News of culture

Twist in Homo Argentum tale – Milei’s new fave film did get state funding

Today 10:56 President’s praise for Guillermo Francella’s new movie collides with revelations that the blockbuster received support from Buenos Aires City government.

THEATRE

An interactive Dracula

14-08-2025 17:41 ‘Dracula – a Gothic tale reimagined’; by The Suburban Players; Directed by Peter Macfarlane, MBE; Centro Cultural San Isidro, Av. del Libertador 16138, San Isidro.

by Michael Soltys

FEATURE

Challenging overfishing: The craft fishers of Peninsula Valdés

26-07-2025 06:02 At Península Valdés in Argentina’s south, a group of artisanal fishers practise a daily craft which runs counter to the voracity of extractive industry. From a fishing province, they are rescuing a trade requiring patience and risk in a protected area many today view as under threat. A look at it’s like to work in a North Patagonian gulf, in crystal-clear waters, where whales follow motorboats as dogs run after the wheels of a lorry.

TV & STREAMING

‘There are many Menems – it’s hard to know which one he is’

16-07-2025 13:02 Director Ariel Winograd and actor Leonardo Sbaraglia discuss the new Prime Video original series about former president Carlos Menem.

by Juan Manuel Dominguez

DINO REPLICA IN RECOLETA

Patagotitan Mayorum: Replica of largest dinosaur in world at Recoleta park

14-07-2025 12:23 Replica skeleton of Patagotitan Mayorum, one of the most important finds of world palaeontology, will be on display at Recoleta’s Parque Thays until the end of August.

by Enrique Garabetyan

HISTORY & CULTURE

Peñico: Peruvian citadel that is nearly 4,000 years old opens doors to tourists

14-07-2025 10:20 Site of 3,800-year-old citadel from the Caral civilisation, one of the oldest in the world and located in northern Peru, opens to the public after eight years of scientific studies and restoration work.

As I see it

Do smartphones make people stupid?

12-07-2025 06:51 For a long time it was taken for granted that headlong technological progress would greatly benefit youngsters by providing them with a cornucopia of educational resources that had been denied to previous generations.

by James Neilson

TV & STREAMING

New Carlos Menem series hits the small screen

09-07-2025 17:09 Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service premieres new series about Argentina’s former president Carlos Menem, who led the nation from 1989 to 1999, on Independence Day.

ICONIC CITY VENUE

Luna Park redevelopment plan unveiled with 2027 target

07-07-2025 14:51 DF Entertainment and Live Nation announce plan to renovate iconic Buenos Aires venue; Late 2027 target for reopening; More than 150 shows a year planned, historic façade preserved.

IN TRIBUTE

The final symphony: Honouring Lalo Schifrin

27-06-2025 15:27 A public tribute to the late Lalo Schifrin by the co-author of his final symphony, maestro Rod Schejtman.

by Rodrigo Schejtman

OBITUARY

'Mission: Impossible' composer Lalo Schifrin dies aged 93

27-06-2025 14:10 Buenos Aires-born composer Lalo Schifrin, who created themes for a host of hit Hollywood films and television shows, has died at the age of 93.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Poll finds public turning to AI bots for news updates

16-06-2025 20:39 People are increasingly turning to generative artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT to follow day-to-day news.

POLITICS & CULTURE

Milei’s changes at state children’s channel sparks controversy

05-06-2025 18:08 Controversy erupts in Argentina as libertarian animated series lands on state channel Paka Paka; Critics accuse Milei administration of seeking to impose ideology on the nation's kids.

ART & DIPLOMACY

Brush with censorship: Milei-critical artist has work taken down at Beijing Embassy

04-06-2025 13:00 Dozens of artworks were due to be presented at Argentina’s Embassy in China. Among them was a painting by Verónica Gómez, who in the past incorporated Jaiver Milei and Karina Milei into her art. For that reason, it was ordered to be taken down.

by Juan Luis González

DISCREDIT & DISTRACTION

Darín and Milei’s online army: empanadas or rotten fish

27-05-2025 14:43 Argentina’s government, along with its army of online trolls and sympathetic journalists, used the price of empanadas to mock Ricardo Darín and distract from the economic crisis. Viral mockery and aligned media coverage helped them avoid talking about frozen wages, austerity, and the loss of purchasing power.

by Nicolás Gonzalez

BOOKS & LITERATURE

Figures hint at deepening crisis for Argentina’s publishing market

26-05-2025 16:23 Annual report by Cámara Argentina del Libro – which represents more than 500 national publishers, bookshops, and distributors – reveals a decline both in the number of new titles and in print runs; Around three-quarters of publications are produced in and around Buenos Aires.

