52 Films by Women Vol 3. 23. ORIONE (Director: Toia Bonino)
What is the difference between a film director and a ‘visual artist’? Answer: the expectation of financial success. Orione , the first film from Argentine ‘visual artist’ Toia Bonino is a documentary in seven chapters about the gulf between a mother, Ana Robles, seen throughout the film preparing a cake and her deceased criminal son, Alejandro ‘Ale’ Robles, who was shot in the head by a police sniper after escaping from the scene of a crime. Barely the length of a feature film, running at 65 minutes, but an award winner at the Buenos Aires (Independent) Film Festival, BAFICI (‘Best Argentine Director’) in 2017, Orione is not a conventionally rewarding watch. It does not incite us to be outraged by the poor life outcomes of young men growing up in a housing project in Don Orione, 30 miles from Buenos Aires. Nor is it a film with talking heads. Its emotions are withheld. However, it does have some striking moments. One of these is a police car chase seen from the point of a view of a ca...