Emanuela Tomasseti on Why We Must Remember
If you’re anything like me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear La Memoria del Cóndor is the giant vulture found in South America. You wouldn’t be wrong, but you should know that the people of Latin America recall years of political repression and “random disappearances” done by right-wing dictatorships in various countries during the 70s and 80s.
Emanuela Tomassetti is an Italian director known for her role in creating politically charged, introspectively subversive feature length dramas. In recent years she has become well known in Italy and South America for her magnum opus La memoria del Condor, 2018 – a feature length documentary telling the personal stories of the victims through testimonies from their family members, along with court testimonies and archival materials coming from Argentina, Uruguay, and Italy.
On a breezy Roman Thursday evening I had the privilege of interviewing her about her process as a director and why it is important to remember what happened during operation Condor.
This interview has been translated from Italian to English and has been edited for length and clarity.
I saw that you graduated in Political Science, I’m curious as to why.
I wanted to become the mayor of Rome. I loved literature in high school but I had a teacher that made me hate it so I didn’t end up doing that. Also, I have a rather developed sense of justice and I am easily angered by injustice. So, within the small world of my family life growing up, which wasn’t an intellectual family, I thought that I would have wanted to become the mayor so that I could better this city, and because of that desire I decided to study political science.
And when did you become interested in cinema?
At a certain point, I was only interested in history, I was doing my degree in history, however when I was coming upon the end of my degree and doing my graduation thesis. I discovered cinema – I discovered Kieslowski, I discovered Antonioni, I truly discovered Italian cinema. I did a thesis on the censorship placed on cinema and center-left politics because at the time, in the 60s, the laws regarding cinematic censorship had changed when socialists entered the government after the Cold War. Then for two years I studied the laws pertaining to cinema and all of the films of that era. All of the films that finally began to speak freely about the problems of the country, about the history of the country. I wanted to continue my studies but very quickly I began to work in the television and film industry.
Cinema had the power to tell the story of that time period with more freedom after these laws had changed, and I speak about this in my thesis. Politics are always in my work. I remained passionate about it after I finished my studies. Almost all of the projects I have worked on have something to do with politics. I think of cinema as a mode of historical narration.
Could you tell me in your own words what this documentary is about?
It is a documentary that tells the story of Operation Condor through the memories of the survivors, family friend’s, and other members of the leftist party.
You are Italian?
Yes, only Italian.
What made you want to make a documentary about something that happened in South America?
Because I am passionate about history but more specifically the history of leftist politics. And I am interested in utopias, and those of which then fail.
Could you explain what you mean by utopias that fail?
This is a complicated topic to discuss in a few lines. I referred mainly to Chile, where a democratically elected government, even with a narrow majority, tried to make changes for the poorest people, to make economic reforms in a country ruled by big landowners and multinational companies. It was a very classist country. Allende’s mission failed. The country was still divided.
For me, utopia is equal opportunity for all, equal education, health insurance for all, dignified work for all. If somebody wants to buy a Ferrari, let him, but it should not be to the detriment of those who are poorer than he.
How did you begin working on such a project?
So, I began to work on the documentary by chance. I have a friend who works for human rights/social justice in South America, specifically in Argentina, and he has an organization that deals with this. At a certain point his organization was dealing with a court case and he said “why don’t you follow it with us?”At that moment I wasn’t working much and it interested me a lot as a historian, so I began to follow him and the case, i.e. the trial schedule provided for hearings to begin I.e. the testimony with the coup of Chile, the one of 1973.
What was happening in 1973?
After things began to ease after the Cold War, in South America there began movements of the workers, leftist movements, because they wanted more rights. The situation there was much worse than in Europe, the people were much poorer and poverty was diffused throughout the entire country.
Subsequently, military forces backed by the US began to snuff out those who stood against them. It began with Paraguay, then Brazil, then Uruguay, then Chile and Argentina. And when Allende, the socialist president of Chile arrived, and when he tried to nationalize copper production which was Chile’s biggest raw material at the time, rogue troops came in and began to kill those who stood against them.
How did you bring the people together to realize such a global project?
All of the people that I interviewed were actually all in Rome for the trial, and I interviewed them when they were all hot with emotion because they had to relive their story as they were testifying in court. The case was tried in Rome because in many cases the victims were South American citizens with Italian origin.
At first we edited the interviews – this yes, this no – it was difficult to combine the stories of five different countries. There was a repertoire researcher involved. I searched for all of the images needed to reconstruct the story. Not everything was in Italy, though. I needed to search in foreign archives and I also telephoned the relatives of the victims. They told me such incredible stories, things that were essential to include in the documentary.
Why is it important for the Italian public to remember Operation Condor?
The Italian public, specifically the leftist Italian public, is very connected. Many Italians emigrated to Chile and other parts of South America but also many South Americans escaped their totalitarian governments by immigrating to Italy. It is a history that interests Italian leftists much more than Italian Conservatives, and at the time there were many parallels between what was happening in Italy and Chile.
As you have said before, you always see film as a narration of history. What do you hope to say to the world, not just Italy, with this documentary?
I like to tell stories, and in particular stories of people fighting for something beautiful, just, or tangible. Stories that give a glimmer of hope is a world where hope is reduced.
The stories of Operation Condor are also positive. People who despite pain, suffering, and loss have continued to walk with their heads held high seeking justice.
Emanuela works at Land Comunicazioni, an independent film company based in Rome, Italy.
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