If you’ve been following the news, Argentina has been thrown a lifeline. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on X (formerly Twitter), that “we stand ready to do what is needed to support Argentina and the Argentine people.” But what else do you know about Argentina? There’s more than the bailout and tango in Argentine, something that will explain how for Latin America, the topic of people being disappeared (desaparecido)  hits harder and that’s not because of the science fiction Marvel Comics blip. Last week, a documentary, “Norita,”  helps explain how the disappeared sparked the longest-running protest in Argentina.

Norita is the nickname of Nora Cortiñas. In 1977, she had two sons, one of whom was still living at home. Her husband worked a study governmental job. Norita, while mostly a housewife, also taught sewing and was a sometime seamstress. She was not particularly political. Her eldest son moved out and both he and his wife were activists, but then one day in April, that son  disappeared.

Norita could not rest and soon enough discovered that her story was not unique. She, along with other mothers, wore their children’s old diapers as headscarves and began making weekly demonstrations. These women became the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Madres de Plaza de Mayo).  If you’re not familiar with their story, then this 88-minute film might not feel overlong. Some of the narrative exposition uses simple two-dimensional animation which gets the job done but won’t win any awards.

There’s mention of  Isabela Perón (the second wife of Juan Perón–the first being Eva Perón, (1919–1952)), who was the 41st president of Argentina (1974-1976) after the death of her husband, because her government wasn’t totally innocent. The real problems, however,  started when General Jorge Rafael Videla (1925-2013) became the military dictator in 1976.  Videla was prosecuted in the Trial of the Juntas for human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that included abductions, torture and murder. According the “Norita,” 30,000 people were disappeared. Some were found and their corpses identified. Some are still missing.

Directors Jayson McNamara and Andrea Carbonate Tortonese intermingle more current day concerns. Cortiñas was more recently involved in protests to legalize abortion. When this film came out in Argentina (7 November 2024), the US was already feeling the effects of the 2022 Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Heath Organization decision that eliminated the federal protection for abortion. So it might not be the best time for this documentary to come out as abortion rights are being fought in individual states now and there seems to be an increasingly conservative leaning in the US federal government.

Yet this film gives another side, a personal factual one to Argentine author Manuel Puig’s 1976 novel “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”  The 1985 cinematic adaptation of Puig’s novel was set in Brazil, but this year’s musical drama starring Jennifer Lopez, takes it back to Argentina. The novel is set in 1975 as the government was becoming increasingly oppressive, the beginning of the so-called “Dirty War,” state-sanctioned terrorism (1976-1983).

• State Department Opens Files on Argentina’s Dirty War
• Argentine Military Believed US Gave Go-Ahead for Dirty War
• America’s Role in Argentina’s Dirty War (17 March 2016)

“Norita” is a personal story, but it doesn’t dig particularly deep. One wishes to learn more about the effects on Cortiñas’ family, particularly when her younger son reminds her about ravioli. There was a price paid, but that’s only briefly touched upon. Instead, the directors focus upon how Cortiñas has continued to protest, joining forces with pro-choice activists. That sets up a lineage of peaceful protest by women in Argentina and should remind US audiences that before the non-violent protests of the Civil Rights Movement in the South, there was Alice Paul and the Silent Sentinels in Washington, DC. The film is a great way to acknowledge Latino Heritage Month and considering the current presidential administration, seems timely.

The film had its world premiere in November 2024.