About Thirty

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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.

“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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Main credits

Shanly, Martin (film director)
Shanly, Martin (actor)
Godoy, Ana (screenwriter)
Bacchiani, Franco (film producer)
Dougall, Camila (actor)
Bacilio, Fernando (actor)
Abril, Javier (actor)

Other credits

Cinematography, Federico Lastra; editing, Ana Godoy; music, Maximiliano Mammarella.

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Keywords

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