Edgardo Cozarinsky
Encyclopedia
Edgardo Cozarinsky is a writer and filmmaker. He is best known for writing Vudú urbano.
and Odessa
at the end of the 19th century, his first name tells of his mother's infatuation with Edgar Allan Poe
.
After an adolescence mostly spent in neighbourhood cinemas showing double bills of old Hollywood films and reading an inordinate amount of fiction in Spanish, English and French (favourite authors - Stevenson, Conrad, some Henry James), he studied literature at Buenos Aires University, wrote for local and Spanish cinephile magazines and published an early essay on James which developed out of graduation work - El laberinto de la apariencia (The Labyrinth of Appearance, 1964), a book he later suppressed. He was barely twenty when he became acquainted with Borges
, Bioy Casares
and Silvina Ocampo
, all writers of prestige whom he saw frequently during his years in Buenos Aires
. In 1973 he won a literary prize with an essay on gossip as narrative device in James and Proust
. In 1974 he published Borges y el cine, a book enlarged in every reprint (Spain, 1978 and 2002, and translations) which he also does not want reprinted now.
After a first nine-month stay in Europe
and a visit to New York
between September 1966 and June 1967, he returned to Buenos Aires with the desire and the decision to leave behind his life as a literary idler. After dabbling in journalism, in the culture section of the weeklies Primera Plana and Panorama, he made a first film, an underground feature shot on weekends throughout a year, knowing that it could not pass the local censorship of the period. It was nevertheless screened at festivals throughout Europe and the United States
. Its title was already a challenge - ... (Puntos suspensivos - Dot Dot Dot).
In 1974, in the turmoil of political agitation and imminent repression, he left Buenos Aires for Paris
. There he embarked into filmmaking that falls roughly into two categories - fiction films and "essays", mixing documentary
material with a personal, even private reflexion on the issues raised by the material. The most distinguished of these is La Guerre d'un seul homme (One Man's War, 1981), a confrontation between Ernst Jünger
wartime diaries and the French newsreels of the occupation period. At a time when the arts' departments of several European television networks were willing to support such ventures, Cozarinsky was able to develop this approach in a series of very original works.
During the rest of the seventies and the eighties his literary career was mostly dormant. But his only published work of the period became an instant cult book - Vudú urbano (Urban voodoo, 1985), a mixture of fiction and essay not unlike his film work, with prologues by Susan Sontag
and the Cuyban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante
.
In the same year, after the end of the military regime in Argentina, he visited briefly to Buenos Aires. Three years later, he made a film in Argentina
, in the far South, a "Southern" - Guerreros y cautivas (Warriors and Captive Women). From that date on he started visiting his native country more and more often, occasionally shooting there material for his European "essays". His most adventurous later films were Rothschild's Violin and Ghosts of Tangier, both made between 1995 and 1996.
In 1999, he spent a month in a Paris hospital for a backbone
infection
, a period during which a cancer
was diagnosed. In his own words, he felt the ringing of a bell telling to stop wasting his time - "I always wanted to be a writer, and had not dared publish, even finish what I started..." It was in hospital that he wrote the first two stories in his prize-winning book La novia de Odessa (The Bride from Odessa). From that date on, his film work became sparse and he started publishing "all the books I had not put on paper", fiction mostly but also essays and chronicles. He became immediately established as a writer to reckon with in the Spanish language, and was translated into English, French, German and several others languages.
From that date, also, he started spending most of the time in Buenos Aires with regular but short stays in Paris. His impatience with a settled, recognized persona led him to investigate other creative areas. He wrote and directed a play (Squash), the mini-opera Raptos (Raptures), both in 2005, and he appeared on the alternative stage together with his GP, Dr Alejo Florin, in one of Vivi Tellas' "documentary theater" ventures -Cozarinsky y su médico. In 2008 he started work on the libretto for a chamber opera with the musician Pablo Mainetti - Ultramarina, based on motives from his own novel El rufián moldavo (The Moldavian Pimp).
An inveterate nomad, Cozarinsky has shot at least part of his films not only in Buenos Aires and Paris but also in Budapest
, Rotterdam
, Tallinn
, Tangiers, Vienna
, Granada
, Saint-Petersburg, Seville
and Patagonia
. He rarely spends more than three months in any fixed place and considers Buenos Aires his pleasure basis and Paris his cultural department store
.
