☆ N e w R e l e a s e – N o w A v a i l a b l e ☆

Camera Obscura La Camara Oscura

A Film by Maria Victoria Menis

Argentina ⎜ 2008 ⎜ 86 minutes Spanish & Yiddish with English subtitles Feature Film 35mm; Beta NTSC; DVD

AWARDS

• NOMINATED FOR 8 ARGENTINEAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS: Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, New Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Music

• GRAND PRIZE, Pays de Caux International Latin Film Festival 2009

• BEST FILM, International Jewish Film Festival of Uruguay 2009

• HONORABLE MENTION, Leipzig Argentine Film Festival 2009

DISTRIBUTION - PUBLIC PERFORMANCE SCREENINGS & DVD SALES:

The National Center for Jewish Film Lown 102, MS 053, Brandeis University Waltham, MA 02454 jewishfilm@brandeis.edu (781) 736-8600 WWW.JEWISHFILM.ORG  

 

 

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CAMERA OBSCURA / La Camara Oscura A Film By Maria Victoria Menis Argentina ⎜ 2008 ⎜ 86 minutes Spanish & Yiddish with English subtitles Available Formats – 35mm; Beta NTSC; DVD www.lacamaraoscura

Festival Screenings Grand Rapids Jewish Film Festival 2010 Harrisburg Jewish Film Festival May 2010 JCC Rockland Jewish Film Festival 2010 Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival 2010 Pittsburgh Jewish Israeli Film Festival 2010 Mandell JCC Hartford Jewish Film Festival 2010 New Jersey Jewish Film Festival 2010 Pittsburgh Jewish Israeli Film Festival 2010 Jacob Burns Film Center 2010) Northwest Film Center, Portland OR 2010 Jewish Film Festival of Metro Detroit 2010 NCJF Jewish Film Festival 2010 Sacramento Jewish Film Festival 2010 Denver Jewish Film Festival 2010 San Diego Jewish Film Festival 2010 Contra Costa Jewish Film Festival 2010 McNay Art Museum, San Antonio 2010 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival 2010 Miami Jewish Film Festival 2010 Skirball Cultural Center 2009 Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival 2009 Washington Jewish Film Festival 2009 Beth Tzedec Jewish Film Festival 2009 Vancouver Jewish Film Festival 2009 Boston Jewish Film Festival 2009 Kansas City Latin America Cinema Festival 2009

San Diego Jewish Film Festival 2009 Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival 2009 Lincoln Center LatinBeat 2009 Boston Jewish Film Festival 2009 San Diego Jewish Film Festival Kansas City Latin American Cinema Festival Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival Jerusalem International Film Festival 2009 Toronto Jewish Film Festival 2009--Opening Night Leipzig Argentine Film Festival (Germany) 2009 Pays de Caux International Latin Film Festival (Normandy, France) 2009 River Film Festival (Prague, Czechoslovakia) 2009 Oaxaca Latin American Film Festival (Mexico) 2009 International Jewish Film Festival of Uruguay 2009 Filmmor International Women's Film Festival on Wheels (Istanbul) 2009 Chicago Latino Film Festival 2009 Arab-LatinAmerican Women Film Festival Cairo (Entre Cineastas) 2009 Caracas International Jewish FF (Venezuela) 2009 Barcelona Intentional Womenʼs FF (Spain) 2009 Lleida Latin-American Film Festival (Spain) 2009 Viña del Mar International Film Festival (Chile) 2008 International Film Festival of India 2008

Short Synopsis At the end of the 19th century, Gertrudis, a shy, introspective "ugly duckling” in a colony of immigrant Argentinean Jews, grows into her role as a mother and wife of a charismatic Yidishe Gaucho—until she meets a nomadic photographer whose uncompromising vision allows her to see herself for the first time. This lyrical, inventive feature film from award-winning Argentinean director María Victoria Menis weaves together live action, animation and still photography in a unique tribute to the power of art and imagination Film Festival Favorite & Nominee for Eight Argentinean Film Critics Awards.

