Viewing the short-films trilogy of 36-year old Argentine director Francisco Lezama might be compared to the experience of observing static objects that can also be part of a larger (and dynamic) scene. Think about the difference between a snapshot and a film, if you will. 

On their own, Lezama’s three short films — Frankenstein’s Bride (2015), Dear Renzo (2016), and An Odd Turn (2024 and a Berlinale Golden Bear winner) — depict particular stories of young people dealing with personal, economic, and idiomatic mishaps. Tales that, devoid of any context, could describe situations and problems affecting people in any part of the world.  

Yet seen as a whole, these quirky, dry comedies also provide a fair and progressive description of the recent economic crisis in Argentina. Specifically, these short films deal with the country’s daily obsession with the dollar rate, as well as a certain malaise amidst young people struggling with muffled personal and professional relationships. 

Three short films

In Frankenstein’s Bride, co-directed with Agostina Galvez, Ivana (Miel Bargman) works for an agency that rents apartments to tourists and provides translation and currency exchange services on the side. Dear Renzo, also made with Galvez, features Mariana (Laila Maltz) as a young catholic teacher who lands in NY and quickly finds herself with no money. She is “saved” by an Argentine film student (Renzo Cozza) who sublets a place from an Argentine girl who resells cheap H&M clothes in Buenos Aires. 

An Odd Turn, Lezama’s first solo effort, tells the story of Lucrecia (played by Maltz), a museum security guard who foresees a sharp rise in the dollar’s value via a pendulum she has. Scorned by her boss over a sexual incident at her job, she prefers to be fired and use the severance pay to buy cheap dollars and make money based on that forecast. 

Lucrecia gets in a casual-sex relationship with a young man (Paco Gorriz) who works as an informal dollar seller (known as arbolitos). He works on Florida street and also does house-calls to elderly women, with whom he also occasionally has sex with.  

This time, Lezama takes it up a notch connecting sexual desire with the fluency of money and dollar rates in a playful, rather innocent manner. Although the short has a narrative voiceover, he nevertheless maintains his regular use of luminous, uplifting cinematography and classical music — elements that seem a clear influence of New York-based Argentine filmmaker Matías Piñeiro. His deadpan approach to comedy, with characters delivering somewhat straight, emotionless dialogue brings to mind the work of Martín Rejtman, whose latest comedy The Practice is also currently playing in selected theaters in Buenos Aires.

And although Lezama’s constellation of themes seems to constantly include young people’s relationship with (and lack of) money, his work doesn’t look to turn obsession over profit into a positive zeitgeist. If anything, it’s the opposite. 

In his speech at the Berlinale earlier this year, Lezama praised the Argentine film institute (INCAA), noting that it was being “severely mistreated by Argentine president Javier Milei.” He also lauded other institutions that had a hand in his education, such as the Buenos Aires Film Museum, the library of state-run film school ENERC, and TV Pública for broadcasting Filmoteca, a show about movies hosted by film archivist Fernando Martín Peña. 

“Everything is measured in economic terms”, he said. “And if something doesn’t make money, they just shut it down.”

Lezama’s oeuvre will be available to see on the big screen throuhgout the rest of September at the MALBA museum starting on Sunday. Click here to check ticket prices and screening times.