A visual feast and a tribute to Argentinian cowboys. The creators of "Trufflers" return with a new masterpiece

Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw are back with another poetic and moving story about people living on the edge of the modern world. The film “Gaucho Gaucho”, which will hit Polish cinemas on June 6, 2025, is a mesmerizing documentary about a small community of the last Argentine cowboys. Similar to the popular “Trufflers” from 2020, in their new production the creators focus on a disappearing way of life that is losing out to progress and change. At the center of both films is man and his deep, inseparable bond with nature, mainly with the land, which seems to belong to another era. The fundamental difference is that the Italian old men searching for truffles from Alba are replaced by gauchos – horsemen, cattle herders and guardians of tradition who proudly cultivate their customs, being in constant conflict with modernity.

Instead of the Piedmont forests, there is the mountainous province of Salta in northwestern Argentina , and instead of devoted dogs, there are horses, treated with the same respect and tenderness. However, the creators remain faithful to their style – a meticulous eye for detail, a calm pace of narration and a sensitivity that allows one to immerse oneself in the microcosm of rural communities. The film took two years to make, and each scene seems to pulsate with life – quiet, everyday.

Portraits of the last rebels

“Gaucho Gaucho” also features an incredibly colorful cast of characters. One of the most memorable is Guada, a teenager who is determined to learn the gaucho trade alongside her father. We first meet her in class, when she is being punished for not wearing a uniform.

- I only feel comfortable in gaucho clothes - she replies to the teacher.

This short scene reflects the complexity of the world she lives in – suspended between the old and the new, tradition and social norms. In addition to her, the camera follows other members of the local community who support her in pursuing her dreams – the old man Lelo, the young boys Lucas and Pancho, the resolute five-year-old Jony, and Santito – a local musician and radio presenter who avoids all labels. When asked how he would like to be remembered, he answers briefly: “As Santito.”

Although the film is visually captivating, its real strength lies in the way it portrays people – intimately, but without exaltation. It is full of peculiar, witty moments that do not “dissolve” in beautiful images in the style of National Geographic.

Thanks to this, "Gaucho Gaucho" is not just an album with pretty views - it is a reflection on the modern world full of hidden meanings. Even the Andean condor, a predatory bird circling the plain, majestic but ineffective, gains its "five minutes" here and almost symbolic importance. This reckoning with the cycles of nature accompanies the audience throughout the film - the elderly recall past cataclysms, at a time when the young are increasingly abandoning their traditional lifestyle, tired of fighting for survival on a harsh, capricious land.

Gaucho Gaucho - immersed in light, trapped in time

Importantly, the creators refrain from intrusive commentary – instead of words, they choose silence, furtive glances, small gestures. “Gaucho Gaucho” is a cinema of the senses – experiential, almost meditative, which is not so much watched as absorbed with one’s whole self. It captivates with black-and-white frames of high contrast and the calm, steady eye of the camera, which tenderly records details: hands sharpening knives, fabrics fluttering in the wind, dust raised by horses’ hooves. It is a story about a world that slowly disappears, but not without a trace.

Many scenes have an almost painterly quality – prayers over dead cattle, quiet rituals, peaceful ceremonies, boys galloping across the plains seemingly endlessly. Conversations take place at the table, between jokes and deeper reflections – about horses, love, women.

At times the film resembles an old western, as evidenced by the static shots, unusual angles, and emptiness in the background, and yet even then it does not lose its authenticity – it does not pretend to be a world that no longer exists, but shows one that still exists somewhere.

The directors do not impose anything – many issues remain unanswered, left in limbo, but this is cinema that trusts the viewer and gives them space for their own interpretation.

Presented – like Dweck and Kershaw’s earlier films – in the American documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival, the film received a special mention not only for its impressive visuals, but also for its sound, which is an integral part of the story.

Traditional Argentine, Cuban and Venezuelan music is interwoven here with iconic pieces and works by contemporary artists. The result? A nostalgic, atmospheric, captivating soundtrack.

“Gaucho Gaucho” is a film that does not chase sensation. It stops. It breathes. It teaches you to look. It demands to be seen on the big screen and definitely deserves it. Polish premiere June 6, 2025.