Skip to main content
Magic Farm film image; woman petting a spotted horse

A Vice-like camera crew of crack(ed) US reporters arrive in San Cristóbal , Argentina, to break a cutting edge story about a viral musician with a penchant for wearing bunny ears… Only they’re in the wrong country, and with the travel budget already spent, they need to stick around and dig up another, equally juicy tale. The film’s big (but sly) joke is that they remain completely oblivious to the serious scoop right under their noses.

Chloe Sevigny headlines Amalia Ulman’s quirky culture clash comedy, a throwback of sorts to early Jim Jarmusch or Aki Kaurismaki. That is to say, it’s a slow burner about idiosyncratic oddballs kicking around on the margins (even if the Americans think they’re primed for bigger things). Ulman, who also plays the crew’s translator, and DP Carlos Rigo Belliver adopt a playful vibe, accentuating the fish-out-of-water feel, while the Argentine cast cheerfully steal every scene and every cent coming to them.

The second feature from the writer, director and actress Amalia Ulman (El Planeta) shows a knack for droll humor, a soft spot for pretenders and a penchant for play.

Natalia Winkelman, New York Times

A charming satire about the endless capacity for lying found in people who ostensibly devote their lives to telling the truth, Magic Farm is a deceptively leisurely film. It overflows with big ideas on topics ranging from exploitative media to the sexual politics of casual hookups to corporate farming and the health crises it creates.

Christian Zilko, IndieWire

A formally radical, biting satire about odious, privileged Americans adrift in a remote Argentine rural town.

Carlos Aguilar, Variety

Director

Amalia Ulman

Cast

Chloe Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Simon Rex, Amalia Ulman, Joe Apollonio, Camila del Campo

Credits
Country of Origin

Argentina/USA

Year

2025

Language

In English, Spanish, and French with English subtitles

19+
93 min

Book Tickets

Friday May 23

3:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Credits

Screenwriter

Amalia Ulman

Cinematography

Carlos Rigo

Editor

Arturo Sosa

Original Music

Nargis Sheerazie

Also Playing

The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & The Art of Survival

Dir. Julie Rubio
96 min

If Art Deco had a face, it was surely Tamara De Lempicka, giving us the side-eye at the wheel of a green Bugati in her famous self-portrait. Rubio's invaluable doc teases out the truths behind the myths, shedding light on De Lempicka's still underrated art.

Image: © 2024 TAMARA DE LEMPICKA ESTATE, LLC ADAGP, PARIS ARS, NY

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Magic Farm

Dir. Amalia Ulman
93 min

In Amalia Ulman's playful slow burner, a Vice-like camera crew wash up in a sleepy South American village and cook up a story that isn't there with the help of cynical locals eager to take the gringos for every cent.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Amiko

Dir. Yôko Yamanaka
66 min

Teenage rebel Amiko loves Radiohead but hates everything else about her boring and banal existence -- and her provincial high school above all. Then she meets a boy... The micro-budget debut of 19-year-old Desert of Namibia director Yôko Yamanaka.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Balloon

Dir. Pema Tseden
103 min

The young sons of virile Tibetan shepherd Dargye mistake their parents' condoms for balloons. Meanwhile Dargye is looking for a ram to impregnate his flock. Balloon is fascinated with ideas of potency, pregnancy, and the possibilities for female autonomy.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema