LatinaLista — In the 1970s, thousands of young people disappeared in Argentina during what is most commonly referred to as the Guerra Sucia or Dirty War. Young couples were spirited away to never be seen or heard from again. In many cases, these couples were either parents of infants and young children or expecting parents. Their children disappeared along with them.
Since those times, the mothers of the disappeared — grandmothers or abuelas to their grandchildren — have organized themselves into an impressive group to find their lost grandchildren and the remains of their children. They are called the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.
In 2012, the group observed their 35th anniversary. Over the last three and a half decades, some of the abuelas have been reunited with their missing grandchildren but many remain lost. Argentine-Canadian Noemi Weis is the latest filmmaker to chronicle the sorrowful tasks of these abuelas as they press the Argentine government and continue to search for their missing grandchildren.
Abuelas – Grandmothers on a mission is a 30-minute educational documentary due for release in 2013 which Weis made as a tribute to the grandmothers and hopes will be used by schools in Argentina to educate and remind people of a chapter of Argentine history most want to forget but can’t until those who have disappeared have been brought home.
