Image: National Museum of Fine Arts, Argentina, Buenos Aires
The National Museum of Fine Arts in Argentina is presenting the fourth Bellas Artes Cine cycle of the year, 'Aventuras en diseño', with screenings set for Fridays and Saturdays from July 24 to August 15 at the Auditorio de Amigos del Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. The program brings together four films made between 1940 and 1980, linking graphic imagination with fantasy, comics and superheroes.
According to the museum, the series is organized by the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and Amigos del Bellas Artes. The screenings will take place at 6 p.m. each Friday and Saturday, with free admission and prior online reservation required. The auditorium is located at Av. Figueroa Alcorta 2270 and has a capacity of 235 spectators. Viewers must present the email confirmation at the door, and late entry is not permitted once the film has started.
The cycle is curated by Leonardo D'Espósito, who describes the films as works that turned technical and design challenges into visual invention, especially in animation, fantasy and science fiction. In the museum’s presentation, he points to productions that were not always well remembered, including titles associated with the Fleischer brothers and Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman, as well as a late-1970s and early-1980s cult classic. The program is also described as one for the whole family.
The schedule opens with 'Hoppity goes to town' on Friday, July 24, followed by 'Las aventuras de Superman' on Saturday, July 25. The remaining screenings are 'Una invención diabólica' on Friday, July 31, and 'Flash Gordon' on Saturday, August 1, before the program repeats selected titles on the following two weekends.
Among the featured works, 'Hoppity goes to town' is listed as a 1941 U.S. film directed by Dave Fleischer, and the museum’s notes frame it as a rare opportunity to see a largely overlooked animated feature marked by design detail and color. 'Las aventuras de Superman', credited to Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, brings together the 1942-43 Fleischer Superman shorts in a program presented with Spanish subtitles. The museum highlights their visual inventiveness, art deco design and use of motion and color.
The cycle also includes 'Una invención diabólica', Karel Zeman’s 1958 film from Czechoslovakia, which the museum presents as a work rooted in literary adventure and special-effects experimentation. 'Flash Gordon', a 1980 co-production of Italy, Great Britain and the United States directed by Mike Hodges, closes the program’s line-up with a Spanish-dubbed screening. The museum notes its cast includes Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti and Timothy Dalton, and says the film features music and songs by Queen.
