Discover how Buenos Aires’ marginalised communities are fighting for their rights in One Street Away. Watch the inspiring documentary now on Shelter.
September 2024 on Shelter features a captivating array of programming, with highlights including One Street Away and Chillida: Depth of Air. This month, the platform delves into stories of community resilience in Buenos Aires’ shanty towns and the life of renowned sculptor Eduardo Chillida.
Building Communities From the Ground Up: One Street Away
In One Street Away, viewers are taken beyond the poverty-stricken image of Buenos Aires’ shanty towns to discover communities fuelled by ambition and hope. The documentary sheds light on Argentina’s growing housing crisis, where rising land values have deepened inequality in urban spaces.
With over two million people living in the ‘villas miserias’—the so-called villages of misery—these areas are often linked to crime and hardship. However, the reality is more nuanced. The film introduces us to residents from different communities, such as the rural squatting settlement December 23, the densely packed Villa 21-24, and the towering tenements of Fort Apache. Each of these groups is fighting for the right to live with dignity in the city, working together to overcome the daily discrimination they face.
The documentary illustrates how these neighbourhoods create their own structures, laws, and modes of living. As one resident points out, “If you throw a group of people into a place where there are no rules and no state, then they make their own laws.”
With urban access increasingly controlled by informal housing markets, the film poignantly highlights that “Of every 100 new inhabitants in Buenos Aires, about 60 access the city through the informal housing market.” Despite these challenges, the documentary shows how “The villa organises itself. It builds its own modes of co-existence.”
One Street Away (50 mins), a 2021 co-production between Argentina and the UK, becomes available on September 2.
Chillida: Depth of Air
Switching from urban struggles to the world of artistic expression, Chillida: Depth of Air explores the extraordinary life of Eduardo Chillida, a former footballer who became one of the 20th century’s leading sculptors. After a career-ending injury at just 19, Chillida shifted from the football field to the world of art, crafting a legacy through his distinctive sculptures.
This documentary, told through the eyes of his eight children and closest collaborators, offers an intimate glimpse into Chillida’s creative process and personal life. As one of his children recalls, “He shaped me. I was part of his work. If he ever had a disciple, that was me.”
Chillida’s work is deeply connected to his view of the human body, particularly his hands, which he believed were “the most multidimensional part of the body.”
Chillida: Depth of Air (52 mins), a 2016 film from Spain, will be available from September 16.
This September on Shelter, viewers can expect to witness powerful stories of perseverance, both in the fight for housing equality and the journey of a sculptor who reshaped the world of art.
