Operación Siglo XX

Stories Our Cinema Did (Not) Tell

March 2017 •Portuguese

Filled with raunchy laughs, this documentary compiles outrageous scenes from sex-comedies that shaped Brazil's "pornochanchada" boom of the 1970s.

Adriana's Pact

October 2017 •Spanish

Lissette's favorite aunt Adriana, who lives in Australia, is arrested in 2007 while visiting her family in Chile and accused of having worked for dictator Pinochet's notorious secret police, the DINA, and of having participated in the commission of state crimes. When Adriana denies these accusations, Lissette begins to investigate her story in order to film a documentary about her.

Você Também Pode Dar um Presunto Legal

July 2006 •Portuguese

Amid the civil-military dictatorship implanted with the 1964 coup, Sergio Muniz had the idea of making a documentary about the action of the Death Squad. At the time, the press still had some freedom to disseminate the work of these death squads formed by police officers of various ranks, and that he acted on the outskirts of cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The victims of police repression (as today) were men, poor and black, and this condition is supposed criminals.

Viva o Cinema! Uma História da Mostra de São Paulo

October 2024 •Portuguese

The series tells the story of the São Paulo International Film Festival, one of the most traditional cultural events in Latin America. For 48 years, the festival has showcased hundreds of films from all over the world, bringing vibrancy to the city. Filmmaker Marina Person provides an irreverent perspective, highlighting the exciting and unusual stories that have marked the festival’s journey of resistance. The series reveals the individuals who have embraced the challenge of organizing this significant cultural event in Brazil every year, despite often challenging conditions. We also delves into how the Mostra has grown to become one of the main festivals globally, shedding light on the changes in cinema, Brazil, and the world over the years.

I Was, I Am, I Will Be

September 1974 •German

In the spring of 1974, a camera team from Studio H&S succeeded against the explicit orders of the Junta’s Chancellery, entered into two large concentration camps in the north of the country - Chacabuco and Pisagua - leaving with filmed sequences and sound recordings.

Revolution and Land

October 2019 •Spanish

The long fight over the land, which demolished the wall between master and serf, continues to divide Peru to this day. But the 1969 agrarian reform marked a before and after in the country's story - a profound change that Peruvian cinema reflected and encapsulated, creating great imagination we continue to discover today. 50 years after the social experiments of the revolution, we ask ourselves whether Peru really messed up or not with Juan Velasco Alvarado.

Wie baue ich einen Molotow-Cocktail ?

November 1968 •German

Instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail

Corporate Accountability

February 2020 •Spanish

Images of Argentinian companies and factories in the first light of day, seen from the inside of a car, while the director reads out documents in voiceover that reveals the collusion of the same concerns in the military dictatorship’s terror.

Roda Viva Roda Brasil

January 2019 •Portuguese

O Grande Irmão: O Dia que Durou 21 Anos 2

September 2022 •Portuguese

With confidential and unpublished documentation, the film shows the background and behind-the-scenes of the coup in Chile that took place on September 11, 1973 - and General Pinochet's dictatorship, which lasted 17 years.

1968 - Without Losing Tenderness

May 2001 •Portuguese

The story of the University of Brasília, since it was only a project in Darcy Ribeiro's head until the fateful events in August 1968 when its campus was invaded by the police, during the military dictatorship, thus putting an end to its independence.

One or Two Questions

July 2018 •Spanish

In 1986, the Uruguayan Parliament passed a law granting amnesty for all crimes and human rights violations committed by the military and police during the dictatorship (1973-85). This law of impunity prevented the clarification demanded by the relatives of those who had disappeared and been murdered by the former regime. A public initiative arose calling for a referendum in which the law be subject to the vote of the people. Unas preguntas uses U-matic footage, mostly of interviews recorded on the streets of Uruguay between 1987 and 1989, to present a time capsule of the period.

Nazis in the CIA

October 2013 •German

Florian Hartung and Dirk Pohlmann have reconstructed a previously unknown dimension of the collaboration between Nazis and the CIA in the Cold War. Drawing upon recently released documents, the film exposes for the first time a perfidious, worldwide net that reaches deep into the power structures of the Federal Republic of Germany. Lending their authority to the fact-finders’ mission are high-ranking statesmen, journalists and historians.

Uncle Saddam

July 2000 •English

Everything you've ever wanted to know about Saddam Hussein (but were afraid to ask).

Breaking the Cycle

June 2024 •Thai

A group of young politicians campaigning against an authoritarian constitution speak up, spark hope and ignite a once-in-a-generation movement in this energetic exploration of the recent elections in Thailand.

Codinome Clemente

November 2019 •Portuguese

Carlos Eugênio Paz recalls his participation in the armed struggle against the military dictatorship between the 1960s and 1980s. Using the code name “Clemente”, he participated in the National Liberation Alliance and in several urban actions. Through her own testimony and that of her fellow fighters, director Isa Albuquerque builds a portrait of a troubled moment in Brazilian history and of an entire generation that fought for their country's democracy.

Atención! Murderer Next Door

December 2020 •Spanish

Faced with a lack of prosecution of those accused of crimes against humanity committed during Argentina’s military dictatorship, family members and descendants of the country’s estimated 30,000 disappeared took action. In the mid-1990s, they began gathering outside of accused perpetrators’ homes and workplaces to publicly shame them and raise awareness about the government’s systematic and brutal targeting of its people — and how it had gone unpunished. The human rights group HIJOS (Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Forgetfulness and Silence) led and labeled this direct-action style of protest “escrache,” or exposure.

City of Photographers

November 2006 •Spanish

A film about the fearless photographers and photojournalists who documented strikes, demonstrations, protests etc during the Chilean military regime of Augusto Pinochet, sometimes risking their very lives.

Chile: Obstinate Memory

February 1997 •Spanish

After decades of fascist rule in Chile, Patricio Guzmán returns to his country to screen his documentary The Battle of Chile.

The Colonel's Stray Dogs

April 2021 •English

In 1981, seven Libyan exiles formed the core opposition group to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Thirty years later, they are back to their country only to inherit the mess he left. The film is an intricate blend of rare first-hand accounts, propaganda archival material turned on its head, evocative cinematography and an untold history of a country.