IMAGINING ARGENTINA

Year: 2003
USA: Arenas Entertainment
UK: UIP
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Horacio Obón, Leticia Dolera Ruben Blades, Anton Lesser, John Wood, Kuno Becker, Claire Bloom, Maria Canals, Vera Czemerinski, Anthony Diaz Perez, Irene Escolar, Stella Maris, Marzenka Novak, Fernando Tielve, Hector Bordoni, Luis Antonio Ramos, Carlos Kaniowski, Concha Hidalgo, Ana Gracia, Amparo Valle, Cielo Verano, Maria Nydia Ursi, Elvira Villarino, Araceli Dvoskin, Susana Salerno, Anahi Martela, Pochi Ducasse, Alicia Palmes, Liz Balut, Teresa Mejias, Carola Noriega, Dan Trugman, Vanesa Velez, Andres Gonzalez, Ernesto Hernandez, Eusebio Lazaro, Sara Fernandez, Maria Borrego, Leo Azamor, Ruben Laperuta, Mariana Seligman, Alejandro Rivas, Miguel Antón, Celia Arias, Ana Armas, Ana Paula Cidón, Paris Galindo, Marcos Garcia Tizón, Javier Garcia Villaraco, Yaiza Garzón, Tania Tamara Gonzalez, Eva Gutierrez, Yamila Teresa Haro, Verónica Andrea Jimenez, Adaia López, Jesús Nebreda, Beatriz Rastrollo, Ana Senso, David Velduque, Debora Kors, Debora Cuenca, Camila Walker, Martina Sasso, Camila Sasso, Sofia Briano, Noelia Escobonson, Denise Aristimuno, Florencia Quiroles, Eliana Gonzalez, Gonzalo San Martin, Alejandro Ares, Abian Vainstein, Hector Malamud
Director: Christopher Hampton
Countries: USA / Argentina / Spain / UK
UK: 107 mins
USA Rated: R for violence/torture and brief language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong violence and moderate sexual violence
USA Release Date: 11 June 2004 (Limited Release - Los Angeles)
UK Release Date: 30 April 2004


Synopsis

IMAGINING ARGENTINA is a political thriller, with a love story at its heart, set in the historical time of the dirty war in Argentina during the 1970's.

Carlos Rueda (Antonio Banderas) is the passionate director of a children's theater in Buenos Aires. When the government kidnaps his wife Cecilia (Emma Thompson), an outspoken journalist who has being writing articles denouncing the disappearance of civilians, Carlos and his daughter Teresa (Leticia Dolera) will do everything possible to find her.

Carlos begins to have visions and soon realizes that he has clairvoyant powers. He is able to see what has happened to the victims who have been kidnapped by the Videla government officials. The news of his powers spreads rapidly and people from all over start coming to his garden to try to find out what has happened to their loved ones. Often Carlos can see the places where the victims have been, and if they are still alive or not.

For some inexplicable reason, however, his powers do not work when it comes to the fate of his own wife. He experiences short and sporadic visions of her whereabouts, which actually take him to specific places where she has been, but not to her actual location. In a short time, the government learns about his experiences and begins persecuting him and those associated with him.

This is a film about the strength of love that keeps families together, through even the most desperate of circumstances. It speaks against the horrors and injustices of dictatorships. It reminds us of the importance of freedom of thought and speech, something that was forgotten for a long time in Argentina. The honesty and reality of the film reflect the horrors that many people had to endure. Imagination becomes an essential tool of survival. And only through imagination could they change their world into a better one.