Unas preguntas

In 1986, the Uruguayan parliament voted in a bill guaranteeing an amnesty for the crimes perpetrated by the army and police during the dictatorship (1975–1985); driven by public opinion, a compulsory referendum called upon citizens to decide on this law. This is the historic moment when the Swiss filmmaker settled in Montevideo. Equipped with a tape recorder and U-Matic cassettes, she questions her new compatriots about the referendum, whose “yes” vote was to have helped the government consolidate its legitimacy. Recently re-discovered and edited, her images form an x-ray of the country from late 1987 to April 1989, based on one question: “For you, what is peace?” At first, the streets are filled with political conversations, liberated after 20 years of dictatorship, as if interior spaces (torture centres, palace intrigues) had betrayed the people in previous years. Activism turns away from its usual representatives, white-collar workers demonstrate in the street, campaigning politicians make their speeches in the open air, citizens, including country folk, are called to the microphone. But the lengthy shooting time shows how this fervour dwindles as a televised advertising campaign creates confusion. The green ballot paper, the yellow? What the vox populi then records is less a variety of opinions and more of a bitter class struggle. The closer to voting day, the more the complexity of history emerges, and the less the trinity of democracy-justice-equality can be taken for granted. (Charlotte Garson)