About Thirty

(Arturo a los 30)
Martín Shanly | Drama, Comedy, Fiction

2023 | 90 minutes | Argentina

A comedy of errors revolving around a hapless 30-year-old named Arturo and his penchant for indiscretions as the film springs between decades.

Youth Culture + Identity Gender + Sexuality Studies Mental Health Family South America
Synopsis

Buenos Aires in March 2020, just days before the outbreak of the pandemic. A wedding is being celebrated; a car overturns. The guests share joints, kisses, sex, and the memory of a loss.

At the center of this comedy of errors is Arturo, played by director Martín Shanly. He is every bit as drawn to misfortune as he is directionless – qualities he shares with the film's full cast of characters. His faux pas and blunders stand in inverse relation to the finesse with which the film elegantly glides back in time from the wedding day to the 2010s. As episodes from Arturo’s life come to the fore – a bus trip to Patagonia with his trans housemate, a painfully awkward dress rehearsal for a play – narrative time is compressed and extended again, while a voiceover provides a steady counterweight to the tumult.

As the hit song "Azúcar amargo” (Bitter Sugar) comes on and the dance floor fills, the bittersweet nature of the film becomes apparent with the same clarity as the coughing that proceeds it.

Reviews

“As the film presents pandemic confinement as a self-healing process, Shanly exposes the traumas of his generation: one that is eager to deal with its mental health issues but is not fully equipped to do so.“ — Aldo Alvareztostado, International Cinephile Society

"Arturo a los 30 proves to be an ample showcase for Shanley’s talents." — Oliver Johnston, The Upcoming

"The film plays with a healthy humor and is seen entirely from the perspective and philosophy of the protagonist. According to him (something he does not say with words but with his attitudes) life is about not thinking too much about things and letting them flow." — Jerónimo Casco, Peliplat

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Keywords
About Thirty,Arturo a los 30,Martín Shanly,Argentina,drama,comedy,Buenos Aires,Julia Ezcurra,Camila Dougall,Pedro Merlo,wedding party,self-discovery,psicology,friendship,family,mental health,becoming adult,spiritual,pandemic,child,children,childhood,kid,girl,girlhood,boy,boyhood,teen,teenager,puberty,adolescence,adolescent,coming-of-age,minor,kiddo,kids,juvenile,stripling,moppet,tyke,tween,tot,toddler,sonny,girlie,underaged,dependent,youngster,infancy,babyhood,girlhood,boyhood,friendships,juvenescence,juvenility,springtime,early life,culture,identity,identity politics,culture wars,left wing,right wing,intersectionality,identity groups,civilization,literacy,humanism,cancel culture,online culture,cultural revolution,cultural diffusion,culture shock,popular culture,pop culture,material culture,cultural capital,cultural assimilation ,gender,sexuality,gender roles,gender identity,sexual orientation,gender equality,gender pronouns,gender studies,gender spectrum,gender norms,gender roles,gender stereotypes,sexual selection,sexualization,sexual awakening,puberty,pubescence,mental illness,therapy,trauma,behavioral health,mental disability,psychology,psychiatry,social work,wellbeing,counselor,diagnosis,mentally disabled,mental incapacitation,mentally defective,mental handicap,mental defective,psychotic break,psychosis,psychoses,mentally sound,questionable mental health,family,kin,fellowship,household,immediate family,extended family,multigenerational family,multigenerational household,kinfolk,family tree,genealogy,nuclear family,modern family,family tree,south america,south american countries,countries in south america,argentina,bolivia,brazil,chile,colombia,ecuador,guyana,paraguay,peru,suriname,uruguay,venezuela,south american politics,south american culture,south american cuisine,south american education,south america in media,south american languages,south america history; "About Thirty"; Pragda Films
Clips
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Festivals

Berilnale Berlin International Film Festival; Las Palmas International Film Festival - Best Actor; Uruguay International Film Festival; BAFICI Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema - Audience Award Best Film, Best Director; Hamburg Int. Queer Film Festival; Torino Film Festival - Best Actor; Latin American Film Festival of Dallas; San Diego Latino Film Festival; Wisconsin Film Festival

DIRECTOR: Martín Shanly

NATIONALITY: Argentina

YEAR: 2023

GENRE: Drama, Comedy, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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