Money Exchange

“Money Exchange emerges from walking through Buenos Aires’ micro center for a long time, a place where tourists, currency exchange houses, offices, banks, and all the characteristic hustle and bustle of the street and bars converge. In the eyes of the people walking there, I can see the dream of ‘saving oneself’ in an economy that is exploding. And young people (the most affected by this) find themselves in a situation of precariousness and uncertainty: they did not get to experience the last good years of Argentina.

In that context, I thought of making a film that would address all these issues without losing tenderness, a sense of humor, the formal exploration of some personal obsessions, without it becoming a denunciation film with a univocal message or using the characters as mere stereotypes. I was interested in the figure of the ‘arbolito’ (street currency exchanger) because their work is directly related to the political and economic reality of the country almost like no other job. The relationship is direct. And to film them at their workplace, we had to document some of those microcentro streets that vibrate so much.

The circulation of people is incessant and highly varied on Peatonal Florida: all the tourists passing through Buenos Aires and a huge number of office workers who work in banks, various offices, or even in the government. This makes this place a business opportunity for those who want to buy or sell dollars on the black market. All these transactions are done on the street, aloud, forming a kind of corridor where you can hear the street currency exchangers saying ‘cambio, cambio’ without interruption for four or five blocks. It’s the informal, precarious economy, outdoors. This is what it means to work in Argentina today.”

– Lautaro García Candela, Director