Historia del Mal by Benjamin Naishtat

There are many ways to tell a story, and according to filmmakers such as the Argentine Benjamin Naishtat, the same could be said about history.

Historia del Mal, screened at the Echoes of the Past session of the Spectrum Shorts Program, explores an innovative method to talk history, reliving it through old remastered footage and the perspectives of modern characters looking forward to reenact a particular adventurous and dark time in Argentinean history.

The film is focused on the 1879´s exploration campaign into the southern deserts of Latin America, where General Roca and his army expanded the territory of his young nation by pushing several indigenous communities away from their lands.

The military campaign, which helped shape the Argentina we know today, came at a great cost. An estimated 1.250 Native Americans were killed and many more were made prisoners.

The real strength of Historia del Mal is in its capacity to look at the past with one eye looking straight at the present. In some strange and bizarre way it functions as a sort of therapy for present generations to deal with the brutal actions of their ancestors, which still have an impact today.

Naishtat´s vision is a chaotic one no doubt, very confusing at times, but so is the period he is trying to approach. This is unquestionably a fresh and interesting form of studying history and I would be very surprised if we do not see more of this in the future.

by Fernando Vasquez