Documentary Tells Tale of Stolen Children, Determined Grandmothers

Photo courtesy: www.elvistobueno.com.mx

Imagine losing a child and a grandchild all at once.  Now, imagine it was your own government that caused you so much pain.

That’s the story of “Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo and the Search for Identity,” a documentary produced by students and faculty from the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Chapel Hill.  The film will be shown Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. in the Overby Center Auditorium on the Ole Miss campus.

The documentary recounts how at least 10,000 opponents of the Argentinian military dictatorship of the 1970s and ‘80s were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the country’s “Dirty War.” Some of those killed had infant children who were taken away and given to families sympathetic to the regime. The babies’ names, birth dates and other identifiers were changed.

Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo is an Argentinian human rights organization of grandmothers committed to finding their lost grandchildren.

“This isn’t something that happened years ago and has no relevance now,” filmmaker Dr. Charlie Tuggle said. “The grandmothers continue to find missing grandchildren. This is an on-going injustice, and it’s ordinary women who are fighting the battle and serving as an example to all of us that we can make a difference.”

Las Abuelas has located more than 100 missing grandchildren, many who had no knowledge of their true identities.

A Q&A with the filmmaker will follow the documentary. The event is open to the public, but if you can’t make the viewing, you can follow the conversation about the film on Twitter at #LasAbuelas or visit searchforidentitydocumentary.com.