As a member of the 62nd Gijón International Film Festival`s FIPRESCI jury, I was impressed by a visible tendency among the films I saw to mix documentary and fiction, which, of course, aligned with our jury mandate “to promote art” and “to encourage new and young cinema.” Following the festival’s Official Section Retueyos, from which we had to choose our winners, I noticed our choices were also preferred by other juries that awarded movies from other sections, a welcome confirmation of their broader value.
An excellent example of this tendency is the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize, Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed (Algo Viejo, algo Nuevo, algo prestado), the Argentina-Spain-Portugal co-production directed by Hernán Rosselli. This story, about an Argentine crime family who built a clandestine lottery business, is based on the true story of the Felpeto family and draws upon actual home movies and archival materials shot in the 1980s. The incorporation of these materials infuses the film with a heightened authenticity, as does the casting of actual family member Maribel Felpeto. I appreciated the black humour in this group portrait of the brutal, violent, and stupid male gangsters, in contrast with the intelligence of the women who run and manage the business, while also bribing authorities. Of course, women are “the brains” behind everything, but they are not spared from the bracing drama that falls upon the family as a whole, such as the death of its patriarch, who remains, in a way, the dark secret at the core of their biographies. Rosselli masterfully combines documentary and fiction, which distinguishes the movie from other mafia films. Something Old was also selected by another jury, the one adjudicating the Tierres en trance section, who gave it the Special Award for Artistic Contribution.
Authenticity was cultivated in our other winner, Marta Mateus’ Fogo do vento, by virtue of its cast of non-actors. Despite having no professional training, the performers understood the director`s choice to suggest, rather than imitate, reality, showing the dangerous working conditions of men and women who have to collect grapes for wine producers while being menaced by bulls who kill some of them. “The mixture of wine and blood” becomes the main symbol of this story, reminding us of Manuel de Oliveira or Miguel Gomes films, with its long and mysterious takes, full of silent suffering.
Our jury also appreciated the documentary aspects of the Australian film Flathead from director Jaydon Martin, in which an old man, Cass Cumerford, relays his own story. Despite his ailing health, Cass comes back to his childhood village to work hard as a farmer, sharing efforts and small pleasures with his work mates, and seeking alternative medical treatments, which borrow principles from some Chinese colleagues.
Although not awarded by us, other movies remained in our memories because of their efforts to incorporate more elements of reality through the displaying of various artifacts, such as family photos, in the case of the Spanish film Luna, from director Pablo Casanueva, which profiles victims of the Franco dictatorship, or digital footage that surveys a story of infidelity mediated by a specialist in Mistress Dispeller, a China-United States coproduction from director Elizabeth Lo.
Despite being selected in the Albar section (for emerging talents) and not in ours, Radu Jude’s Eight postcards from Utopia (Opt illustrate din lumea ideală) also illustrates the above-stated tendency. A mixture of documentary and fiction enhances this ironic feature, which assembles advertisments from the last 30 years, undercutting the hilarious capitalist mythology they collectively herlanded. These are but a few examples of Something new we discovered in the rich selection of the Gijón festival, a friendly harbour for daring films.
Dana Duma
Edited by José Teodoro
@FIPRESCI 2024