Lisandro Alonso's 2001 debut La libertad opened up the possibilities of a new kind of filmmaking, freed from traditional definitions of documentary and fiction, and transfixed with observing the natural world as well as the human. Deep in the Argentine pampas, a young woodcutter goes about his daily life amidst the trees: cutting down branches, sweating in the sun, eating by the fire, napping in the woods, all without a single other human in sight. Alonso's camera follows him like a second shadow, carefully observing a life either cursed or liberated by solitude. “One lives half his life in a routine no one notices,” states Alonso. “I wanted to record those minimal moments so that upon seeing them one may rethink what one is doing with his own life.”-Jason Sanders

• Written by Alonso. Photographed by Cobi Migliora. With Misael Saavedra, Humberto Estrada, Rafael Estrada, Omar Didino. (73 mins, In Spanish with English subtitles, Color, 35mm, From the artist)

Preceded by short:
Cheese (Mika Rottenberg, U.S., 2008). This work from Argentine video artist Mika Rottenberg, presented at the Whitney Biennial, sets the Rapunzel fairy tale deep in farm country, as six long-locked women “milk” their hair to make cheese. (16 mins, Color, Digibeta, From Flaherty on the Road)