Grand premiere of Cine Bonsai, an animated marathon of Argentine short films!

The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), through its Animation! Department, presents the first edition of Cine Bonsai, an animated marathon of Argentine short films. The event will take place on Monday, April 3, at the Leonardo Favio Hall of the Gaumont Cinema, with free admission.

The day, which is organized in three blocks, will open at 6:30 p.m. with the Argentine premiere of La calesita, by Augusto Schillaci, winner of the Canal + Prize awarded by the junior jury at the Annecy International Film Festival (France). The screening will be accompanied by live music of the original soundtrack, performed by the pianist composer of the short film along with an instrumental orchestra. Afterwards, viewers will be able to talk with the director and screenwriter.

The second block, which will begin at 7:45 p.m., will feature a special selection of four productions and a talk with their directors, moderated by Pablo Conde, artistic director of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.

The program includes El árbol ya fue plantado, by Irene Blei, winner of the INCAA Regional National Short Film Competition INCAA in 2018; El after del mundo, by Florentina González, award-winning short film at the Tricky Women festival in Austria that highlights the work of women in animation; Las peripecias de Sir Percival, by Mariano Bergara, Javier Mrad and Becho Lo Bianco, recently nominated for Best Visual Development of Animated Work at the Quirino Awards and winner of Best Argentine Animation at the ANIMA Festival in Córdoba; and the co-production between Argentina and Spain LOOP, by Pablo Polledri, the first Argentine director to win the Goya Award in the Best Short Film category.

The third block and closing of the event will be at 9.30 p.m. with the screening of Pasajero, a short film by Juan Pablo Zaramella, known for his multi-award winning work Luminaris. Afterwards, the public will be able to talk with the director and his team about the creation process of this short film made in an unprecedented way, using small pieces of paper through the stop motion technique. Pasajero was screened at the closing ceremony of the prestigious International Animation Festival in Annecy, France, and was the only animated short film from Latin America to be shortlisted for this year’s Oscars.

The assistant manager of Animation, Silvina Cornillón, stressed the importance of the event: “The exhibition of this type of material allows the public to see award-winning content at various festivals and international events, which are not usually shown in movie theaters. In addition to the award-winning works, part of Cine Bonsai’s curatorship are animated short films that were winners in the National Animation Competitions organized by the INCAA”.
Tickets can be picked up at the box office of the Gaumont Cinema on the same day of the event starting at 5:30 p.m. and will be valid for any of the three blocks of the program.