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“Argentina, 1985” was selected by the Academy to represent Argentina come awards season.
The film, directed by Santiago Mitre, will be in contention for a Best International Film nomination, an award that has become increasingly important over the years.
“Argentina, 1985” stars Ricardo Darin, Argentina’s leading international actor, and is based on the Trial of the Juntas, a moment that reckoned with Argentina’s seven-year military dictatorship and many of the parties responsible. Darin plays Julio Strassera, one of the prosecutors that played a pivotal role in convicting the war criminals.
“It was a very, very big deal,” said Darin of the historic moment in an interview with ABC News. “Let’s not forget that a lot of people in a lot of parts of the society in Argentina back then, they had no idea of the horrors that had happened. This is something that was not talked about and something that was not shared. So for a lot of people, being able to see witnesses come forward and being able to hear the family members of people who were killed or tortured was an eye opener.”
The film premiered at San Sebastian Film Festival where it won the audience award, earning one of the highest scores in the festival’s decades spanning history. Later, it was selected for the Oscars after 250 voting members picked it from 61 Argentinean films released between January 1st and November 30th of this year. While this doesn’t mean that “Argentina, 1985” will be nominated for Best International Film come Oscar season, it remains a significant achievement for the filmmakers, producers, and everyone involved in its making.
“Argentina, 1985” is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.