La Salada

Argentina’s bustling La Salada, an enormous discount market just outside of Buenos Aires, provides the nucleus for Juan Martin Hsu’s understated directorial debut. His ensemble cast includes Korean, Taiwanese, and Bolivian immigrants to Argentina, whose experiences converge and dance parallel to one another with equal parts poignancy and banality. Bruno, newly arrived from Bolivia, strikes up an unlikely friendship with his employer, successful Korean clothes vendor Mr. Kim. Huang sells pirated DVDs by day and by night longs for his native Taiwan. Hsu’s myopic view illuminates the painful middle ground that all immigrants inhabit, teetering between borders and across chasms.