Director of Argentina, 1985, Santiago Mitra, followed the reading of Córdoba’s candidacies. “After the Golden Globes I came to Córdoba on vacation, so here I am, in a place in the mountains with very little connectivity,” she began by telling clarion-. It rained a lot today, so no, there was no Internet in the morning -Internet by antenna-, and we saw them on a mobile with some friends here, one of them had 4G.
It was a huge joy. You will imagine it and everyone will imagine it. We already had a lot of expectations for the Golden Globe. Obviously the movie’s notoriety has grown a lot, so we knew we had a shot, but hey, we’ve been waiting for the news and today, luckily, it’s been confirmed.
What does this Oscar nomination mean to you?
It’s a huge accolade. The film, since it began to be seen in Venice, has given us a lot of joy and has connected with the audience in a surprising and very unique way. It seems to me that there is something symbolized by this process which, of course, permeates the Argentinean audience very deeply, but also has very profound effects on audiences in other countries.
The defense of democracy and justice are topics of concern in many societies. We saw that the film connected a lot with audiences in the United States, not just audiences that may have more similar stories to Argentina. It was something that was happening and we were noticing how interest in the film was growing and how the US and other places were embracing the themes. With everything that’s going on in the world, what happened in Brazil just now, what happened in the United States a couple of years ago.
It seems to me that the consolidation of democracy through justice is a matter of enormous relevance and that is why the film has the recognition it is receiving, the Golden Globe, now this nomination, and nominations and awards in other parts of the world.
-Do you have contacts with the directors of the films with which “Argentina, 1985” will compete?
-Yes, I have shared panels with many of them, especially with Lukas Dhont (the Belgian director of close), which I’m very happy he was nominated too because I know he was working hard in promotion too. With the German director of No news at the front I have also shared some dashboards.
Those of us in this category of non-English or international films are in contact, we attend similar events, so yes, I’ve met almost all of them before. It seems to me that we had a good trip. We hope to get the statuette, but we are very happy with everything that has been done.
And there is something that we always say in the presentations of the film, and that we don’t want to stop highlighting in this case, that a very important recognition of worldwide fame is obtained, which is to share it with all the people and organizations who have been fighting for democracy, to build a better society, for memory, truth, justice, democracy.
This film is, of course, based on that struggle and we want to dedicate everything, all the achievements with the film to them and to the people who have passed the judgment. To the members of the prosecutor’s office, the judges, the witnesses, of course, and all the people who have suffered the horror of the dictatorship. Argentina, 1985 has managed to put these discussions, these very fundamental issues, once again at the top of the agenda or on the front page.
Kuschevatzky, of Los Angeles
Axel Kushchevatzky is one of the co-producers of Argentina, 1985. And he is, together with Victoria Alonso, the only one who is still in the United States, because he lives there.
-The candidacy was expected, right?
-I have an ambiguous relationship with these things, until it’s official, it’s really distressing. I have a lot of fun until they open the envelopes, you can’t exercise control over anything. It’s strange, in recent days the experts of the international press had foreseen lists of films that would have been among the candidates, and sometimes we were there and sometimes we weren’t. The Guardian, which gave us a great review, didn’t publish it.
-How did you follow the reading of the nominations live?
-I saw it with my children and my wife. They got up at 5 in the morning. Victoria herself (by Alonso, president of Marvel and co-producer of the film).
-Who was the first person you spoke to as soon as you heard about the candidacy?
-We have a WhatsApp group for the film, in which all the producers are, and there is Peter (Lanzani), Javiera Balmaceda from Amazon -who is Pedro Pascal’s sister-, many of the child actors of the prosecution, Florencia Bas , Ricardo’s wife, the film’s musician, Pedro Osuna. We’re like 30 people. The first thing that exploded was the group.
-How does this story continue?
-There are other deliveries before the Oscar, the BAFTAs in London, the Goyas in Spain. There’s a very marathon press campaign coming, everyone is traveling and interviewing, you know, every possible way to be part of the conversation. But it’s something that happens to all of us, to the five films that are in this category. It’s always a great job, because the regulations of the Academy are very strict. A wild marathon is coming.
-Have you seen the other four films that “Argentina, 1985” will compete with?
-No, I decided not to see anyone from the list, when there were 15 finalists, I was depressed if I saw one entering and not ours… I’m a friend of the people from the other films, of the producer of No news at the front. At the events we hug with Lukas Dhont, it’s a strange situation. when we lost with RRR At the Critics’ Choice Awards we said it was the second best scenario, because a film won that was not there, could not compete with ours at the Oscars.
Will you see them now?
– I have no excuses.
-Are you a member of the Hollywood Academy?
-No, but I have the copies of the films because they passed them to me because I’m in the producers’ union.
-On March 12, how will you do? Will you be on both sides of the red carpet?
-I hope so, it has already happened to me with The secret in their eyes Y wild tales, and it is scientifically proven that it can be done. It’s not necessarily very comfortable, but it can be done.
Source: Clarin
