A Day of Full Houses at the Mar del Plata Film Festival

Monday combined international premieres, a talk by the Oscar-winning Argentine producer Violeta Kreimer, and a night of open-air cinema. García Lorca, present on screen with La bola negra and in conversation, was the thread running through the day.

The Mar del Plata International Film Festival had a highly attended Monday, with sunshine and temperatures near 23 degrees. Two events had one thing in common: not a single seat to spare. In the afternoon, La bola negra filled the Teatro Auditorium. Shortly before, a conversation with Violeta Kreimer had packed the Chauvin venue.

At 6:30 pm, the film by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo — los Javis — screened to a full Auditorium. It arrived in Mar del Plata with the Best Director prize from Cannes, a 20-minute standing ovation in that city, and its status as Spain’s Oscar submission. The film follows three men from three different eras (1932, 1937, and 2017) and draws from an unfinished work by Federico García Lorca. It stars Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, and Carlos González.

Earlier, at 2:00 pm, Espacio Chauvin welcomed Violeta Kreimer — the Argentine producer born in Vicente López and based in Paris who won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. She spoke with the audience, followed by a screening of Two People Exchanging Saliva, the dystopian satire in which kissing is forbidden and punishable by slaps. The event was free and open to the public, and the venue was packed.

Lorca, Hollywood, and El Partido

The day had started at the Auditorium. At 9:00 am, Ink by Danny Boyle screened, with Guy Pearce and Jack O’Connell in the story of the birth of The Sun newspaper, followed at noon by Vigilante, the Belgian thriller with Eddy de Pretto. At 1:30 pm, at Paseo Aldrey, Feito Pipa by Allan Deberton — Brazil’s submission for the 2027 Oscars and winner of the Crystal Bear in Berlin.

At 4:00 pm, also at Chauvin, the talk Lorca en el cine brought together Miguel Poveda, Mario Marchioli, and Pablo de Vita. Poveda is the flamenco singer presenting Enlorquecido at the festival, which screened that afternoon at the Teatro Colón with free admission.

The night closed at 8:00 pm at Villa Victoria with El partido, the documentary by Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco about the Argentina-England match at Mexico 86, with free admission.