The Mar del Plata Film Festival is under way
Mar del Plata opened the new edition of its International Film Festival on Thursday, November 5, with 150 films over eleven days, through Sunday the 15th. Infobae describes it as the only category A film festival in Latin America.
The opening film is the new dramatic comedy by Ireland's Martin McDonagh, with John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as two CIA agents sent to Rapa Nui on the eve of the 1973 coup. The actor took the Volpi Cup as best performer in Venice for that work, and he arrives as one of the strong names of awards season.
The closing screening on November 15 is Borges and Me, by American director Marc Turtletaub. It is a road movie set in the 1970s: the writer Jay Parini, played by Fionn Whitehead, drives through the Scottish Highlands with Jorge Luis Borges beside him, played by Luis Gnecco.
Among this edition's honorees are director Alejandro Agresti, composer Emilio Kauderer and actress Natalia Oreiro.
Cheaper tickets and fuller theaters
The most concrete change this year is the price. General admission costs 5,000 pesos, against the 7,000 charged in 2025, and there are ten-title packs at 25,000 pesos, which works out to 2,500 per screening.
The change had a quick effect: 15,000 advance tickets were sold and more than 35 screenings are already sold out. Among them are all three showings of La bola negra, a Spanish film whose 2,400 seats went completely.
The price cut answers what happened the year before. In 2025, one screening of La chica de Colonia, awarded in Berlin, had only nine people in the room, and that number pushed the organizers to rethink their strategy, with more presence on social media and direct work to attract the local Mar del Plata audience.
The international competition, with Boyle and Stone
The main section brings together 14 features competing for the Astor for best film. The jury is chaired by Peruvian filmmaker Francisco Lombardi. With him are Argentine actress Eva de Dominici, Mexican director Carlos Cuarón, Danish director Birgitte Stærmose, Mongolian director Uisenma Borchu and Silvia Bizio, a journalist from Italy.
Two titles concentrate the expectation. Ink, by Danny Boyle, opened the Venice festival and tells how Rupert Murdoch made The Sun a sensationalist phenomenon in 1969 London, with Guy Pearce, Jack O’Connell and Claire Foy. Elsinore, by Simon Stone, took the audience award in Toronto and recreates the Hamlet that Scottish actor Ian Charleson played in 1989 at the National Theatre, with Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman.
Another much-awaited moment is the world premiere of Los relatos. Its director, Spain's Miguel del Arco, presents it with Juan Diego Botto, and Marta Etura, the film's lead actress, will travel to Mar del Plata to accompany the screenings.
Latin American and Argentine cinema in competition
The Latin American Competition includes Narciso, by Paraguay's Marcelo Martinessi, winner of the international critics' prize at the Berlinale and Paraguay's entry for the Oscars. Also competing is Feito Pipa, by Brazil's Allan Deberton, which took the Crystal Bear in Berlin, and a new version of El pez que fuma, by Román Chalbaud, directed by Luis Fernández.
The Argentine Competition has twelve features and, this year, documentaries outnumber fiction films. Román Cárdenas directs El Diego que nadie vio, built from unseen material by photographer Jorge Luengo, and Gustavo Postiglione presents Chejov en Rosario, with Julieta Cardinali.
Also in the selection are Sin placa, the first feature by Yamil Chadad, and Perfume, a film about guitarist María Gabriela Epumer built from 50 hours of footage she shot herself.
If you go
The festival takes place in Mar del Plata and runs through Sunday, November 15. It pays to buy ahead: more than 35 screenings have no seats left, including all three of La bola negra.
General admission is 5,000 pesos and the ten-title pack costs 25,000, or 2,500 per film. With 150 films on the schedule, look at the program before you travel and plan your route by section.
Source: Infobae
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