A prize-winner at the Berlin Film Festival, Daniel Burman’s distinctive and subtly effective fourth feature paints an unusually affirmative picture of a multicultural society. Burman is Jewish, an Argentine from Polish stock, and it’s tempting to see Lost Embrace as at least partly autobiographical. The central character is Ariel Makaroff (Daniel Hendler), who lives in the funky Buenos Aires district known as ‘El Once’ (‘The Eleventh’), a dense conglomeration of shops, factories and restaurants that’s still populated by immigrant Jews and their children. Feeling constricted, Ariel becomes increasingly attracted to the idea of escaping to Europe. His plans don’t meet with approval from his mother Sonia (Adriana Aizenberg), who runs a small lingerie shop where Ariel helps out and comes into contact with various other colourful denizens of the suburb. Burman’s amiable, good-humoured film keeps a tight parallel focus on the locals who provide the backdrop to Ariel’s life, painting an engaging portrait of a community.