La León

La León is ostensibly about a lonely gay man (Román) who’s harassed by a virile village bully (Valenzuela) in the Paraná Delta, an isolated region of waterways and wetlands in northern Argentina. But the film’s most interesting aspect is the hauntingly beautiful depiction of this world and the isleños, its inhabitants. Santiago Otheguy shoots in black and white, with a style reminiscent of fellow South American Sebastião Salgado’s documentary photography; the director’s own experience working in documentaries is evinced by his ability to seemingly insert the viewer squarely within the isleños’ simple, quietly dignified lives.