Camera Obscura

Camara Oscura
Director: Maria Victoria Menis
Argentina/France 2008 86 mins
Language: Spanish with English subtitles

Born on the gangplank as her parents’ ship docks at Buenos Aires in 1892, poor little Gertrudis is denied Argentine citizenship and earns their eternal disfavour. Cut to 1897 and the family is settled at Colonia Villa Clara, established by Jewish immigrants fleeing the pogroms of Eastern Europe. Gertrudis, awkward and camera-shy, is married off to eligible widower León Cohen and raises a thriving family. But the arrival of a worldly French photographer leads her to a revelatory cri de coeur.

This quietly enchanting family saga spans a formative period in Argentina’s history from the 1890s to the 1920s. Camera Obscura looks beyond the tranquillity of the pampas with nods to the Great War and the persecution of the Jews of Europe, while vibrant touches of animation reference the South American magical realist tradition. Mirta Bogdasarian steals the show as enigmatic outsider Gertrudis: you’ll be rooting for her from the start. SM