Films in Progress 34 / San Sebastián 2018

El Príncipe (The Prince) (en)

Director: 

Sebastián Muñoz

Country: 

  • Argentine
  • Chili

Length: 

120 min

San Bernardo, Chile, 1970. One drunken night, Jaime, a lonely and narcissistic 20 year-old, stabs his best friend in what seems to have been a fit of passion. Sentenced to prison, he meets El Potro, an older, respected man to whom he becomes close, revealing both a profound need for warmth and his ferocious desire to be recognised. Together they establish a relationship known in prison terms as "black love", enabling Jaime, now "El Príncipe", to discover affections and loyalties, as well as the power struggles that go on behind bars.

Los Fuertes (en)

Director: 

Omar Zúñiga Hidalgo

Country: 

  • Chili

Length: 

106 min

Lucas travels to visit his sister in a remote southern Chilean town, before going to live in Canada. Opposite the ocean and the fog he meets Antonio, the boatswain on a local fishing ship. When an intense romance emerges between the two, the relationship will force them to face up to their reality and abandon their solitude, learning to trust those around them. While the waves thunder into the bay, their strength, independence and adulthood gain strength against the tide.

Los tiburones (The Sharks) (en)

Director: 

Lucía Garibaldi

Country: 

  • Argentine
  • Uruguay

Length: 

72 min

While a small seaside resort is agitated with the rumour of sharks arriving to its coasts for the first time, Rosina seems to be the only one who’s not worried, even showing empathy for the supposed rovers. Now she takes advantage of the moment to move silently and do everything she wants to do but shouldn’t, as though driven by animal instinct. Los tiburones (The Sharks) talks about being surrounded by many but feeling alone, about what’s hidden beneath the surface, about hot blood, the sea and the irremediable search for empathy.

Mateína (en)

Director: 

Joaquín Peñagaricano
Pablo Abdala

Country: 

  • Argentine
  • Brésil
  • Uruguay

Length: 

115 min

We’re in 2045. Little has changed in Uruguay, except for one single yet very important difference: it is now forbidden to drink mate. Underground mate salesmen Moncho and Fico travel to the different towns to bring the dearly-loved infusion to their customers. One day they decide to do away with the middlemen and set out for Paraguay on the trail of the myth of pure mate. Mateína is an absurd comedy combining elements of popular South American culture with a tale of adventures, friendship and dreams.

Ni héroe ni traidor (Neither Hero nor Traitor) (en)

Director: 

Nicolás Savignone

Country: 

  • Argentine

Length: 

77 min

Buenos Aires, 1982. Matías has recently finished his military service and dreams of going to Spain to study music. His problems come down to convincing his girlfriend to meet him there at a later date and to getting round his father’s opposition. But the playing board changes completely when the Falklands War breaks out and he is drafted along with his friends. At first Matías will agree to the call-up, but gradually he will realise that he doesn’t feel this war – or perhaps any other – to be his own or sincere, no matter how just its cause may seem.

Sirena (en)

Director: 

Carlos Piñeiro

Country: 

  • Bolivie

Length: 

75 min

Lake Titicaca, 1984. Morgan Cabrera, a renowned La Paz engineer, drowns in a boating accident. The unfruitful search for his body is called off when confirmation arrives that it has been found on a remote island. A commission sets out to retrieve the corpse. When the engineers arrive on the island, the community members, who only speak Aymara, refuse to allow them to take the corpse because, according to their beliefs, doing so would ward off the possibility of a bountiful harvest. Finally, the community members allow them to take the corpse, but it never reaches its destination...