Having worked as a housekeeper all her life, Justina inherits from her former employer an enormous castle in the middle of the Argentine pampas. The only condition is that she must never leave.
Justina (60) and her daughter Alexia (20) moved from the city to this desolate paradise, where they eke out a living. Like a clock ticking down, the cows are sold off one by one to repair the leaky roofs and pay expenses. Alexia finds a job in the city and asks her mother to come with her but knows deep down she won’t.
The Castle allows us to share the last months that mother and daughter spend together in a bittersweet fairy tale offering promises of salvation, as both the protagonists and the audience wonder just how far the absurdity of our class society can go?
Martín Benchimol (Argentina, 1985) is a director, screenwriter and cinematographer.
“El Castillo” (co-production between Argentina and France) is his first feature film as a solo director. He previously directed the short film “A Robust Heart”, produced by PFilm (UK) and Sandbox Films (USA) recently released at IDFA. He also directed “El Espanto” (Best Mid Length film at IDFA) and “La gente del río”, premiered at Dok Leipzig, both in duo with Pablo Aparo.
2012 La gente del río
2017 El Espanto
