Photo: Misael Saavedra in Lisandro Alonso's La Libertad

Lisandro Alonso's La Libertad is a penetrating peek into the daily life of a woodcutter from Argentina's Pampa. The film brings to mind the humility and minimalism of Iranian cinema, and though Alonso doesn't seem to use the woodcutter as a political pawn, the film's long takes and the cyclical, labored nature of the man's daily grind force the spectator to question concepts of freedom. Lightning strikes as the woodcutter munches on an armadillo, staring directly at us as if daring us to question or challenge the integrity of his way of life. Also included in this program is Alain Guiraudie's That Old Dreams That Moves, a tale of queer lust set against a greasy metallic environment that brings to mind Kenneth Anger's Kustom Kar Kommandos. A man arrives at a factory in order to fix a piece of machinery ready for transport, but the function of the machine remains as mysterious as the subtext for the protagonist's withered gaze. The generational gap that exists between two gay men becomes a kind of harmonic endgame while the fix-it man's relationship to his boss evokes all sorts of issues related to misplaced pride and opportunism in the face of weakness.