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Film above: La historia oficial (The Official Story) (1985). Director: Luis Puenzo.
Cinemateca Series
View Bilingual Flyer
August 29 - October 2, 2008
Ruth Sokolof Theatre
14th and Webster Streets
Showtimes and tickets at Film Streams
This Week's Screenings! September 5-September 11
All films are in Spanish with English Subtitles.
La historia oficial
(The Official Story) (1985).
Director: Luis Puenzo.
Special screening and post-show discussion on Tuesday, September 9 at 6:30pm.
Dr. Claudia Garcia (UNO Foreign Languages and OLLAS)
The first film to bring to light the illegal appropriations of children by the military during Argentina’s Dirty War (1976-83), The Official Story is set in Buenos Aires in the Dictadura’s last months, with a documentary background of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo’s demonstrations. The plot focuses on Roberto, his wife Alicia, and their young adopted daughter, Gabi. After meeting with an old friend just returned from exile, Alicia, who has obliviously accepted Roberto’s version of their daughter’s origins, sets out to investigate Gabi’s identity. The truth she finds will lead both to the breakdown of her marriage and to an uncertain future for Gabi.
Alicia’s personal search clearly mirrors the nation’s search for the truth about its recent past. In particular, it mirrors the awakening of large sectors of the middle-class to the atrocities of the government’s repression, as the military is losing power and the victims can make themselves heard. Alicia’s journey questioning the official version of history is reassuring in that it shows she can change in spite of all that she is losing.
La historia oficial, primer filme argentino en sacar a la luz las apropiaciones ilegales de niños por parte de los militares durante la Guerra Sucia (1976-83), se desarrolla en Buenos Aires durante los últimos meses de la Dictadura, y cuenta con las Madres de Plaza de Mayo como fondo documental. El argumento se centra en Roberto, su esposa
Alicia, y su pequeña hija adoptiva, Gabi. A partir del encuentro de Alicia con una amiga retornada del exilio, ésta se cuestiona la versión de Roberto sobre el origen de Gabi y decide investigar su identidad. La verdad la llevará a la ruptura matrimonial y dejará a Gabi frente a un futuro incierto.
La búsqueda de Alicia sirve de espejo a la del país enfrentándose al pasado reciente. Sobre todo, refleja la toma de conciencia de algunos sectores de la clase media, a medida que decrece el poder de los militares y son escuchadas las víctimas de la represión. Al cuestionar la versión oficial de la historia, Alicia muestra que el cambio es posible pese al dolor y la pérdida, subrayando elementos positivos en un difícil proceso histórico
Series generously sponsored by Sam Walker and Elizabeth Emlen Walker.
For more information call Lucy Garza Westbrook at 554-3835. For information on ticket pricing visit www.filmstreams.org or call (402) 933-0259.
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Las madres de la Plaza de Mayo
(Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo)
(1985).
Director: Susana Blaustein Muñoz & Lourdes Portillo.
The Mothers of La Plaza de Mayo is a gripping and moving documentary that renders the story of a brave group of Argentinean women who defied the brutality of the military junta that took power in 1976. In this year, the military in the name of “order” and “anti-communism” launched an ominous war of terror against anyone believed an opponent. Known as the “dirty war” the military, police, and civilians joined to create death squads to kidnap, torture, murder, and disappear intellectuals, union leaders, journalists, students, teachers, and everyone who dared voice disapproval of the regime.
Screenwriters and directors, Lourdes Portillo and Susana B. Muñoz, combine narration and testimonials to recount the long struggle of women that one year after the coup (April 30, 1977) decided to demonstrate and demand the appearance of their “disappeared” relatives.
The documentary made in 1985, three years after the return of civilian rule to Argentina, expresses the undaunted courage of women to defend basic human rights in the face of inexcusable violence and complicit silence.
Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo es un documental, intenso y emotivo, sobre la agrupación de mujeres argentinas que desafió la brutalidad de la dictadura militar que usurpó el gobierno en 1976. En este año, los militares aduciendo la necesidad de mantener el “orden” y el “anti-comunismo” orquestaron una guerra de terror contra todos aquellos individuos percibos como enemigos del nuevo régimen. La violencia sistemática contra la oposición, que fue mejor conocida como la “guerra sucia” reunió a contingentes de militares, policías y civiles en escuadrones de la muerte que se dedicaron a secuestrar, torturar, asesinar y desaparecer a intelectuales, dirigentes sindicales, periodistas, estudiantes, maestros, y todos aquellos que osaron levantar su voz contra la dictadura.
