The Buenos Aires Film Festival

Buenos Aires is flooded with film lovers in April - that's because it's film festival time! The Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Film, is also known by its Spanish acronym BAFICI: "Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente". 

The 11-day film festival showcases the very best independent films and projects in cinemas and theaters in the cultural center of Buenos Aires, the downtown neighborhood of Recoleta.

• The films are for 18+ visitors but since 2009, the organization has added the BAFICI category to the festival. This category offers children's films so that children also have the chance to attend the festival.
• Argentina is the leader in the South American film industry and Buenos Aires is therefore a very important film city. Because of this, many film and media students can be found in the Recoleta neighborhood during BAFICI.

BAFICI has been around since 1999 and is growing more and more each year. Last April was its 17th edition and as many as over a million people attended the festival. This film festival is known as one of the most important film festivals in the world by promoting independent film productions so that the most innovative, risky and dedicated films can be shown to the world. Especially for Argentine and Spanish films, BAFICI is a very important event.

BAL, the Buenos Aires Lab is one of the main institutions during the festival. This institution belongs to the city's Ministry of Culture and has a very strong international jury. The winner of BAL, gets to go to the Cannes Film Festival. This has been a tradition between the organizers of the Cannes film festival and of BAFICI for many years. BAL strives to support projects that have a unique character and a link to Latin American cinema. Films and projects that did not make it to the festival are also given a chance during CineMart, the Rotterdam film festival.

The BAFICI is a very popular event in Argentina but also among international film lovers. For visitors who do not speak Spanish, the festival offers Latin American films with subtitles. The festival also offers the chance to speak with producers, directors and actors about their films. During the Buenos Aires cinema event, several awards are handed out for best film, best director, best actor/actress and best script. There are also awards for "Film of The Future," Best Children's Film and a UNICEF human rights award. For many visitors, it is a sport to visit as many films and projects as possible during the festival. Consequently, it is completely planned out what is going to be seen. Tickets can often be bought online in advance, so be there on time. For true film and culture lovers, the Buenos Aires film festival is definitely recommended!