The documentary premieres this Thursday (9). Go to Argentina, Carajo! from the Liberta Knowledge Institute (ICL). The work, recorded in August this year, focuses on what drives Milei’s popularity and how it is linked to the media and traditional sectors of the economyeven though he declares himself a disruptive politician.
To understand the so-called “Argentine miracle”, Eduardo Moreira – who narrates the film – and his wife, Juliana Baroni – who directs the production together with Argentine Fabián Restivo – went to Buenos Aires and interviewed critics and defenders of the group that occupies the Casa Rosadalike this popular from the financial center to the outskirts neighborhoods.
From there, the three show the costs of the fiscal squeeze and abrupt cuts in financing from the portfolios of Culture, Human Rights, Education, Science and Social Assistance.
“We show what we found. I think people really like this raw language, it brings us closer because it’s true. Even those who are not from the same ideological current see it, because it has facts, it has arguments, so I think it brings us closer”, Baroni tells Brazil Agency.
To reinforce this proposal of proximity, the images in Buenos Aires were taken with cell phones, taking advantage of the lack of external financing. “Our lack of resources has become aesthetic. This brings people together, because they feel like they are traveling with us”, he adds.
In addition to the images captured in Argentina, the work includes art created by artificial intelligence and videos published on social networks rescuing Milei’s speeches and also protests against the president. On the streets, the team even found and recorded protests against Milei’s economic behavior, which is no longer a rare thing to see, as it occurs every Wednesday.
In the largest of these protests, organized annually with the Mothers of Praça de Mayo collective, Restivo estimates that 800,000 people participated this year.
In all these manifestations, the complaints converge: they are always against cuts in public assistance equipment for those most in need, against cuts in pensions and for the release of funds for public universities and development and management bodies. All hit by the chainsaw, one of Milei’s symbols.
“I think that’s what they have best, this power of mobilization, and it’s something we need to get back to. We were once a country that mobilized more at other times. And it’s time for us to gain strength again, to gain a voice on the streets. It would be an excellent example to show what Argentines do, which is cultural for them and could be cultural for us too”, adds Baroni.
The film focuses heavily on the strength of the protests and the strength of local social movements, in addition to looking at Argentine political history since Perón, in the 1940s, to tell the origins of Milei.
Curbed advertising
At a first screening of the film, in São Paulo, last Tuesday (7), Moreira explained the difficulty they face in publicizing the film’s release. Platforms such as Facebook and YouTube have taken down ICL ads that critically quote the president, both in Brazil and in other Latin American countries. In a test, they made an ad without critical words, even positive about Milei’s figure. This was the only one that wasn’t knocked down.
Giácomo Oliveira, marketing director at ICL, who confirmed that they followed the dynamics of promotional videos that they have already applied to more than 50 of the institute’s events, with 21-day promotional campaigns.
“We have never faced, like in this film from Argentina, such difficulty in managing to run campaigns as is happening now. It’s unprecedented”, he explained.
The solution to escape the blockade was to promote it within the networks of collaborators and audiences who already follow ICL, and Giácomo estimates that there will be at least 50 thousand people watching the premiere.
The documentary is available, free of charge, on the official ICL YouTube channel.
