Program 28 – Esteros

PROGRAM 28

Narrative Feature

Esteros
Thursday, October 13 7:45 PM LITTLE THEATRE 1
• NEW YORK STATE PREMIERE

Argentina/Brazil/France / 2016 / 82 min. | Directed by: Papu Curotto

In Spanish with English subtitles

We’ve all had someone in our lives who – for any number of reasons – isn’t anymore. We may find ourselves thinking about them periodically, wondering where they are now, what they’re up to, or what kind of person they went on to become. Maybe this person was a close friend or an ex-lover, but certain individuals have a tendency to stick with us. So it is for childhood friends Matías and Jerónimo. Inseparable as young boys, their paths diverged in adolescence, just as their true feelings for one another were becoming clear.

More than ten years later, Matías (Ignacio Rogers) has returned to his hometown in Argentina with his girlfriend, Rochi (Renata Calmon). In town to enjoy the Carnival festivities, they run into Jerónimo (Esteban Masturini). The years have changed them both, but the young men recognize each other immediately. They make awkward small talk, catching each other up on their lives. Though just acquaintances now, the evidence that they were once much more is plain to see. Seeing his boyhood friend living confidently and openly as a gay man has a sobering effect on Matías, and feelings he’d spent years pushing aside suddenly become much harder to ignore.

Fate has brought Matías and Jerónimo back into each other’s lives, giving them another chance to do things over again; to see how things might have been if they’d made different choices. With Esteros, first-time director Papu Curotto tells an achingly tender love story, asking us to consider: when life presents you with a second chance at happiness, would you have the courage to take it?

— Adam Lubitow

AWARDS/ACCOLADES

Official Selection: Outfest Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival
Official Selection: Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival

COMMUNITY PARTNER

Geva Theatre Center