Buenos Aires Independent Film Fest announces full program

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 18th edition of the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival (BACIFI) announced its full program on Wednesday, March 30 at a press conference in Buenos Aires' Usina del Arte, led by the city’s Minister of Culture Dario Lopérfido, Argentina's film institute president Alejandro Cacetta and newly appointed fest director Javier Porta-Fouz, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

Focusing on international off-mainstream production and featuring more than 400 films, including the latest from Argentina, BACIFI will officially kick off on April 13 with Eugene Green's Berlinale entry Le Fils du Joseph. Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead will close the event on April 24.

At the conference, Porta-Fouz announced that BACIFI has added two new competitions to its program. The first is a Latin American slate that aims to shed light on films from the region that didn't go through European festivals. "We're trying to bring in a different view," he said. The second one, a Human Rights competition, is an already existing award that will now stand as an official competition with a separate section.

With the U.S. as this edition’s honor guest country, the festival guest list includes director/author Peter Bogdanovich (She's Funny That Way), who will present a retrospective of his work. The U.S. list continues with indie filmmakers Rick Alverson (Entertainment) and Bob Byngton (7 Chinese Brothers) and documentary director Penny Lane (Nuts!).

Legendary French composer Michel Legrand (The Thomas Crown Affair, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), a three-time Academy Award winner, will conduct Argentina's National Orchestra playing at the Colon Theater, Buenos Aires' famous opera house.

Portuguese producer Paulo Branco will present a special focus on his work, which includes films by Wim Wenders, Chantal Ackerman and Raul Ruiz.

One of Latin America's top film events, BACIFI will also present an Aardman Studios selection in the fest's children sidebar, Little Bafici, and focuses on independent filmmakers Daichi Sato, Lewis Bennet and Margaret Tait, among others.