Adolfo Aristarain

Adolfo Aristarain (born October 19, 1943) is an Argentine film director and screenwriter. Variety has deemed him "a master filmmaker."[1]

Biography

Aristarain was born in Buenos Aires. After leaving Argentina, he started working as assistant director in the Arcente cinema, and then in Europe during his short exile for Mario Camus, Giorgio Stegani and Lewis Gilbert before returning to Argentina in 1974, following the death of Argentine president Juan Perón. His first 3 films did not receive favorable reviews, but in 1981 Tiempo de revancha received both critical acclaim and public success. Released in the midst of the so-called Guerra Sucia ("Dirty War") when Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship, the film had strong political undercurrents but faced few problems from censors. As Aristarain would later explain, he initially included long, unnecessary sex scenes in the film, "so the censors took five days and questioned thingsnot politics or ideology but sex. All I had to do was cut a few frames at the end of some scenes, like one of a strip tease. It doesn't hurt the scenesespecially if you made them longer than they should have been."[2]

Back in Spain he directed a mini-series for television, and after a series of aborted projects he had renewed success in Argentina: Un Lugar en el Mundo, starring Federico Luppi, with whom he has maintained frequent collaboration. He then filmed La Ley de la frontera and Martín (hache) in Spain, also starring Luppi. Aristarain continued with his Argentine-Spanish mixture of actors in Lugares comunes and Roma.

Aristarain wrote all the scripts of his directed movies with the exception of the Columbia Pictures release The Stranger, which was written by American screenwriter Dan Gurskis. [3]

He has received numerous awards for his work, including Golden Seashell and an Academy Award nomination for Un Lugar en el mundo, Best Director award at the Havana Film Festival, and Golden Seashell nomination for Martín (Hache), the First Prize at the Havana Film Festival and the Grand Prix des Amériques award at the Montréal World Film Festival for Tiempo de revancha.

The Academy Award Nomination was disqualified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because the film was submitted for consideration (for Best Foreign Movie) by Uruguay (his wife's country) while The Academy claimed it was an Argentine production, and should therefore have been submitted by that country.[4]

Aristarain has worked many times with several, notable actors, such as Federico Luppi (7 times), Julio de Grazia (4 times), Cecilia Roth (3 times), Ricardo Darín (3 times) and Ulises Dumont (2 times). He has held Spanish Citizenship since 2003.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Title Result
1982 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay Tiempo de revancha Won
Best Director Won
Chicago International Film Festival Best Feature Nominated
Havana Film Festival Grand Coral - First Prize Won
Montréal World Film Festival Grand Prix Award Won
Huelva Latin American Film Festival Golden Colon Últimos días de la víctima Won
Mystfest Best Film Nominated
Best Screenplay Won
1983 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay Won
Best Director Won
1984 Cognac Festival du Film Policier Critics Award Tiempo de revancha Won
1992 Nantes Three Continents Festival Audience Award A Place in the World Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Seashell Won
OCIC Award Won
1993 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay Nominated
Best Director Won
Fribourg International Film Festival Audience Award Won
Goya Awards Best Spanish Film Won
Gramado Film Festival Best Latin Film Won
Ondas Awards Best Director Won
Turia Awards Best Foreign Film Won
1996 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay La ley de la frontera Nominated
Best Director Nominated
1997 Havana Film Festival Audience Award Martin (Hache) Nominated
Grand Coral - First Prize Won
Best Director Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Seashell Nominated
1998 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Director Won
Best Screenplay Nominated
Butaca Awards Best Art House Film Nominated
Fribourg International Film Festival Award of the Pestalozzi Foundation Won
Goya Awards Best Director Nominated
Oslo Films from the South Festival Audience Award Won
Valdivia International Film Festival Audience Award Won
2002 Huelva Latin American Film Festival Prize of the City of Huelva Won
Havana Film Festival Vigia Award Common Ground Won
OCIC Award Won
Glauber Rocha Award Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Seashell Nominated
Best Screenplay Won
2003 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Cinema Writers Circle Awards Best Screenplay Nominated
Fribourg International Film Festival Grand Prix Award Nominated
Audience Award Won
Goya Awards Best Screenplay Won
Gramado Film Festival Best Film Nominated
2004 Cartagena Film Festival Best Film Nominated
Havana Film Festival Best Screenplay Roma Won
Audience Award Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival Golden Seashell Nominated
2005 Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards Best Director Won
Best Screenplay Nominated
Goya Awards Best Director Nominated
Best Screenplay Nominated
Toulouse Cinespaña Best Screenplay Won
Violette d"or Won

References

  1. Koehler, Robert (2006-12-14). "Filmmakers examine maternal heroines". Variety. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  2. Raznovich, Diana (2002). Defiant Acts. Bucknell University Press. p. 38.
  3. "The Stranger (1987)". imdb.com. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  4. LaSalle, Mick (1995-07-21). "FILM REVIEW -- A Lovely `Place' in a Boy's Heart". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-01-31.

External links