San Sebastian | "Acne" puts Uruguay on the map
by John Hopewell and Team Variety
The poster for “Acne” made a splash-let at Cannes: a curly-haired 13-year-old boy lies on a bed and peers between a woman’s splayed legs. He doesn’t look to overjoyed. In fact, he seems a little worried.
“Acne” was a standout in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. It turned up again in a strong Horizontes Latinos section at San Sebastian. “Acne”’s set in those endless borderlands between child- and adulthood. The way Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj has it, they’re a pretty inhospitable place.
The protagonist, Rafael Bregman, sees his parent’s divorce; his best friend goes to live in Israel; his maid relieves him of his virginity, while he looks on like a patient receiving local anesthetic surgery. Above all, Rafael sports bursting wowser acne, the sort that suggests that, yes, alien life has fallen on earth, and taken up residence on his face.
“Acne” has remarkable recall of pure adolescence. Rafael practices kissing by snogging his own arm; he jots down tips from his friends about how to talk to girls. It’s shot by mostly hugging up to the protagonist but pulling away twice to long-shot in two crucial scenes, as if to suggest they’re fixed in Bregman’s memory. And it has that typical deadpan Uruguayan humor - think “25 Watts” and “Whisky” - as if its official film school were run by the Kaurismaki brothers.
They’re only three films, says Veiroj, interviewed at San Sebastian. Other Uruguayan movies are different. “It’s difficult to talk about a Uruguayan sense of humor, like you can talk about an English sense of humor.”
Feeling like Hugh Grant repping “Horse & Hounds” in “Notting Hill,” I probe lead Alejandro Tocar - remarkably facially spotless, but maybe he travels with a cosmetologist - if he’s planning a career in acting, Jean-Pierre Leaud style.
He’d be delighted to have another role, he says in perfect English. But a career might be difficult: Uruguay makes only two-to-four films a year. And he wants to stay in Uruguay. But Uruguayan production is growing. “In the last eight years or so productions are up, partly because they’ve gone well at festivals,” says Veiroj. A Uruguayan Film Institute launches next year.
Maybe Tosar will get a career. Certainly, Variety must get a handle on Uruguay. Especially if its next films are as good as “Acne.”
Read Variety's review of "Acne" here.
The poster for “Acne” made a splash-let at Cannes: a curly-haired 13-year-old boy lies on a bed and peers between a woman’s splayed legs. He doesn’t look to overjoyed. In fact, he seems a little worried.“Acne” was a standout in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. It turned up again in a strong Horizontes Latinos section at San Sebastian. “Acne”’s set in those endless borderlands between child- and adulthood. The way Uruguayan director Federico Veiroj has it, they’re a pretty inhospitable place.
The protagonist, Rafael Bregman, sees his parent’s divorce; his best friend goes to live in Israel; his maid relieves him of his virginity, while he looks on like a patient receiving local anesthetic surgery. Above all, Rafael sports bursting wowser acne, the sort that suggests that, yes, alien life has fallen on earth, and taken up residence on his face.
“Acne” has remarkable recall of pure adolescence. Rafael practices kissing by snogging his own arm; he jots down tips from his friends about how to talk to girls. It’s shot by mostly hugging up to the protagonist but pulling away twice to long-shot in two crucial scenes, as if to suggest they’re fixed in Bregman’s memory. And it has that typical deadpan Uruguayan humor - think “25 Watts” and “Whisky” - as if its official film school were run by the Kaurismaki brothers.
They’re only three films, says Veiroj, interviewed at San Sebastian. Other Uruguayan movies are different. “It’s difficult to talk about a Uruguayan sense of humor, like you can talk about an English sense of humor.”
Feeling like Hugh Grant repping “Horse & Hounds” in “Notting Hill,” I probe lead Alejandro Tocar - remarkably facially spotless, but maybe he travels with a cosmetologist - if he’s planning a career in acting, Jean-Pierre Leaud style.
He’d be delighted to have another role, he says in perfect English. But a career might be difficult: Uruguay makes only two-to-four films a year. And he wants to stay in Uruguay. But Uruguayan production is growing. “In the last eight years or so productions are up, partly because they’ve gone well at festivals,” says Veiroj. A Uruguayan Film Institute launches next year.
Maybe Tosar will get a career. Certainly, Variety must get a handle on Uruguay. Especially if its next films are as good as “Acne.”
Read Variety's review of "Acne" here.
Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com. 
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