As a filmmaker and an old friend of several of the Survivors, I wanted to make an in-depth documentary with the whole group – something that had never before been attempted. I wanted to try to capture the real essence of this experience, something both intensely intimate and wholly collective, and as untransmittable as the practice of cannibalism, to which they resorted as the only way of staying alive.
This challenge – the film - was only made possible by the length of time which had elapsed since the accident (35 years) and because of our friendship which allowed a pact of mutual trust to exist between us.
As to the actual making of the film, I had a huge hand from César Charlone, Director of Photography for films such as City of God and The Constant Gardener. Thanks to his sensitivity and talent, I was able to evoke the closed universe described by the protagonists and to bring to life the indescribable.
–Gonzalo Arijón
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GONZALO ARIJÓN, DIRECTOR
Gonzalo Arijón was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1956 but has lived in France since 1979. Over the past 15 years, he has directed numerous documentaries, including Lula’s Brazil: Managing a Dream; Far, Very Far from Rome; The Dark Side of Milosevic; Rio de Janeiro: A Vertical War; and For These Eyes, which won numerous awards at internationalfilm festivals. Arijón is a childhood friend of many of the young men featured in Stranded.
FILMOGRAPHY:
· Lula's Brazil: Managing a Dream
Lula, a proposito da esperança. 2005
· Les Grands Duels du Sport
Several films for the series. Ethan Productions / ARTE France. 2003 - 2005
· Far, very far from Rome...
52'. Dissidents/ARTE France. 2004
· Carl Lewis / Mike Powell 43’ and 52’
Ethan Productions / ARTE France 2004
· The "dark side" of Milosevic.
52’. Mano a Mano Production/ France 3. 2002
· Goodbye « coquelicots »
52’. ARTE France / Capa. 2001
· Rio de Janeiro : a vertical war.
52’. Little Bear / France 2. 1999
· Por esos ojos (Ester et Mariana, d'une rive à l'autre).
60'. 1998.
· Somalia : the price of spilt blood.
77’. 1995
· Each day for Sarajevo. chronical of a street under siege.
Ten episodes. 1994. Point du Jour/BBC2/ARTE.
· The world according to my brother.
52’. Point du Jour/ FR3/TVE/RTBF. 1991
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