El Pasado es un Animal Grotesco (The Past is a Grotesque Animal)

“The past is a grotesque animal/ and in its eyes you see/ how completely wrong you can be.” In these lyrics by Of Montreal, writer and director Mariano Pensotti found the title for his “mega-fiction,” which follows the lives of four characters from their mid-20s to their mid-30s in Buenos Aires in the early 2000s. The characters play out their lives on a circular stage that spins beneath their feet, guided by a narrative voiceover. Inspired by damaged photos collected from a lab, Pensotti captures the imperfect snapshot of a generation, exploring the ways in which people mythologize themselves and each other, their pasts changing shape each time they are remembered.