tiny.utk.edu/filmfest

March 30 - April 6th

Neither Hero or Traitor (Argentina)

Buenos Aires, 1982. Matías (19) has recently finished his military service and dreams of going to Spain to study music far from a dictatorship. His problems come down to convincing his girlfriend to meet him there at a later date and to get around his father’s opposition. But the playing board changes completely when the Falklands War breaks out and he is drafted along with his friends.

At first, Matías will agree to the call-up, but he will realize that he isn’t feeling this war – or maybe any war, to be honest, no matter how just the cause may seem to be. The fear to die but also the horror of killing, a Republican grandfather, friends turned strangers who point guns at each other, a shot in the foot as an act of friendship… his environment demands that he ‘mature.’ Will desertion be his first adult act? Treason and loyalty, fear, and braveness. The story of a deserter.