Meet the Locals #4: Ricardo Preve, Film-TV Director and Photographer, from Buenos Aires

Un’amica un giorno mi ha detto: “Ah, vai alla Berlinale, devi incontrare il mio amico Ricardo, che è di origini italiane e l’italiano lo parla bene, di sicuro vi troverete bene”. Alla fine io e Ricardo non ci siamo incontrati alla Berlinale, ma bensì a Parigi, dove entrambi eravamo per lavoro. Lui, in particolare, stava comprando i diritti di un libro di Philippe Broussard – La Disparue de San Juan, storia di Marie-Anne Erize, giovane donna franco-argentina tra le vittime della dittatura argentina – da cui trarrà un film. E parlando di cinema e di vita, la serata è passata in fretta. Vi presento Ricardo.

Your name, age and job?

Ricardo Preve, 55, film-tv director and photographer.

Where are you from?

Buenos Aires, Argentina, but lived most of my life in the US.

What would you be if you were not a director and photographer / What do you want to be when you grow up?

Archeologist or marine biologist… or both!

How long are you staying in Paris and why did you first come?

It is uncertain how long I will stay, it depends on a film project which I am starting and which is the reason that I first came.

What is the best thing to do (what do you like doing ) in Paris?

The museums. I love learning more about art, and painting in particular.

Is there something you don’t like about Paris?

Sometimes people are very tense.

Where would you live if not in Paris?

Somewhere in the South Pacific.

What is the craziest thing you have ever done in Paris?

I once filmed a documentary about a rare disease found only in Latin America (Chagas, ndr) and stopped people along the Champs Elysees to ask if they had ever heard about it and no one of course had… and they also looked at me like I was some kind of lunatic.

Have you ever been to South Tyrol?

I have been to 57 countries and hundreds of cities but… no, I am sorry, I have not been to Alto Adige.

Anything else you would like to add?

Yes, please remember the 30,000 who were disappeared by the military dictatorship in Argentina during the 70s and 80s and follow the production of my new feature fiction film “La Disparue de San Juan” at www.ladisparuelefilm.com