By Almudena Calatrava
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) --Oscar-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen is joining a protest by Argentine actors against the government's decision to fire the head of the country's film institute.
In a video posted online, Mortensen also calls center-right President Mauricio Macri a "neoliberal braggard" who seeks to plunder the financial resources of Argentina's thriving film industry. The Danish-American actor lived until age 11 in Argentina, where he learned Spanish and became a fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.
"Argentina's film pays for itself and is a source of pride for all Argentines," Mortensen said in fluent Spanish in the video, wearing a San Lorenzo T-shirt. "The state support to the film industry in counties like Argentina and France are unique and successful examples of the cultural promotion and are admired worldwide."
A group of actors and members of Argentina's film chamber say the recent firing of INCAA Film Institute President Alejandro Cacetta was part of a plan by Macri to intervene and defund the industry. Argentina's culture minister says Cacetta failed to act against film industry officials who were suspected of corruption during the administration of Macri's left-leaning predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.
Macri's government says there are no plans to cut back funding for Argentina's film industry, which is self-financed through taxes on ticket sales and other costs that are charged to private companies and TV channels.
Mortensen, best known as Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings" films, returns often to Argentina, where he shot the film "Todos Tenemos un Plan ("Everybody Has a Plan")'' in 2010. He has had roles in dozens of movies, including "Eastern Promises" and "Captain Fantastic," which earned him Oscar nominations for best actor.
Local school staple “Lost on a Mountain in Maine” from 1939 hits the big screen nationwide
Most Maine schoolchildren know about the boy lost for more than a week in 1939 after climbing the state's tallest mountain. Now the rest of the U.S. is getting in on the story.
Opening in 650 movie theaters on Friday, "Lost on a Mountain in Maine" tells the harrowing tale of 12-year-old Donn Fendler, who spent nine days on Mount Katahdin and the surrounding wilderness before being rescued. The gripping story of survival commanded the nation's attention in the days before World War II and the boy's grit earned an award from the president.
For decades, Fendler and Joseph B. Egan's book, published the same year as the rescue, has been required reading in many Maine classrooms, like third-grade teacher Kimberly Nielsen's.
"I love that the overarching theme is that Donn never gave up. He just never quits. He goes and goes," said Nielsen, a teacher at Crooked River Elementary School in Casco, who also read the book multiple times with her own kids.
Separated from his hiking group in bad weather atop Mount Katahdin, Fendler used techniques learned as a Boy Scout to survive. He made his way through the woods to the east branch of the Penobscot River, where he was found more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) from where he started. Bruised and cut, starved and without pants or shoes, he survived nine days by eating berries and lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms).
The boy's peril sparked a massive search and was the focus of newspaper headlines and nightly radio broadcasts. Hundreds of volunteers streamed into the region to help.
The movie builds on the children's book, as told by Fendler to Egan, by drawing upon additional interviews and archival footage to reinforce the importance of family, faith and community during difficult times,... Read More