Fernando Solanas

Fernando Solanas
Film maker Fernando Pino Solanas on the set of Tangos: el exilio de Gardel (1985).
Born	(1936-02-16) 16 February 1936 (age 81) Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, politician
Years active	1962–present

Fernando Ezequiel 'Pino' Solanas (born 16 February 1936) is an Argentine film director, screenwriter and politician. His films include La hora de los hornos (1968), Tangos: el exilio de Gardel (1985), Sur (1988), El viaje (1992), La nube (1998) and Memorias del saqueo (2004), among many others.

Solanas studied theatre, music and law. In 1962, he directed his first short feature Seguir andando and in 1968 he covertly produced and directed his first long feature film La Hora de los Hornos, a documentary on neo-colonialism and violence in Latin America. The film won several international awards and was screened around the world. Solanas has won the Special Jury Award and the Critics Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Prix de la mise en scène at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1999 he was the President of the Jury at the 21st Moscow International Film Festival. He was awarded a special Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival. He collaborated with tango composer and musician Ástor Piazzolla on the soundtracks for various movies.

Solanas was at the forefront of the Grupo Cine Liberación that shook Argentine cinema in the 1970s, developing its social conscience and political voice. He was active in the campaign to support Perón. Threatened by right-wing forces in the 1970s, one of his actors was assassinated and he himself was almost kidnapped.