Rejtman’s legendary feature debut became an instant cult sensation, immediately recognized as an authentic, iconic harbinger of a new sensibility in Argentine and Latin American filmmaking. Rapado boldly announced Rejtman’s signature laconic style with its restrained camera work, zero-degree performance style, crisply distilled dialogue and its careful structure of repetitions that both abstract and intensify the largely nocturnal world tightly contained within it. A close adaptation of the title entry from Rejtman’s eponymous collection of short stories, Rapado follows two, or perhaps three, days and late nights in the life of a young man still stuck at home and enervated by the pregnant decisions that seem to weigh down his every action. A droll and melancholy comedy of delayed reaction that captures the loneliness of the corner store and video arcade, Rapado’s poignant rendering of directionless youth merits comparison to the late, desolate masterworks of Aki Kaurismaki.

In his recent featurette, co-directed with Federico Leon, Rejtman offers a charming and witty essay about spontaneity, personality and performance that beautifully compliments the deadpan theatricality of his earlier films. Focused on an acting class for grade school children led by an exceptionally fervent instructor, Elementary Training unfolds a series of intense yet disarmingly simple exercises that awaken the children to the performative dimensions of everyday life.