His stressful routine as a ministerial bodyguard and his lonely marginal life eventually causes Ruben to explode. Starring Julio Chavez (Epitafios, Red Bear, Extraño/Strange)
As el custodio, it’s Ruben’s duty to keep the Minister of Planning under constant surveillance. Although Ruben must always be present, he must also go completely un-noticed. A shadow, Ruben witnesses everything from the sidelines, as if life was passing by some meters away from him. Yet, despite his insider’s view, he never understands clearly what’s going on. Single Ruben is hardly even a protagonist of his own lonely life, involving a mentally unstable sister and a ditzy niece, the sale of illegal arms and cheap prostitutes. Plus the monotonous routine of being a bodyguard and the occasional humiliation from the Minister or his family… Some jobs result in almost replacing a life for another. Such pressure can ultimately explode. This is Ruben’s inevitable outcome.
EL CUSTODIO is Rodrigo Moreno’s first feature film. His original screenplay won the 2005 Sundance/NHK Award for Best Latin American Script.
Moreno collaborated as writer and director with Ulises Rosell and Andrés Tambornino on the 2002 feature EL DESCANSO (Sweet Repose), an offbeat comedy which won Best Film at Canada’s Images du Monde Festival. Moreno also wrote and directed COMPAÑEROS, the last segment of the 1998 episodic feature MALA EPOCA (Bad Times). Moreno had previously made several short films, his first being 1993’s NOSOTROS, which won Best Film at the Bilbao Festival (Spain), and which was also screened in the Berlin Festival Forum.
Moreno was born in Buenos Aires in 1972. He graduated from the directing program of the Argentinian capital’s Universidad del Cine, where he has been teaching screen-writing and directing since 1996.
Ruben / Julio Chavez /// The Minister / Osmar Nunez /// Lamas / Marcelo D’Andrea /// Delia (Minister’s Wife) / Elvira Onetto
Director & Scriptwriter / Rodrigo Moreno /// Director of Photography / Barbara Alvarez /// Art Director / Gonzalo Delgado Galiana /// Sound Design / Catriel Vildosola /// Editor / Nicolas Goldbart /// Producers / Hernan Musaluppi (Rizoma Films, Argentina) / Natacha Cervi (Rizoma Films, Argentina) / Luis Sartor (Zarlek Producciones, Argentina) /// Co-Producers / Christoph Friedel (Pandora Film, Germany) / Elise Jalladeau (Charivari Films, France) / Fernando Epstein (Control Z Films, Uruguay) / Maíz Producciones SA (Argentina)
FORMAT 35 mm / 1:1.85 / Colour Dolby Digital /
LENGTH 93 mins
Alfred Bauer Preis – Berlinale 2006 /// Golden Mayahuel for the best Iberoamerican film – Guadalajara 2006 ///
FIPRESCI Award – Guadalajara 2006 /// Best Film - Cine Ceará, Brasil /// Best Director - Cine Ceará, Brasil /// Best Actor- Cine Ceará, Brasil ///
Critics Award - Cine Ceará, Brasil /// Oscarcito - Cine Ceará, Brasil
