Archive of films Artist / El artista

Argentina / Uruguay / Italy
2008, 88 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2009

Everyone is an artist... A sober comedy about a nurse who finds an unexpected and lucrative source of subsistence and fame in his autistic patient.

Synopsis

Jorge Ramirez works as a nurse at a retirement home. His monotonous life takes an unexpected turn when he starts looking after an elderly autistic patient. What was it about the encounter that transformed him from nurse to major artist, bursting onto the modern art scene at breakneck speed? And what does it actually take for a person to be recognised as an "artist”, even if he is not a "good” one? Jorge becomes a revelation, a painter working with such self-assurance that it almost seems there was never anyone before him... At least that’s what the critics swooning over his work say. Jorge is drawn into the world of gallery owners, collectors, admirers and exhibition curators. He is seen on television, he makes considerable amounts of money and is showered with adoration. Along with his career, however, the carousel of causes, effects and paradoxes starts to gather speed...

About the director

Gastón Duprat (b. 1968, Bahía Blanca) and Mariano Cohn (b. 1975, Buenos Aires) have won a number of prestigious awards for experimental videos and short films such as the Konex Award and the Leonardo Award (1999). Select filmography: The Man Who Died Twice (El hombre que murió dos veces), Surgery in Diapers (Cirujía en pañales), Dog (Perro), Camus, Circuit (Circuito), and Do It Yourself (Hágalo usted mismo). Critically acclaimed television work: Open Television (Televisión abierta), Cupid (Cupido), Fat Liberosky (El Gordo Liberosky). From 2003 to 2005 they were the creators and directors of Ciudad Abierta (Open City), a public TV channel. Their work also includes the experimental documentary Encyclopedia (Enciclopedia, 2000), TV Service (2006) and the controversial I, President (Yo presidente, 2006), which included interviews with eight Argentine presidents. The Artist is their feature debut.

Contacts

Victoria Aizenstat
Salta 522, 3er piso, , Buenos Aires
Argentina
Tel: +54 11 438 116 00
E-mail: [email protected]

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat
Screenplay:	Andrés Duprat
Dir. of Photography:	Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat
Music:	Diego Bliffeld
Editor:	Santiago Ricco
Producer:	Victoria Aizenstat
Cast:	Sergio Pángaro, Alberto Laiseca
Contact:	Victoria Aizenstat