Año Perdido - Lost Year - A film made in Argentina

D

Delicia Producciones

New member
Hey Guys, sorry for this late post of the film´s poster.

My name is Federico Panizza and I directed this little movie with my friend Monica Arista.

posterlostyear.jpg


Little Synopsis of the film:

Two families are celebrating New Year´s dinner. Suddenly, a bad and impulsive action transforms a happy moment into an unfortunate episode.

Sorry for the mistakes in the subtitles!...

Hope you enjoy it,

F&M.-
 
Hey Federico,

Nice film dude, it´s been a long time. I really liked the atmospheres and the contrasts between the families!... Overall very good acting!...

A.-
 
I just saw the film - without reading your little synopsis- and I'm glad I didn't because I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. very well played out and effective plot.

great job Federico!
 
Whoa! So natural. I was transported into your world and taken out to dinner. I didn't feel like I was seeing actors, I was seeing people emoting.
The B&W and your photography looked great.
I like the message too. It has always seemed like a stupid thing to do, and you show why.

At first, I didn't understand that these were two different families, probably because I was busy reading subtitles. It could maybe use a little more time before the hit. Seemed a little fast, but other than that, I loved it.

Congrats on a solid entry! Your first?
 
This was really quite powerful.

It was a little slow going at first, but I loved the juxtaposition of these two families and the reveal that they are neighbors. The ending is haunting.

Very well done.
 
Wow, only 4 reviews. This is a little jewel.

I generally find it a distraction reading subtitles while trying to watch what's unfolding on the screen. In this case, it wasn't too bad and I was able to work my way through it.

I didn't read your synopsis before I watched this so I had no idea where it was going. A couple of times I felt lost but you pulled it all together at the end. Good job. You did a good job of giving me a glimpse into the two worlds and left me wanting more.

There were a few things that bothered me, the biggest being the use of rack focus. It became distracting as I didn't feel it was particularly motivated. You would have been better served in this case going with a deep focus.

The other thing was: (SPOILER)
.
.
.
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I would have liked to seen a longer beat between the gunshot and the man falling dead. Not too much but enough to drive home what happened


For me, this is the best foreign language movie I've seen in a DVX User Fest. A nice little gem. I hope you get a lot more views because you deserve it.
 
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Hey guys, thank you so much for the kind words. Honestly I didn´t have to much time to work on the "clean cut" and every observation is very valuable. They were real actors, but we wanted to do it like yeehaanow said, natural.

Answering also your question, yes. It is the first shortfilm I directed.

dvpixl, Chris and Blaine... thank you 2 for taking your time watching this little movie and writing something of it.

I already downloaded all the films and I´ll do a proper review of your threads very soon. All I can say now is good luck to everybody, and it´s really nice to be a part of this festival.

Thank you,

Fede.-
 
Fede,

I also watched this film and was impressed by it! As others have said it felt very real/natural. The setting, the acting, everything!

I had not read the synopsis before watching it so I was also slightly confused at times about the two different families but halfway through the film I had figured it out.

The only critique I would have has already been mentioned...a longer cut between the bullet being fired and it hitting the guy. Also, a little sound design of the bullet coming in and hitting (subtle) could help sell what happened.

But overall thought you did a great job! And the black and white looked fantastic (a hard thing to pull off!

Daniel
 
I too am surprised that there aren't more comments on this thread. Your actors were very natural and believable. I'm glad I didn't get a chance to read your synopsis because it allowed me to enjoy your storytelling without knowing what the outcome would be. You did a great job on this. Please let your cast know they did a great job as well.
 
acting was awesome... so much so that I felt like I was watching a family eat dinner... This film was slow though. Way slow it was hard to watch through for me. It also kinda seemed more like a public service announcement commercial than some kind of thematic message. Kinda like "only you can prevent forest fires" or something.

EDIT:
Oh and almost forgot why the HECK did you put it in black and white? I see absolutely no artistic benefit in terms of telling your story? B&W hides alot of mistakes/imperfections in the color and all together adds contrast, and sometimes makes people feel like their being more artsy... I hope that wasn't the reason you changed your film to B&W.

Sorry I crit harsh somtimes. It really was a good attempt. You nailed some of the technical stuff. Audio sounded pretty good to me. and obviously acting was spot on.
 
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I think a lot can be learned from this movie... the acting is superbly realistic and natural. You find yourself paying attention to the story more than anything else... I didn't once think about the cinematography or the sound, any of that stuff... I was just watching a movie.

