Edition dedicated to the memory of Manuel Antin (1926–2024)

Last year, during the festival, the director, screenwriter, producer, novelist, poet, and playwright received the Doctor Honoris Causa degree from UBA. “I am deeply grateful for this honor, which fills me with pride, though I accept it thinking I only partially deserve it—particularly for the films I never got to make, of which there were many”, said Antin when he received the highest distinction granted by the University of Buenos Aires.

It was the last recognition bestowed upon him during his lifetime—a man who was not only pivotal to the history of Argentine filmmaking but also to the history of our democracy, to which he was fully committed as the first president of the then-National Film Institute. His leadership at the Institute left a lasting impact on future artistic production: one of his first actions as head of what is now INCAA was to abolish censorship by intervening and dissolving the Ente de Calificación Cinematográfica, a body previously led by the notorious dictatorship figure, Paulino Tato.

Manuel Antin, who brought Cortázar's work to the screen in La cifra impar (1962), Circe (1964), and Intimidad de los parques (1965), humbly remarked that he filmed “what he would have liked to write.” In doing so, he penned one of the most important chapters in the history of free cinema as we know it. His courage and passion inspired young filmmakers of the time to tell the truth, reconstruct national memory, and ultimately led Argentina to its first Oscar. By lifting the veil on what official history concealed, Antin helped pave the way for new beginnings.

A mentor to filmmakers until the end of his days, Manuel Antin remains a symbol of Argentine cinema and, above all, of free cinema. The 2024 edition of FIC.UBA returns to pay tribute to him, celebrating the joy of having honored him in life, and standing firm in the belief that the Argentine cinema we defend today is—and would not have been—possible without him.