¡Caigan las rosas blancas!

Like a species not yet catalogued by botany, Albertina Carri’s latest film is unclassifiable. Mutation defines the progression of its narrative: a director abandons a film set before travelling to Misiones, in Argentina’s northeast, with three members of her crew. Later, they arrive in São Paulo to make a documentary on aporophobia—the irrational fear of poverty and the poor—with several shots filmed on Super 8 with undeniable elegance. In the midst of the shoot, the camera discovers an old woman as enigmatic as she is magnetic, who leads the four protagonists to a flower market and from there to a vast sea of plants. A lesbian road movie, a horror film, a documentary or a vampire tale? The enduring cinematic ideas and intermittent citations of cultural traditions help to alleviate the confusion that a rhizomatic film such as this can inspire—one with the narrative fluidity of a dream and the eloquence of free association. “Plants are the cosmic tumour of humanism,” says one character. The statement belongs to Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia and may serve as a guide to this playful meditation on the contingency of our species. (Roger Koza)

In presence of Albertina Carri and Carolina Alamino. 

Albertina Carri: NIÑOS (1998, K), NO QUIERO VOLVER A CASA (2000), EXCURSIONES (2001, K), AURORA (2001, K), BARBIE TAMBIEN PUEDE ESTAR TRISTE (2001, K), LOS RUBIOS (2003), GÉMINIS (2005), LA RABIA (2008), RESTOS (2010, K), PETS (2012, K), CUATREROS (2016), LAS HIJAS DEL FUEGO (2018)