Supernova
Supernova
MEMORY OF ARGENTINIAN DOCUMENTARY FILM: TIRE DIÉ AND LOS TOTOS
In 2025, as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fernando Birri’s birth and the 70th anniversary of Marcelo Céspedes, two historical figures in Argentine and Latin American cinema, their films Tire dié and Los Totos remain more relevant than ever in a world that once again tries to convince us that everything is fine through statistics performing acrobatics to present reality.
Tire dié (Fernando Birri, 1960) begins with a voiceover presenting statistics, figures, and accounts describing the city of Santa Fe in 1959, explaining why everything is fine, why the city is growing, and why the progress achieved should be a source of satisfaction and pride. With elegance and without ever losing its ironic tone, Birri’s camera glides aerially from the city centre to its outskirts, progressively transforming these figures into a surreal juxtaposition. From a port with 3,200 metres of stone dock, granaries, and warehouses for 250,000 tonnes of grain to 32,800,000 glasses of beer consumed annually – this is the setting of Tire dié: the edges of the city, where these figures completely evade reality or, as the narrator points out, remain uncertain. In this space, no number can convince anyone that life is good or even dignified. Having trained in Italy and experienced neorealism firsthand, Birri understood better than anyone that no number or explanation could be more powerful than what he and his peers – this was originally a collective project – were documenting. Thus emerged one of the most influential films in the history of Argentine documentary cinema.
Decades later, in 1984, the same strategy of flooding the population with misleading statistics was used to uphold Argentina’s collapsing dictatorship. When the numbers failed – leading even to an absurd war as a desperate last attempt to maintain power – Los Totos (Marcelo Céspedes, 1984), the director’s debut film and a landmark of Argentine documentary cinema, was released. Los Totos seems to acknowledge its connection to Tire dié, suggesting that 20 years later, using the same documentary approach but in a different city and within the same country, the reality remained unchanged.
Programme and text Maui Alena
Place and date: Sunday 23/2, 18:00, Filmoteca de Catalunya.
Talk by argentinian filmmaker Martín Solá.
Production and transfer of “Tire Dié” exhibition rights, Instituto de Cinematografía de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral (AR).
TIRE DIÉ
Director: Fernando Birri Country and year: Argentina, 1960 Duration: 33′ Language: VO Spanish. Place: Filmoteca de Catalunya Date: Sunday 23/2, 18:00.
Filmed between 1956 and 1958, Tire dié narrates the humble lives of many residents of Santa Fe, including children who chase after train passengers, asking for ten cents – a request that gives the film its title. Shot collectively with students from the foundational Santa Fe Documentary School, this historic documentary exposes the inequalities of mid-20th-century Argentine society, marking Fernando Birri’s debut as one of the fathers of New Latin American Cinema.
LOS TOTOS
Director: Marcelo Céspedes Country and year: Argentina, 1983 Duration: 28′ Language: VO Spanish. Place: Filmoteca de Catalunya Date: Sunday 23/2, 18:00.
Los Totos documents life in the slums of San Fernando, north of Greater Buenos Aires, giving visibility to its inhabitants, who are overlooked by society and government. As a testament to the country’s social crisis, the documentary offers its subjects the opportunity to express their needs. Influenced by Fernando Birri’s social cinema and Jean Rouch’s direct cinema, Céspedes immerses himself in the community, capturing their daily lives and struggles. His approach involves a clear political and cultural stance, fostering dialogue with the residents from a perspective closer than mere interviews. The film also incorporates statements from social workers and the slum’s teacher, providing sociological and educational insights into the community’s characteristics and living conditions. (Marcela Barbaro)
