IONCINEPHILE of the Month
IONCINEPHILE of the Month: Benjamín Naishtat’s Top Ten Films of All Time List
Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly IONCINEPHILE profile, we ask the filmmaker (this month: Benjamín Naishtat) to identify their all time top ten favorite films. Distrib Films US opens Rojo on Friday, July 12 at Film at Lincoln Center and the Quad Cinema in New York City, and on Friday, July 19 at the Laemmle Royal in Los Angeles. Benjamín mentions that “I should say that they are not in a particular order, and that this top 10 keeps changing constantly in my mind, some I start taking distance from for good, and then incorporate them back to the core of my cinephilia.” Here are Benjamín Naishtat’s Top Ten Films of All Time List as of July, 2019.
A Woman Under the Influence – John Cassavetes (1974)
“I saw it for the first time on dvd, it was a Saturday afternoon, I was 18 and new to film school. And it was a lesson, it taught me that film can feel much more intensely than life itself.”
“An hypnotic yet political film, and more than that, actually, it’s probably the greatest achievement in Argentine cinema.”
La classe operaia va in paradiso (Lulu the Tool) – Elio Petri (1971)
“An electric, exciting and complex experience that reminds us that a political film should never be self-indulgent.”
East of Paradise –Lech Kowalski (2005)
“A cinematic earthquake that will leave you trembling.”
The Deep End – Jerzy Skolimowsky (1970)
“The best love story I’ve seen on screen.”
Fanny and Alexander – Ingmar Bergman (1982)
“An invitation to accept memory as fiction from a truly free creator.”
Happy Together – Wong Kar-wai (1997)
“Kar-wai at it’s best, shooting in my city -Buenos Aires- like nobody ever has.”
Juan: Como si nada hubiera sucedido – Carlos Echeverría (1987)
“A bold, brave documentary that dared to mess with the darkest moments in Argentine and Latin American history at a time where others were elaborating bizarre metaphors. It stands the test of time as no other film I have seen about state terror in Latin America.”
Network – Sidney Lumet (1976)
“Possibly the most accomplished film of a set of iconic films from the 70s that changed cinema forever.”
Zero De Conduite – Jean Vigo (1933)
“A brilliant, fun and wild call to rebellion that has resonated in film history, from Truffaut till nowadays.“