belated bye-bye to BA

At 13 million, the greater Buenos Aires area is the largest city that I’ve spent that long in – about a month and a half. As with many big-city dwellers, I have the love-hate thing going on. As much as my entire time in BA on the whole was quite excellent, and as much as she offered us, especially in terms of raw material for films, and as much as I will miss all of the good folks there, it is good to be gone from the concrete and the smog. But… she lingers in my mind, her traffic-, pedestrian-, construction-, trash-, art-, and fair-filled streets still have inroads in my subconscious, and they show up behind my eyelids before I sleep.

I’m gonna miss that flair, that edge, that constant surprise that only such a massive city can offer...

...with its bizarre juxtapositions and unexpected idiosyncrasies.


And man, oh, man, the art in that city: playful, political, angry, challenging, delightful…

...from purportedly genocidal statues defaced...

...to classic murals overlooking subway stops...

...to pasted-on paintings (oh, and I do disfrutar (enjoy))...

...to the craziest stencils I've ever seen
(I mean, I had heard that Nike was exploitative and that He was coming back, but jeez).

Our full last day in the city was the first day of Spring, and we joined the Argentines in the park for a little soccer and soaking in the sun. Beautiful.

Look

at


those



MOVES!



They don’t call this guy “Pelotas” for nothing.

Many thanks to all those porteños and wannabe porteños that made this stay so sweet – and specially bombastic thanks to…
…the folks at the Argentimes, for letting us swipe all their material.
…the folks at Fear Factor, who gave us invaluable info about contracts and supplies.
…Kate and Chris, for housing this poor vagabond.
…that dude at the bus station that kept telling us everything we already knew about how to get out of Buenos Aires – though, admittedly, that town has a way of keeping people in the pull of its vortex, and we appreciate any help no matter how extraneous.
…studio Buenos Aires, especially Eduardo, for the language classes, the use of the classroom as a set, and the package help.
…and of course, the lifeblood of our documentaries: Fabricio, Roma, Wadaki, Poeta, Nicolas, La Base and Metal Varela, Carrica and all the Che interviewees… so many with so much.

Hasta la vuelta siempre.