Del proyecto de cinemateca a la película militante: políticas audiovisuales de Montoneros en los años setenta

Abstract

The argentine political-military organization Montoneros developed a broad policy of mass communication. Besides searching for visibility through actions and publications, this organization promoted other strategies of communication related to artistic creation. Although a sophisticated ideological propaganda was implemented through official spaces during Héctor Cámpora’s presidency, the figures that sympathized with Montoneros were soon replaced. Then, their cultural projects, like the rest of the organization's actions, had to be clandestine. While several of these initiatives have been recently studied, we don’t know much about audiovisual policies. This article explores certain political projects related to cinema, such as creating a film library and an archive of images and sound, as well as funding films in the exile after the coup d'état of 1976: Montoneros: Chronicle of a War of Liberation (Resistance Film Group, 1977, 105 min.) and To resist (Jorge Cedrón, 1978, 78 min.). This paper analyzes these initiatives in order to show the communication strategies in their transformation during the new historical conjuncture. Texts, songs, images, words, forms and sounds are allied to convey a political message, trying to persuade the audience to continue fighting and trusting on Montoneros’ leaders, no matter what it costs.