Leandro Listorti

Argentina

22min

11 Chapters

Spanish

Synopsis

Driven by an obsession to collect materials without any clear aim, Leandro Listorti films his work, letting time decide the purpose of his images, hoping that they will come to life in a future project. The Argentinian filmmaker describes his transition from fiction to documentary film, searching for authenticity and creative freedom.

In Herbaria (2022), he mixes his love of plants with his profession as an archivist and filmmaker, crystallising his unique vision of cinema. His innovative approach challenges narrative and temporal conventions, turning uncertainty into an evocative art form. The interview illustrates this process in detail, emphasising his ability to convert disparate parts into a poetic and meaningful story.

Chapters

1.
Why are you making films?
2.
What does working in the archive mean for you as a filmmaker?
3.
What inspires you to create a film?
4.
Is the structure of a film analogous to that of a personal relationship?
5.
Absence appears to be a theme that runs throughout Herbaria and the rest of your filmography.
6.
How do your films get written?
7.
In Herbaria, how did you balance material constraints with the need to document a living process?
8.
Herbaria represents an indefinite time between the present and the past. What were your thoughts about it?
9.
How do you handle the transition from writing to editing?
10.
What was it like filming a documentary in 16mm?
11.
How do you balance your personal and professional lives?

Bio

Film director, programmer and archivist born in Argentina. Since 2015 he has been in charge of the Technical Coordination of the Film Museum of Buenos Aires. He made a series of short films in Super 8 screened at international festivals such as the Edinburgh Film Festival, Anthology Film Archive and Ann Arbor. His first feature film "Los jóvenes muertos" (2010) premiered at IDFA and was part of Viennale and Doclisboa among others.