The film “I’m Still Here” and PBI accompaniments in support of the families of the forcibly disappeared
Photo: “I’m Still Here” is at the Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa.
The film “I’m Still Here” has received several Academy Award nominations including for Best Picture. That ceremony will be on March 2.
The film tells the story of Eunice Paiva whose 41-year-old husband Rubens, a civil engineer and former member of congress, was forcibly disappeared on January 21, 1971 during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Eunice, a 42-year-old mother of five children, was also held for twelve days (her teenage daughter Eliana was held for 24 hours). Eunice later enrolled in law school and led campaigns to open the government’s archives on the victims of the regime. She became a symbol of the fight against military rule. She was surveilled by state agents from 1971 until 1984, just before the end of the dictatorship.
Stills from the film: “Forced disappearances were one of the cruelest acts of the regime.”
Peace Brigades International accompanies several women who have also led campaigns following the forcible disappearance of loved ones.
Bertha Oliva is the founder of the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH). This organization promotes the rights of the relatives of the victims of forced disappearances between 1979 and 1989. Bertha’s husband Tomás Nativi was taken from their home by State forces in June 1981. At that time, Bertha was 25 years old and three months pregnant. Tomás has not been seen since he was taken.
Yanette Bautista is the founder of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation (FNEB). This PBI-Colombia accompanied organization is dedicated to the fight against forced disappearance. Yanette’s 32-year-old sister Nydia Erika was forcibly disappeared on August 30, 1987. Nydia Erika’s body was exhumed on July 26, 1990. An intelligence unit of the Colombian National Army was responsible for the crime.
Valentina Augustine says: “I demand the judiciary and public ministry tells where and why they took my daughter.” Valentina’s 25-year-old daughter Luz Leticia was taken on November 21, 1982, by Guatemalan special operations and intelligence services. More than 42 years later, the whereabouts of Luz Leticia are unknown.
The parents of the Ayotzinapa students who were forcibly disappeared in Mexico continue the search for their children. On September 26-27, 2014, more than 50 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School were forcibly disappeared by police in collaboration with organized crime. Forty-three of the students are still missing. In Mexico it is said: “Mother’s Day is not a party, it is a struggle and a protest.”
The trailer for “I’m Still Here” can be seen here.
Another highly recommended film in “Missing”. This 1982 film directed by Costa-Gavras tells the story of the forcible disappearance of 31-year-old American journalist and filmmaker Charles Horman in the days after the US-backed September 11, 1973, coup in Chile and the search by his wife Joyce and father Edmund. Charles was executed on September 19, 1973, in the National Stadium in Santiago.
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