Kossakovsky's 'Antipodas' to open Argentine fest

BUENOS AIRES - Russian helmer Victor Kossakovsky's "Vivan las Antipodas!" (Long Live the Antipodes!) will open the 26th Mar del Plata Film Festival, Latin America's only Fiapf category A fest, on Nov. 5. The docu, playing out of competition, explores the world through antipodal locations -- located 180-degrees opposite from each other on the globe, from Argentina and China to Spain and New Zealand. Organizers of Mar del Plata, which runs Nov. 5-13, will announce the lineup for the international competish in the coming days. The first films unveiled have included a 10-pic Argentina competition and a 16-title works-in-progress sidebar. Both lineups are loaded with films from first-time and emerging directors, an effort seen by observers of the fest for the event to find its own niche in regard to the regional pre-eminence of the Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Film, now the biggest in the country. Among the pics from tyro directors are Veronica Rocha's village docu "Ferroviarios" (Railroad Workers), Sebastian Caulier's black comedy "La inocencia de la arana" (The Innocence of the Spider), Maria Eugenia Sueiro's sibling tale "Nosotras sin mama" (Us Without Mom) and Nicolas Gil Lavedra's "Verdades verdaderas. La vida de Estela" (True Truths. Estela's Life), a docu about human-rights activist Estela Carlotto. Other titles are Nicanor Loreti's boxing thriller "Diablo," Mariano Galperin's teen romance "Dulce de leche," Dario Doria's dancing docu "Elsa y su ballet" and Baltazar Tokman's parenting expose "Planetario" (Planetary). The work-in-progress section includes "Mujer conejo," a thriller by Veronica Chen ("Water"); and "Mujer Lobo" by Tamae Garateguy, whose gangster movie "Pompeya" won the Argentina competition in the previous edition of the event. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com