Born in Santiago del Estero, Argentina in 1914, Carlos Hugo Christensen
is considered one of the most prolific filmmakers in Latin American
history.
A pioneer in the film industry, his love of literature combined with a
forward-thinking attitude towards sexuality, resulted in a unique point
of view which infused Argentine cinema of the forties and fifties with
his trademark touch of audacity and veiled eroticism. Films such as
"SAFO, Historia De Una Pasión" (1943), where Mecha Ortiz and Roberto
Escalada smoked after an implied sexual encounter, or "El Ángel
Desnudo"(1946), where famed Argentinean screen goddess Olga Zubarry
bared her naked back to the camera in the first ever nude scene in
Argentine history, or "Adan y la Serpiente" (1946) where Tilda Thamar
exhibited a two piece bathing suit for the first time in Latin American
film, pushed the sexual envelope and sparked much controversy and
debate.
In 1954, Christensen's anti-Peron sentiments resulted in his political
exile from Argentina, as part of the largest persecution of the
artistic community and intellectual class in the country's history.
This landed Christensen in Brazil, where he completed the first
Technicolor film ever to be shot there, "Meus Amores No Rio," which was
nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film
Festival in 1959. A contemporary of world-renowned Argentinean author
Jorge Luis Borges, Christensen is the only director to have adapted
many of Borges' short stories to the screen, including the incendiary
"La Intrusa," a feature film centering on the relationship between two
homosexual gauchos (Argentine cowboys) which was banned from cinemas
throughout Latin America, but was the official selection representing
Brazil at the Montreal International Film Festival in 1980.
Within a career that spanned seven decades, he completed 55 films, most
of them comedies, melodramas or film noir, the majority of which he
wrote, directed and produced. His films have each garnered numerous
awards including Best Director and Best Film prizes, in countless
festivals and award ceremonies throughout the world. Among his many
cinematic distinctions, some of the most internationally notable
include: Grand Prize of the Festival (Nomination), Cannes Int'l Film
Festival for "La Ballandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde" (1951); Venice
International Film Festival, Official Selection, Brazil, for "Maos
Sangrentas" (1955); Golden Berlin Bear (Nomination), Berlin Int'l Film
Festival for "Meus Amores No Rio" (1959).
Although best known for his film work, Christensen was also an
accomplished poet, publishing his first volume of poetry "El Libro del
Primer Amor" at the tender age of 18. His next poetic compilation "El
Mar Ante La Playa," was published to great critical acclaim shortly
after, as was his first short story "Adolescencia." Armed with literary
success, he abandoned his studies at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras
(University of Philosophy and Letters) in Buenos Aires, and began
working as a journalist. From there he moved on to radio, then to
writing and directing plays, and finally to what he is best known for,
film. He continued to write poetry throughout his life; his final book
of poetry "Poemas Para Os Amigos," was published shortly before his
death in 1999.
Among the innumerable personal honors and tributes he has received, the
final one to date came shortly before his death, at the 18th Festival
des 3 Continents, in Nantes (France), where 8 of his feature films were
selected to screen as part of an exhibit dedicated to melodrama in
Argentinean cinema. Posthumously, he has continued to screen around the
world, most recently, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His
multi award-winning film "La Ballandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde" will
screen in Los Angeles in June 2007 as the only Spanish Language
offering of the 21st Annual Last Remaining Seats Series, alongside
"North by Northwest," "Roman Holiday," "Flesh and the Devil," "Yankee
Doodle Dandy," and "Scarface."