Synopsis At the end of the 19th century, a baby girl is born only feet from the new world as a ship of immigrants docks in Buenos Aires harbor. Shy and self-conscious, Gertrudis grows up and into her role as the ugly duckling in a colony of Argentinean Jews. She fashions herself almost invisible, even hiding her face in photographs. After she is married off to an older, wealthy Jewish rancher, Gertrudis meets expectations and raises a family. The

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years pass and she finds solace in the beauty of everyday life, turning the tasks of setting the table or preparing a meal into aesthetic pursuits. One day her husband invites a gentle, nomadic French photographer to take a family portrait. His wondrous Surrealist photographs and uncompromising vision, allow Gertrudis to see herself for the first time. A lyrical, inventive new feature film from award-winning Argentine director Maria Victoria Menis, CAMERA OBSCURA employs a number of visual innovations, including original Surrealist-inspired photographs and black-and-white films, archival World War I photographs, and illustrated color animation. The film-within-a-film sequences—fantasies drawn from the charactersʼ imaginations—were written by Maria Victoria Menis and Alejandro Fernández Murriay and designed and created by renowned Argentine artist-illustrator Rocambole (Ricardo Cohen). Beautifully shot on location, this luminous, remarkable film captures the rich landscape of Buenos Aires Province, and its fertile forests, fields, lagoons and rivers. “Nietzsche found ugliness interesting and Kierkegaard was convinced that the ugliness enabled us to remember reality. The territory of ugliness is a place known only to those who live in it. With my camera I would like to open the frontier of that world, immerse myself in it, and discover its overwhelming beauty.” - Maria Victoria Menis

Cast GERTRUDIS………………………….Mirta Bogdasarian JEAN BAPTISTE…………………….. Patrick DellʼIsola LEON…………………………………. Fernando Armani EVA...................................................Silvina Bosco NATHAN …………………………….. Carlos Defeo DAVID………………………………… Joaquin Berthold SAMUEL…………………………..…. Jeronimo Freixas ESTHER……………………………... Brenda Howlin ANA…………………………………… Elisa Carricajo BENJAMIN ………………………….. Ezequiel Cirko

Credits DIRECTOR María Victoria Menis SCREENPLAY María Victoria Menis & Alejandro Fernández Murray ORIGINAL STORY Angélica Gorodischer PRODUCER Héctor Menis CO-PRODUCERS Sophie Dulac / Michel Zana EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Héctor Menis / Pepe Salvia PRODUCTION DESIGN Pepe Salvia POST PRODUCTION IN FRANCE Jean Christophe Gigot CINEMATOGRAPHER Marcelo Iaccarino ART DIRECTOR Marcela Bazzano COSTUMES Monica Toschi EDITION Alejandro Brodershon SOUND DIRECTOR Martin Grignaschi MUSIC Marcelo Moguilevsky MAKE-UP Marisa Amenta / Alfredo Gonzalez HAIR Nestor Pumar ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Natalia Hernández ANIMATION Rocambole DIGITAL EFFECTS Nacho Gorfinkiel PRESS Lola Silberman

 

 

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Director: Maria Victoria Menis Argentinean director and scriptwriter Maria Victoria Menis was born in Buenos Aires and graduated from Argentina’s National Institute of Cinematography (ENERC). Her first films were the shorts Vecinas (1984) and A qué hora (1985), which won two George Melies awards from the French Embassy in Argentina. Menis’s first feature film, The Patriotic Spirits (1989), won a number of awards including the Best First Feature Award from the Argentinean Film Critics Association, and Best First Feature from the Santa Fe Festival and the Bariloche Festival. She has written and directed numerous plays and television programs. In 2004 Menis wrote and directed El Cielito, a touching story about the love between a child and his guardian. The feature film screened in over 60 international film festivals and garnered numerous prizes, including the FIPPRESCI prize at the Havana Film Festival, the Canal-Arte, CICAE and Signis Future Talent awards at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and the Special Jury and Best Male Leading Actor awards at the Biarritz Film Festival. Menis currently teaches in the ENERC program at the University of Buenos Aires and at the Escuela de Cine de Avellaneda in Buenos Aires. She is at work on a new film project.