Keeping alive memories of dark times from the past, of those who fell victims to those times, is often frowned upon by the advocates of the ‘move on’ philosophy. But for Ernesto Ardito and Virna Molina, the filmmaker duo from Argentina, the purpose of their art itself is to keep alive those memories, so that the questions never cease and the same mistakes are not repeated.
Right from their debut directorial Raymundo (2002), on the Argentine documentary filmmaker Raymundo Gleyzer who ‘disappeared’ during the military dictatorship of the 1970s, they have stayed true to this cause. Their latest Symphony for Ana , being screened in the International Competition category at the 22nd International Film Festival of Kerala, chronicles the struggles of the students of an Argentinian university who ‘disappeared’ during the dictatorship.
“Our government does not like it when we talk about the past. We must bring to the present the memories of the disappeared, because they fought for freedom, equality and many other things, which we are still fighting for. We think it is very important to understand what happened in the 1970s because there is the key to understand the present and the future of Argentina,’’ says Virna. Many of the sequences of repression inside the university, of students getting targeted mercilessly, of anti-fascist faculty members being marked out and of the students finding creative ways to lie low and survive another day, were reminiscent of the present realities closer home.
“Now there is democracy in Argentina, but the fight goes on, for workers’ rights and the rights of land for the marginalised. But democracy does have its limitations when you have governments of the right wing. They take out your rights, repress you and even murder you. The difference between dictatorship and democracy under the right wing is very thin,” says Ernesto.
Symphony for Ana weaves the repression inside the university around the personal stories of students’ friendships and love lives. The film progresses as recollections in the voice of Ana and her best friend Isa. She faces pressure from her friends to break up with her boyfriend Lito, for the ideologies of their groups differ, although they all fight for the same cause. Interspersed with these are grainy footages from the Peron era. The enemy is unseen for most parts, making its presence felt just as the sound of military boots.
“When you don't see something, you can feel the fear more. We create the atmosphere so that the audience can feel what the characters feel,” says Virna.
