¿La fiesta de todos o pocos?: Representaciones fílmicas del Mundial ‘78 de la Argentina

Abstract

The current study analyzes three argentine documentary films that center on the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The first of the three, La fiesta de todos (1979), directed by Sergio Renán, presents the Argentine victory on home turf as a countrywide celebration. Contrary to Renán’s propagandistic film—backed by the Instituto Nacional de Cinematografía—other documentaries such as Mundial ‘78, la historia paralela (2003) and Mundial 78: Verdad o mentira (2007), from filmmakers Gonzalo Bonadeo, Diego Guebel, Mario Pergolini, and Christian Rémoli, examine the military dictatorship’s strategic manipulation of the event and the national team’s success in order to project a unified country devoid of human rights abuses. The latter films’ use of authentic materials, specifically the incorporation of testimony and archival footage, reveals the social atrocities of Videla’s government taking place in the middle of the world’s most popular sporting event.