154 children flew alone from Europe to Montevideo. They were the children of political exiles from Uruguay who, in 1983, traveled to meet their relatives and see their country of origin. Since then, six of those children have been trying to piece together their identities, having lived a life of withdrawal, repeatedly letting go of the things they have clung to.
Your parents will recount the stories of Cecilia Rodríguez—born in Cuba—, Salvador Banchero—born in Buenos Aires—, Marcos Medina—based in Belgium—, Jorge Garibaldi—based in Denmark—, Guzmán Tierno—who lives in Italy—and Fernando De Meersman—“who still doesn’t know where he belongs in the world.”
The documentary premiered on Thursday, July 23, and is showing at Movie, Life, and Grupocine theaters. Interview with its director, Pablo Martínez Pessi, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Audiovisual Communication from Universidad ORT Uruguay.
What was your first encounter with the subject?
It all started quite simply. I was watching TV and came across a report on Channel 10 about the children’s journey from exile back in ’83—something I had no idea about; I didn’t know anything about it at all. It was a total surprise to see the children on the buses, waving to people; the crowd reacted just like when La Celeste arrived in Uruguay—it was similar; ten city buses driving down Montevideo’s Rambla—it was really moving for me; it truly touched me.
What I wondered was what a child of that age—three, four, five, six, or seven—feels when arriving in an unfamiliar country to meet people they’ve never met before, all complete strangers, many of whom didn’t speak Spanish. What might go through the mind of a child of that age upon arriving in a country under a dictatorship—a country idealized by their parents?
So how did the film itself come about?
I began doing all the research. Of course, the first step was to go to the source—the people who had organized the flight, both from Uruguay and abroad—and I contacted them all. From there, I pieced together the timeline of events, that is, how this whole idea had come about; because, in fact, there were no documents at that point that mentioned the children’s arrival. So I had to reconstruct the entire story.
It was very important to me to get in touch with these children because I wanted to tell their story, not the story of those who had been politically involved in this event—namely, the parents. I wasn’t interested in discussing the specific event—the parents’ struggle—but rather the children, who were indirectly caught up in it because of their parents’ need to send a message in support of human rights and against the dictatorship.
It wasn’t the children’s turn to come to Uruguay. Those children should have been in school that day instead of making this trip, even though this trip was very important—very important because of what was to come next: the end of the dictatorship and the return to democracy. The children’s arrival was a crystal-clear message from their parents: “Hello, we’re here, we’re Uruguayan, we’re abroad, they kicked us out.” It was a way to send the hug that the parents couldn’t give their families. That is why the film is titled as it is, a name that comes from the cry of a woman standing on a street corner, who shouted to the children as the caravan passed by: “Your parents will return! Your parents will return!”
What questions did you ask yourself?
I wanted to tell the story of what had happened to these children. In other words, I wanted to share their life stories: why they had gone into exile, when they had gone into exile, and what their relationship was like with their parents and with exile.
For many of them—the older ones—it was a reunion with Uruguay, because they had to go into exile when they were five, six, or seven years old, and they took some memories of the country with them. But for the youngest ones, it was their first encounter with Uruguay, and their first time meeting their relatives. So telling the stories of the others was, for me, the most important thing—what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to talk about the political struggle; rather, I wanted to talk about the post-dictatorship generation, which has never been discussed in our country, and this documentary does so for the first time. That is what I fought for from the very beginning when I started my research: to tell the story of the children of exile, not their parents’
When and how did you start working on the documentary?
I began the research in 2010 with Gabriel Farías, starting from scratch: gathering everything and putting together the story of the journey.
In late 2010, I began reaching out to the children, which turned out to be very difficult—I had thought it would be easier. In 2010, Facebook was only two years old, and I thought I’d be able to find them there, but it was impossible. I found very few of them, but even so, that small group allowed me to get in touch with the six main characters in the film.
What did you find once you had the six main characters?
What happened is that everyone more or less has the same memories of the trip—that it was a very hot day, that the caravan took four and a half hours, that it was incredibly exciting— but everyone has different life stories, and that was what interested me: what came after the trip, what remained with each of them afterward, what reflections it sparked in them about exile, about who they were, who their parents were, what the struggle was… They understood that they, too, were exiles or that they were living in exile, that they, too, had—besides their own country, which could be Spain, Belgium, Italy, France, Sweden, or the Netherlands—another country.
"Your Parents Will Be Back " received various forms of support that helped make it happen.