First prize to a volume of short stories, City of Buenos Aires.
Platinum prize to a volume of short stories, Konex Foundation.
Prize for the best novel 2008-2010, Academia Argentina de Letras.
Cocteau), 1983.
Life
His family name goes back to his great grandparents, Jewish immigrants from KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
at the end of the 19th century, his first name tells of his mother's infatuation with Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
After an adolescence mostly spent in neighbourhood cinemas showing double bills of old Hollywood films and reading an inordinate amount of fiction in Spanish, English and French (favourite authors - Stevenson, Conrad, some Henry James), he studied literature at Buenos Aires University, wrote for local and Spanish cinephile magazines and published an early essay on James which developed out of graduation work - El laberinto de la apariencia (The Labyrinth of Appearance, 1964), a book he later suppressed. He was barely twenty when he became acquainted with Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, Bioy Casares
Adolfo Bioy Casares
Adolfo Bioy Casares was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, and translator. He was a friend and collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges, and wrote what many consider one of the best pieces of fantastic fiction, the novella The Invention of Morel.-Biography:Adolfo Bioy...
and Silvina Ocampo
Silvina Ocampo
Silvina Ocampo Aguirre was an Argentine poet and short-fiction writer.Ocampo was born in Buenos Aires, the youngest of the six children of Manuel Ocampo and Ramona Aguirre. She was educated at home by tutors. One of her sisters was Victoria Ocampo, the publisher of the literarily important...
, all writers of prestige whom he saw frequently during his years in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. In 1973 he won a literary prize with an essay on gossip as narrative device in James and Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
. In 1974 he published Borges y el cine, a book enlarged in every reprint (Spain, 1978 and 2002, and translations) which he also does not want reprinted now.
After a first nine-month stay in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and a visit to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
between September 1966 and June 1967, he returned to Buenos Aires with the desire and the decision to leave behind his life as a literary idler. After dabbling in journalism, in the culture section of the weeklies Primera Plana and Panorama, he made a first film, an underground feature shot on weekends throughout a year, knowing that it could not pass the local censorship of the period. It was nevertheless screened at festivals throughout Europe and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its title was already a challenge - ... (Puntos suspensivos - Dot Dot Dot).
In 1974, in the turmoil of political agitation and imminent repression, he left Buenos Aires for Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. There he embarked into filmmaking that falls roughly into two categories - fiction films and "essays", mixing documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
material with a personal, even private reflexion on the issues raised by the material. The most distinguished of these is La Guerre d'un seul homme (One Man's War, 1981), a confrontation between Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger was a German writer. In addition to his novels and diaries, he is well known for Storm of Steel, an account of his experience during World War I. Some say he was one of Germany's greatest modern writers and a hero of the conservative revolutionary movement following World War I...
wartime diaries and the French newsreels of the occupation period. At a time when the arts' departments of several European television networks were willing to support such ventures, Cozarinsky was able to develop this approach in a series of very original works.
During the rest of the seventies and the eighties his literary career was mostly dormant. But his only published work of the period became an instant cult book - Vudú urbano (Urban voodoo, 1985), a mixture of fiction and essay not unlike his film work, with prologues by Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag was an American author, literary theorist, feminist and political activist whose works include On Photography and Against Interpretation.-Life:...
and the Cuyban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Guillermo Cabrera Infante was a Cuban novelist, essayist, translator, and critic; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín.A one-time supporter of the Castro regime, Cabrera Infante went into exile to London in 1965...
.
In the same year, after the end of the military regime in Argentina, he visited briefly to Buenos Aires. Three years later, he made a film in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, in the far South, a "Southern" - Guerreros y cautivas (Warriors and Captive Women). From that date on he started visiting his native country more and more often, occasionally shooting there material for his European "essays". His most adventurous later films were Rothschild's Violin and Ghosts of Tangier, both made between 1995 and 1996.
In 1999, he spent a month in a Paris hospital for a backbone
Backbone
Backbone may refer to:* Vertebral column, of a vertebrate organism* Backbone chain, in polymer chemistry, the framework of the molecule* Backbone Entertainment, a video game development company* Backbone network, the top level of a hierarchical network...
infection
Infection
An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...