by Omar Genovese

BOOKS & LITERATURE

Things ain’t what they used to be – and nor were they then

23-05-2025 15:12 'Crisis social, pandemia y colonialismo inglés: una mirada de la Argentina a través del sainete y del seminario Don Quijote de Eduardo Sojo'; by Victoria Cox, Ediciones Diotima, 2024, 96 pages.

by Michael Soltys

PRESS FREEDOM

Argentina imposes new limits on Casa Rosada press accreditation

23-05-2025 14:18 Number of reporters allowed at press conferences to be tightened and questions must be pre-approved; Areas of Casa Rosada now declared off-bounds, dress code introduced.

PRESS FREEDOM

Photographer freed after being violently detained at protest

22-05-2025 15:10 An AFP collaborator, photojournalist Tomas Cuesta, was freed in Buenos Aires Monday after he was detained with three other people at a pensioners' march that saw clashes with police.

‘Information war’

Experts and diplomats unite to fight disinformation threat

13-05-2025 10:40 European diplomats, journalists and fact-checking specialists sound the alarm at international forum on disinformation in Buenos Aires.

by Cecilia Degl'Innocenti

Community

Pioneering women’s ed club celebrates 90th year

09-05-2025 18:39 University Women’s Club of Buenos Aires enters tenth decade, celebrates with new exhibition marking its rich history at UCA library.

by Michael Soltys

FERIA DEL LIBRO 2025

Milei phenomenon dominates 49th edition of Buenos Aires book fair

09-05-2025 08:47 The 49th edition of Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires has been – as was the case last year – dominated by President Javier Milei and his impact.

FILM & CINEMA

Fear and loathing: Trump film threat shocks Latin America

07-05-2025 23:25 Trump's threat to slap tariffs on foreign-made movies leaves Latin America's burgeoning film industry baffled and fearful.

EDUCATION

Literacy crisis: Less than half of kids under nine meet reading standards

07-05-2025 11:00 Argentina’s Education Secretariat publishes first results from Aprender assessment under Milei administration. Provinces of Formosa and Córdoba achieved strongest results, Chaco at bottom of ranking.

STREAMING HIT

‘El Eternauta’ tops Netflix global chart for non-English series

06-05-2025 22:17 El Eternauta is the most-watched non-English-language series on Netflix worldwide, the streaming platform said on Tuesday.

BRUNO STAGNARO INTERVIEW

‘El Eternauta’ director Bruno Stagnaro confirms season two in works

05-05-2025 13:06 The man behind ‘Okupas’ and ‘Un gallo para Esculapio’ became a fan at the age of 10 when he was gifted the comic. Four decades later, he has turned it into a hit series for Netflix. Already the most-watched title in Argentina on the streaming platform, a second season is in the works, reveals Bruno Stagnaro.

by Ernesto Ise

POLITICS & MEDIA

Milei administration intensifies offensive against press

03-05-2025 10:23 President Javier Milei’s government is presenting the media and journalists to voters as the “new caste” and has decided to ramp up its attacks on reporters; New attack attempts to associate them with “lies” and “defamation,” with one online ally even calling for one journalist to be jailed.

by Pablo Varela

MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Milei severely damaging press freedom in Argentina, says watchdog

02-05-2025 11:16 Report by Reporters Without Borders NGO puts Argentina in 87th place – since Milei’s arrival in office, nation has dropped 47 places on annual global press freedom ranking.

STREAMING & SERIES

Netflix’s 'El Eternauta' echoes fight against tyranny, says Darín

30-04-2025 21:20 Ricardo Darín defends Buenos Aires from an alien attack in new Netflix series 'El Eternauta,' based on the legendary graphic novel written by Héctor Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano López.

FERIA DEL LIBRO 2025

Culture secretary heckled at inauguration of BA Book Fair

25-04-2025 13:21 Writers hold up signs bearing Osvaldo Bayer’s image as Culture Secretary Leonardo Cifelli is met with jeers at the opening of the 49th edition of the Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires.

Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Book Fair returns with Middle East tint

24-04-2025 18:34 Forty-ninth edition of Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires returns to La Rural, running until May 12.

by Julia Malyszko

PRESIDENT & THE PRESS

Milei ramps up attacks on ‘hitman’ journalists in online rant

20-04-2025 16:15 President brands critical journalists “hitmen” and “lying trash,” targets 'La Nación' columnist by name in latest rant, drawing rebuke from press freedom groups.

