Life and work

Hugo Soto was born in Corrientes, Argentina, in 1953. Developing an early interest in both painting and the stage, Soto relocated to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 in the early 1970s, where he was mentored by expressionist painter Carlos Gorriarena.

He became active in Buenos Aires' active theatre life and in 1975, director José María Paolantonio gave Soto his first cinematic role in the comic La película (The Movie). This foray into film was unsuccessful, though Soto became increasingly prominent as a stage actor and was soon invited to become a part of the prestigious San Martín Municipal Theatre

Centro Cultural General San Martín

The General San Martín Cultural Centre is a cultural centre located in Buenos Aires, Argentina near the major thoroughfare Corrientes Avenue.It is run by the city government, and hosts diverse cultural and artistic events...

's retinue.

A then little-known local documentarian, Eliseo Subiela

Eliseo Subiela

Eliseo Alberto Subiela is an Argentine film director and writer, whose works are considered to be in the 'magic realism' genre....

, cast Soto in the lead role for his 1986 adaptation of an Adolfo Bioy Casares

Adolfo Bioy Casares

Adolfo Bioy Casares was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, and translator. He was a friend and collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges, and wrote what many consider one of the best pieces of fantastic fiction, the novella The Invention of Morel.-Biography:Adolfo Bioy...

 novella, Morel's Invention. Portraying the enigmatic Rantés, Soto's role in Man Facing Southeast

Man Facing Southeast

Man Facing Southeast is a Spanish-language motion picture originally released in Argentina in 1986 as Hombre mirando al sudeste.-Summary:...

earned him a Silver Condor from the Argentine Film Critics Association as Best New Actor and secured his standing in Argentine cinema. The intense, surrealistic performance led to his role in 1988 as the unwitting target of a futuristic dictatorship's paranoia in Gustavo Mosquera's Lo que vendrá (The Near Future). The unconventional lead role earned him recognition in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 through a Latin ACE Award

Association of Latin Entertainment Critics

The Association of Latin Entertainment Critics is a nonprofit cultural organization founded on December 12, 1967. The organization has bestowed the LatinACE awards annually since May 25, 1969...

, for Best Actor.

A minor role that year Beda Docampo Feijóo's The Loves of Kafka was followed by his reuniting with director Eliseo Subiela

Eliseo Subiela

Eliseo Alberto Subiela is an Argentine film director and writer, whose works are considered to be in the 'magic realism' genre....

 and Man Facing Southeast co-star Lorenzo Quinteros

Lorenzo Quinteros

Lorenzo Quinteros is an Argentine cinema and theatre actor.Born in Córdoba Province, Quinteros has appeared in many films since his debut in Alianza para el progreso in 1971...

 in the moody Last Images of the Shipwreck, in 1989. He contributed a supporting role in (I, the Worst of All) - María Luisa Bemberg's ode to the reformist 17^th century Mexican nun, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz - and in 1991, he was cast by Fernando Ayala

Fernando Ayala

Fernando Ayala was an Argentine film producer, film director, screenwriter and film producer of the classic era...

 in his gently comic look at social mores in Argentina, Dios los cría (In God's Hands). The film, Ayala's last, was a frank look at both a gay man's struggles with his mostly conservative neighbors and at bisexuality

Bisexuality

Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...

: Soto's character, Ángel, is attracted to both a male co-worker at the bank and a kind-hearted prostitute, with whom he elopes.

Soto's talent as a sculptor was called on by Subiela for his drama, El lado oscuro del corazón (The Dark Side of the Heart) and he was cast in Oscar Barney Finn

Oscar Barney Finn

Oscar Barney Finn is an Argentine film director and screenwriter. He directed seven films between 1974 and 1997. His 1985 film Count to Ten was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Filmography:...

's 1992 look at literary critic Victoria Ocampo

Victoria Ocampo

Victoria Ocampo Aguirre was an Argentine writer and intellectual, described by Jorge Luis Borges as La mujer más argentina ....

, Four Faces for Victoria. The actor, however, developed AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

and died from its complications in 1994, at age 41.