Canadian Premiere
Marcelo Pena is a distinguished professor of philosophy at a university in Buenos Aires. His mentor, the beloved head professor Caselli, has suddenly died, leaving a coveted vacancy. On paper, Marcelo seems like the perfect man to take up the job and carry on Caselli’s legacy. The trouble is that with every passing day Marcelo’s life is becoming messy, humiliating, and tiresome. To make matters worse, there is a new philosopher in town, one trained in Europe who is younger, better-looking, wealthier, and Marcelo’s new arch-nemesis. Puan presents a compelling story of a man equipped with the answers to life’s greatest moral, ethical, and existential quandaries, who is helpless in the face of political, bureaucratic, and social chaos. Co-directed by Maria Alché and Benjamin Naishtat (Rojo), the film wittily questions the pertinence of philosophy in the life of a modern man in the modern world. Like Plato after the death of Socrates, lead actor Marcelo Subiotto convincingly portrays a man who has lost his guiding light.
Supported by
Marcelo Subiotto, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, Alejandra Flechner, Andrea Frigerio, Mara Bestelli
Argentina/Italy/France/
Germany/Brazil
2023
Panorama
In Spanish with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Producer
Bárbara Francisco Mendivil, Barbara Sarasola Day, Federico Eibuszyc
Screenwriter
María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat
Cinematography
Hélène Louvart
Editor
Livia Serpa
Directors
Maria Alché
María Alché is an Argentine director, script writer and actress. She studied Filmmaking at ENERC, where she currently teaches directing actors, and studied Philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires. She directed the short films Noelia, Gulliver, Invierno 3025 and Quién se metió con Mayra?, presented at several international film festivals. She wrote and directed the feature film Familia Sumergida, which won Best Film in Horizontes Latinos at the San Sebastián Film Festival and several other international prizes.
Filmography: A Family Submerged (2018)
Benjamin Naishtat
Benjamín Naishtat studied film in Universidad del Cine, Buenos Aires. He furthermore took part in the Contemporary Arts program of Le Fresnoy, France, and was granted a Radcliffe/Film Studies Center Fellowship from Harvard University. He wrote and directed Rojo (2018) which was selected in Official Competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival, awarded with the Concha de plata for best direction, best cinematography and best actor for Darío Grandinetti. Benjamín wrote and directed El movimiento (2015), Best Argentine film at the Festival de Mar del Plata and the Jury Award-winner at the Valdivia Festival.
Filmography: Historia Del Miedo (2014); El Movimiento / The Movement (2015); Rojo (2018)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Kindergarten
In this charming Quebecois documentary, we are invited to look closely at the interactions of children between the ages of 1 and 5, a period in which they are just beginning to learn about social interactions. And yet how much they resemble ourselves!
How to Divorce During the War
Screenwriter Vytus is left reeling when on successive days his wife demands a divorce and Russia invades Ukraine. Blazevicius' masterful feature emerges as an engrossing satire about virtue signaling, nationalism, good intentions, and survival modes.
Chronovisor
A device so sensitive it can pick up emanations from history, the Chronovisor caused a ripple in scientific circles in the latter half of the 20th century, although most dismissed it as a hoax. But why would anyone want to suppress a hoax?
A Sad and Beautiful World
This Lebanese love story chronicles the romance between a level-headed businesswoman and a romantic restauranteur across several decades in wartorn Beirut. It's funny, charming, melancholy and you'll feel it all.
Tokyo Taxi
An overworked taxi driver takes 85-year-old Madame Sumire on a final journey through Tokyo, revisiting the places that shaped her life. Yoji Yamada’s 91st film is a moving, heartwarming love letter to Tokyo, nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards.