Contrakultura Films information

Contrakultura Films was an imprint of Iruña Films, SA a Buenos Aires film production effort dedicated to producing biographical documentaries on Latin American writers.^[1] Production offices were located in San Telmo. Soledad Liendo, Leonardo Hussen and Rodolfo Durán were among the producers.^[2] The initiative later expanded to include visual artists such as Andrés Waissman and Humberto Calzada, and [social scientists] such as León Rozitchner, Ismael Viñas, Juan Jose Sebreli and Jorge Lovisolo. Contrakultura existed as such between 2002 and 2006 producing approximately twenty-five documentaries with the support of INCAA, Fondo Nacional de las Artes, and the Ministerio de Cultura de la Nación. These films are presently owned by [Heritage Film Project],^[3] and currently being distributed by Alexander Street Press.

The initial “Contrakultural series" was known as “Perfiles”,^[4] and was made of thirteen biographical documentaries. The series was presented at the Biennial Northeast Regional Meeting "Luso-Hispanic Presence in the Changing Cultural Landscape of America", organized by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese at Yale University.^[5]

Several of the documentaries on the series Perfiles were directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. Some of the original titles are listed under a pseudonym inspired in legendary actresses of the silent era of Mexican Cinema such as Cándida Beltrán, Mimi Derba, Ana Lobos, Emma Padilla, Lupe Velez, Maria Laura del Rio, Ma. Laura Del Rio.^[6] The series was initially publicized as directed by thirteen woman-directors by Eduardo Montes-Bradley.^[7]

Contrakultura also produced the series known as the NOA Trilogy, films produced by Contrakultura and directed by Norbert “Negro” Ramírez in the Jujuy and Salta provinces, on the Northwestern region of Argentina.