Unas preguntas, Kristina Konrad, Alemania-Uruguay, 2018, 237'
In 1986, the Uruguayan Parliament approved a law granting amnesty for all crimes and human rights violations committed by the army and the police during the dictatorship (1973-1985). The impunity law prevented the continuation of investigations into disappearances and abuses of power during the civic-military regime. In response, a popular movement demanded a referendum on the law.
Unas preguntas is an exhaustive four-hour look at the material recorded by Swiss television on the streets of Uruguay between 1987 and 1989. The result is impressive, devastating and unique. The film is a monumental manifesto about the capacity of documentary film (and of archives) to unravel the complexity of history. The work combines street interviews in the midst of the debate on the memory and future of the country with TV footage of the city's streets, avenues and parks. Like a time capsule, the film gives us a glimpse of a country and of its anonymous players right at the time of its transformation. It addresses justice, revenge, equality, peace and democracy. At the same time, the documentary lets us see things that no history book has ever been able to capture about the great transformations of society: the day-to-day, the inside story, glances exchanged by neighbours, the tone of their voices, the pain of their words, their weeping, rancour, vengeance, the fear in their gestures and the victory and defeat of their bodies.
This is a revealing, crucial and emotional film for those who still believe in the capacity of cinema to depict life. The present comes face to face with political and human questions about our past and our future.
In 1986, the Uruguayan Parliament approved a law granting amnesty for all crimes and human rights violations committed by the army and the police during the dictatorship (1973-1985).