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Director Enrique Pineyro is playfully elusive when discussing his method for capturing the interior scenes of a commercial aircraft for his feature debut -- “Whisky Romeo Zulu.”

“Some of the things we did, my lawyer told me not to repeat in public,” says the former airline pilot and whistle-blower within the Argentine aviation industry, whose real-life ordeal serves as the basis for the sharp and stylish film. But then, disregarding that advice, Pineyro goes on to add: “We stole everything. We went into the airport disguised as a pilot and crew, presented fake scripts, told people we were making a training film for the airline. We had no permissions whatsoever.”

Pineyro became the subject of headlines within Argentina when the crash he had long warned of did in fact occur on Aug. 31, 1999, when a Boeing 737 went down over midtown Buenos Aires, killing 67 people. Although the official investigation blamed the crash on pilot error, Pineyro makes the argument that the industry is rife with problems, including shoddy aircraft maintenance and safety procedures. He says the accident can more accurately be blamed upon system failure.

That said, one can easily watch “Whisky Romeo Zulu” -- the enigmatic title refers to the ill-fated aircraft’s radio call sign -- without even realizing Pineyro’s actual attachment to the story, until the film ends with genuine broadcast news footage of the plane crash and its aftermath, as well as Pineyro’s appearances on Argentine television. Another tip that the film’s lead is more than just the writer, director and lead actor is the believable footage of Pineyro piloting a jetliner.

Pineyro makes no apologies for using his connections and inside knowledge to obtain his film’s footage.

Working from what he says was a medium-sized budget by Argentine standards, Pineyro saw his shoot drag out over the better part of a year, as he had to temporarily stop shooting after a small newspaper article alerted airline officials to the presence of his film crew.

Had he actually gotten the proper permissions -- not exactly a sure thing -- he estimates the film would have cost four times as much.

Speaking by phone from Buenos Aires, he explains, “I knew who to talk to, how to do things the aviation way, not the movie production way.”

The one-of-a-kind film premieres this weekend at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood as part of its third series of new cinema from Argentina, which has been steadily making a name for itself in international film.

In certain cinephile circles, there is an ongoing race to uncover the hottest and most vibrant national cinema of the moment. Countries as disparate as Iran, Denmark, South Korea and even Kazakhstan have all had their time in the spotlight. Having produced such filmmakers as Martin Rejtman, Lucrecia Martel and Pablo Trapero, the latest wave of Argentine cinema has been making a splash on the festival and art house circuit.

The Cinematheque series features eight recent feature films from Argentina, including a number of local and U.S. premieres. This year’s series highlights the broad spectrum of styles in the country’s filmmaking community, including domestic dramas, socially charged thrillers and kid-friendly features.

Among the films in the series is the official Argentine submission for this year’s Academy Awards, “The Lost Embrace” by writer-director Daniel Burman. A lighthearted look at the formation of immigrant identity, the film is full of nebbishy humor that recalls classic Woody Allen.

Opening the series of Friday night is the U.S. premiere of “Ay, Juancito.” Directed by veteran Hector Olivera, the film is based on the story of Juan Ramon Duarte, brother of Evita Peron and personal secretary to Juan Domingo Peron, and ties together the personal and the political in the creation of national history.

Also showing are two of the biggest recent successes at the Argentine box office. “Patoruzito” is an animated film based on the comic-book character that has been a beloved part of Argentine culture since the 1940s. In a totally different vein is “Dangerous Obsession,” a very commercial police thriller featuring two popular young stars, Pablo Echarri and Mariano Martinez.

Explaining his reasoning for making a feature film rather than a documentary to tell his story, Pineyro says, “I think it is a kind of direct testimonial. Since I was a direct witness, my contribution to the story will not be forgotten. Normally what comes out in the media is what happens after an accident or immediately before. In my case I was interested in telling all the things that happened well ahead of the accident, the latent failures in the system.

“In a documentary you have lots of images of what happened before and after the accident, but not one image of the previous story. So the only choice I had to tell what led to the accident, not just the aftermath, was a fictional re-creation of the facts I directly witnessed.”