As the Ventana Sur market kicks off its inaugural Río de la Plata edition in Uruguay on Monday (December 2), Screen has learned organisers plan t
As the Ventana Sur market kicks off its inaugural Río de la Plata edition in Uruguay on Monday (December 2), Screen has learned organisers plan to alternate Latin America’s leading audiovisual market between Montevideo and Buenos Aires through 2026.
Over the summer market organisers confirmed they were moving the event to Montevideo, Uruguay, for the first time since 2009 amid the ongoing financial crisis in Argentina.
The crisis has sparked gatherings by Argentinian filmmaker at festivals from Berlin to San Sebastian this year, to draw attention to what they have said is a threat to their cultural institutions and public support of the audiovisual industry under the administration of firebrand premier Javier Milei.
Cannes’ Marché du Film and Argentinian film body National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) have partnered on the event since 2008 and this year are joined by Uruguayan Film and Audiovisual Agency (ACAU).
Speaking to Screen, INCAA president Carlos Pirovano, an economist and entrepreneur who assumed his role in February after he was head-hunted by Milei’s government, said the three bodies have signed an agreement to return Ventana Sur to its customary Buenos Aires home in 2025, before it switches back to Montevideo in 2026.
“The majority of films in Latin America are international co-productions,” Pirovano said, “Every country wants to have its own market and festival and it is better to share.”
Pirovano inherited a $4m deficit at INCAA and said he has turned that into a $5m surplus though cuts. INCAA now operates out of four buildings rather than eight, while staff have been cut from 730 to 340, and there is a recent emphasis on supporting commercial films.
The imminent Río de la Plata edition will feature returning panels discussions, screenings, and networking, while the Primer Corte, Copia Final, Animation, Blood Window and Maquinitas sections are joined by the recent Latam Series Market, En Breve, Entre Guiones, and Ventana Doc strands.
Ventana Sur 2024 runs December 2-6.
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