Filming the Buenos Aires Café: Memory and Community in Bolivia and Bar, El Chino

Abstract

Giuliana Bruno claims that films are becoming "the current documents of our histories," thereby replacing, to some extent, the role of the museum (Public Intimacy 4). This paper takes Bruno's assertion as a point of departure for the analysis of two contemporary Argentine films that highlight the significant role of the neighborhood café for Buenos Aires residents, Bolivia (Adrián Caetano, 2001) and Bar, El Chino (Daniel Burak, 2003). Memory marks Caetano's film by constructing a negative nostalgia around the institution of the café, one that excludes the contemporary role of immigrants in the capital city. Regular working-class Argentine customers at the café in Bolivia feel threatened by the employment of Paraguayan and Bolivian workers. Bar, El Chino records Buenos Aires memories by interlacing cinematography of the historic café with tango lyrics and dancing performed by local patrons. Both films portray the café as a mnemonic site that fills customers (and film viewers) with a sense of connection to history.