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Puan

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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

Directors
Cast

Marcelo Subiotto, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Julieta Zylberberg, Alejandra Flechner, Andrea Frigerio, Mara Bestelli

Credits
Country of Origin

Argentina/Italy/France/
Germany/Brazil

Year

2023

Series

Panorama

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
107 min
Comedy Drama Women Directors

Book Tickets

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Credits

Producer

Bárbara Francisco Mendivil, Barbara Sarasola Day, Federico Eibuszyc

Screenwriter

María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat

Cinematography

Hélène Louvart

Editor

Livia Serpa

Directors

Maria Alché headshot

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 headshot

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)

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