Clandestine Childhood

Argentina in 1979, under the military junta. Twelve-year-old Juan returns to Buenos Aires with his family after years in exile. Outside the house they all have different names: his mother, his father and his uncle Beto are members of the Montoneros and live in hiding. At school Juan is known as Ernesto. Then he meets María, and María has only one name. Benjamín Ávila's film draws on his own childhood; his mother was a member of the Montoneros and was disappeared. The narrative's strength comes from showing political struggle at a child's scale: for a boy the real problem is not the dictatorship but being unable to tell the girl he likes his actual name. The violent scenes are shown by turning into comic book panels rather than live action, a choice that points both at the child's perception and at what cannot be told. The film screened in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes and was Argentina's submission to the Academy Awards. Natalia Oreiro plays the mother and Ernesto Alterio the uncle. Who it's for: Anyone interested in Latin America's dictatorship years and political films told from a child's vantage. Who it's not for: The ending is heavy and offers no hope. Some details will stay closed without the political context.