Tire dié
Encyclopedia
Tire dié is an Argentine
documentary
directed by Fernando Birri
and written Birri and seven other writers. The short film, billed as a "survey film", chronicles the harsh life of lower-class slums in Santa Fe, Argentina
.
to study film-making at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
, from 1950 to 1953. In 1956 he returned to Santa Fe, to form the Film Institute at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral university, and started filming footage
for his project, Tire dié, over a three-year period.
The documentary revolves around a particular set of poor kids who chase a train nicknamed tire dié on a daily base, begging for cents. The title, tire dié is a homonym
of the phrase tire diez ("throw ten [cents]"). Kids would chase the slow train every day and run along begging for coins from the passengers who leaned out in curiosity. The film also interviews a number of adults, whose voices are dubbed by professional actors.
The film was released two years after its completion in 1958, which gave time for Birri to film and screen what became his first film, La primera fundación de Buenos Aires in 1959. A year later, Tire dié was premiered. The film earned Birri critical acclaim and paved his way for further projects of similar nature, like Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (1960) and more famously Los inundados (1961), which won the Venice Film Festival
award for Best First Film.
Cinema of Argentina
The cinema of Argentina has a tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, and continues to play a role in the culture of Argentina....
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Fernando Birri
Fernando Birri
Fernando Birri is an Argentinian film maker and theorist. He is considered by many to be the father of the new Latin American cinema.Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina...
and written Birri and seven other writers. The short film, billed as a "survey film", chronicles the harsh life of lower-class slums in Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe, Argentina
Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...
.
Production history
Fernando Birri, born in Santa Fe in 1925, left at the age of 25 for RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to study film-making at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia
The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film....
, from 1950 to 1953. In 1956 he returned to Santa Fe, to form the Film Institute at the Universidad Nacional del Litoral university, and started filming footage
Footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by movie camera or recorded by a video camera which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work...
for his project, Tire dié, over a three-year period.
The documentary revolves around a particular set of poor kids who chase a train nicknamed tire dié on a daily base, begging for cents. The title, tire dié is a homonym
Homonym
In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
of the phrase tire diez ("throw ten [cents]"). Kids would chase the slow train every day and run along begging for coins from the passengers who leaned out in curiosity. The film also interviews a number of adults, whose voices are dubbed by professional actors.
The film was released two years after its completion in 1958, which gave time for Birri to film and screen what became his first film, La primera fundación de Buenos Aires in 1959. A year later, Tire dié was premiered. The film earned Birri critical acclaim and paved his way for further projects of similar nature, like Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires (1960) and more famously Los inundados (1961), which won the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
award for Best First Film.