LATIN AMERICA:
Journey to Bring Big
Screen to Small Towns
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, (IPS) - A
young Argentine couple
will set out from this
capital city in December
on an overland journey
through 12 Latin
American countries, as
far as Mexico, taking
their country’s films to
small towns in rural
areas, with backing from
the state and civil
society organizations.
"The aim is to put on
free film shows in
places where there are
no cinemas," Alex Sly, a
photographer, film-maker
and member of the "Rodando
Cine" (roughly: Rolling
Films) project, told IPS.
His travelling companion
is his girlfriend Ine
Kracht, a political
scientist who is now
studying journalism.
Their departure date is
Dec. 29, and they plan
to return in October
2008, although the trip
might be extended to a
full year.
Digital technology is
what makes this venture
possible. The magic of
cinema can be reproduced
today with a DVD player,
a projector and a
screen, which in this
case measures a sizeable
three by four metres,
Sly said.
"We have about 80 films,
including feature-length
fiction films, shorts,
documentaries and
children’s films," he
said.
The project is sponsored
by the state National
Institute of Cinema and
Audiovisual Arts (INCAA),
the Universidad del Cine
film school and
Fundación Inquietudes.
"We have all sorts of
movies, including some
new blockbusters," said
Sly, who estimates there
will be 200 spectators a
day at each stop.
All the producers and
film-makers of the
movies for the free
mobile shows have waived
their screening rights.
The tour will begin in
small towns in 11
provinces in northern
Argentina, in the
southern hemisphere
summer. "We’ll have
audiences every day
there, because a lot of
people will be on
holiday," he said. Then
the mobile screenings
will go international.
With logistical support
from embassies, they
will travel to rural
areas in Bolivia, Peru,
Venezuela, Colombia,
Panama, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, Honduras, El
Salvador, Guatemala,
Belize and Mexico.
If they get additional
funding from Ibermedia,
an inter-governmental
fund to stimulate the
film industry throughout
Ibero-America (Latin
America, Portugal, Spain
and Andorra), they will
also visit Brazil, Chile
and Uruguay.
"People are eagerly
awaiting us at every
destination," said Sly.
The idea is for the
embassies to promote the
cultural tour, whose
second goal is to show
Argentine films in other
countries, in places
where even the most
commercial films are
never seen.
Apart from the
impassable gap between
Colombia and Panama,
where they will have to
take a plane, they will
cover the entire route
in a van, which will
often double as a mobile
home. "We’ll make
occasional stops for
supplies in the bigger
cities, but the film
shows will all be in
small towns," he said.
The couple are taking
video cameras and
microphones to make a
record of the experience
itself. They will
interview local people
on the way for material
for a documentary. At
some points they will be
joined by invited guests
who will also contribute
to the account of the
project’s progress.
The films are extremely
varied. Some are from
the 1960s and 1970s,
like "Don Segundo Sombra"
(1969) and "Juan Manuel
de Rosas" (1972), both
by Manuel Antín,
currently rector of the
Universidad del Cine.
Other films belong to a
new Argentine cinema
movement that has given
rise to an increasing
number of local
productions since the
1990s, most of them
first works by young
directors.
They include "Sólo por
hoy" (Just for Today,
2000) by Ariel Rotter,
"La demolición" (The
Demolition, 2005) by
Marcelo Mangone and "El
boquete" (The Gap, 2006)
by Mariano Mucci.
"INCAA has promised to
add some box-office
successes which they
will provide
themselves," Sly said.
Events on the journey
will also be recorded on
the "Rodando Cine"
Internet site by means
of a diary, which Sly
and Kracht will keep
up-to-date with
anecdotes and stories
about their experiences.
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