The Opening Ceremony of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival was held

The 39th edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival was officially inaugurated last night with a ceremony held at the city's Teatro Auditorium. The event was attended by representatives of authorities such as the Secretary of Culture, Leo Cifelli, the President of INCAA, Carlos Pirovano, and the Mayor of Mar del Plata, Guillermo Montenegro.

During the opening ceremony, the history of the festival was evoked through the screening of a short film that highlighted the first years of the event. Along these lines, this edition’s tribute sections were also announced, such as the one dedicated to Argentine films that are celebrating their 50th anniversary: ​​La Patagonia rebelde by Héctor Olivera, La tregua by Sergio Renán and Boquitas pintadas by Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, on the centenary of the director’s birth.

The artistic directors of the festival, Gabriel Lerman and Jorge Stamadianos, welcomed the audience and discussed the program’s highlights. "We are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the festival in style with a top-level international competition" said Stamadianos. For his part, Lerman underlined the variety and quality of the films present in this edition: "We have a real variety of films with a great presence of Argentine cinema".

The ceremony was attended by special guests such as Paz Vega, who will present her first film as a director Rita; Jason Reitman, who will arrive with Saturday Night; and Roy Assaf, who will introduce Cabaret Total.

In addition, during the festival there will be tributes to prominent figures of national cinema, such as Manuel Antín and Jorge Rivera López, who recently passed away. Also mentioned were the Silver Astor awards that will be given throughout the event: to Héctor Olivera, who will receive the award from Luis Scalella, president of the FIAPF, and to Pablo Helman, who will give a master class and present Wicked, his latest work as a special effects director. It was also noted that Ana María Picchio had already received this recognition at a special ceremony at the Gaumont cinema in Buenos Aires.

The evening concluded with the screening of a spot that presented the films in competition and was followed by the official first screening with the opening film, Emilia Pérez.