ARGENTINA, 1985

Source: Amazon Studios / La Unión de los Ríos / Kenya Films / Infinity Hill / Ph Lina Etchesuri

‘Argentina, 1985’

Argentina has submitted Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985 as its entry for the best international feature category for the 2023 Academy Awards (March 12).

The Amazon Original title is based on the real events of Argentina’s 1980s ‘Dirty War’ and follows a group of lawyers who risk everything to take on the heads of the country’s military dictatorship. Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzani lead the cast.  

Argentina, 1985 was selected out 60 other titles by a committee of 250 members.

The film is a co-production between La Unión de los Ríos, Kenya Films, UK’s Infinity Films and US’ Amazon Studios. It will have a theatrical release in the US and Argentina (via Digicine) before being made globally available on Prime Video from October 21.

The film made its world premiere in competitoin at the Venice Film Festival where it won  the critics’ prize as well as an honourable mention in the SIGNIS Award.  

More recently, Argentina screened at San Sebastian where it won the audience award, reportedly with one of the highest scores in history. It is now screening at the Zurich Film Festival and at the BFI London Film Festival next month. 

Argentina has won the Oscar twice: in 1985 for Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story and in 2009 for Juan José Campanella’s The Secret In Their Eyes, the latter of who also received a nomination in 2001 for Son Of The Bride. Further nominations have come from Sergio Renán’s The Truce in 1974; María Luisa Bemberg’s Camila in 1984; Carlos Saura’s The Tango in 1998; and Damian Szidron’s Wild Tales in 2014.