In 2011, I submitted the project to the Carolina Foundation and Ibermedia as part of their Ibero-American Project Development course, where I received a two-month fellowship to write the screenplay in Madrid. The screenplay I wrote there is quite faithful to the final film; it was an incredible experience that helped me immensely. It contributed a great deal to my professional development, not to mention the screenplay itself.
Then came the entire development phase. The project went through several international production and screenwriting workshops, winning Best Latin American Project at Morelia LabDoc and Best Latin American Project at Nuevas Miradas in Havana, Cuba.
We later received funding from Ibermedia, which helped us complete that stage of the film’s production.
In 2014, we began the editing process and received a grant from Montevideo Socio Audiovisual for post-production to cover all editing, visual post-production, credits, prints, and everything else.
The latest development is that we secured the support of ICAU and BROU for the film’s release and promotion, which allowed us to handle all the promotional efforts for its theatrical release at Movie, Life, and Grupocine.
In 2015, we began the process of promoting the film and entering it into festivals: the Uruguay Film Festival, E Tudo Verdade (Rio de Janeiro), and the Official Selection at the Málaga Film Festival. This August, it will be part of the Official Selection at the Lima Film Festival. We’re hoping it will be selected for other festivals as well.
How did you plan the shoot, which took place in Uruguay and several European countries?
There were two filming phases: the first took place in Uruguay in 2012 and lasted a month, and the second took place in Europe in 2013 and lasted 20 days. The second phase, in Europe, took place in 2013: Florence (Italy), Waterloo and Brussels (Belgium), Valencia and Madrid (Spain). We completed that second phase using the grant we received from FONA’s Production Fund; thanks to that grant, we were able to finish filming the movie.
For the filming in Europe, we went through a full pre-production phase during which we notified the people we were going to interview there, coordinated with them, and asked them to be fully available during those days. Pre-production began about a month and a half in advance to properly coordinate the dates, the subjects’ availability, flights, accommodations, and transportation.
There were only three of us on the trip because our budget didn't allow for anyone else to come along. As the film's producer, I had to take on both roles, coordinating and producing everything while also directing. I was really stretched thin and had to stay calm, keep everything organized, and keep a clear head so I could direct the film in addition to producing it.
In short, what are you trying to convey with this film?
The story of the children of exile: giving a voice to the others—to the other generation—who were never spoken of and yet found themselves caught up in their parents’ struggle.
Were you satisfied with the final product?
Yes, I'm very satisfied. It's the film I envisioned, the one I dreamed of. I'm very pleased with the image quality, the sound quality, and the technical aspects of the final product. I'm also very pleased with the film's narrative structure; I know it strikes a great balance. It was a wonderful working experience.
I think it turned out to be a well-balanced film where things are said when they need to be said, the story of each character is gradually revealed, each character is introduced, and the emotional and dramatic moments are very well balanced.
And honestly, what I was most pleased with was the connection the film made with the audience: my experience so far has been seeing a strong connection with the audience. People have been visibly moved, as if they were connecting with different characters—some more than others—and that has been the most rewarding thing I’ve taken away from the film, because that’s why we make films, so that the audience feels connected, so that they discover the stories of our country’s recent past from another perspective, and so that they truly feel connected to the story—so that when they leave the theater, they’re talking about the film, reflecting on what they saw, and not leaving in silence, because I believe silence is the worst thing that can happen to a film. For me, that would be the greatest reward: for people leaving the theaters to be talking about the film, about how it affected them. If that happens, it’s truly a great triumph.
What other projects do you have in mind?
I'm working on a fiction project; I'm just starting to develop the script.
I also have some ideas for a documentary that I need to finalize, refine, and figure out what I’m going to do. You embark on a film project for the love of art, because what you really gain is satisfaction—a great deal of it—but it takes a tremendous amount of time to develop. *Tus padres volverán* took five years of work, so deciding which film I’m going to make is important because I have to be absolutely convinced of what I want to do in order to dedicate another four or five years of my life to a project.
Your parents will be back
- Screenplay, Editing, Production, and Direction: Pablo Martínez Pessi
- Associate Producer: Virginia Hinze
- Research: Gabriel Farías (B.A. in Journalism)
- Director of Photography: Federico Moleda (B.A. in Audiovisual Communication)
- Sound Director: Rafael Álvarez
- Sound recording: Rafael Álvarez, Pablo Tierno (Sound Design Technician)
- Poster art and credits: Cecilia Rodríguez Suárez (Graphic Design Technician)