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The bold economic changes introduced by Argentina’s far-right leader Javier Milei aren’t the only reason the Latin American country’s film industry is struggling, according to veteran producer Axel Kuschevatzky.
Kuschevatzky, best known for producing internationally successful Argentine projects like Argentina, 1985 and The Secret in Their Eyes, caught up with us at Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid, where Argentina’s industry has been a hot-button topic.
Traditionally known as one of Latin America’s most mature and prosperous film industries, Argentina’s film sector has been in freefall since March when the government of Milei, the country’s far-right leader, pushed through highly controversial plans to defund all state funding to the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), the country’s national film body. Ventana Sur, the country’s popular audiovisual market, has now relocated to Uruguay. At the same time, Argentina’s economy, the second largest in South America, has been in a semi-permanent state of crisis since 2018. The country’s economic woes deepened over the past year, with inflation at a record high and more than 40% of Argentinians now living in poverty.
“It’s been a perfect storm for the film and TV industries,” Kuschevatzky said this morning in Madrid. “You have a deep economic crisis. The local currency is at its lowest ever. At the same time, the film industry was relying heavily on subsidies. There are no national tax or cash rebates. There is also no kind of private investment. Therefore, how can you make films without any kind of financing?”
Kuschevatzky, however, cautioned against viewing Argentina’s struggles in isolation without the context of decades of systematic neglect.
“The Argentinian production system has had a lot of weak spots for years that nobody fixed and that is being reflected now. It’s not just about politics,” he said. “It would be a lazy approach to just blame the current government for everything that isn’t working. But I do think the government needs to revise how they’re approaching the issues that the industry faces today.”
Kuschevatzky, whose Infinity Hill productions is based in the UK, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires, said he has been able to build a career producing Argentinian films by working on projects that “can travel and don’t need local soft money to exist.”
“But out of 150 movies every year, we are making the 2 or 3 that can be done without any kind of soft money. I’m an exception to the rule,” he said.
“I’m a firm believer in the value of cash or tax incentives. But I don’t think that’s the only way. You also need to create a new generation of filmmakers and that’s where public funding has a lot of value. Argentina also has a lot of underrepresented minorities, including female directors, who find it very hard to get private money to make a first feature. Those are the places where government support makes a huge difference.”
Kuschevatzky urged local producers to “think globally and locally” with the projects they pick up, meaning projects that are “relevant for your own town, but at the same time, could connect with worldwide audiences.”
“One thing that we producers usually do is bring clarity to projects and that often means finding directors that are willing to tell stories for a wider audience,” he said. “Argentina, 1985 is a good example of that. It’s very reachable for audiences around the world and that was done intentionally. It wasn’t accidental.”
Kill The Jockey, the latest flick from Kuschevatzky’s Infinity Hill, was recently picked as Argentina’s submission for the Best International Feature race at this year’s Academy Awards. Kuschevatzky said the company is also about begin production in London on a new feature and is about to wrap a film in Scotland directed by Brian Cox.
“Brian Cox is directing. That’s our film. We didn’t properly announce it but we’re involved,” Kuschevatzky said of the project.
We reported on the project at the Edinburgh Film Festival back in August where Cox gave a keynote session and described the film as a “love letter to Scotland.”
Kuschevatzky added: “At the same time, we’re about to release Kill The Jockey, Argentina’s Oscar pick, and The Freshly Cut Grass, the movie we did with Martin Scorsese. We’re always looking for projects that we’d buy a ticket to ourselves.”
Iberseries & Platino Industria runs until October 4.
