The 10 best films about the Malvinas war to see this April 2

Illuminated by Fire (2005)

Based on the story of former combatant Edgardo Esteban, the film was directed by Tristan Bauer, and stood out as the most popular work linked to the Falklands War. It stars Gaston Paulsand was filmed in emblematic locations such as Puerto Argentino, the Darwin cemetery and the battlefields.

The plot follows Esteban Leguizamón, played by Pauls, a 40-year-old Argentine journalist in the midst of the country’s economic and social crisis, who immerses himself in memories of the war after learning of the suicide attempt of one of his trench colleagues. . Twenty years later, Leguizamón returns to the islands in an attempt to heal old wounds and reconnect with his past.

Not So Ours (2005)

The film focuses on the experience of Sergio Delgado, a former combatant who tells his story in a profound but not solemn way, avoiding commonplaces. Directed by Ramiro Longo, the film uses archive images to contextualize the events of the war, including the speeches of Leopoldo Galtieri, the visit of John Paul II and the reunion with family members after the ceasefire, which provides a collective sense to Delgado’s narrative.

Footprints in the Wind (2008)

Director Sandra Di Luca explores the emotional impact of eight former combatants who return to the Falkland Islands 25 years after the war. The film raises questions about what it will be like to step back onto the ground where they fought battles against the English enemy and what emotions will arise from doing so.

Through the testimonies of 8 soldiers, the film shows conflicting opinions and feelings, intertwined by the emotion of reunion and the feeling of being close to those who remained there. The hostile geography of the islands, the hugs in the Darwin cemetery and the combat positions on Mount Longdon emerge in the stories, while the former combatants wonder what would have happened to them without the Malvinas, reflecting on their own identity and trajectory after war.

We were there too (2021)

This documentary tells the story of the fourteen women, including nurses, instrument technicians, and civilian and military technicians of the Air Force, who cared for those wounded in combat in an improvised hospital near the runway of the Comodoro Rivadavia airport.

The film shows a little explored aspect of war, which is that of the female presence. The women remained invisible for decades, like many other wounds resulting from the conflict. After 37 years of silence, three of these women, Alicia Reynoso, Stella Maris Morales and Ana Masitto, returned to the scene with director Federico Strifezzo to share their stories.

Through the documentary, these women remember the experiences that marked them forever and that they had to face in a context of machismo and discrimination both then and today. Their bravery and determination paved the way for the first step toward their goal: to be officially recognized as war veterans.

Argentine Soldier Only Known to God (2016)

The title of the film evokes the plaque that designated unidentified combatants who fell in combat during the Falklands War in the Darwin Cemetery. The film, set in Traslasierra, Córdoba, follows the story of soldiers whose destinies converge in the Malvinas, highlighting two different realities within the same conflict, intertwined by a love story.

Directed by Rodrigo Fernández Engler, who was only one year old when the war broke out, the film offers a look based on historical reconstruction rather than on his own contemporary experiences. The director himself described it as a war drama that addresses the human consequences of war, including suicides and abandonment by Argentine society towards veterans.

Flag Crazy (2005)

It is a documentary that focuses on the history of the relatives of those who fell in the Falklands War, highlighting how they have had to face absence and pain. Directed by Julio Cardoso.

The story focuses on Juan, a young man in his 20s who travels around the country in search of testimonies from the families of fallen soldiers, which highlights the federal nature of the combatants’ origins. The documentary presents moving images of the Darwin cemetery, where the difficulty in identifying the bodies, the strategies to heal the wounds and the many unanswered questions serve as a prelude to the return of ex-combatants to the islands and the possibility of identifying the remains of many of them.

The War Boys (1984)

It was the first film to address the Falklands War. It premiered on August 2, 1984, just over two years after the end of the conflict, reflecting the urgency of addressing this issue in an emerging democracy in which culture was booming.

Directed by Bebe Kamin, the film follows the story of three soldiers from different social classes whose destinies are intertwined by war and the consequences they face once the conflict ends. The plot develops retrospectively, reconstructing the lives of the protagonists from their childhood to their traumatic return to the continent and their reintegration into everyday life, based on the testimonies of the book of the same name written by Daniel Kon.

The internal debt (1988)

The film addresses the various problems of the country such as the economic crisis, the situation of the forgotten interior where education is a challenge, emotional deficiencies and the pain of uprooting, and as a backdrop, the Malvinas War.

The plot focuses on Lehrer, played by Juan José Camero, a rural teacher assigned to Chorcán, in the Humahuaca ravine in Jujuy, who establishes a special relationship with Verónico Cruz, one of his students played by Gonzalo Morales, orphaned of a mother and abandoned by his father, but with an insatiable curiosity to learn. When the teacher is transferred to another destination and during the years of the military dictatorship, the relationship continues through letters until it is abruptly interrupted when Verónico is summoned by the Navy to fight in the Malvinas. Directed by Miguel Pereira and based on the book by Fortunato Ramos, this true story about the experience of a rural teacher received praise and awards in both Argentina.

They sink the Belgrano (1996)

It is a documentary that addresses the Malvinas War, focusing on the sinking of the General Belgrano Cruiser on May 2, 1982, a crucial event for the outcome of the conflict. The script provides context and details about why the Falkland Islands were a British target, the empire’s various incursions into Argentine territory, and the aftermath of the bombing that resulted in the deaths of 323 soldiers.

Directed by Federico Urioste, this work stands out for its meticulous research and compilation of documents. The testimonies of the combatants and archival material from both sides of the Atlantic allow us to analyze in depth why the peace negotiations failed and how Margaret Thatcher gave the order to attack the ship that was outside the exclusion zone.