The Cannes Film Festival began its 78th edition. This prestigious French contest will take place from May 13 to 24 and It will have Argentine presence. In the “La Cinef” section, which highlights films of movie schools, is located “Three”, a short run by Juan Ignacio Ceballos. Not only is it the only national audiovisual production, but also It is the only selected short of Latin America.
Since 1998, the “La Cinef” section seeks to highlight the new talents of the film industry. More 2,700 movie school films from all over the world were sent, but only 16 were selected. “Three” was one of the chosen representation of the FUC. However, not everything is novelty in Cannes. The French festival will exhibit “Beyond Forgotten” by Hugo del Carrila national classic that premiered in 1956.
What is the Argentine short that will compete in Cannes
“Three” was born as a play written by Pablo Bellocchio and directed by Antonela Scattolini Rossi. It premiered in 2022 and it was Starring Gastón Cocchiarale, Maru Blanco, Lara Crespo and Pedro Risi, who also act in the short. Actually, the same team was in charge of transferring the work to the cinema.
The adaptation was in the hands of Antonela Scattolini Rossi and Juan Ignacio Ceballoswho knew this story as a spectator and now is The person responsible for taking her to the big screen or, rather, to Cannes where she will have her world premiere.
“You don’t know your partner until you separate,” says one of the protagonists of this story. “Three” focuses on Mario (Gastón Cocchiarale) and Belén (Maru Blanco), a couple who decides to surprise her brother, Danilo (Pedro Risi) presenting Paula (Lara Crespo). What begins with an evening in the light of sunset, ends with a darkness that invades them completely. These characters feel locked in their relationships: not only with their peers, but also with themselves.
The short film was filmed in 4: 3 to reflect the claustrophobia that the protagonists feel, but also to honor the play. “I set out to take advantage of cinema resources to try to add something to the original,” said the director.
Juan Ignacio Ceballos
Journalist: You knew “three” as a spectator, how did the idea of adapting it arise? How was the process?
Juan Ignacio Ceballos: I went to see her and the truth is that I loved it, I had never gone from seeing a play that impacts me so much. I returned to see her twice more because I was half a fan. Months later the idea of adapting it arose because I wanted to film something with that theme, and there I remembered the work and got together with Antonela Rossi.
Adaptation was complicated because the work is long, hard about an hour and a half and the short is 20 minutes. It was difficult to know what things to get or what to leave to continue maintaining the essence. We are looking for how in a short time the story could be told without losing the effect of the original.
Q: Not only did you see her repeatedly, but you adapted it to the cinema, what impacted you most?
JIC: The theme he addressed and how he approached her. It is a comedy that starts light, but becomes more dramatic. Slowly, with many subtleties, these aggressive behaviors that are a bit in all relationships are revealed. Generally, when this theme is addressed, what happens is that it is usually played as this is bad or this is good. Here they are all protagonists and everyone fulfills a more passive, more active, more direct or more indirect role within this type of relationship.
Q: “Three” takes place in a closed space and the opposite happens in the short. The dinner between friends takes place in a field, on the outskirts of a house.
JIC: When I started to adapt it, The idea of bringing it to an exterior to use natural light arose and play with this that happens in the work, which is a comedy that becomes a little darker. We seek to put in parallel what happens in the script with all the context that surrounds the image. The field has a more hostile climate that becomes slowly more dark.
Q: “Tres” managed to be adapted and was selected to have its world premiere in Cannes, how did they get to the festival?
JIC: The truth is that we had much more girls expectations. We send the short one month before the call closes. A mail came to the week asking us if we had already had a premiere because in Cannes if you already released it, they did not accept it. Luckily there was a chance that we had not presented it anywhere else.
Q: Without having released, “Tres” achieved a great impact not only because it was selected in Cannes, but also became the only Argentine film at the festival.
JIC: Generally, a short does not have as much reproduction as a feature film can have, but that also talks about the entire current context that the national film industry is living. In this type of event it seems important to me as a project director to speak with people outside and communicate everything that happens here, which is obviously known, but it is always crucial to remember and highlight it. We are going to travel to the festival with the team to make Argentine presence, to make noise.
Technical file
“Three” (Argentina 2025). Address: Juan Ignacio Ceballos. Screenplay: Juan Ignacio Ceballos and Antonela Scattolini Rossi. Cast: Gastón Cocchiarale, Maru Blanco, Lara Crespo and Pedro Risi. Duration: 24min.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
