Puan (film)

Puan is a 2023 comedy-drama film directed and written by María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat. Its cast features Marcelo Subiotto, Julieta Zylberberg, Alejandra Flechner, Cristina Banegas, Andrea Frigerio, Mara Bestelli, and Leonardo Sbaraglia. It is an Argentine-Italian-French-German-Brazilian international co-production.

Plot
The plot tracks a political philosophy lecturer of the university in the Puan area of Buenos Aires whose prospects for taking the vacant chair of deceased professor Caselli are threatened by the return of a former colleague back from Germany.

Production
The film is an Argentine-Italian-French-German-Brazilian co-production by A Pasto and Pucará Cine along with Infinity Hill, Pandora Filmproduktion, Atelier de Production, Kino Produzioni, and Bubbles Project.

Release
The film entered the main competition of the 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival, making its debut on 26 September 2023. Distributed by Digicine, it opened in Argentine theatres on 5 October 2023.

Reception
According to the American review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Puan has a 90% approval rating based on 10 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10.

Jessica Kiang of Variety deemed the film to be "a fleet-footed if sharply pointed existential-crisis comedy, shot with unobstrusive, naturalistic dynamism by Hélène Louvart".

Marcelo Stiletano of La Nación gave the film a 'very good' rating assessing that on the surface, the film works like a charm as a college-set madcap comedy, but it also is a tragicomedy.

Bartolomé Armentano of Rolling Stone considered that, in addition of the showcase of the cast, the film features another great achievement, that of "the accurate representation of university life and academic endogamy".

Accolades

 * rowspan = "3" | 2023 || rowspan = "2" | 71st San Sebastián International Film Festival
 * Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance || Marcelo Subiotto || Won || rowspan = "2" |
 * Best Screenplay || María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat || Won
 * 29th Forqué Awards || colspan = "2" | Best Latin-American Film || Nominated ||
 * rowspan = "6" | 2024 || 38th Goya Awards || colspan = "2" | Best Ibero-American Film || Nominated ||
 * rowspan = "5" | 11th Platino Awards || Best Actor || Marcelo Subiotto || Nominated || rowspan = "5" |
 * Best Supporting Actor || Leonardo Sbaraglia || Nominated
 * Best Supporting Actress || Alejandra Flechner || Nominated
 * Best Art Direction || Julieta Dolinsky || Nominated
 * colspan = "2" | Film and Values Education || Nominated
 * }
 * Best Supporting Actor || Leonardo Sbaraglia || Nominated
 * Best Supporting Actress || Alejandra Flechner || Nominated
 * Best Art Direction || Julieta Dolinsky || Nominated
 * colspan = "2" | Film and Values Education || Nominated
 * }
 * Best Art Direction || Julieta Dolinsky || Nominated
 * colspan = "2" | Film and Values Education || Nominated
 * }
 * }