The trailer for Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985, which centres on the most pivotal trial of the 20th century in that country, has been made available on Prime Video. The film was directed by Mitre and co-written by him and Mariano Llinás to tell the tale of the 1985 Trial of the Juntas, which occurred five months after the country’s violent military dictatorship was replaced by democracy. The trial established a new standard not just for Latin America, but for the whole world. Never before had the world witnessed the trial of the leaders of a dictatorship; in this instance, nine high-ranking members of the military for crimes against humanity were committed during the harsh government’s seven-year reign.
The film is based on the actual story of Argentinian prosecutors Juli Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo, the public faces of the prosecution against the dictatorship. At the outset of the video, Strassera (Ricardo Darn) is briefed on the gravity of his upcoming role as prosecutor in the “most significant trial in Argentina’s history.” The teaser suggests that, following the Nuremberg Trials in the wake of World War II, this trial of government leaders for crimes against humanity may have been the most high-profile.
This demonstrates how Strassera was the only seasoned lawyer willing to take on such a daunting case. However, he had company. To bring the perpetrators responsible for years of terror and wanton brutality to justice, Strassera was supported by a much younger lawyer (Peter Lanzani) and other “juniors” who, without an established reputation to risk, found the courage to go where the seniors wouldn’t dare and worked together. Filmmakers La Unión de los Ros, Kenya Films, Infinity Hill, and Amazon Studios collaborated on the R-rated feature.
It was produced by a team that included Mitre, Darn, Axel Kuschevatzky, Federico Posternak, Agustina Llambi-Campbell, Santiago Carabante, Chino Darn, and Victoria Alonso. At the 79th Venice Film Festival, the premiere of Argentina 1985 takes place. The movie helmed by Mitre will premiere in Argentine theatres on September 29 and make its way to Amazon Prime Video shortly after.