{"id":2997,"date":"2026-07-21T22:59:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T22:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mardelplatafilmfest.com\/41\/?p=2997"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:55:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T13:55:46","slug":"the-festival-announces-a-new-edition-with-tributes-astor-piazzolla-lifetime-achievement-awards-and-a-presentation-at-the-palacio-libertad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mardelplatafilmfest.com\/41\/en\/the-festival-announces-a-new-edition-with-tributes-astor-piazzolla-lifetime-achievement-awards-and-a-presentation-at-the-palacio-libertad\/","title":{"rendered":"The Festival announces a new edition with tributes, Astor Piazzolla Lifetime Achievement Awards and a presentation at the Palacio Libertad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Under the motto “Where Argentine cinema speaks to the world,” the official 2026 spot was presented, produced by INCAA for the 41st edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, taking place November 5\u201315.<\/em>


The call for entries for the 41st edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival closed with 1,127 titles submitted<\/strong>, a 27% increase over last year.

The Mar del Plata International Film Festival presents a new edition with a program that will celebrate major figures of Argentine and international cinema, landmark anniversaries, and a series of special activities, preceded by a public presentation in the City of Buenos Aires.

The official festival presentation Gala will take place on October 19 at the Palacio Libertad<\/strong> and will culminate in a concert conducted by Emilio Kauderer<\/strong>, accompanied by the National Orchestra of Argentine Music “Juan de Dios Filiberto”<\/strong>, dedicated to the unforgettable film scores he composed for directors such as Juan Jos\u00e9 Campanella and Adolfo Aristarain. The event will combine live music with film footage and will be open to the general public.


About the 41st Mar del Plata International Film Festival<\/strong>

As every year, the Festival will present the Astor Piazzolla Lifetime Achievement Awards, which in this edition will honor three major figures of Argentine cinema.

Actress Natalia Oreiro<\/strong>, born in Uruguay and based in Argentina from a very young age, has built a career spanning acting, music, and production with an international reach that few Argentine artists have achieved. She amassed massive fame through telenovelas that conquered not only domestic audiences but also those in far-flung places such as Russia, Poland, and Israel, while simultaneously establishing herself as a music star. In film, she has demonstrated her range as an actress in titles such as Cleopatra<\/em> by Eduardo Mignona, Miss Tacuaremb\u00f3<\/em> by Mart\u00edn Sastre, Infancia clandestina<\/em> by Benjam\u00edn \u00c1vila, Wakolda <\/em>by Luc\u00eda Puenzo, Gilda, no me arrepiento de este amor<\/em> by Lorena Mu\u00f1oz, Re loca<\/em> by Martino Zaidelis, Hoy se arregla el mundo<\/em> by Ariel Winograd, and La mujer de la fila<\/em>, again with \u00c1vila.

Director Alejandro Agresti<\/strong>, whose successful career took him to Hollywood, where he directed Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in The Lake House<\/em>. Agresti had previously been recognized by the Mar del Plata Festival, where in 1996 he won the award for Best Latin American Film for Buenos Aires Viceversa<\/em> and in 2003 received the Special Jury Prize for Valent\u00edn<\/em>, starring Carmen Maura. His film Mec\u00e1nica popular<\/em> was also selected in 2015 for the international competition. After making several short films, the Buenos Aires-born director debuted in feature films in 1984 with La neutr\u00f3nica explot\u00f3 en Burzaco<\/em>, going on to establish himself as an unusual voice in independent cinema with films such as El hombre que gan\u00f3 la raz\u00f3n<\/em> (1986) and El amor es una mujer gorda <\/em>(1987), which earned him the New Directors Award at the San Sebasti\u00e1n Film Festival. Buenos Aires Viceversa<\/em> earned him an invitation to the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, to which he returned with La cruz<\/em> (1997). The following year he won the Golden Shell at the San Sebasti\u00e1n Film Festival with El viento se llev\u00f3 lo que<\/em>. Also a novelist, Agresti lived for many years in the Netherlands, where he developed part of his career, and recently released Lo que quisimos ser <\/em>with Eleonora Wexler and Luis Rubio.

Composer Emilio Kauderer<\/strong>, though long based in Los Angeles, has developed a large part of his career in Argentina, where he has been the go-to composer for major directors such as Juan Jos\u00e9 Campanella and Adolfo Aristarain, with whom he collaborated on major successes including Tiempo de revancha<\/em>, \u00daltimos d\u00edas de la v\u00edctima<\/em>, and Un lugar en el mundo<\/em>. For Campanella he composed the scores for El mismo amor, la misma lluvia<\/em>, the miniseries Vientos de agua<\/em>, Metegol<\/em>, the Oscar-winning El secreto de sus ojos<\/em>, El cuento de las comadrejas<\/em>, and the recent Parque Lezama<\/em>. A classical composer whose works have been performed at the Hollywood Bowl by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, he has also scored important national films including Made in Argentina<\/em> by Juan Jos\u00e9 Jusid, Mi obra maestra <\/em>by Gast\u00f3n Duprat, Coraz\u00f3n de le\u00f3n<\/em> by Marcos Carnevale, The Letter<\/em> by Rodrigo Vila (with Harvey Keitel), and the remake The Secret in Her Eyes<\/em>, starring Julia Roberts.

During the Festival, a tribute will be held to H\u00e9ctor Babenco<\/strong>, marking the 80th anniversary of his birth and the 10th anniversary of his passing. Four representative titles from his filmography will be screened: Pixote<\/em>, At Play in the Fields of the Lord<\/em>, Coraz\u00f3n iluminado <\/em>\u2014 a deeply autobiographical film that marked his return to Argentina and was partially shot in Mar del Plata \u2014 and Mi amigo hind\u00fa<\/em>, his final feature film, starring Willem Dafoe. The tribute will also include a panel dedicated to his legacy, with the participation of members of his family. The prodigal son of the city left Mar del Plata at a very young age and, after traveling through Europe, settled in Brazil, where he built one of the most significant bodies of work in Latin American cinema. His name became forever associated with Pixote: la ley del m\u00e1s d\u00e9bil<\/em> (1981), a raw portrait of marginalized Brazilian childhood that received a Golden Globe nomination, as well as Kiss of the Spider Woman<\/em> (1985), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and for which William Hurt won the Oscar for Best Actor. His Hollywood career included titles such as Ironweed<\/em> (1987), with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, and At Play in the Fields of the Lord<\/em>, with Daryl Hannah, John Lithgow, and Kathy Bates \u2014 which he shot in Brazil while ill. He returned to Argentina with Coraz\u00f3n iluminado<\/em>, which includes a scene set at the Mar del Plata Film Festival, and later filmed El pasado<\/em> there with Gael Garc\u00eda Bernal. His ambitious Carandiru<\/em>, shot in the Brazilian prison of the same name, was Brazil’s Oscar submission in 2003. Babenco passed away in S\u00e3o Paulo on July 13, 2016.

With a program bringing together memory, heritage, contemporary cinema, and major figures of audiovisual culture, the Mar del Plata International Film Festival will once again establish itself as one of the leading film gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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