Kill the Jockey (El Jockey)
Luis Ortega
The jockey has begun to lose all his races. It’s time to kill him. Or perhaps he can have one last chance to prove his worth. After all, the goose may still lay a few more golden eggs. Set in the heightened reality of Argentinian horse racing mafia, Kill the Jockey is a flickering, shape-shifting film that moves freely from gangster movie to an exploration of gender and identity, with a style that at times reminisces Kaurismäki, Almodóvar and Fassbidner, but with a firm identity that sets it apart from other contemporary films. With humor and novelty, the story begins when the fear of exhausting one’s self takes over, and the disintegration of identity gives way to a riveting uncertainty. Anchored by an unforgettable performance by Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and with a soundtrack that will make you want to get up off your seats, the film ratifies Luis Ortega as one of the most interesting voices to follow in world cinema today.
24 April 2025
20:15 h, Esplanade im Festivalzentrum
More information
| Direction | Luis Ortega |
| Country | Argentina/Mexico/Spain/Denmark/USA/UK |
| Year | 2024 |
| Duration | 96 min |
| Language | Spanish |
| Language version | Original with German subtitles |
| Production | Charlie Cohen, Benjamín Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Axel Kuschevatzky, Isaac Lee, Paz Lázaro, Esteban Perroud, Matias Roveda, Cindy Teperman |
| Co-production | Pablo Cruz, Julio Chavezmontes, Mikkel Jersin, Enrique López Lavigne, Katrin Pors, Diego Suarez Chialvo, Lorena Villarreal |
| Cast | Nahuél Pérez Biscayart, Úrsula Corberó, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Mariana di Girólamo |
| Camera | Timo Salminen |
| Script | Fabian Casas, Luis Ortega, Rodolfo Palacios |
| Editing | Yibran Asuad, Rosario Suárez |
| Sound | Victor Alejandro Tendler |
| Music | Jens Bjørnkjær |
| Sound Design | Guido Berenblum |
VENICE 2024: EDIPO RE AWARD, SAN SEBASTIÁN 2024: BEST FILM HORIZONTES LATINOS
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About the director
Luis Ortega was born in Buenos Aires in 1980. At nineteen years old, he directed Caja Negra (1999), his first feature-length film, which received multiple international awards and confirmed him as one of Argentina’s most promising filmmakers. Since then, Ortega has developed a signature filmography with a unique vision. His second film, El Ángel (2018), premiered to great acclaim in the Un Certain Regard section of the Festival de Cannes and went on to become the highest-grossing film in Argentina that year. Kill the Jockey (2024) is his most recent film. (Marrakech IFF)
Press reviews
„Restlessly switching lanes from frenzied farce to pulpy gangster movie to gender-confusion musing, Argentine director Luis Ortega’s alternately dark and daffy eighth feature is suitably untethered for a story concerned with the malleability of the self “ (Guy Lodge, Variety)
„In the midst of so many calculated and neat films, it is always good to celebrate talented, overflowing and even whimsical filmmakers like Luis Ortega.“ (Diego Batlle, Otros Cines)
IN ATTENDANCE OF THE MAIN ACTOR
HESSIAN PREMIERE
International Feature Film Program
