Argentina

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY TRENDS

At the turn of the century, filmmakers were eager to discover unique ways to compete within Latin America and internationally invested in the sort of technical qualities that Getino and Birri renounced, while at the same time remaining resolutely committed to social critique. This is evident in artistic and commercial successes such as Nueve reinas ( Nine Queens , Fabién Bielinsky, 2000) and El hijo de la novia ( Son of the Bride , Juan JoséCampanella, 2001). Both films are marked by a mordant sense of humor that contributes to their success. Bielinsky also exemplifies the long participation of Jews in Argentine filmmaking.

An alternative strain was the extensive presence in Argentina of Dogma filmmaking, with such notable examples as Plata quemada ( Burnt Money , Marcelo Pineyro, 2000); La Ciénega ( The Swamp , Lucrecia Martel, 2001), Bolivia (Adrián Caetano, 2001), El Bonaerense ( The Man from Buenos Aires Province , Pablo Trapero, 2002), and Tan de repente ( Suddenly , Diego Lerman, 2002). Lerman's film is particularly interesting as one of the first explicitly lesbian films in Argentina and the fact that it was made by a man. Pineyro's film, while not intending to be a "gay" film, nevertheless does an excellent job of portraying a queer subtext in what is otherwise a fairly standard bank heist film. Adhering partially to Dogma principles, or using a quasidocumentary black-and-white format, Bolivia centers on the plight of Bolivians (and by extension, other Latin Americans) who work illegally in Argentina and are subject to violent harassment and racism.