| Director: | Marco Bechis |
|---|---|
| Production: | Fandango (Domenico Procacci, Laura Paolucci), 39 Films (Alfredo Federico, Simona Banchi), Karta Film (Marco Bechis, Daniele Incalcaterra), con Rai Cinema, 34 Filmes (Patrick de Jongh, Cibele Amaral, André Ristum) |
| Running Time: | 105’ |
| Language: | Italian, Spanish |
| Country: | Italy, Brazil |
| Main Cast: | Adriano Giannini, Ana Celentano, Verónica Gerez, Olivia Nuss, Adrián Fondari, Paula Cohen, Marcelo Chaparro |
| Screenplay: | Marco Bechis, Vijaya Bechis Boll |
| Cinematographer: | Fabrizio La Palombara |
| Editor: | Jacopo Quadri, Nicolò Tettamanti |
| Production Designer: | Caterina Giargia, Mario Scarzella, Eduardo Antunes |
| Costume Designer: | Caterina Giargia, Sara Giovene, Coca Serpa |
| Music: | Guglielmo Diana |
| Sound: | Marco Fiumara, Ray Fisch |
| Visual Effects: | Ermanno Di Nicola |
Cinema
Ritorno a Buenos Aires
Venezia 83 Competition
Synopsis
Buenos Aires, 2008. After thirty-three years in Italy, Mariano Guerra returns to Argentina to face the past, testifying against the former military officers who abducted, tortured and enslaved him during the dictatorship. Housed by the Ministry of Justice alongside other survivors, he reconnects with those who endured captivity with him as he waits for the day of his hearing.
The days spent with the other witnesses, their meetings and their testimony reopen stories that have remained unresolved for decades. Mariano is one of the few survivors of that tragedy and bears a burden that no court judgment can ease. Returning to Buenos Aires forces him to reckon with what it means to have made it out alive.
Director’s Statement
With Ritorno a Buenos Aires, I return to Argentina fifty years later. I return with a story that is not my own, yet one that springs from a wound I know well. I, too, was abducted during the Argentine dictatorship, but Mariano is not me. I chose fiction because, at times, it is the only way of approaching a truth that memory alone cannot tell.
What does it mean to survive? For a long time, I imagined cinema might offer an escape from that question. It never did. Mariano returns to Buenos Aires to testify in court. Through his story, I wanted to explore the moment when the past breaks into the present once again.
I wanted a restrained directing style, one that neither explains nor condemns. What mattered to me were the silences, the faces, the slow passage of waiting, and the places where the past has left its mark. In the end, the film is about a single thing: the survivor’s guilt that never quite lets go.
Production /Distribution
PRODUCTION 1:
Fandango - Domenico Procacci, Laura Paolucci,
Viale Gorizia 19
00198 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 0685218111
E-mail: fandango@fandango.it
PRODUCTION 2:
39Films - Alfredo Federico, Simona Banchi,
Via Francesco Crispi 8
52100 Arezzo, Italy
Tel: +39 0575 148 3200
E-mail: alfredo@39films.it
PRODUCTION 3:
Karta Film - Marco Bechis, Daniele Incalcaterra,
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 207
72017 Ostuni, Italy
Tel: +39 0685218106
E-mail: mcobch@gmail.com
PRODUCTION 4:
Rai Cinema – Paolo Del Brocco
Piazza Adriana, 12
00193 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 06 33179601
E-mail: anna.pomara@raicinema.it
Web: http://www.raicinema.it
PRODUCTION 5:
34 Filmes - Patrick de Jongh, Cibele Amaral, André Ristum
WORLD SALES:
Fandango Sales - Raffaella Di Giulio
Viale Gorizia 19
00198 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 0685218106
E-mail: sales@fandango.it
ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION:
Fandango - Gianluca Pignataro
Viale Gorizia 19
00198 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 0685218106
E-mail: distribuzione@fandango.it
PRESS OFFICE:
Gordon Spragg, Michael Arnon - WOLF Consultants
Tel: +49 171 6466 970
E-mail: hello@wolf-con.com
ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE:
Daniela Staffa - Fandango
Tel: +39 0685218123
E-mail: daniela.staffa@fandango.it
