Indie cult director Raúl Perrone to be honored at BAFICI 2026

Like a sort of godfather of Argentine independent filmmaking, Raúl Perrone is considered a pioneer of the New Argentine Cinema that emerged in the 1990s. Always set in the Buenos Aires suburb Ituzaingó, his guerrilla-style productions put emphasis on using a single camera, direct sound, first takes, the smallest crew possible, a few days of shooting, black and white cinematography, and a motto that ends his celebrated Decalogue: “Always finish the movie, no matter what.” When Perrone began filming, in 1989, he was already recognized as a talented caricaturist for newspapers and magazines. As a fan and advocate of the video format that was much more accessible than celluloid, he soon became a cult hero, making movies at an astounding pace — an average of three per year.  Ten years later, when the city of Buenos Aires organized the first edition of the Buenos Aires independent film festival BAFICI, Perrone was invited to premiere his film Zapada. Since then, his films have been programmed in almost every edition, and this year he will receive a special prize for his career. The 74-year-old artist will also present his latest effort, Cin3fili4, along with P3rron3 íntimo, a book that unifies his passion for cinema with his talent as a caricaturist. While proud of his lifetime achievement award, he admitted to the Herald that he told BAFICI director Javier Porta Fouz that he needed a week to decide whether to accept it. Still, he emphasized being one of the directors who have attended the festival the most times. “I must have missed only two or three festivals,” he said.  Regarding the premiere of Cinefilia, Perrone describes his latest work as “a film about three young guys who are huge cinema fans.” And adds, “Love comes into play, because love always appears in my films.” Perrone will also be in every screening of Bafici: a short fragment of a long interview with him will play before every film. Such use of interviews with established directors has become a tradition of the festival, which in previous years has featured filmmakers such as Edgardo Cozarinsky and Manuel Antín.  About the book, he confides that it includes “many phrases that reflect my way of thinking about cinema, plus a long interview with movie critic Roger Koza.” Difficult to pigeonhole Diversity in styles and themes have always been a distinctive trait of Perrone’s filmography. His dozens of films have included trilogies, like the twentysomething angst of Labios de churrasco, Graciadió, and 5 p’al peso, the tender portrait of his in-laws in Late corazón, La Mecha, and La Navidad de Ofelia y Galván; the suburban feel of Luján, Los actos cotidianos, and Al final la vida sigue igual, plus the skateboard & hip-hop characters of Bonus track and P3nd3jo5. He usually prefers non-professional actors and in earlier works favored casts with popular Argentine rock stars like Andrés Calamaro (Esquina Corrientes), Adrián Dárgelos (No seas cruel and Graciadió), Iván Noble (the Graciadió trilogy), and Adrián Otero (the unreleased No seas cruel miniseries).  When he did include famous TV and film stars — like Fabián Vena, Mariana Arias, Gabriel Goity, Jean-Pierre Noher, Gastón Pauls, Roly Serrano, and even director Cozarinsky and folk protest singer Piero — he casted them in almost unrecognizable roles. His more experimental works include subtle tributes to Pasolini, Favio and Jarmusch; references to Italian master Caravaggio and even Impressionist painters; miniature cardboard sets; Dreyer’s landmark Joan of Arc (1571-1610); and the use of primitive cameras. During the Covid lockdown, he refused to stay inactive. He made 4lgunxs pibxs using outtakes and shot 4tro v3int3 remotely, giving indications to his crew through videocalls and Whatsapp. Truly unstoppable. And though he hates travelling and never attended a film festival abroad, his films have reached many of them, winning prizes at Cuenca, Fribourg, and Viennale, plus a tribute at Oxford University in 2024. More plans for 2026 As usual, Perrone is already editing a new film and shooting another one. He will begin a new stint of his 26-year-long free workshop at the municipality of his beloved hometown of Ituzaingó, where he also directs the Ituzaingó International Film Festival. More than 300 students have enrolled in his workshop. “I find it quite crazy that younger and younger people keep coming,” he said. This year, Perrone is planning a retrospective with his producer Pablo Ratto and distributor Manuel García. But with a twist: “They wanted to do a standard retrospective, but I sorted through all my hard drives and discovered that I have 13 unreleased films, so I proposed doing a Perrone Inéditos (Unpublished Perrone).”  While some of them were screened at festivals abroad, the series will feature more than a dozen films that have never been shown in Argentina before.  Perrone’s films can be found at platforms MUBI and ok.ru