''Mala época'' (Bad Times) is a 1998

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

. The film was executive produced by Mario Santos.''Mala época''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

. This dramatic anthology of four episodes represents the collaborative effort of Mariano De Rosa, Rodrigo Moreno, Salvador Roselli, and Nicolás Saad. Each wrote and directed an episode. All are graduates of Argentina's primary film school, the Universidad del Cine, which helped fund the film. The film offers an unflattering look at Argentine society as it prepares to enter the 21st century.

Plot

The picture has four vignettes and all of them take place in the late 1990s in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

during political elections. The Wish: centers on a poor boy from the country who finds success in the fast city by participating in one of its many illegal operations. Life and Works: follows a band of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

an bricklayers as they try to reestablish a sense of cultural pride and community after meeting a woman whom one of them believes is the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. Hard Times: follows a teenage outcast and his efforts to find romance with an upper-class Buenos Aires girl. Comrades: the sound recorder of a political campaign finds himself falling for the candidate's girlfriend.

Cast

* Pablo Vega as Oscar *

Daniel Valenzuela Daniel Valenzuela (born May 5, 1956, in Misiones, Argentina), is a film and television actor. He has also done some screenplay writing. He works in the cinema of Argentina. Three of his most recent roles were in critically acclaimed films: '' ...

as Omar * Nicolás Leivas as Santiago *

Diego Peretti Diego Peretti (born 10 February 1963) is an Argentine actor, screenwriter and former psychiatrist. Peretti was born in Buenos Aires, and practiced as a psychiatrist for fourteen years. He took part in several movies and TV series, including the ...

as Antonio * Virginia Innocenti as Carmen * Carlos Roffé as Carlos Brochato * Florencia Bertotti as Connie * Alberto Almada as Jaime

Distribution

The film was first presented at the

Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival () is an List of film festivals, international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF ...

on November 13, 1998. It opened wide in the country on January 1, 1999. It also competed in the 1998 Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, and was nominated for the Prize of the City of Torino.

Awards

Wins *

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize, Best Latin-American Film, for its original conception that combines various aspects of contemporary life expressing the young filmmakers point of view; Special Mention; both for Mariano De Rosa, Rodrigo Moreno, Salvador Roselli, and Nicolás Saad; 1998. * Toulouse Latin America Film Festival: Audience Award; Nicolás Saad, Mariano De Rosa, Salvador Roselli, and Rodrigo Moreno; 1999. Nominations * Torino International Festival of Young Cinema,

Torino, Italy Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

: Prize of the City of Torino, Best Film - International Feature Film Competition, Nicolás Saad, Mariano De Rosa, Salvador Roselli, and Rodrigo Moreno; 1998. *

Argentine Film Critics Association Awards The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentine cinema. The aw ...

: Silver Condor, Best First Film, Mariano De Rosa, Rodrigo Moreno, Salvador Roselli and Nicolás Saad; Best Supporting Actor, Carlos Roffé; 2000.

References

External links

*
''Mala época''
at the

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, television programs, directors, actor ...

* ("Hard Times" segment of film) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mala Epoca 1998 films 1998 drama films Argentine independent films 1990s Spanish-language films Argentine drama films Spanish-language drama films Spanish-language independent films