Buenos Aires Readies for 10th Annual International Film Festival

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filmfestIt is time for the 10th Annual Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente, better known as the Bafici! Organized by the Minister of Culture for Buenos Aires, it has become one of the most famous independent film festivals in the world and is certainly the biggest in Latin America. It features films from around the world, including the work of both young, experimental directors and established legends. Growing every year, 2007 witnessed a record turnout of 260,700 spectators over the festival’s 13 days. This year, the festival begins today and runs through April 20th.

At this year’s Bafici festival there is a wide variety of Argentine and foreign cinema. Films by well known Argentine directors include Una semana solos by Celina Murga, S.O.S. Ex, be Andrés Tamborino and an opera called Los paranoicos by Gabriel Medina. This is only to name a few. Among international films, there is the final film of Werner Herzog, Encounters at the End of the World. Mexican director Carlos Reygados film Silent Light is playing, as is German Michael Haneke’s film, Funny Games. There is such a wide variety of films that it can feel overwhelming, but thankfully the festival’s website, www.bafici.gov.ar, has them listed by both title and genre. You can also download a complete guide of this year’s films in a large PDF document.

Tickets to the festival are a bargain: $6 pesos for adults and $4 for students and children. You can buy tickets at the theaters themselves, but since last years turn out was so large, it may be a good idea to try to buy them ahead of time. Call Hoyt’s Theater at 0810-122-HOYTS or go to http://www.ticketek.com.ar/ online where you can buy tickets for films showing at the MALBA. Ticketek has an easy to read schedule of what is playing at the MALBA, listed under “More Info,” as well as a map to show you how to get there. All other venues require that you buy the tickets at the theater itself.

In addition to the films participating in this year’s Bafici, there is for the first time an outdoor screen showing films from the festival’s past. This will be held every Saturday and Sunday, starting April 12th, at 4 and 6pm and a listing of what films will be showing is available at the festival’s website as well as in the magazine, Cultura BA. The films will be shown in the Pasaje Carlos Gardel, between Anchorena and Jean Jaurés, in front of the Abasto Mall.

If you have the time, this film festival is one of the city’s biggest cultural events of the year and is not to be missed. However, do keep in mind that the films will be in Spanish and the foreign films will be subtitled in Spanish. If you don’t speak or read Spanish, you can come for the ambiance and the images!

General Information:

Website: www.bafici.gov.ar
Phone number: 0800-333-7848

Participating Theaters:

Alianza Francesa de Buenos Aires
Av. Cordoba 946, Retiro

Centro Cultural Recoleta
Junín 1930, Recoleta

Centro Cultural Ricardo Rojas
Av. Corrientes 2038, Balvanera

Cine Atlas Santa Fe
Av. Santa Fe 2015, Barrio Norte

Cine Cosmos
Av. Corrientes 2046, Balvanera

Hoyts Abasto
Av. Corrientes 3247, Balvanera

MALBA
Av. Figueroa Alcorta 3415, Palermo

Sala Leopoldo Lugones (Teatro San Martín)
Av. Corrientes 1530, San Nicolás

Teatro 25 de Mayo
Av. Triunvirato 4436, Villa Urquiza

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