CANNES CLASSICS – The South, after the dictatorship

In 1987 in Buenos Aires, the Argentine documentary maker and political Fernando Ezequiel Solanas made Sur (The South), one of the most important full-length movies in his filmography. The film, which tells the story of a citizen freed after five years of imprisonment, bears witness to the consequences of the dictatorship on the Argentine people.

Still from film © RR

You made this documentary on Argentine soil barely five years after the end of the dictatorship. Was it a difficult film difficult to make?
No. As soon as the dictatorship ended in December 1983, we were free to film. We started shooting Sur at the end of 1987 and there was no interference whatsoever. Though we did have to postpone the shoot for six months.

How important is this film in terms of your work?
It’s one of the films that I prefer. It’s the complement to Tangos: The Exile of Gardel (1985).The two films are “tanguedias”, half-way between comedy and tragedy, with music by Astor Piazzolla and the same leading actors: Miguel Angel Sola and Philippe Léotard. Tangos is a choreographed musical and Sur is constructed on the basis of great classic tangos performed on stage.

How did the restoration of the film go?
Really well. It was a good experience for me; the work was carried out meticulously with the help of the technicians at Cinecolor. The film was restored perfectly and now we can see it in high definition and 6:9 format.

What are your thoughts about Argentine cinema and the new generation of film makers in your country?
Excellent, there is such variety and freedom in their approach. Including feature films and documentaries, we have more than seventy full length movies coming out every year.

Are you working on a film at this time?
I am just finishing El Legado, a docu-fiction that I am very fond of. It’s the memoire of a film that we made in 1971 with Perón in Madrid. I am also working on two other doumentaries: Oro Verde, which looks at life in the country in Argentina, and a film about the creative process with three contemporary Argentine artists: the great painter Felipe Noé (the father of Gaspar Noé), Eduardo Pavlovsky  (a well-known theatrical actor and playwright) and myself.

Interview by Benoit Pavan

SCREENING

Tuesday 19 May / Buñuel Theatre / 5.15pm
>> Access the interactive agenda