Retiro Shelter

A document of several nights in Parador Retiro, a 200-bed homeless shelter in the Argentine capital. In addition to a place to sleep, guests can also count on a shower, a meal and medical care. The visitors, all of whom are men, come from very diverse backgrounds. There's the guy who's over 80 and has lived on the streets all his life. Another one's in his twenties and can't get rid of his athlete's foot because he doesn't have any decent shoes. And then there's the fellow who claims to have a job but prefers the company in the shelter to the solitude in his own apartment. Some are here for a night, while others call this place home.
Stylistically speaking, the film is as bare as the concrete warehouse that houses the shelter. Long, static takes capture nocturnal life in the shelter. But the film is also as warm and deeply felt as many of the shelter's inhabitants. Filmmaker Jorge Leandro Colás doesn't provide any voiceover, but allows the residents of Parador Retiro to tell their story. They talk about the problems with life on the streets, the shelter's strange rules and the hot chick who works in the canteen. To the camera, to their partners in misfortune, or to themselves.