Celebrated Argentine filmmaker Pino Solanas dies at age 84

[sandensea]

Tributes have been pouring in for filmmaker, activist and politician Fernando Ezequiel 'Pino' Solanas, who passed away in Paris at the age of 84. Solanas had been admitted to hospital prior to be treated for COVID-19.

A socialist at heart, Solanas had become a sensation in Argentina and in international film festivals, combining his concern for the working class with a strong message of environmentalism and respect for women's rights.

Solanas survived threats to his life by the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance in 1975 and the fascist dictatorship installed in 1976, and a 1991 shooting following sharp criticism of privatizations being carried out at the time by President Carlos Menem.

Solanas was one of the pioneers of "Third World Cinema" which turned the lens away from neoliberal and neocolonial narratives. His work has received accolades from film festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Havana, Venice, and elsewhere.

From film to politics

Born in the upscale Buenos Aires suburb of Olivos, he first earned renown with The Hour of the Furnaces - a 1968 documentary on the liberation struggle in Latin America as seen through an Argentine lens.

His 1971 interview of exiled populist leader Juan Perón remains among the most often-referenced historical footage in Argentina and among Argentine history students.

An attempted abduction in 1976, during a dictatorship he fiercely opposed, led to his 8-year exile in Paris - an experience he adapted into his acclaimed musical Tangos: Gardel's Exile (1985) upon his return.

Solanas' South (1988), set amid the dictatorship, earned him a Best Director nod at the Cannes Film Festival. His surreal The Journey (1992), a critical view of President George H.W. Bush's Latin America policy, won a Technical Grand Prize at Cannes.

The Cloud (1998), a dark comedy lampooning the "K-shaped" recovery in Argentina at the time, earned a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Solanas returned to documentaries afterward, notably Memories of a Pillage (2004) - a chronicle of the country's 1990s free-market bubble and its 2001 collapse.

In Journey to the Fumigated Towns (2018), Solanas depicts the fallout from agro-toxins in rural Argentina, as a result of corporate farming. His last work, Let It Be Law (2019) chronicles the struggle for abortion rights in the country - a right that appears poised for passage by Congress and its enactment by President Alberto Fernández in 2021.

Solanas, a key figure in Fernández's center-left Front for All alliance in the 2019 elections, served in Congress in 1993-97 and 2009-13; he was elected senator in 2013, serving until last year and becoming a leading critic of right-wing President Mauricio Macri.

"Enormous grief for Pino Solanas. He died while fulfilling his duties as Argentina's ambassador to UNESCO," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "He will be remembered for his art, his political commitment and for his ethics, always at the service of a better country.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who last year awarded Solanas a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kerala Film Festival, called him "an inspiration to a democratic country like India."

At: https://english.madhyamam.com/entertainment/revolutionary-argentine-filmmaker-solanas-no-more-597079

Argentine film-maker Fernando "Pino" Solanas, 1936-2020.

Solanas' activist films became favorites both among local audiences and film and Spanish-language students internationally.

His Project South party - which he named after a fictitious party in one of his films - has been a steadfast advocate for the environment, women's and labor rights, and economic nationalism.

[Judi Lynn]

1. The world lost a hero when Fernando Solanas passed. What a shame this plague took his life.

Vastly courageous, a direct target of the dictatorship continually. Loved the expression within the tribute to him, "always at the service of a better country.”

Had no idea he dealt with George H. W. Bush's malicious actions toward Latin America. How did the U.S. corporate media neglect to mention Argentina's great patriotic activist and filmmaker? Surely an oversight, yeah, for sure!

It's especially disturbing the disease spread like wildfire in the U.S. and Argentina and Brazil because of their fascist Presidents who wer spewed into the world in time to all rule at the same time. They ALL ignored the devastation to the people it was bringing.

I hope he did find fulfillment knowing how much good he was doing in creating courage and hope for people of good will who would be touched by his work. What a rare human being.

Sad news, sandensea. Thanks for sharing this information.

[sandensea]

2. Well said, Judi.

When Fernández nominated him to be UNESCO ambassador, something told me this would be the last time his fellow countrymen would see him.

I've never met him - but a cousin of mine knew him. Solanas had a great deal of grandfatherly appeal in person - while also a talented and didactic speaker. He could go on, without notes, at length on any number of subjects - and do so with his trademark sense of humor.

One of the most memorable scenes in The Journey is a parody of an infamous tennis game between Bush and Menem in Panama in 1990, in which it was said Menem "let" himself be beaten by Bush in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the U.S. President (who most believed at the time he'd be re-elected - just as many in Latin America believed Trump would be re-elected).

In the scene, Menem ("Mr. Toad" ) heads a right-wing regional caucus - not unlike the Lima Group - called the 'Organization of Countries on Their Knees'. The Spanish acronym - OPA - means 'sucker' in Argentine slang.

Mr. Toad even takes to going around on his knees, whenever Bush ("Mr. Wolf" ) is present - even while playing tennis. Ever the gentleman, Mr. Wolf plays on his knees as well - though he still wins.

(at 1:00 - not subtitled, sadly):