The life expectancy of a product in Spanish is called ‘la vida útil’. The film title refers to the career of Jorge, who seems to have reached his sell-by date. He’s worked for 25 years as a programmer and projectionist for the Uruguayan Cinémathèque. He selects the films and sits beside the projector every day to translate the films during screening. In his weekly film column on the radio, he recommends the Manoel de Oliveira retrospective and hopes to fill seats with the slogan: ‘You need the Cinémathèque and the Cinémathèque needs you.’ It doesn’t help, and the Cinémathèque is closed because it is losing money. To the sounds of exotic film music, Jorge roams the streets. Director Federico Veiroj himself worked at the Cinémathèque and, after his dry and humorous teenage portrait Acne (2008), this time he follows a man without a future who is saved by cinema – and by love. A Don Quichote who embarks on a new adventure.
