El Bonaerense

Zapa is a 35 year-old locksmith, who naively takes part in a crime committed by policemen when he opens a safe. He has to leave his hometown, with the protection of his police uncle. He arrives in the Buenos Aires suburbs with a new identity and a new life as a policeman, within the most brutal and most corrupted police force: La Bonaerense.

From an interview with Pablo Trapero:

Armando D’Angelo: ...I also found something in your characters; one moment they appear ingenuous and naive, but the next they are perverse. What do you think?

Pablo Trapero: Look, I tried to analyze the people instead of the institutions.

It has to do with the process that "El Zapa" goes through since he is the main character. It is a way to understand the person behind the uniform; normally it is the opposite. Usually what we hear about the people or from the institution comes from the uniform side.

(...) From an interview by Armando d’Angelo

Pablo Trapero was born in Buenos Aires in 1971. He studied at Universidad de Cine de Buenos Aires -Cinema School at the Buenos Aires University-; then in 1996, together with other young filmmakers, he created Cinematographica Sargentina, his first production company. In 1999 he directed his first film “Mundo Grúa”.

Production:

CINEMATOGRAFICA PRODUCCIONES
Pablo Trapero
1366 Castillo
1414 AXD Buenos Aires, Argentina
Telephone: (11) 4551 9679
Fax: (11) 4804 4762

MATANZA CINE
Medrano 1314Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Telephone: 54 11 48 61 4 006
E-mail: matanzacine@2vias.com.ar

POL-KA Producciones
Andres WOOD Producciones

WILD BUNCH
Vincent Maraval
99, rue de la Verrerie
75004 Paris (France)
Telephone: +33 (0) 1 53 01 50 20
Fax: +33 (0) 1 53 01 50 49
Internet site: wildbunch.biz

With the participation of:
FONDS SUD CINEMA (Ministère des Affaires étrangères- Direction de l’audiovisuel extérieur et des techniques de communication) (Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Department of Exterior Audiovisual and Techniques of Communication) and Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication- Centre National de la Cinématographie (Ministry of Culture and Communication - National Centre of Cinematography) (France); INCAA (Instituto Nacional de Cine Argentino) (National Institute of Argentine Cinematography); Hubert Bals Fund (Netherlands).

Distribution:
WANDA VISION et NIRVANA FILMS
Fco et José Martin Granizo
Chalet, 13 B
28224- Pozuelo (Madrid)
Telephone: 91 351 72 83
Fax: 91 779 06 00
E-mail: nirvana@wanadoo.es

International Sales:
WILD BUNCH

Festivals:
Official Selection - Un Certain Regard (A Certain Look)- Cannes2002
FIPRESCI Award - Chicago, 2002
FIPRESCI Award - Chicago, 2002
Festival des 3 Continents (3 Continents Festival), Nantes, 2002