| The Distinguished Citizen | |
| Native Name: | El ciudadano ilustre |
| Director: | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn |
| Starring: | Oscar Martínez |
| Music: | Toni M. Mir |
| Cinematography: | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn |
| Runtime: | 118 minutes[1] |
| Country: | Argentina Spain |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Budget: | $1.7 million[2] |
| Gross: | $3.6 million[3] |
The Distinguished Citizen (Spanish; Castilian: '''El ciudadano ilustre''') is a 2016 Argentine-Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn.[4] It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival.[5] At Venice Oscar Martínez won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.[6] It was selected as the Argentine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.[7] It won Best Ibero-American Film at the 4th Platino Awards.
A recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who has been living in Europe for decades, accepts an invitation from his hometown in Argentina to receive a prize. In his country, the protagonist finds both similarities and irreconcilable differences with the people of his hometown.
The Distinguished Citizen took five years to produce[8] and had a budget of $1.7M US.[9] Screenwriter Andres Duprat proposed the story based on his experiences as an art curator jurying work in small towns. Martinez was an early consideration for the lead and collaborated on the script. He called the fictional town of Salas an uncomfortable mirror of Argentina, and Montovani's exile in Spain reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges's time spent in Europe.[10]
Shooting took place over eight weeks, primarily in Navarro, known in the film as Salas. The directors chose the pueblo after considering 58 municipalities, citing the town's historic center, scarce traffic, lagoon, club, town square, and small television channel. Other locations included Lobos for the flat tire scene, the El Trébol club in Villa Urquiza for the author's lectures, and the Teatro Opera in Buenos Aires for the Nobel awards sequence.[11]
A book of the same title purportedly written by the film character Mantovani describing his visit to his hometown was published in Argentina ahead of the film. The directors described the actual but anonymous author as a "heavyweight of the literary world".
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 13 reviews, and an average rating of 7.2/10.[12]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venice Film Festival | 10 September 2016 | Volpi Cup for Best Actor | Oscar Martínez | |
| Golden Lion | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |||
| Haifa International Film Festival[13] | October 2016 | Best Film in International Competition | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |
| Havana Film Festival[14] | 18 December 2016 | Best Screenplay | Andrés Duprat | |
| Forqué Awards[15] | 14 January 2017 | Best Actor | Oscar Martínez | |
| Goya Awards | 4 February 2017 | Best Ibero-American Film | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |
| Ariel Awards[16] | 11 July 2017 | Best Ibero-American Film | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |
| Platino Awards | 22 July 2017 | Best Ibero-American Film | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |
| Best Director | Gastón Duprat & Mariano Cohn | |||
| Best Actor | Oscar Martínez | |||
| Best Screenplay | Andrés Duprat | |||