''Buenos Aires 100 km'' is a 2004 Argentine, French, and Spanish, film, written and directed by

Pablo José Meza Pablo José Meza is an Argentina, Argentine Cinema of Argentina, film film producer, producer, film director, director, and screenplay writer. Sometimes he is credited as Pablo Meza.

. The picture features Juan Ignacio Perez Roca, Emiliano Fernández, Alan Ardel, Hernan Wainstein, Juan Pablo Bazzini, among others. The film, partly funded by

INCAA The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts ( es, Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales, INCAA; also referred to as the Argentine National Film Board) is an agency of the Government of Argentina. It promotes the Argentine ...

, tells a coming-of-age story in a town 100 kilometers from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Plot

A group of five friends around thirteen years old begin to understand that life is not simply about riding bicycles, playing soccer games, or, if they can, enjoying the summer. Guido (Alan Ardel) works under his father's orders and is sometimes rewarded with a beating. Damián (Juan Pablo Bazzini) is an adopted child and, as such, suffers from an identity crisis that typically marks the teenage years. Matías (Hernan Wainstein) is left outside his own house every night by his hateful parents. Alejo (Emiliano Fernández) discovers that his mother has a lover and that women have desires and men have their failures. Esteban (Juan Ignacio Perez Roca) is the goal-keeper of the football team and, as such, has the central role among his friends. Esteban draws his generosity from his family. With their

hormone A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required ...

s kicking in due to reaching

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

, the boys become curious about women and begin to have sexual desires, yet they still have to deal with their parents and families. They begin to spend time outside a women's hairdressing salon. The five boys yearn to grow older faster and dream about a place outside of their small town.

Cast

* Juan Ignacio Perez Roca as Esteban * Emiliano Fernández as Alejo * Alan Ardel as Guido * Hernan Wainstein as Matías * Juan Pablo Bazzini as Damián * Sandra Ballesteros as Raquel * Rolly Serrano as Oscar *

Daniel Valenzuela Daniel Valenzuela (born May 5, 1956, in Misiones, Argentina), is a prolific film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina.Adriana Aizemberg as Doña Anita

Distribution

The film was first presented at the

Marrakech International Film Festival The Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) ( ar, المهرجان الدولي للفيلم بمراكش, Amazigh ⴰⵏⵎⵓⴳⴳⴰⵔ ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵖⵍⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵍⴼⵉⵍⵎ ⴳ ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ ) is an international film festi ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

on December 8, 2004. It opened wide in Argentina on February 10, 2005. The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Toulouse Latin America Film Festival, France; the

Cartagena Film Festival The Cartagena Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias), or FICCI, is a film festival held in Cartagena, Colombia, which focuses mainly on the promotion of Colombian television series, Latin American films and short ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

; the

Gramado Film Festival The Gramado Film Festival ( pt, Festival de Gramado) is an international film festival held annually in the Brazilian city of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, since 1973. In 1992, the festival began to award Latin American films produced outside of Br ...

, Spain; the Huelva Latin American Film Festival, Spain; the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

; and others.

Critical reception

Deborah Young, film critic for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine and reporting from the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in th ...

, gave the film a mixed review and wrote, "There's a feeling of autobiography in Pablo Jose Meza's first feature, ''Buenos Aires 100 km.''...Without the sardonic edge of similar tales like the Uruguayan '' 25 Watts'', pic also lacks the charm of a magic tale about growing up. What's on the screen is a notch franker than most TV fare, but not structured enough to win much play outside festivals...Aside from a few well-observed scenes and moments, there are a lot of warmed-over ideas and little compelling cinema." ''Sneersnipe Film Review'', in a column reported from the

in Spain wrote, "Unpretentious and refreshingly touching, Pablo José Meza's film, ''Buenos Aires 100 KM'', tells the ordinary story of a group of 5 Argentine teenagers as they approach and apprehend the adult world and its brutal vanities for the first time."

Awards

Wins * Huelva Latin American Film Festival, Spain: Best New Director, Pablo José Meza; Silver Colon, Best Screenplay, Pablo José Meza; Special Jury Award, Pablo José Meza; 2004. *

Lleida Latin-American Film Festival The Lleida Latin-American Film Festival ( ca, Mostra de Cinema Llatinoamericà de Lleida, or shortened to ca, Mostra de Lleida) is a cinema festival that takes place in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain awarding Latin American films. It is organised by the ...

: Best Film, Best Original Screenplay; Pablo José Meza; 2005. Nominations *

: Golden Star, Pablo José Meza; 2004. *

: Golden India Catalina; Best Film, Pablo José Meza; 2005. *

: Golden Kikito Latin Film Competition; Best Film, Pablo José Meza; 2005. *

Argentine Film Critics Association Awards The Argentine Film Critics Association ( es, Asociación de Cronistas Cinematográficos de la Argentina) is an organization of Argentine-based journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor ...

: Silver Condor; Best First Film, Pablo José Meza; 2006.

References

External links

* *
''Buenos Aires 100 km''
at the

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and World Wide Web, web-based database about Cinema of Argentina, Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, tel ...

''Buenos Aires 100 km''
film review at ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'' by Adolfo C. Martínez * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buenos Aires 100 km 2004 films 2000s coming-of-age drama films French coming-of-age drama films 2000s Spanish-language films Spanish coming-of-age drama films Argentine independent films French independent films Spanish independent films 2004 drama films 2004 independent films Argentine coming-of-age films 2000s French films 2000s Argentine films