Argentina Hotels Travel - Lesbians of Buenos Aires
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List Price: $14.99
Argentina Hotels Travel Price: $13.49
Your Save: $ 1.50 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
Starring: Santiago Garcia
Directed By: Santiago Garcia
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0712267100521
Format: Anamorphic
Label: Strand Releasing
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Strand Releasing
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-06-06
Running Time: 82
Studio: Strand Releasing
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
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Editorial Reviews:
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A celebration of the diversity of Buenos Aires` lesbian community, LESBIANS OF BUENOS AIRES brings to the fore some of the many voices which have been neglected for too long. From a lesbian soccer coach to a lesbian activist and mother, each of the women featured have contended with discrimination and invisibility, though none have compromised their sexuality. They share stories about their first fantasies, the consequences of coming out, the desire to have kids, and of love between women in a culture of machismo. By establishing an intimate rapport with three women as they go about their daily lives, this documentary provides an honest and sensitive portrait of homosexuality in contemporary Latin America.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Celebration of Diversity
Comment: "Lesbians of Buenos Aires"
A Celebration of Diversity
Amos Lassen
"Lesbians of Buenos Aires" is a documentary that brings to us voices that have been neglected. It focuses on three personal stories--a woman who was once militant but now devotes her time to being a soccer coach, am activist because she wants no girl to have to go through what she went through and a lesbian mother who tells us about the hostility of the laws in regard to lesbian women in Argentina. Each of the women has had to deal with discrimination and have had to become invisible in society but none of them have compromised their sexuality. They tell the stories of their lives--their fantasies, their coming out stories, their desire to be mothers and their love for women in a country that celebrates masculinity. Santiago Garcia managed to establish a rapport with the women so that we see them living their daily lives and we get an honest and sensitive picture of homosexuality in Latin America.
This is a powerful and potent film and it establishes what goes on in Argentina with the segregation of minorities. The women we meet are, above all else, women and Garcia looks beyond their sexuality and he treats them as women who happen to be lesbians. He looks at their hopes and dreams and their obligations and desires. Garcia shows us that behind whatever they do, women take a stand not only about their sexual orientation bur about life at large. It is a beautiful film in its simplicity as it addresses a very emotional issue. It is straightforward and sometimes surprising. There are moments of heartbreak but there is also great humor.
If there is a problem with the film it is that with the concentration being only on the women, we know almost nothing about their families, friends or those that oppose them. They are mentioned but we never see them. This causes the film to tilt to one side and therefore does not examine the entire issue. Yet even though it may feel to be incomplete, it is still quite an interesting film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Latin American Lesbians Make a "Tongues Untied"
Comment: Obviously, a lesbian from Argentina took out a video camera and interviewed her friends. There are few interviewees; they are filmed repetitiously when other items could have been filmed; and they are not that diverse as a group. (One woman looks like her jaw was broken, but it never comes up why.) However, if you feel that lesbians face hyperinvisibility as a doubly-oppressed group, then you will applaud any coverage that breaks that silence and highlights them.
In lesbian and gay studies circles, the idea of social constructionism--the idea that identity varies based upon time, place, class, and other factors--is championed over essentialism--the idea that certain categories are universal. Though these women are in a developing nation, they bring up themes similar to Western lesbians: they support feminism, they discuss parents that took them to psychiatrists, they support abortion rights, some desire to be mothers, etc. Though they briefly mention the infamous, Argentinian human rights of the 1980s, you would almost not know this wasn't a "First World" area. At one point, there's a scene where Buenos Aires looks just like Washington, D.C. with its Capitol Hill.
American lesbian authors and activists have often noted how important women's sports were to them. Since what Americans call soccer is a big deal to Argentinians, then of course this topic was brought up here. Still, it was beat into the ground. At one point, they show one interviewee coaching women for about three minutes and it had NOTHING to do with being a South American lesbian. There is a book about Argentinian masculinity and it says tango is just as important to that nation as soccer, but tango never comes up in this documentary. Even though the film "Tango" features beautiful dances sequences with women-with-women and men-with-men, there are no cute, all-female tango couples here.
Related to the absence of tango, this documentary is just not diverse. These were middle-aged lesbians and no younger lesbians, bisexual women, or gay men show up. The interviewees say they hate gay pride parades, but again, maybe that's due to their age and the presence of a mixed-gender setting. It's never discussed how gay pride parades can be empowering for some lesbians. All the interviewees have long hair, even though many lesbians have stated that cutting their hair was a part of the process of them coming out. Supposedly, Argentina is one of the most racially UNdiverse countries in Latin America. Though socioeconomic class is brought up, the fact that some women looked European and some a bit indigenous never comes up.
In addition to the lack of diversity, this was frustratingly apolitical. If I heard correctly, Argentina is one of only two Latin American countries with sodomy laws, yet the interviewees never lament that type of oppression. Scholar Jesus Quiroga wrote about how Latin Americans sometimes wears masks at gay pride parades, to show their numbers but not be discovered. The bravery that takes never comes up as the interviewees dismiss those parades. Many lesbians in the United States lament that too much attention is given to gay men and not to them. The interviewees here never mention gay men at all. You'd almost conclude they don't exist in Argentina. It's never asked whether homophobia is so directed to gay men in that country that maybe lesbians go unnoticed, and thus unvilified.
I am pleased that I saw this work. I'm happy that it was produced and distributed internationally. Still, it's a bit amateurish and rough around the edges.
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