celebrating with the world champion national team - thanks to the use of an audiovisual technique (quaver) widely used in both cinema, television and photography.

The 17th edition of UBA Screen will also take place; the shorts from the Torcuato Di Tella University Film Program will be seen; The DAC Foundation will screen the film Siembra de cine, by Martin Kraut; the Women and Cinema association, that complies 35 years, will carry out an activity in which they will join 43 directors to honor the women who anticipated the fight. You can enjoy the FAUD-UNMdP University Technical Thesis Exhibition of Audiovisual Communication; and the Video Library of the National University of Mar del Plata has scheduled the 16th edition of 24 hours of national cinema, with shorts, documentary and fiction media and feature films of our cinema.

During the presentation, the winners of the 11th International Contest for Critical Studies on Argentine Cinema were announced.: “Domingo Di Núbila”, organized with the support of the Argentine Association of Film and Audiovisual Studies. First prize went to Green Terror. Veganism and ecology in contemporary Argentine horror cinema, of Valeria Arevalos; the first mention was for Violence and marginality in neoliberal culture, by Ariel Jesús Ilzarbe; while the work selected for publication in the academic journal Imagofagia was The Breakdown of Gender Stereotypes in Experimental Cinema by Narcisa Hirsch, by Paz Bustamante.

The complete program can be found at www.mardelplatafilmfest.com. Advance tickets can be purchased online at $400 the general ticket or $200 for students and seniors. Special activities have free admission on a first-come, first-served basis, until the capacity of the rooms in which they are held is exhausted..