Editor's Note:
Over the past 40 years, Argentine filmmaker Manuel Antin has developed a unique personal vision of cinema that has been widely influential in his native country. Unlike other members of the 1960s generation, who sought to express national problems through social realism, Antin is known for his formal precision, his interest in individual internal struggle, and his inspiration in literature. His best-known films -- The Odd Number, Far Away and Long Ago, and Don Segundo Sombra -- are all based on written works. In interviews he notes that his primary influences are literary rather than cinematic, and insists that literature is more important than film. Literature is "longer lasting, is deeper, is more unlimited, is freer," he has said. "I am a film director because I could never be a good writer."
Aside from his importance as a director, Antin headed Argentina's National Film Institute from 1984 to 1989. In 1991, he founded the Universidad del Cine, which has produced such important recent films as Moebius and Bad Times.
LAVA is pleased to present The Odd Number, Antin's first film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1962. This is the first time the film has been available on video with English subtitles.
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