, a period during which a cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
was diagnosed. In his own words, he felt the ringing of a bell telling to stop wasting his time - "I always wanted to be a writer, and had not dared publish, even finish what I started..." It was in hospital that he wrote the first two stories in his prize-winning book La novia de Odessa (The Bride from Odessa). From that date on, his film work became sparse and he started publishing "all the books I had not put on paper", fiction mostly but also essays and chronicles. He became immediately established as a writer to reckon with in the Spanish language, and was translated into English, French, German and several others languages.
From that date, also, he started spending most of the time in Buenos Aires with regular but short stays in Paris. His impatience with a settled, recognized persona led him to investigate other creative areas. He wrote and directed a play (Squash), the mini-opera Raptos (Raptures), both in 2005, and he appeared on the alternative stage together with his GP, Dr Alejo Florin, in one of Vivi Tellas' "documentary theater" ventures -Cozarinsky y su médico. In 2008 he started work on the libretto for a chamber opera with the musician Pablo Mainetti - Ultramarina, based on motives from his own novel El rufián moldavo (The Moldavian Pimp).
An inveterate nomad, Cozarinsky has shot at least part of his films not only in Buenos Aires and Paris but also in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Tangiers, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Saint-Petersburg, Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
and Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. He rarely spends more than three months in any fixed place and considers Buenos Aires his pleasure basis and Paris his cultural department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
.
Books (selected list)
- Vudú urbano (Urban Voodoo), stories, essays, memories, 1985.
- La novia de Odessa (The Bride from Odessa), short stories, 2001.
First prize to a volume of short stories, City of Buenos Aires.
Platinum prize to a volume of short stories, Konex Foundation.
- El pase del testigo (Passing the baton / The Witness Goes By), essays and chronicles, 2001.
- El rufián moldavo (The Moldavian Pimp), novel, 2004.
- Museo del chisme (Museum of Gossip), essay and stories, 2005.
- Tres fronteras (Three Frontiers), short stories, 2006.
- Palacios plebeyos (Plebeian Palaces), chronicles and a short story, 2006.
- Maniobras nocturnas (Night-time manoeuvers), novel, 2007.
- Milongas, chronicles and short stories, 2007.
- Burundanga, short stories, 2009.
- Lejos de dónde (Far from where), novel, 2009.
Prize for the best novel 2008-2010, Academia Argentina de Letras.
- Blues, chronicles and memories, 2010.
- La tercera mañana (The Third Morning), novel, 2010 (Spain); 2011 (Argentina).
Film work (feature-length and short films, fiction and "essays")
- ... (Puntos suspensivos) (Dot Dot Dot), 1971.
- Les Apprentis-sorciers (The Apprentice Sorcerers), 1976.
- La Guerre d'un seul homme (One Man's War), 1981.
- Autoportrait d'un inconnu - Jean Cocteau (Self-portrait of a Man Unknown - Jean
Cocteau), 1983.
- Haute Mer (High Seas), 1984.
- Pour Memoire - Les Klarsfeld, une famille dans l'Histoire (To be Remembered - The Klarsfelds, a family in History), 1985.
- Sarah, 1988.
- Guerreros y cautivas (Warriors and Captive Women), 1989.
- BoulevardS du crépuscule (Sunset BoulevardS), 1992.
- Scarlatti à Séville (Scarlatti in Seville), 1994.
- Citizen Langlois, 1994.
- La barraca: Lorca sur les chemins de l'Espagne (La barraca: Lorca on the road in Spain), 1995.
- Le Violon de Rothschild (Rothschild's Violin), 1996.
- Fantômes de Tanger (Ghosts of Tangier), 1997.
- Le Cinéma des Cahiers (The Cinema of Cahiers du Cinéma), 2000.
- Tango-Désir (Tango Desire), 2002.
- Dans le Rouge du Couchant (Red Dusk), 2003.
- Rond Nocturna (Night Watch), 2005.
- Apuntes para una biografía imaginaria (Notes for an Imaginary Biography), 2010.
- Nocturnos, 2011.