SYNOPSIS

Having worked as a housekeeper all her life, Justina inherits from her former employer a mansion in the middle of the Argentinian pampas. Under one condition: she must never leave. In this modern fairytale, Justina and her daughter will face the challenges of keeping that promise alive.

Original title: El Castillo Countries: Argentina, France Year: 2023 Ratio: 2:1 Sound: 5.1 Length: 78 min Language: Spanish

Biography

Martín Benchimol was born in Argentina in 1985. He studied cinema at the University of Buenos Aires and then specialized in cinematography. He directed two award-winning documentaries with co-director Pablo Aparo: LA GENTE DEL RIO (2012) which premiered at DOK Leipzig 2012, was nominated for Best Documentary 2013 at the 4th Cinema Tropical Awards, and participated in numerous festivals, and EL ESPANTO, which won the IDFA Award for Best Medium-length film in 2017, the Jury Award at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in 2018 (Mexico), the Silver Horn for Best Film at the 58th Krakovia Film Festival (Poland) and the Nou Talent Award at Docs Barcelona (Spain), among many other international and national awards. Martin was selected to make one of the first short documentaries for the ELEMENTAL collection by Sandbox Films (USA), A ROBUST HEART, which premiered at IDFA 2022. EL CASTILLO is Martin’s solo feature film debut.                         

FilmographY

The Castle - 2023

A Robust Heart - Short Film - 2022

The Dread - 2017

The River People - 2012

CREW

Director and Screenwriter: Martín Benchimol DOP: Nico Miranda, Fernando Lorenzale Editor: Ana Remón Sound: Sofía Straface Music: José Manuel Gatica Producers: Gema Juárez Allen, Clarisa Oliveri (Gema Films), Mayra Bottero Coproducers: Heidi Fleisher, Julie Paratian (SISTER Productions) World Sales: Luxbox

CAST

Justina Olivo, Alexia Caminos Olivo

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

Berlinale - Panorama - 2023

Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival - Official Selection - 2023

FICCI - Ficciones de Allá - 2023

Hong Kong International Film Festival - Young Cinema Competition - Best Director - 2023

Hot Docs - World Showcase - 2023

Jeonju International Film Festival - World Cinema - 2023

Docaviv International Documentary Film Festival - International Competition - 2023

Guadalajara International Film Festival - Iberoamerican Feature Film - 2023

Sheffield DocFest - People & Community - 2023

Brussels International Film Festival - International Competition - 2023

New Horizons International Film Festival - Discoveries - 2023

Lima Film Festival - Competencia Documental - 2023

Ambulante Documentary Film Festival - 2023

Camden International Film Festival - Cinematic Vision Competition - 2023

Helsinki International Film Festival - ¡Revoluciones Latinas! - 2023

San Sebastián International Film Festival - Horizontes Latinos - Horizontes Award - 2023

Biarritz Latin America Festival - Out of Competition - 2023

Zurich Film Festival - Documentary Competition - 2023

Reykjavík International Film Festival - Documentaries - 2023

São Paulo International Film Festival - New Directors Competition - 2023

Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival - World Cinema - 2023

Golden Rooster Awards/Film Festival - International Panorama - 2023

Stockholm International Film Festival - Open Zone - 2023

IDFA - Best of Fests - 2023

Festival International du Film d’Amiens - Feature Film Competition - Feature Film Grand Prize - 2023

Miradas Medellín - Official Selection of Latin American Feature Films - 2023

Black Movie Film Festival - Family Jewel - 2024

Antenna Documentary Film Festival - Feature Competition - 2024

Martín Benchimol

Writer-Director

“A warm portrayal of two women in an extraordinary setting.”

"Powerful”

“Delightfully eccentric”