SOLO
Artemio Benki | Argentina, Czech Republic, France, Austria 2019 | 85 Min.
Austrian Premiere
Since his collapse four years ago, the young Argentinian pianist and composer Martín has been a patient at the famous but controversial psychatric clinic in Latin America, El Borda. The former wonder child is trying to overcome his diagnosed schizoprenia to return to a life outside the hospital walls. Working on his new composition Enfermaria he tries to get back to the big concert stages.
Solo tells the unique yet universal story of a person driven by perfection and creativity, who draws his strength from his own fragility.
Director: Artemio Benki
Camera: Diego Mendizabal
Editing: Jeanne Oberson, Valeria Racioppi
Sound: Pablo Girosa, Miguel Tennina, Sebastian Lipsik, Benjamin Rosier, Olivier Dô Hùu
Producers: Arash T. Riahi, Karin C. Berger, Sabine Gruber
Screenings
L’ACID – Cannes, Frankreich/France
DokuFest Prizren, Kosovo
États généraux du film documentaire de Lussas, Frankreich/France
All About Freedom Festival, Gdansk, Polen/Poland
Écrans documentaires, Frankreich/France
Minsk “Listapad” International Film Festival, Weißrussland/Belarus
Gangneung International Film Festival, Korea
Belfort International Film Festival, Frankreich/France
Filmar en América Latina, Schweiz/Switzerland
FIPADOC Biarritz, Frankreich/France
Biography
Born in Paris, director and producer Artemio Benki started to work in media by the age of 13 as a freelance radio journalist. At age 18, he joined “L’Autre Journal” collaborating with Marguerite Duras and Herve Guibert. Benki first came to Prague in 1989 to make a short documentary about Roma refugees. From 1992, he permanently lived and worked in the Czech capital. His first feature-length documentary Solo, selected for the Cannes L’ACID programme and winner of several awards, was to be his last film. Artemio Benki died in Paris on 15 April 2020.
Filmography as Director
2001 / Island of the roof / (short film)
2006 / New generation / (short film)
2008 / The flower proof / (short film)
2019 / Solo (feature documentary)
