Fernando Birri facts for kids

Fernando Birri in March 2008

Fernando Birri (born March 13, 1925 – died December 27, 2017) was a famous Argentine film maker. He also wrote about films. Many people called him the "father" of the new Latin American cinema. This means he helped start a new way of making movies in Latin America.

Biography

Fernando Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. Before making movies, he was interested in theater and poetry.

Studying Film and Early Work

From 1950 to 1953, Birri went to Rome, Italy. He studied how to make films at a special school called the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. In 1955, he even appeared in an Italian movie called Gli Sbandati.

In 1956, he came back to Santa Fe. He started the Film Institute at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral university. This was a big step for film in Argentina.

Making Documentaries

A year later, Birri began filming in Santa Fe. He showed scenes of poverty and how people struggled. This project was like a "survey film" and took three years to finish. The filming ended in 1958.

His first important documentary was Tire dié. It was 33 minutes long and showed real life. Before that, he made a short film called La primera fundación de Buenos Aires. This film was shown at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival. It helped Birri become well-known.

He then made more films like Buenos Días, Buenos Aires (1960). His film Los Inundados (1961) was very famous. It won the Best First Film award at the Venice Film Festival.

Later Career and Teaching

After making a short film in 1963, Birri took a break from directing. He returned 12 years later to make Mi hijo el Che (1985). This movie was about Ernesto "Che" Guevara. He made another film about Che in 1997, but it was not released to the public. Later, he directed El siglo del viento (1999) and ZA 05. Lo viejo y lo nuevo (2006).

In 1986, Birri helped start a film school in Cuba. It was called the Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (The International School of Film and Television). He was the first director of this school. In 2009, he was a visiting professor at Tufts University in the United States.

Longest Film Title

Fernando Birri might hold a record for the longest movie title ever! His short film from 1959 had a very long name. It was called Vera historia de la primera fundación de Buenos Aires como también de varias navegaciones de muchas partes desconocidas, islas de reinos, también de muchos peligros, peleas y escaramuzas, tanto por tierra como por mar, que nunca han sido descriptos en otras historias o crónicas, extraídos del libro 'Viajes al río de La Plata', original del soldado alemán Ulrico Schmidl, miembro de la expedición capitaneada por don Pedro de Mendoza, quien publicó por primera vez estas memorias, bien anotadas para utilidad pública en la ciudad de Francfort el año 1567. Most people just call it La primera fundación de Buenos Aires.

Filmography

Here are some of the films Fernando Birri wrote and directed:

• El Fausto Criollo (2011)
• Elegia Fruilana (2007)
• ZA 05. Lo viejo y lo nuevo (2006)
• El siglo del viento (1999)
• Che, ¿muerte de una utopía? (not released commercially - 1997)
• Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes (1988)
• Mi hijo el Che (1985)
• ORG (1979)
• La pampa gringa (short film - 1963)
• Los Inundados (1961)
• Buenos días, Buenos Aires (short film - 1960)
• Tire dié (medium length film - 1960)
• La primera fundación de Buenos Aires (short film - 1959)

See also

In Spanish: Fernando Birri para niños