Argentina has an avid movie-going tradition dating as far back as the ‘20s, with its heyday during the ‘60s, when in addition to an abundant choice of film titles on general release, there were numerous film clubs and art houses, providing widespread access to both great historic films, and to the most important independent productions of the day from all over the world. A succession of economic and institutional crises has since then worryingly reduced these spaces in number, depriving new generations of the wide variety of viewing possibilities once within Argentinean audiences’ reach. 

In the long-term, malba.cinema’s work seeks to contribute towards rebuilding the powerful ties once linking the public to film culture, and to stimulate circulation, study and knowledge of local and international audio-visual production and its principal players.

Since first opening, the film area has acted on the principle of an ample and varied program. Not confining itself to showcasing cinema from the past, it grants a privileged position to important contemporary works otherwise denied an adequate place within traditional exhibition spaces. 

One of malba.cine’s main purposes is to collect, preserve, restore, and circulate films, documents, material and testimonies related to Latin American and world audiovisual production history. Its own film library, currently under construction, already contains important Argentinean and international film titles.  

malba.cinema plans its film series in permanent collaboration with Filmoteca Buenos Aires, one of the country’s most important film archives, and with the Asociación de Apoyo al Patrimonio Audiovisual. Together, we have recovered dozens of invaluable 35mm films from all stages in cinema history. 

After three years of existence, and its own growing and enthusiastic following, malba.cinema can justifiably claim to hold an important position within the city of Buenos Aires’ cultural scene. 

Cinemateca de Malba (Malba Film Library)

Using its own resources, Malba is financing the formation of a film library, already containing numerous important works. These works are shown in a monthly segment of malba.cinema’s program called Rescate del mes (Recovery of the Month).  This archive aims to draw public attention to the issue of the deterioration of film supports, and the importance of preservation; to generate resources to sustain and expand film conservation in Argentina; and to build a viable model for cooperation, establishing relations with relevant institutions for a conservation program on a national scale.  

malba.cinema\'s monthly program

malba.cinema’s monthly program is comprised of series in homage, series exploring a particular theme, international debuts, a film of the month, silent films with live music, late night films and special events.  

Publications

malba.cinema complements film screenings with special periodic publications, such as Diario de malba.cine, distributed free of charge, with a detailed description of all the area’s activities. It also publishes the biannual Clásicos de estreno catalog, in collaboration with APROCINAIN, which contains complete background information and comprehensive articles, most of them original, about the films that make up the series of the same name.