Constructions

A breathtakingly intimate portrait, this documentary –which could easily pass off as a fiction film– about construction workers in the city of La Calera, Córdoba, establishes a closeness with its characters from the very beginning through a brief but masterful device: a few minutes into the film, we get a first look at Juampi, the small son of Pedro, the protagonist. Juampi is playing soccer by himself, and is so concentrated on the game that he practically ignores his father, who has just arrived. At one point, the ball falls near the camera, Juampi asks the camera operator to pass him the ball and the camera operator does exactly that. It is the only moment in the film where there’s interaction between the camera and the protagonists, but the bond that forms between them is such that it becomes crucial for what we’ll be seeing next: a series of moments in the lives of these characters that Fernando Restelli captures by alternating well-composed fixed shots with other rawer, austere, hand-held ones. (Mar del Plata International Film Festival)