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The Director of the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema Was Fired

Statement of FIPRESCI Argentina

The Argentinean Branch of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) hereby repudiates the decision of the Secretary of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires, Dr. Gustavo López, to remove Eduardo Antín (Quintín) as the director of the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI).

FIPRESCI Argentina considers that López's reasoning regarding alleged incompatibility between Quintín's official position at the BAFICI and his private undertakings is inaccurate and has not even been dully explained to the people of Buenos Aires.

The decision to remove Quintín has nothing to do with his administration (unanimously acknowledged here and abroad) during the four years he headed the BAFICI, but is related to other reasons that were not revealed and are now disguised as an alleged "incompatibility between public and private duties".

FIPRESCI Argentina regrets not only the decision of the Secretary of Culture but also the untidy manner it was made and communicated to the responsible parties and the public opinion, which deserves outmost transparency in the decision making of public officials.

FIPRESCI Argentina wishes the new director of the BAFICI, Fernando Martín Peña, a great success in his new position and will strive to maintain the status the festival has reached during its six years of existence, both as a forum for showcasing the most diverse and amazing international artistic expressions as well as an international launching pad for the new, independent Argentinean production.

Buenos Aires, December 2, 2004

FIPRESCI Argentina: Diego Batlle, Horacio Bernades, Diego Brodersen, Jorge Carnevale, Gustavo J. Castagna, Flavia de la Fuente, Leonardo M. D'Espósito, Paula Félix-Didier, Diego Lerer, Leandro Listorti, Fernando López, Ezequiel Luka, Luciano Monteagudo, Gustavo Noriega, Marcelo Panozzo, Miguel Peirotti, Martín Pérez, Javier Porta Fouz, Quintín, Eduardo A. Russo, Pablo O. Scholz, Pablo Suárez and Sergio Wolf.

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