Lourdes Portillo y Susana B. Muñoz, asociadas como argumentistas y directoras del documental, aúnan la narración de los hechos con los testimonios para presentar el coraje y la perseverancia de las madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Estas mujeres, que iniciaron su cuestionamiento a los siniestros procedimientos militares (el 30 de abril de 1977, un año después del golpe) decidieron manifestarse públicamente y exigir la aparición de sus familiares desaparecidos.
El documental hecho en 1985, a solo tres años del regreso de Argentina al régimen representativo, expresa sin duda alguna la valentía de las madres en la defensa de los derechos humanos frente a la violencia incalificable y la complicidad del silencio.
OLLAS (pronounced "oy-yas") The Office of Latino/Latin American Studies of the Great Plains at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), was established in the summer of 2003 as the result of ongoing efforts by the faculty, staff, and students of the UNO Chicano/Latino Studies (CLS) Program and a federal appropriation made possible by the U.S. Department of Education and the support of the Greater Omaha community. |
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New!UNO program expands students' horizons
Nine UNO students participated in the Latino Studies center's first international trip to Peru, which combined study with service, such as helping to build a child care center. Read more ...
Latin America Study Abroad: Lima, Peru! Student Blog of OLLAS in Peru LLS 4950/8956-850 Instructor: Olga Celle, Ph.D. Click here: Peru Student Bulletin The course examines the effects of globalization on the urban population of Lima, Peru. This country’s pre-Columbian heritage and multicultural makeup constitute an intriguing site for exploring development, underdevelopment, and the reality of modern Latin American cities today. Students will gain new insights into issues such as the power of culture as it receives and transforms transnational media images; the transformation and destruction of nature; the role of organized urban neighborhoods and their accomplishments; and the challenge facing Latin American policy-makers as they try to reconcile different views of “modernity” in a multicultural environment. Classes started on May 12 via Distance Education. On May 18, students traveled to Lima, the capital city of Peru. Final paper and reflections took place back in Omaha and the course concluded on June 27. The course has an applied and service learning component. This program is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the Service Learning Academy, Distance Education, and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. |
Second-Generation Latinos in Nebraska: A First Look Nebraska’s foreign-born population grew faster than that of any other Midwest state between 1990 and 2000. The state also experienced the second-highest increase in the number of children of immigrants in prekindergarten to fifth grade during the same period. This report sheds light on the second generation’s progress in the country’s heartland. Read more . . . Immigration’s New Frontiers: In the midst of the fiery debate regarding undocumented immigration, assimilation returned to the front seat it occupied during the early decades of the twentieth century. The main purpose of this report is twofold: (1) to take stock of the policies and accompanying community responses of the State of Nebraska, and (2) to inform policies and programs designed to address challenges and opportunities posed by a growing immigrant population. Read more . . .
Cumbre pictures. Click on the sessions to view. The theme for Cumbre 2007 was Understanding Immigration and the Changing Communities of the Americas: Lessons from New Destinations across the Globe. The conference was held April 26-29, 2007, and was sponsored by the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies (OLLAS) with the support of La Red Internacional de Migración y Desarrollo. The conference brought together scholars, policymakers, NGOs, and community representatives interested in exchanging views about the failures and successes of immigration policy reforms as well as immigrant integration efforts across the country and around the globe. While the focus of Cumbre 2007 continued to be on Latino/Latin American populations, OLLAS increasingly emphasized presentations that contribute to the comparative and transnational understanding of these issues across receiving and sending nations, localities, history, and population groups (e.g., Latin Americans, Africans, or Arabs in Europe). In addition, the conference spotlighted Latin American and other sending countries and how government policies, relations with receiving countries, and economic and political realities contribute to migration and its impact on local communities here and there. A major goal of the conference was to publish, along with selected papers, a clear set of policy recommendations directed at various levels of policymakers, researchers, institutions, local governments, and community organizations. The 2007 Cumbre consisted of a combination of panel, plenary, and thematic sessions and featured a number of national and international speakers.
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