IFFR REPORT #1

The opening night of the IFFR started with the premiere of the Argentinean Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God), the second Argentinean opening film in a row in two years. The screening followed the speech of the new director of the festival Rutger Wolfson who emphasized the new media around us that allow us to watch films wherever we want and when we want. It made him wonder if a festival such as the IFFR will have reason to exist in the future. This speech, that lacked true vision and zest, very much coincided with the last speech of the previous director Sandra den Hamer, who was honored by the mayor of Rotterdam with a medal stating ‘Tigers are a girl’s best friend’ (the tiger being the official mascot of the IFFR).

CORDERO DE DIOS (2008)

This debut by Argentinian director Lucía Cedrón focuses on a woman and her daughter who are confronted with the kidnapping of their father, a veterinarian. Besides their urge to find the ransom to free him in the present, we go back to the year 1978 when Argentina was a dictatorship and also hosted the football Worldcup. The daughter of the veterinarian was politically active and in order to protect her, the man had to make a huge sacrifice.

Cordero de Dios is well-made and it is clear Cedrón learned to perform all the right tricks in film school. However, the result is also rather boring and lacks the required emotional depth a kidnapping evokes. The daughter and granddaughter act rather calmly in their urge to get their father out of the hands of the terrorists. The flashbacks to the seventies are not presented in unison and therefore cease to give a clear insight in the tumultuous past of the family.

Directed by: Lucía Cedrón
Starring: Mercedes Morán, Jorge Marrale, Leonora Balcarce
Runtime: 91’
Also screened on: Friday January 25, 1:30 pm; Saturday January 26, 3:45 pm; Saturday February 2, 7 pm
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All images courtesy of the International Film Festival Rotterdam

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