Camila

Camila, directed by María Luisa Bemberg, is based on a real 19th century event: Camila O'Gorman, from an elite Buenos Aires family, eloped with priest Ladislao Gutiérrez in December 1847, and dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas ordered both executed; eight months pregnant, Camila was shot on August 18, 1848, becoming the first woman executed in independent Argentine history. The film opened on May 17, 1984, and became Argentina's highest grossing film that year; a 2000 poll named it the second best Argentine film of all time. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 57th Academy Awards but lost to Switzerland's Dangerous Moves. The film was made just after the fall of Argentina's military dictatorship (1976-1983), and its posters used the slogan "Nunca Más" ("Never Again"), the title of the Truth Commission's report. Who it's for: anyone curious about a drama based on the true story of the first woman executed in independent Argentine history, made just after the fall of a military dictatorship. Who it's not for: anyone mistaking this for a distant historical period disconnected from current politics, since the film speaks directly to Argentina's recent past.