UK Premiere / Best International Feature Nominee

Short Synopsis

The cinema of Fritz Lang meets Tim Burton in this beautiful Argentinian movie.

Review

This dazzling tribute to the silent movie owes much to cinematic masters such as Fritz Lang, Luis Buñuel and Tim Burton, but it still manages to exhibit a fresh imagination all of its own.
The film takes place in an unnamed city where the inhabitants have had their voices stolen by the evil media mogul, Mr TV. He has the populous hooked on fast-food dinners and broadcasts featuring a mysterious and uniquely vocal female known only as The Voice. Mr TV has further plans for the city without a voice and only a young girl, her father and a blind boy stand in his way.

La Antena brilliantly blends live-action and animation to create a beautiful expressionist vision which pays respectful homage to the early days of cinema whilst also having great fun with its conventions. Such silent film staples as wondrous machinery, evil henchmen and a blonde heroine are all present here whilst the onscreen captions take on a life of their own in a series of playful and ingenious jokes.

Director Esteban Sapir’s screenplay conveys an intelligent message about the power of the media to hypnotise and suppress the masses; a warning all too pertinent when it comes to the history of his home country, Argentina.
This is a lavish, cinematic fairy tale which like all such stories exists on the border between the magical and the downright strange.
 
Alan Diment