INTERVIEW: ‘Azor’ examines the very rich in 1970s Argentina
Photo: Azor stars Stéphanie Cléau and Fabrizio Rongione. Photo courtesy of MUBI / Provided by Cinema Tropical with permission.
Azor, the new movie from director Andreas Fontana, is set in 1970s Argentina and examines the scheming lives of the ultra-wealthy. The protagonist is Yvan (Fabrizio Rongione), who arrives in Argentina from Geneva with his wife Ines (Stéphanie Cléau). Yvan’s task while in the country is a difficult one: he is there to replace a missing colleague, and he must learn the political and economic realities of this nation and its so-called “Dirty War,” according to press notes.
For Fontana, the movie is a special project because it’s his feature-film debut. The film has been a hit on the festival circuit, in particular at the Berlinale and New Directors / New Films, and now the thriller is being released by MUBI in theaters around the United States. The film is currently running at New York City’s IFC Center and opens this weekend in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal and Playhouse.
“Yes, it was very interesting and fascinating to work on such an ambitious project for a first feature film,” Fontana said during a recent Zoom interview. “In the meanwhile, I had two kids between the beginning and the final. My life changed, so it was a very long trip.”
The director began work on the project in 2015, and what drove him to write the script was his interest in the private banking world of Geneva (Fontana is a Swiss director who has spent a lot of time in Argentina, and the movie brings both cultures together). “My grandfather was a private banker in Geneva, and I didn’t know it before, but when he died, I began to be interested in this particular milieu and world he was coming from,” he said.
In Fontana’s estimation, when a nation experiences a coup d’état, bankers then turn up and start changing the new economy. He wanted to explore these circumstances as they happened in 1970s Argentina, which was a politically volatile time with much economic uncertainty.
“I’ve been living for a long time in Argentina,” Fontana said. “I knew the country. I would never shoot in this country without being able to know the country, and the language, I’m a perfect Spanish speaker. … The period was interesting for me in terms of history and also in terms of economy.”
To better understand the world of private banking in the 1970s, Fontana set out to research the time period and the war in Argentina, which featured a crushing dictatorship and disappearances of activists and residents. “I’ve been working two years and a half researching, not writing, only making the investigation,” he said. “Basically I was reading a lot, even going to Argentina, even living there for months, then meeting some people, maybe potential clients and also academics or professors.”
Now, with Azor in the can and being distributed around the United States and the globe, Fontana can look back on his debut film with nostalgic eyes, considering the lessons he learned along the way and examining his own desires to continue on this career path. “It was very interesting,” the filmmaker said of the experience. “I discovered that I was very happy when I was directing. … I hope it’s the first of many movies.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Azor, written and directed by Andreas Fontana, is now playing at New York City’s IFC Center. The movie will open Friday, Sept. 17 at the Laemmle Royal and Playhouse. Click here for more information.
