Walter Quiroz Movies

Lots of people love animals, but one man takes his fondness for a sheep beyond the boundaries of what's acceptable at your neighborhood petting zoo in this darkly absurd comedy. Alberto (Carlos Roffe) is a wealthy man whose nearly three-decade marriage to Natalie (Cristina Banegas) has run out of gas. While puttering around his summer estate, Alberto spies a sheep being led through the meadow by his caretaker, Miranda (Pepe Monje). Alberto is immediately infatuated with the sheep, and asks Miranda to lock her up in the barn near the house. Naming the ewe "Fanny," Alberto soon falls in love with the animal -- and begins expressing his affections physically. As it turns out, Miranda also has cast a lustful eye on the sheep, but Alberto genuinely loves Fanny, and even imagines that the sheep is talking to him, though it still sounds like baa-ing to everyone else. Slipping past eccentricity into madness, Alberto decides no one can have Fanny but him -- not Miranda, and certainly not that ram grazing nearby -- and he hires a preacher to marry them after he divorces Natalie. Alberto discovers not everyone is accepting of his new "bride," and Alberto responds to those who cannot celebrate their love with violence and murder. Animalada was shown in competition at the 2001 Buenos Aires Independent Cinema Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This drama is based on a novel and incomplete screenplay by the late Maria Luis Bemberg. In 1930s Argentina, wealthy Sebastian (Antonio Birabent) leaves his Buenos Aires home for the family estate on the pampas. His family, concerned for his physical and mental health, arranges for Sebastian's childhood friend Juan (Walter Quiroz) to check on Sebastian's situation. Juan finds the highly erratic Sebastian caught in a doomed relationship with the Danish daughter of religious sect members. Unfortunately, Juan also becomes obsessed with the young woman, and Sebastian's suspicions increase. Shown in 1997 at both the Toronto Film Festival and the AFI/Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

An urge to see his long-absent father sends a young Argentine boy on an epic bicycle trip throughout South America. Martin lives in the world's southernmost city, Ushaia. His father is an anthropologist, last reported as working in Brazil. Leaving behind his mother and stepfather, the boy travels north, encountering scenes of exploitation and destruction, abject subjugation to the U.S.A., and of high absurdity. An example of the latter would be when a national president whose surname means "frog" puts on rubber flippers in order to survey the damage in a flooded city. Along the way, he also learns about environmental and cultural destruction, particularly in reference to indigenous cultures and peoples. His astonishing journeys take him as far as Mexico. This meandering tale was profoundly popular in Latin America. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi