Argentine documentary La ilusión de un verano sin fin’ wins best Latin American film at San Sebastián festival

The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer, a documentary by photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti, clinched the award for best Latin American film at the 74th San Sebastián Film Festival in Spain. The film chronicles the lives of two cousins over a span of 25 years, with footage captured since the cousins were children. Sanguinetti collected the footage during a quarter-century period, beginning when the cousins were nine years old and fond of dressing up, dancing, and swimming in the river. The project continues into their adulthood and motherhood.

Sanguinetti described the film as a "poem, a love letter to the campo (countryside) Argentina and so much beauty that is in great danger." She expressed her hope that the beauty captured in the film endures and urged the United States to distance itself from Argentina. Sanguinetti has previously criticized government cuts to the film industry subsidy under President Javier Milei's administration and advocated for Israel's withdrawal from Palestine and other regions.

The documentary also sheds light on the lives of women in rural Argentina, who have often been relegated to the sidelines in stories focused on men. This theme resonates with Martín Fierro, a landmark 1872 poem by Argentine writer José Hernández, which Sanguinetti discussed in an interview with AFP earlier in San Sebastián. The filmmaker's connection with the cousins began when they were children and evolved into a 25-year photographic endeavor.

La ilusión de un verano sin fin was one of 12 films vying for the Horizontes Latinos section, showcasing productions from across Latin America. Other entries in the competition were from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Paraguay.