A little-known classic of Latin American cinema, Invasion was the first work conceived specifically for the cinema by the great Jorge Luis Borges, in collaboration with his friend Adolfo Bioy Casares. A kind of updating of The Illiad that breathlessly morphs from police thriller to dream-like fantasy, the film is set in Aquiléa, a city that looks a lot like Buenos Aires currently under siege by sinister forces.  A group of middle-aged men, led by a somewhat older man, resolve to mount resistance to the invaders. Meetings are held, maps are studied, strategies are proposed—but can the invasion really be overcome?  A former assistant to Bresson here making  his feature film debut, Hugo Santiago with Invasion created a work that is lyrical, unsettling and infinitely suggestive.

Why you should see Invasion: NYFF Spotlight.