Pablo Briones
Film director | Working with non-actors | Blurring the boundaries between doc & fiction
Baracoa
Switzerland / Spain / United States, 2019
Fiction, Documentary, 90 min.
Hot summer has come to their tiny village in the Cuban countryside, Leonel and Antuán intimately explore their universe far from adults. With a considerable difference in age, their unique friendship is torn between games and fights, conversations about everyday life, existentialist questions, simple pleasures, and boredom. As his older friend is drawn to the busy life of the city, Leonel is forced to examine his life and place in the world.
Pezcal
Switzerland / Spain, 2016
Fiction, 11 min.
Taking care of pigeons, going fishing, being friends…
A day in the life of Leonel and Antuán, two young boys
living in the Cuban countryside.
Les Traces
Switzerland, 2020
Documentary, 13 min.
Domitila has been an undocumented domestic worker living in Geneva for more than 20 years. After losing her daughter, she finds herself in an unprecedented economic and social precariousness.
Ramón y el río
Switzerland / Spain, 2023
Documentary, 12 min.
Drifting through the jungle, Ramón embarks on the final stages of grieving for his long-deceased wife.
A beira de Lisboa
Switzerland, 2013
Documentary, 8 min.
During low tides, the Tagus estuary is an extraordinary place. The boats are resting on the sand. The neck of the river is revealed, black and thick. Vasco da Gama’s bridge seems to move toward the continent. On the horizon, we can vaguely see some silhouettes. Sometimes those are flamingos. At other times, those are clam gleaners coming to work by hundreds.
A barca
Switzerland, 2015
Experimental, 21 min.
The passage of time, of the river, of the clouds. Hundreds of people rush to board a boat that will take them to work. Behind them, the dormitory town: a space beyond time where landscape and identity are ardently shaped by the ambiguities of the world of work.
“A rewarding film, a study of urban spaces that acutely evokes the loneliness of childhood. To watch these young kids is to briefly immerse yourself in a reverie.“
Phuong Le – The Guardian
“Le cinéaste argentin Pablo Briones séduit avec un film sensible et esthétique.”
Maroussia Dubreuil – Le Monde
“Les lieux nourrissent l’imaginaire des enfants, les enfants leur redonnent vie. Leonel et Antuán s’inventent grâce au regard de l’autre, oscillant entre la rudesse et une grande douceur.”
Louis Séguin – Cahiers du Cinéma
“Cuba vue par des yeux d’enfants et filmée par un disciple argentin d’Abbas Kiarostami, c’est Baracoa, premier beaux long métrage de Pablo Briones.”
Antoine Guillot – France Culture
“Libre cours aux jeux spontanés et réactions imprévisibles des enfants, notamment lorsqu’il s’agit de la crainte de la solitude, de l’avenir et de la transition vers l’adolescence.”
Cécile Marchand Ménard – Télérama
“Un peu inégal, le film a une jolie touche de spontanéité et un regard (à la Wim Wenders) sur les paysages de ruines – magnifiés par la rêverie des gosses.”
François Forestier – L’OBS
“A delicate and determined film, just like the protagonist’s personalities.”
Giorgia Del Don – Cineuropa
“Émouvant, profond, révélateur, et pas toujours tendre, un film excellent à l’image de l’enfance.”
Marie Brieulé – Tënk
“BARACOA is among the 10 best documentary films of the past 10 years.”
José Manuel Cruz – CineArte
“Aux marges du documentaire et de la fiction, BARACOA est un film fragile et précieux.”
Stéphane Gobbo – Le Temps
“Quel beau film ! Un film très organique qui nous immerge, qui nous replonge, dans le monde de l’enfance.”
Raphaële Bouchet – Vertigo
“Il y a une telle justesse de jeux, une telle sincérité de ces deux garçons ! Il fallait le faire. Je pense que Pablo Briones est un réalisateur très prometteur.”
Raphaële Bouchet – RTS
“Un portrait sensible et intimiste. Un joyau qui laisse le cœur gonflé de larmes.”
Bernard Madoré – Les Écrans Terribles
“Pablo Briones saisit avec une acuité particulièrement frappante ce mélange de complicité et de cruauté que les enfants charrient dans leurs plus belles années.”
Pascal Gavillet – TdG
“BARACOA saisit avec lucidité le moment de l’enfance qui touche à sa fin. Un film envoûtant.”
VAD – Arcinfo
“BARACOA is one of the most watched films we premiered online in 2020.”
Doc Alliance Films – DAFilms.com
“Un film molto originale, una specie di Huckleberry Finn cubano.”
Marco Zucchi – Telegiornale RSI + Podcast
“La découverte d’un cinéaste argentin talentueux qui nous envoie des images d’un Cuba contemporain bien loin de celles de Wenders.”
Jean-Max Méjean – Il était une fois le cinéma
“We were all very moved and impressed by BARACOA. The film is marvelous.”
Mad Mikkelsen – CPH:DOX*
“Avec sa forme surprenante et énigmatique, A BARCA m’a totalement envouté.”
Luciano Barisone – Visions du Réel’15
“À BEIRA DE LISBOA a été notre coup de cœur.”
Miguel Valverde – IndieLisboa’13
Biography
Pablo Briones is an Argentinian-Swiss film director working in a liminal space between documentary and fiction.
After studying cinema at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, he graduated with a Master in Film Direction from ECAL/HEAD, Switzerland.
In 2016, he took part of a workshop in Cuba leaded by the late Abbas Kiarostami and running at EICTV. More recently, in 2022, he participated in a Lab in the Peruvian Amazon leaded by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
His shorts «À beira de Lisboa», «A barca», «Pezcal» and «Traces» earned recognition at many festivals such as Locarno Film Festival, Visions du Réel, Ji.hlava and Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen.
His feature film «Baracoa» was nominated for the Best Doc Award at Berlinale 2019 and won the Youth Award at Sheffield Doc/Fest and the Audience Award at Málaga Film Festival.
+++
Filmography
BARACOA, 90 min, 2019
Berlinale ’69 Generation 2019
Locarno FF Panorama 2019
CPH:DOX* Highlights 2019
+++
RAMÓN Y EL RÍO, 12 min, 2023
FIDBA Buenos Aires 2023
Kasseler Dok Fest 2023
Cannes Group show 2023
+++
LES TRACES, 13 min, 2020
Huesca International FF 2020
Kurtzfilmtage Winterthur 2020
La Guarimba FF 2020
+++
PEZCAL, 11 min, 2016
Locarno Film Festival 2016
Havana Film Festival 2016
Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen 2017
+++
A BARCA, 21 min, 2015
Visions du Réel 2015
Jihlava IDFF 2015
Arkipel Jakarta 2015
+++
À BEIRA DE LISBOA, 8 min, 2013
IndieLisboa 2013
ZINEBI Bilbao2013
FIDBA Buenos Aires 2013
+++
Awards & Nominations
Best Documentary
Nominee Berlinale 2019
& Cristal Bear Nominee
for BARACOA
Audiance Award
Málaga Film Festival 2019
for BARACOA
Youth Award
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019
for BARACOA
Best Director Award
Festival da Fronteira 2023
for BARACOA
Best Cinematography Award
Festival da Fronteira 2023
for BARACOA
Incentive Award
FIDBA DOC:LAB 2023
for RAGAZZI AL FIUME (wip)
Best Documentary Award
Zinebi 2013
for A BEIRA DE LISBOA
Special Mention
FIDBA 2020
International Short Competition
for LES TRACES
+++
“Because I feel life inside of me”
Leonel in BARACOA