Utopia and Barbarism (Utopia e Barbárie)

19.11. in the presence of director Silvio Tendler.

Brazil 2009, 120 min, English subtitles

“Utopia e Barbárie“ examines resistance and liberation movements of the 20th century with the focus on Latin America. The documentary film links them with developments in other parts of the world to form a historical memorandum: from the genocide committed by the National Socialist regime to the genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge, from the CIA-led putsch in Iran in 1953 to the Algerian war of liberation, from the student protests of 1968 to the events in Latin America. Using interviews with contemporary witnesses, archive footage and old photographs, Tendler also underlines the disappearance, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and murders of thousands of people during “Operación Condor“ in Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Silvio Tendler (* 1950 in Rio de Janeiro) learned his trade as a director from Jean Rouch and Chris Marker in Paris. He is one of Brazil’s most successful documentary filmmakers. In 2005, he received the Salvador Allende Prize for his life’s work at the Festival del Cinema Latino Americano di Trieste, Italy.