Monday, May 19th: CLOSING MILONGA - breakdown

(Everything is included with your milonga tickets !)

📽️ We’ll start with Veronique’s award-winning animation, followed by Oliver’s feature film.
🎤 Both directors will be present at the Q & A that will follow.
🥯 Bagels and snacks will be served and the Plaza’s bar will be open.
💃 After the screenings we’ll quickly change around the room and clear the floor for dancing!
🎶 Dj Marcelo will play for our closing 4-hour milonga

This uplifting, music-themed Argentinean film centers on Moti Cohen, a down-on-his-luck, once-famous rock producer who finds himself unexpectedly immersed in the world of tango after discovering a talented singer.

Packed with passion, rhythm, and a dash of humor, this uplifting story of second chances and the transformative power of music sweeps audiences off their feet.

Oliver Kolker is a filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and actor with a deep passion for Tango.
Involved in the film industry for 15 years, he was the screenwriter and co-director of Fermín, a Tango film starring Héctor Alterio and Gastón Pauls, contributed to the script of Viaje Inesperado, and produced multiple films, including Contrasangre, La Valija de Benavidez, You Only Live Once, Unexpected Journey, Rumbo al Mar, and Búfalo.

His latest film, I Had the Heart (2024), was released to critical acclaim. Born in New York City and raised in Argentina, Oliver is also an accomplished Tango dancer. He has been dancing for 26 years and teaching and performing professionally for the past 20. He has been invited to some of the most renowned Tango festivals and communities worldwide, traveling to Russia, Ukraine, the U.S, Western Europe, Turkey, and China.

In addition to film and dance, Oliver is a music producer, having produced three albums in collaboration with Maestro Lisandro Adrover: Bandoneón Soliloquy Kol Nidrei Live Tango Concert at Temple Libertad He is also the creator and producer of Pelando Variación, one of the most challenging Tango competitions in the world, which has expanded to the United States, China, and Greece.

LOCA

5 minutes

Through the energy of LOCA, the D’Arienzo classic, a woman finds a path to freedom. A mesmerizing visual performance created with waves of ink and black-and-white geometric shapes.

With a mastery of both dance and animation, Véronique Paquette channels the essence of tango through evocative imagery that is furtive and powerful.

Véronique Paquette’s passion for dance has been a life-long driver of her immense creativity.
A talented animator with a unique and very personal style, she has worked across the film, documentary, and advertising industries. Embracing the fusion of dance and visual art, she has collaborated on numerous interdisciplinary projects. A dancer for over 20 years, tango lies at the very heart of the short animation LOCA, her directorial debut.

One of Véronique’s sketches will be displayed at Studio Tango during the festival.

From the director:
’’I’ve always seen Argentinean tango as a dance that forces us to confront our vulnerability and delve into our innermost selves. In creating LOCA, I worked very closely with a choreographer and a duo of tangueros, shooting reference images that prompted me to update my script. From those motion captures, I then distilled the essential movements and interpreted them freely. Everything—from the play of angles and curves to the interpretation of the music, the decision to use black and white and the choice of techniques—was meant to convey the inner experience of the female character.’’

The Plaza Theatre

Located at 6505 St Hubert, the Plaza Theatre is an iconic performance venue. A movie house built in 1922, its present owners have preserved its original decor making this versatile and dynamic performance space a favored venue for the Quebec artistic community.

The Plaza is an extremely flexible space that will allow us, to set it up as a movie theater initially and then convert it into an exceptional dance floor for our milonga.

Some may remember the venue from our 2016 Monday closing milonga and Cachivache concert.