CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

Over the last 15 years, the bloody military regime that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983 has been referred to as a “civic-military dictatorship” due to the heavy involvement of civil sectors in its operations. Those linked to big factories and companies were the main beneficiaries of the economic policies of the period. These companies actively contributed to the repression of workers and union delegates and even to the tragic count of the 30,000 desaparecidos [disappeared]. Jonathan Perel’s documentary is as precise as possible about this complicity with death and terror. His method is disarmingly simple, but also clear, powerful and conclusive. The film is structured as a series of steady, handheld long shots recorded from inside a car parked in front of these companies all over Argentina today, most of them still active. On the soundtrack, we hear the voice of Perel himself casually reading out excerpts from a book never printed: the 25 case studies which make up the report by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights demonstrating corporate accountability in the repression of workers. His gaze is akin to that of a private detective determined to prevent these companies from eluding justice.

Jonathan Perel is a filmmaker born in 1976 in Argentina. He lives and works in Buenos Aires. He holds a degree in Arts at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (University of Buenos Aires). Two times awarded with the Metropolitan Fund for the Arts and one time with the National Fund for the Arts,  his films have been screened and awarded in numerous international film festivals, such as: Berlinale Forum, Viennale, IFFR Rotterdam, FIDMarseille, Cinéma du Réel, YIDFF Yamagata, BAFICI, Ficunam, IndieLisboa, Documenta Madrid, OUFF Ourense, La Havana, Underdox, Porto/Post/Doc, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Madrid/ Berlin. His works have been exhibited at Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlín), Museum of the Moving Image (New York), Arsenal Institut für Film und Videokunst (Berlin), IMS Instituto Moreira Salles (São Paulo, Río de Janeiro), Museum of Modern Art (Buenos Aires).

Corporate Accountability (2020), digital video, 68 minutes. Courtesy of the artist. 

Part of a film program featuring films about crime, genocide and accountability.

Next film:  Liminal (2019), Maya Watanabe.

KIRIK’s 2022 programs are supported by SAHA as part of the Sustainability Fund 2021-2022.