Imagine turning on your TV one rainy afternoon and being straightaway confronted with footage of the January 6th Capitol Attack. Windows are shattered. Police officers are battered and maced while flared-up crowds chant for the assassination of our Vice President.
But you are puzzled because the voiceover accompanying the footage is describing that what you thought was a horrific assault on democracy is in fact a lovely gathering of peaceful souls uniting for an applaudable display of constitutional-governmental love.
“Hey!” you exclaim understandably. There seems to be a total disconnect between the visual and the verbal, not a new phenomenon sadly. Indeed, what we are witnessing daily is inarguably at war with the interpretations being supplied.
Jorge Caballero and Camilo Restrepo, the directors of the short “09/05/1982,” a Spanish/Mexican production, splendidly confront this disconnect by manipulating 11 minutes of imagery generated with AI technologies in order to explore the increasingly blurred boundaries” between the factual and the contorted takes of the economic, political, and religious powers-that-be. Restrepo christens the end result a “synthetic footage film.”
I must admit, having been unaware of this offering’s intentions beforehand, I was convinced by what I saw that there had actually been a major brutal revolt in some South American country where many of the impoverished/progressive protesters were slaughtered. I was certain that the man being interviewed on the soundtrack, whom we never get to see if I recall correctly, was some genuine rightwing lackey or general or president.
But what we are viewing is instead, as Restrepo notes, “an imitation of a celluloid film partially damaged by wear and tear and poor preservation.” Yes, I discovered after much researching that no massive human tragedy transpired on September 5, 1982. Instead, googling brought up the following events occurring on that very day:
- The Grateful Dead performed at the U.S. Festival in San Bernardino, California.
- 12-year-old Johnny Gosch disappeared in West Des Moines, Iowa, becoming one of the first missing children to be featured on milk cartons.
- Survivor topped the British charts with “Eye of the Tiger.”
- China announced plans to abolish the post of Communist Party chairman, which was created for Mao Zedong.
The short begins with an upside-down reflection of a palm tree in a swimming pool, followed by a shot of bananas on a table, and then a stack of white dinner plates. A parrot is contentedly perched while dogs bark over a scratchy soundtrack. “Littering Prohibited” and “May 9th Massacre” are seen graffitied on street walls in Spanish. The next intercuts include footage of people at work, a drummer, and even the innards of a mirror shop. (Is that to reflect our own roles as either freedom fighters or annihilators?)
Over this imagery of the Normal, our defensive “storyteller” notes: “The events of 9 May 1982 marked a turning point in our nation’s history. The government’s measures were justified, but leftist groups sought to destabilize....Students quickly protested, manipulated by foreign ideologies.” And so forth.
Boys play soccer...and some folks die.
German film-director-nonpareil Wim Wenders once argued: “Every film is political. Most political of all are those that pretend not to be: 'entertainment' movies. They are the most political films there are because they dismiss the possibility of change. In every frame, they tell you everything's fine the way it is. They are a continual advertisement for things as they are.”
“09/05/1982” defiantly sidesteps that categorization.
(“09/05/1982” was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be screened at the New York Film Festival as part of the “Current Program 2: Afterimages” on October 3rd and 5th. There will be a Q&A with both directors.) (https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2025/films/program-2-afterimages/).