section Feature Film Competition

The Red Star

  • Gabriel Matías Lichtmann
  • AR
  • 2021
  • 72 min

Who was Laila Salama? One of the most mysterious figures of Argentine-Jewish history, she spied for MI6 and was supposedly involved in the abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires in 1960. And yet there is no Laila Salama. A mockumentary that, in the style of a cinematic exploration, portrays a very plausible life story.

Having suddenly gone missing, young Laila Salama is not chosen to be Queen Esther at the Purim celebrations. This proves to be a quality that stands her in good stead when, later, she helps her father spy for MI6, the British intelligence agency. She goes on to infiltrate the Nazi regime’s highest echelons of power and is involved, in 1960, in the kidnapping of the war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who was later put on trial in Israel. There’s a catch however: Laila Salama doesn’t actually exist. Gabriel Lichtmann dedicates this exhaustive mockumentary, inclusive of interviews with "historians" and "eyewitnesses" as well as newsreel excerpts both bogus and genuine, to his fictitious heroine. Employing subtle irony this faux documentary ultimately reveals a secret about its central character whilst also asking questions as to the verifiability of biographical data, as well as about historical documents both genuine and bogus.


15.6. 21.30 Delphi Lux, followed by a discussion with Gabriel Lichtmann, director
18.6. 19.00 Passagekino, followed by a discussion with Gabriel Lichtmann, director



Credits

original title La Estrella Roja

international title The Red Star

german title The Red Star

JFBB section Feature Film Competition

  • director Gabriel Matías Lichtmann

country/countries AR

year 2021

duration 72 min


Portrait of Gabriel Matías Lichtmann

Gabriel Matías Lichtmann