THEATRE

A nose for theatre

18-04-2025 17:57 ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ by Edmond Rostand, translated by Brian Hooker; Directed by Simon Chater; Suburban Players at The Playhouse, San Isidro.

by Michael Soltys

OBITUARY

Mario Vargas Llosa: Peruvian Nobel-winning novelist

13-04-2025 23:25 As one of Latin America’s foremost writers and intellectuals, Mario Vargas Llosa defended individual liberty, democracy and the free market, which often put him at odds with his peers and political leaders in the region.

LITERARY LEGEND DIES

Mario Vargas Llosa, Latin American literary heavyweight, dies at 89

13-04-2025 23:15 Mario Vargas Llosa has died in Lima at the age of 89, confirms family; Nobel literature laureate is considered to be one of the greats of Latin America's literary "boom" of the 1960s and 1970s.

TV & STREAMING

‘El Eternauta’: Secrets behind Argentina’s most long-awaited adaptation

08-04-2025 14:58 Eagerly awaited adaptation of Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López’s classic comic 'El Eternauta' débuts on Netflix on April 30. A look behind-the-scenes of the new series starring Ricardo Darín.

by Juan Manuel Dominguez

ART & CULTURE

Youthful promise overflows at Teatro Colón

08-04-2025 12:34 Precocious talent on full display at Teatro Colón as Orquesta Aeropuertos Argentina celebrates its 10-year anniversary in style.

by Michael Soltys

BOOK REVIEW

Will we always have Paris?

21-03-2025 11:11 ‘Buenos Aires, The Biography of a City’ by James Gardner, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2015, 245 pages.

by Michael Soltys

ART & CULTURE

MALBA presents new Guillermo Kuitca exhibition

17-03-2025 17:42 'Kuitca 86' – New Guillermo Kuitca exhibition at MALBA revisits 1980s from a contemporary perspective, delving into the artist's work from the era.

by Rosario Bernasconi

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Argentines ditch dining out as Milei’s policies strengthen peso

12-03-2025 13:58 President’s self-titled “shock therapy” of economic policies are making the country’s currency so expensive it’s doubled dinner tabs at restaurants that were booming not so long ago.

MEDIA & JOURNALISM

A 'mute' button for pesky reporters? Milei mulls new media rules

07-03-2025 10:10 Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni says government is considering installing a "mute" button for press conferences and letting members of the public vote on who should gain access.

ROYALTIES ROW

Milei government deregulates collection of author’s royalties

05-03-2025 10:46 President Javier Milei government orders deregulation of the collection of authorship royalties in Argentina, whose processing was previously obliged to pass through a society for artists but can now be transmitted without intermediation.

FILM & LITERATURE

Latin American classics get the streaming treatment

25-02-2025 10:54 Decades on from the Latin American literary boom that took magical realism to the wider world, several notable artworks and comic books – including ‘Mafalda’ and ‘El Eternauta’ – are being given a new lease of life on streaming platforms.

BUENOS AIRES CITY

Renovation of Luna Park approved by commission

21-02-2025 10:48 Controversial proposal to renovate Luna Park venue in Buenos clears first round of approval; Heritage organisations voice warning for iconic symbol of city’s cultural and athletic history.

by Zella Milfred

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Milei’s chainsaw slashes funds for science, research institutes

01-02-2025 09:12 President Javier Milei’s government has drastically reduced the budgets of the CONICET scientific research council, INTA agricultural technology body and ARSAT satellite firm – now entire programmes are being eliminated.

by Andrea Gentil

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei's Marxist culture wars

18-01-2025 06:33 The rise of characters such as Donald Trump in the US, and Milei here in Argentina, is directly tied to their level of political incorrectness and they’ve become equally savage in pushing culturally as far as they can in the other direction.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ART

Small Uruguayan town of Garzón seeks place on international art map

06-01-2025 13:19 It may not be the most obvious location for an international art festival, but Pueblo Garzón is a small town with big ambitions to join the world's cultural hotspots.

FILM & CINEMA

'I'm Still Here': Oscar buzz for ode to Brazil resistance

02-01-2025 16:26 Honoured in Venice, Brazilian film 'I'm Still Here' is a contender for a Golden Globe this Sunday and even possibly for the Oscars. Its director Walter Salles and star Fernanda Torres explains why this cinematic a message of "resistance" is important amid a rise in support for the far right.

OBITUARY

Lanata: A man who redefined journalism in Argentina

01-01-2025 17:39 Mastering a very particular style, Jorge Lanata’s wide-ranging journalistic track record took him to newspapers, radio and television. The founder of the 'Página/12' newspaper in the 1980s and the star of 'Periodismo Para Todos' combined creativity with his passion for research.