01/09/2003 - This second work by the Argentinean Daniel Rosenfeld is the unusual story of a group of Aboriginals who decide to become rugby players to redeem themselves

The young Argentinean filmmaker, Daniel Rosenfeld, presented his second work as a director in the Controcorrente section yesterday. La quimera de los héroes is the unusual story of a club of Aboriginal rugby players.
This tale of heroism and dignity is told by Rosenfeld with great verve and a sense of rhythm. It is set in the Formosa bush, where a group of Aboriginals are introduced to the game of rugby by a charismatic white leader.
There’s nothing new about the idea of sport as a means of redemption and at the same time it is also shown as being an expression of conscience, here represented by the trainer’s past as an ideological extremist. The subject is treated with a light-hearted screenplay and there is a tremendous psychological subtlety.

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“My film talks about a task that is both spiritual and physical at the same time, it’s about a change in conscience, sacrifice” says Rosenfeld, “Man can’t totally change, there are always some basic foundations that remain intact, and in this case I looked for that foundation, which was extremism”.
La quimera de los héroes is an Argentinean production, made with two European companies, Danish, Zentropa and French, Les films d'Ici. It took three years hard work to make: “I was hampered by a lot of obstacles, and a lot of inevitabile problems” stressed the director, “I wanted an independent film, and the only way I could achieve that was to carry on, in spite of everything”.

(Translated from Italian)