In the words of the filmmaker, “Los versos del olvido is about the ethical demand to remember the past and resist the violence of forgetting”. It provides a powerful metaphor for the politics of memory, and offers a poetic homage to those who fight for justice for the unknown.
The roots of the filmmaker and the story are in Iran, but forced to move to a South American setting for its production, this richly detailed film takes on even more universal meaning. An elderly caretaker of a remote morgue possesses an impeccable memory for everything but names. He passes his days showing corpses to those searching for their lost ones. When protest in a nearby city breaks out and the militia covertly raid the morgue to hide civilian casualties, he discovers the body of an unknown young woman. Evoking memories of personal loss, he embarks on a magical odyssey to give her a proper burial.
Film details
- Chile, France, Germany, Netherlands
- Year
- 2017
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2018
- Length
- 92"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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