The Trial

In 1985 Buenos Aires, the trial of Argentina's last dictatorship unfolds, reminiscent of Nuremberg after WWII. Recorded on U-matic tapes, 90 days reveal testimonies of horror and a final verdict: 'Never Again'. The film delves into defenders, political positions, and victims' voices, narrating tales of torture and pain, encapsulating life and death within a courtroom.  

'The 90 days that the trial lasted were entirely recorded by the public television with two cameras on U-matic cassettes. The search for and access to the trial archive, 530 hours of footage, began in 2013. Dreaming about a documentary film that narrates what happened there, and at the same time tells the story of the Argentine horror and its justice process.   

'It was not easy to find the material. At the public television channel, which was in charge of the recording, they denied me any kind of collaboration for fear of political reprisals. At the General Archive of the Argentine Nation (AGN), which has the material in custody, they suggested that in order to avoid inconveniences I should look for the material at the University of Salamanca in Spain, which also has a copy of the material in custody. It seemed incredible. More than three decades after the trial, it still raised fears and reservations in small officials unable to make a decision and take the risks.  

'In 2019, after much walking, I learned, through my friends at the Luisa Hairebedian Foundation that the archival material, the 530 digitised hours, are in the custody of Memoria Abierta NGO. We met with the team, agreed on the guidelines to work together and then, finally, we were ready to start visualising the archive…. The Trial is the first cinematographic work that deals exhaustively with the archive of the Trial of the Juntas, the cornerstone of the process of justice for crimes against humanity in Argentina and it is an invaluable document for Humanity'. - Ulises DE LA ORDEN