Andrea Tortonese: “Luckily Norita got to see the film we dedicated to her”

With production of Jane Fonda, Gustavo Santaolalla and Naomi Kleinamong other senior figures, the documentary premiered yesterday “Norita”about Nora CortinasMother of Plaza de Mayo. Directors, Jayson McNamara and Andrea Tortonese. We dialogue with her:

Andrea Tortonese: It was something progressive. It started with just Jayson and Francisco Villa, the director of photography, who ended up being co-producer. Jayson McNamara, Australian, was making “Messenger in a White Horse” about the civic example of Robert Cox at the head of the “Buenos Aires Herald” in the ’70s, when he met Nora and fell in love with her personality. . He thought about following her with the camera in her daily life, because she had a tremendous schedule of activities, incredible for a woman who was already over 85 years old. I then worked with her in the Madres Línea Fundadora office.

AT: He calls me because I do animation, some of my drawings can still be seen on Canal Encuentro, and I also worked for seven years in advertising film art, which gave me a lot of training, because in that you are the first to access each project and the last to He leaves, already finished. In this case, Jayson wanted to illustrate with brief drawings some moments of Norita’s life, a matter of weaving together the emotional journey of a family, the climate of the time, from a very sensory, poetic place.

P.: It is interesting to see how these drawings contribute to the understanding of feelings, in a closer way than archive photos. But you are also co-director of the film.

AT: An enormous honor to have this baptism. I was thinking of doing only animation and art and this came to me. The thing is that since there are so few of us, we begin to cover different roles, always at the same time as our respective jobs. We had been talking about the film since day one, and it was years. I remember that during the pandemic he would call me from Australia to share ideas, and I would answer him from the kitchen, because I was cooking at the same time. There was a lot of energy, love, in that project. Well, it was Norita’s spirit.

Q: Tell me about her.

AT: It was tremendous to see how a woman who went through all the drama that happened, still retained her joy, her vitality. He walked so fast that I, who have very long legs, had to hurry to go to his side. Until 2017 I accompanied her to so many places, the Borda workshops, the quom community, so many. Everywhere, I remember hearing “Here comes Norita!”, people made way for her and she appeared walking quickly, greeting with a smile. Then the girls joined in. Something happened there with this new generation that took charge with its feminist demands, and she was very present. There she had greater visibility, but she had already been famous for a long time.

Q.: In fact, in 2012 Miguel Mirra, an independent filmmaker, dedicated a documentary to you, “Norita, Nora Cortiñas.” But how did your team grow?

AT: First, Sara Schoellkopf helped us a lot in a very difficult post-production moment. There was a crowdfunding stage, where about 500 people and about ten foundations contributed. Jayson, Julia Straface and Ana García, Mexican, daughter of a Chilean refugee, were in charge of the assembly. The brothers Barbara and Andy Muschietti, who make films very different from ours in the US, saw a first cut and gave us all their support, they joined as co-producers, well, they behaved wonderfully. Also John Flynn and Melissa Daniels. Then Francisco, Paco Cabral and Norita proposed sending that cut to Gustavo Santaolalla, who responded with an affection that filled us with pride. The music was being done by Paco Cabral, Matías Tozzola and Juan Luqui, who generously gave him first place, so he is the composer of the soundtrack, and also co-producer.

Q: And Jane Fonda?

AT: Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein had come to film a documentary here, they saw what we were doing, they joined in, and they told Fonda “you have to see this.” Now she is the main promoter of the film in the US.

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Q.: Seeing all those names, it seems like a production that is more North American than Argentine (and perhaps that even favors an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary).

AT: It is a co-production of both countries, but I couldn’t say that it is more from there than from here, because there are the Muschietti brothers, Santaolalla, Francisco, there are many of us Argentines. What happens is that, there and here, everyone saw the potential of this film, which crosses borders, like Norita, and we hope it goes far. For now it has already been seen in Los Angeles, La Plata, Mendoza, Seattle, Sydney, we are going step by step, so as not to scare me.

Q.: She died at the end of May, already a 94-year-old widow. Did you manage to see the finished film?

AT: Luckily she managed to see it and felt represented. There is her story told by herself, who was a great narrator, with a warm voice, it is nice to hear it.

Q.: Last question, while we’re at it: why weren’t there also Padres de la Plaza?

AT: Some went, but the mothers did not want to. In case they were arrested, they preferred that their husbands stay at home taking care of the rest of the family, maintaining the domestic space. In 2009, Joaquín Daglio made a documentary about this, “Padres de la Plaza. “Ten possible routes.”