Nueva Argirópolis is based in Argirópolis, the capital of the confederation between Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay that Sarmiento proposed to create on the island Martín García in 1850.
EN
“Partly taking place on the Paraná River, where Martel's latest feature Zama is set, Nueva Argirópolis narrows its focus to the arrest of a group of indigenous people as they attempt to cross the river. Though commissioned by the Argentine Ministry of Culture to commemorate the bicentenary of the Revolución de Mayo, Martel's film subversively interrogates the sentiment of national pride and Argentina's relationship to its colonial past.”
This article was originally published for The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), 2018.
FR
“Portées par un désir d’émancipation, des communautés autochtones descendent les fleuves argentins sur des radeaux fabriqués à partir de boue et de bouteilles en plastique, inquiétant sur leur passage les autorités côtières. À l’occasion du bicentenaire de la révolution de mai 1810, Lucrecia Martel propose une réinterprétation engagée du récit utopique de Sarmiento, Argirópolis.”
This article was originally published on Visions du Réel, 2023.
