Ricardo Wullicher (born 21 May 1948) is a film director from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He is best known for his 1976 thriller ''La casa de las sombras (House of shadows)''. Wullicher was born in

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 ...

. His 1972 movie ''Quebracho'' tells the story of "La Forestal," an English company extracting

Quebracho tree Quebracho is a common name in Spanish to describe very hard (density 0.9–1.3) wood tree species. The etymology of the name derived from ''quiebrahacha'', or ''quebrar hacha'', meaning "axe-breaker". Species There are at least three similar c ...

s between 1900 and 1963 in the northern province of Santa Fe. The wood and its main product,

tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'' ...

, were highly coveted between 1918 and 1945 and became a focal point of political and social struggles connected with the evolution of trade unionism, as well as the emergence of the Radical Civic Union and Peronism. It is considered an iconic film of its period, if now somewhat dated. His 1978 documentary ''Borges para millones'', about the writer

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

, includes an interview with Borges and staged reenactments of some of his works. After the return to civilian rule in 1983, the government of

Raúl Alfonsín Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...

abolished censorship, placing Wullicher and

Manuel Antín Manuel Antín (born February 27, 1926) is an Argentine film director and screenwriter. Manuel Antín was born in Las Palmas, Chaco Province, in 1926. He first wrote for Argentine television in 1956 and made his directorial debut in 1962 with hi ...

in charge of the National Film Institute. The period that followed saw a renaissance in the Argentine film industry. Wullicher's 1995 film ''La nave de los locos (The ship of fools)'' is set in a small town in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

, where a

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

Indian chief sets fire to a tourist complex that is under construction, and refuses to defend himself. The story contrasts his approach of waiting for help to arrive from the ship of fools, a traditional source of strength that caused him to start the fire, and that of his appointed defense lawyer, a white woman who argues that he acting in self-defense since the commercial structures were being built on the sacred burial grounds of his ancestors. His book ''Magic Bay'' (Spanish title: ''Bahía mágica'') was the subject of the animated adventure film of the same name released in December 2002.Cine Nacional: Ricardo Wullicher
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Filmography

Wullicher directed the following films: *1972 '' Quebracho'' *1976 '' La casa de las sombras'' (''House of Shadows'') (Thriller) *1977 ''Saverio, el cruel'' *1978 ''Borges para millones'' (documentary) *1981 ''De la misteriosa Buenos Aires'' (segment "Pulsera de los cascabeles, La") *1983 ''Mercedes Sosa: como un pájaro libre'' (documentary) *1995 ''La nave de los locos (The ship of fools)'' *2010 ''Para todos los hombres y mujeres de buena voluntad'' (short)

References

1948 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Argentine people of German descent Argentine film directors {{Argentina-film-director-stub