I didn't think about plot or any catch, hook, etc... it doesn't matter... you're just with the characters, learning and discovering... I'm not looking for some inciting incident or purpose, I'm living in the moment. So when the ending does occur... that twist, it's all the more real to me and all the more meaningful. I also love that it's not some drawn out dramatic event... it's again, simple and real. I see and understand the message and it suits the story well.

Excellent job, one of my definite favorites from the fest. Thanks so much for sharing.
 
Respectfully disagree

Respectfully disagree

orchidsofwrath said:
acting was awesome... so much so that I felt like I was watching a family eat dinner... This film was slow though. Way slow it was hard to watch through for me. It also kinda seemed more like a public service announcement commercial than some kind of thematic message. Kinda like "only you can prevent forest fires" or something.

EDIT:
Oh and almost forgot why the HECK did you put it in black and white? I see absolutely no artistic benefit in terms of telling your story? B&W hides alot of mistakes/imperfections in the color and all together adds contrast, and sometimes makes people feel like their being more artsy... I hope that wasn't the reason you changed your film to B&W.

Sorry I crit harsh somtimes. It really was a good attempt. You nailed some of the technical stuff. Audio sounded pretty good to me. and obviously acting was spot on.
Click to expand...

I loved the pace of the piece. It felt like I was discovering the story instead of it being spoonfed to me. The choice of Black & White was aesthetically pleasing and added to the serious and sober tone of the film. I'm curious if you would have thought the public service announcement feeling would not have been there if the ending text wasn't there? I do respect your opinion but just thought I'd give a different take on those choices.
 
Really enjoyed this. Had a nice "Babel" quality to it.

Having spent 5 New Years in Mexico, this hit close to home, no pun intended. Between midnight and ten after, we lay on the floor, below the cinder block, and wait for the gun fire to stop, cops included.

Then, the next day my English students who work in the hospital tell me all about the 'what goes up, must come down' tragedies.

And the revelers never learn!


Very nice contrast of families. Well done!

Alex


www.alexwhitmer.wordpress.com
 
Great film! I loved the texture of the imagery and your composition of frames. The acting was excellent and communicated the story beats without a lot of dialog. The editing also really shined for me. I think the way the film was cut together was very polished and professional.

Nice job!
 
this film felt very natural to me. I really enjoyed it. The editing was great and the acting was spot on. It really drew me in and kept me there. good job.
 
This was an interesting little film. I really enjoyed the structure of it and I though the acting was remarkably realistic. My main problem was that at the end it felt more like a public service announcement than a film to me. I think that without the informational text at the end, and with the addition of a sound effect to drive home the bullet striking the guy, it would have been much more powerful.

Still a great little film - excellent work.
 
This certainly is one of the hidden gems of Lossfest!

I was highly impressed with a number of aspects of this film. It's certain that a caring, meticulous crew worked on this one, but it's also most evident that the film revolves around a very real and austere contrast between multiple nuclear families from various class standings with different sets of norms, beliefs, and focal points. At the same time, there is a correlation between each family that really drives home the idea that we all collect into groups in which an emphasis on functionality is absolutely crucial. They're all drawn to the celebration of the hope of good things to come in the future, and that's a very poignant statement to make. I feel as if I could go on and on about this one.

As far as the ending of the film, I felt that the build up to the final moments during the fireworks was dead on and really kept the viewer wondering what was going to happen. The statistic at the end is both heart breaking and eye opening.

The film is very simple, direct, subtle, but full of detail and social awareness. Certainly my kind of film! Excellent work! :thumbsup:
 
I regards to those who felt the black and white was too capricious:

I personally felt that it gave the film even more of a voyeuristic, documentary feel in which we learn a fact about a culture's New Year celebration much like an aged text book or news print. Yes, those both incorporate color now, but from the image that was captured, I see no reason why the color would have needed to be "masked" as someone else mentioned previously.

I actually LOVED the look in black and white, in particular on shots like the girl waiting for her aunt and uncle's arrival on the stairs. Great composition, great exposure, and I thought the black and white, in this situation, helped to establish a severity of tone.
 
one of my favorites for sure. terrific acting, great story, and very well shot. the juxtaposition of the two families added a feeling of suspense. you could just tell that something was going to happen. excellent work here!
 
Wow, very solid film. I hope more people watch it and comment, because you deserve that.

All the actors are brilliant. Maybe they seem better because this film is in a foreign language for me, but I thought they were all brilliant.

I was confused on first viewing and for a while thought there was only one family. Watching it a second time the difference seemed very clear. However, since you have those title cards, maybe a good idea would be to break The Family (La Familia) segment into two parts, each with title cards reading The *Insert Name Here* Family. Does that make sense?

It should read: In Argentina, at least one person dies each year (Right now it says "ear")

I really loved this film. Great job.
 
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