Focusing on Argentina, Daniela Goggi's fictional film illustrates how a democratic transition never takes place as comprehensively as it might seem at first glance.
Buenos Aires, 1980s. Julio returns with his family to the country they left in the midst of the brutal dictatorship that overpowered long-standing democracy. He's part of a wealthy, industrialist family and, once in Buenos Aires, he's expected to take over managing the company alongside his brother, Miguel. But things soon take an ugly turn as Miguel is kidnapped for ransom and Julio becomes the de facto lead negotiator with the criminals. What follows is the painful realization that the transitioning government has a long way to go to rid itself of groups and individuals who were part of the muscle of the ousted regime.
"How was the transition from a dictatorship to democracy in Argentina? Can a country return to democracy immediately? Are the intelligence services and the mechanisms of control ever truly dismantled? With these questions as a backdrop, the film portrays that historical period through the story of a family, where the notion of legacy is put into tension between the different generations. /.../ I am interested in exploring the fragility of a young Argentine democracy: the hope for a new project of a nation in which the dark past was still operating from the shadows." (Daniela Goggi)