Educational Media Reviews Online

In September 1976, Maria Emilia Zaffaronni, her husband Jorge, and their daughter Marianna, were kidnapped by the Argentinean Secret Service for protesting against the government of Argentina. Caught up in Argentina's "Dirty War", Maria Emilia and Jorge would never be seen again. Marianna was adopted by one of the Secret Service agents, given a new name and brought up as his own daughter, not knowing that she had other parents.

This film outlines a grandmother's efforts over sixteen years to find Marianna and get back a piece of her lost family. The viewer sees interviews with friends of the Zaffaroni's who were captured and tortured with them and find that the family died as a result of being drugged and thrown out of an airplane into the ocean. We also see the anguish on the face of a grandmother who, after six years, finally sees her grandchild alive. We hear from another kidnapped child and get insight into his viewpoint and how he feels caught in the middle of a situation they cannot control. We also hear from the child through her letters and essays. In one essay, written after the courts changed her name back to her we hear her anger and pain towards both her grandmother and her adoptive parents and her confusion about who she really is. In the end, she returns to the only family she has ever known, and the grandmother is left alone.

This film is skillfully edited and attempts to give all sides of the conflict equal time to tell their story. We hear from the grandmothers, friends, judges, news people, and from Marianna through her letters. It gives a good outline of the military dictatorship of General Videla (1976-1983) and its aftermath. The film elicits feelings from the viewer, making them part of the story. All in all, a very good film. Highly Recommended.