BAFICI: Buenos Aires 12th International Independent Film Festival starts April 7th

You can see the site in English. (This and all photos are directly from the BAFICI website)

A lineup of the films can be viewed at the BAFICI website (that link will take you to the English Language version).

Make things easy on yourself by planning for venues that are
close together.

If you think you can waltz up to the ticket counter on any given day to see a film, you will probably be very disappointed. Buenos Aires has a huge population of cinema lovers. The ten peso tickets (eight for students) are in demand and these showings fill up quickly. In its twelfth year, the festival has an enormous following.

If you plan to go, do yourself a favor and buy in advance. You can pick up a schedule and buy in person at Casa de la Cultura (Av. de Mayo 575 Downtown, it will be closed April 2-4) and at Hoyts Abasto (Av. Corrientes 3247), and they’re on sale now. That, or you can buy them online with a credit card. The day of, it’s still often possible to buy tickets if you get there when the venue opens.

Once you select a movie, you can see more about it by clicking
the link.

Showings are all over the city. Some showings are minutes apart in time, but kilometers apart in distance. If you’re planning on seeing movies back to back, make sure you will be close enough to make it to the next screening location.

While the paper copy of the schedule lists locations and times by title (along with plot summaries in Spanish), the website may make planning two weeks of movie heaven a little easier, especially for an English speaker. Get a paper copy of the schedule anyway – they’re all over the place and can help you with last minute planning.

The movie page has a summary and links to the director’s page.

Just for fun, here’s an example of films being shown on just the 8th of April at Abasto. If you clicked that link, and you’re planning on hitting the festival, perhaps you’re overwhelmed.

On the director’s page, you can see alternate times for
the movie they have in the festival.

Roll over the titles for a little more info, and if you click them, you get a full plot summary in English along with other choices playing at the same time with clickable links to the directors’ bios. Not too shabby, eh? And if you click the director’s bio, you’ll see all other showtimes for that movie in case you need to plan it for a different time.

Many films are subtitled in English first and the Spanish subtitles are superimposed above with a magical green laser, so even if your Spanish needs some help, you are likely to understand the majority of films.

Community Connection

Need more info on Buenos Aires? Matador’s got you covered. From slices of life in this enormous city to where to eat, party and what to listen to, MatadorNetwork’s Focus Page on Buenos Aires centralizes many articles in one place.

Looking for more information on film festivals? Check out 10 Great Film Festivals and One Stinkarooni.

Got some tips or recommendations for BAFICI? We’d love to hear from you in the comment field below.