Eduardo "Quintín" Antín has been removed from the direction of the Buenos Aires International Film Festival of Independent Cinema (BAFICI). In the last days "Quintín" was named director of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival of Independent Cinema (MARFICI), that it is a version of the BAFICI but it has private contributions. The authorities of the Government of Buenos Aires, who organize the BAFICI, considered that the attitude of Eduardo Antín does not correspond with the profile of the Festival.

The Culture Secretary of Buenos Aires designated Fernando Martín Peña as the new Fest Director of the BAFICI. Peña is a film critic and a famous film collector who integrates APROCINAIN, the association dedicated to rescueing and restoring film copies. He is the current programmer of the Latinamerican Art Museum of Buenos Aires (MalBA). Peña said that he will not change the profile of the festival, but he will try to open the Festival to a new ideological order. He announced that the present staff of the Festival will stay onboard and the program of the next edition will be reduced.

The BAFICI was created in 1999 by Ricardo Manetti who was at the time Cultural Industries Secretary of Buenos Aires. In its first two editions the film festival was directed by Andrés Di Tella, and the next four editions were headed by Eduardo "Quintín" Antín.
By Fernando Madedo
for FilmFestivals.com