Teatro de guerra

Theatre of War
The Falklands War lasted from April to June of 1982 and took the lives of 655 Argentinian and 255 British soldiers. It ended in Argentina’s military defeat and in territorial claims on both sides that remain contentious to this day.
Thirty-five years after the end of the war, Argentinian artist and director Lola Arias invites veterans to look back – together, either in pairs or in dialogue with the camera. The British and the Argentinians face each other as former enemies, but also form an ensemble, such as when they re-enact a battle scene in an abandoned building that resembles a theatre. Maps, faded magazines, and footage of the surreal sites where combat took place provide visual points of departure and cinematic spaces for their stories of fear – fear of both dying and of killing – and of the repercussions of a war that left its mark on all of them. But Teatro de guerra doesn’t just confine itself to the past: in staged encounters with young actors the same age that Marcelo, Jim and the others were back then, the film also asks how memories are transmitted, and how they live on.
by Lola Arias Argentina / Spain 2018 Spanish, English, Nepali 82’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Written and Directed by Lola Arias
Artistic Adviser Alan Pauls
Cinematography Manuel Abramovich
Editing Anita Remon, Alejo Hoijman
Sound Design Sofia Straface
Sound Julia Huberman
Producers Gema Juarez-Allen Gema Films, Alejandra Grinschpun Gema Films, Bettina Walter BWP, Ingmar Trost Sutor Kolonko, Pedro Saleh Sake Argentina

Lola Arias

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1976. She is a writer, theatre director, fine artist, musician and performer. She studied literature at Buenos Aires University and playwriting at Buenos Aires Metropolitan Conservatory. Her plays include “My Life After”, “Familienbande”, “That Enemy Within”, “The Art of Making Money”, “Mother Tongue” and the trilogy “Striptease”, “Revolver Dream” and “Love is a Sniper”. She has also made video installations and released music with collaborator Ulises Conti. Theatre of War, her first feature-length film, premiered at the Forum in 2018.

Filmography

2014 Veterans Installation; 5 short films: The Swimmer, 9 min., The Voice, 9 min., The Sinking of the Belgrano, 11 min., Last Day of War, 9 min., The Diary of a Soldier, 50 min. 2018 Teatro de guerra (Theatre of War) 2024 Reas; documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024