HOW MOST THINGS WORK: Watch The Trailer For The Argentinean Indie

I write this from my hotel room in Argentina, where I have spent the past week on the Argentine Competition jury at the Mar Del Plata Film Festival. And while I am still somewhat limited in what I can and cannot say until we go through the deliberation process and the award winners are announced I think I'm safe in saying that Argentine cinema is in safe hands with the competition featuring a startling percentage of debut features from very promising new talents.

One of those talents is Fernando Salem, whose debut film How Most Things Work (Como Funcionan Casi Todas Las Cosas) blends typical South American social reality with just a touch of magical realism and a definite dose of American indie quirk.

In a tollbooth at the beginning of the Desert Route, Celina works where time seems suspended, even though her surroundings, that open perspective in the desolate landscape, seem to point to a new horizon. After her father's death, the main character in How Most Things Work embarks on that trip she was predestined to take, starting a drift -half road movie, half getaway- towards the search of decisive aspects of her family's identity. Maintaining the tone across different narrative levels, the first feature by Fernando Salem uses different resources -such as the interview and the intimist or contemplative narration- in order to sketch the inner and outer worlds of his character, achieving a one-of-a-kind density in each of the ideas that make the plot move forward. Shot entirely on location in the province of San Juan, in the departments of Albardón, Caucete and the Difunta Correa, How Most Things Work succeeds in making the immensity of the landscape become an essential travel companion.

We'll be running a full review of this and other titles once I am free to speak - and, honestly, I have no idea where the awards are going to fall as there are a solid handful of very deserving possibilities - but take a look at the trailer below. It definitely showcases more of the serious aspect to the film, but you'll get the idea.