The Lady of Death

Born in Santiago del Estero, Argentina in 1914, Carlos Hugo Christensen is considered one of the most prolific filmmakers in Latin American history.

A pioneer in the film industry, his love of literature combined with a forward-thinking attitude towards sexuality, resulted in a unique point of view which infused Argentine cinema of the forties and fifties with his trademark touch of audacity and veiled eroticism. Films such as “SAFO, Historia De Una Pasión” (1943), where Mecha Ortiz and Roberto Escalada smoked after an implied sexual encounter, or “El Ángel Desnudo”(1946), where famed Argentinean screen goddess Olga Zubarry bared her naked back to the camera in the first ever nude scene in Argentine history, or “Adan y la Serpiente” (1946) where Tilda Thamar exhibited a two piece bathing suit for the first time in Latin American film, pushed the sexual envelope and sparked much controversy and debate.

In 1954, Christensen’s anti-Peron sentiments resulted in his political exile from Argentina, as part of the largest persecution of the artistic community and intellectual class in the country’s history. This landed Christensen in Brazil, where he completed the first Technicolor film ever to be shot there, “Meus Amores No Rio,” which was nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1959. A contemporary of world-renowned Argentinean author Jorge Luis Borges, Christensen is the only director to have adapted many of Borges’ short stories to the screen, including the incendiary “La Intrusa,” a feature film centering on the relationship between two homosexual gauchos (Argentine cowboys) which was banned from cinemas throughout Latin America, but was the official selection representing Brazil at the Montreal International Film Festival in 1980.

Within a career that spanned seven decades, he completed 55 films, most of them comedies, melodramas or film noir, the majority of which he wrote, directed and produced. His films have each garnered numerous awards including Best Director and Best Film prizes, in countless festivals and award ceremonies throughout the world. Among his many cinematic distinctions, some of the most internationally notable include: Grand Prize of the Festival (Nomination), Cannes Int’l Film Festival for “La Ballandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde” (1951); Venice International Film Festival, Official Selection, Brazil, for “Maos Sangrentas” (1955); Golden Berlin Bear (Nomination), Berlin Int’l Film Festival for “Meus Amores No Rio” (1959).

Although best known for his film work, Christensen was also an accomplished poet, publishing his first volume of poetry “El Libro del Primer Amor” at the tender age of 18. His next poetic compilation “El Mar Ante La Playa,” was published to great critical acclaim shortly after, as was his first short story “Adolescencia.” Armed with literary success, he abandoned his studies at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (University of Philosophy and Letters) in Buenos Aires, and began working as a journalist. From there he moved on to radio, then to writing and directing plays, and finally to what he is best known for, film. He continued to write poetry throughout his life; his final book of poetry “Poemas Para Os Amigos,” was published shortly before his death in 1999.

Among the innumerable personal honors and tributes he has received, the final one to date came shortly before his death, at the 18th Festival des 3 Continents, in Nantes (France), where 8 of his feature films were selected to screen as part of an exhibit dedicated to melodrama in Argentinean cinema. Posthumously, he has continued to screen around the world, most recently, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His multi award-winning film “La Ballandra Isabel Llego Esta Tarde” will screen in Los Angeles in June 2007 as the only Spanish Language offering of the 21st Annual Last Remaining Seats Series, alongside “North by Northwest,” “Roman Holiday,” “Flesh and the Devil,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and “Scarface.” —IMDb