the disappeared

“The Disappeared” relives the horrors of Argentina’s Dirty War (1976-83) through the experience of Horacio Pietragalla, a young man raised by the maid of the officer who kidnapped him after the military brutally murdered his parents. The film follows Horacio as he reconstructs the cause for which his real parents gave their lives, and, through this search, reclaims his true identity.

This personal journey internalizes the tragedy that ravaged the country for seven years and exposes polarized views on state-driven terrorism in groundbreaking interviews with top military officials, concentration camp victims, human rights activists, journalists who covered the events, and members of Horacio’s surrogate and biological families.

CRITICAL REVIEWS

“Peter Sanders’s 2007 documentary The Disappeared, the first film about appropriated children to focus exclusively on a single case, follows the story of Horacio Pietragalla”
- Michael J. Lazzara a, Journal Of Human Rights

“The documentary, which received a special prize from the Hollywood Film Festival in 2007, features music by Gustavo Beytelmann, the illustrious Argentinian composer currently in France, and was edited by Barry Malkin, editor of Fracis Ford Coppola’s most famous films (The Godfather, parts II and III.)”
- Claudio D. Minghetti, LA NACION

“Multiple Voices For A Real Life Story Desaparecido, an honest documentary”
- Diego Batlle, La Nacion

‘the film is an honest study of the inner conflict and the personal story of a young man who had to fight his demons and confront diversity in order to recover his identity, and harsh as it was, his true story.’
- Diego Batlle, LA NACION

“Desaparecido” tells a very real story; and as soon as the subject of the film, the son of disappeared parents, undertakes his investigation the story unravels and sends a chill up and down the spine of the viewer.
- Pablo O. Scholz, CLARIN

“Sanders also includes testimony by the military officials; however, the way in which it is presented it serves primarily to tell the story of the theft of babies, something so heinous that all their alleged statistics, their denials, and their claims of having been forced to kidnap the children seem irrelevant. For the viewer that may not know anything over this dark period in our country, “Desaparecido” will serve as a Leroux summary, with all the simplicity this implies.”
- Pablo O. Scholz, CLARIN

An extremely important work : “Desaparecido” offers an objective account of the confiscation of babies during the dictatorship
- Isabel Croce, La Prensa- The Press

“His film shows more than one side of the story; and while it shows right from wrong, it gives insight into the harsh reality of this period in Argentina’s history. With austerity in his interviews, and with thoughtful construction devoid of superfluous emotional response, Sanders reveals the ambiguities in human behavior: the fine lines that separate life from death, remembering from forgetting, and even what separates fear from ethics or social responsibility.”
- Isabel Croce, La Prensa

“If Sanders gives camera time to the President of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, with her sad but realistic testimony, he also extends the same courtesy to the group of military officials that justify their actions and deny the systematic theft of babies.”
- Isabel Croce, La Prensa

“ a documentary that avoids certain common film conventions”
- Leonardo M. D’Esposito, Critica de la Argentina

“What makes the film more interesting than other works that have analyzed the crimes of the dictatorship is that this film tries to place itself within the context of Argentina in the second half of the 1970s. If the nucleus of the film is the story of Horacio Pietragalla Corti, son of disappeared parents and recovered grandchild, Sanders’ quest is to delve into and understand the reasons behind everything that happened during the dictatorship.”
- Leonardo M. D’Esposito, Critica de la Argentina

“On the seventh day, God created Patagonia.”
- Diario Perfil, Backpacker under the stars

“I thought to myself, “all these people would agree completely with my film.” You must exercise your voice, participate in the political process, get involved, take pride in being an integral part of your political party. It’s important to march every year, or more often than that, and stand up for what you believe; it’s the only way to live in a democracy and to bring about change. If not, any group with an ideology in opposition to your own can change your life completely, as is the case in the US with Bush, who doesn’t represent my thoughts, my ideas or my ideology.”
- Peter Sanders 2008 El Litoral

“Good cinematographic approach. “Desaparecido,”
- Cronica

” The movie pits heaven and hell together: Bernardo Neustadt and Horacio Verbitsky, a gathering of officers from the military and Estela de Carlotto.”
- Clarin

Truly revealing.
- Jorge Carnevale Revista Noticias

“It touches the soul, making it different from other films in this genre. Summary: another detail never to forget.”
- Revista Gente

It touches the soul, making it different from other films in this genre. Summary: another detail never to forget.
- By Luis Freitas, Caras y Caretas

“it brings forth several different points of view while maintaining a certain distance, allowing the viewer to draw his or her own conclusions.”
- Luciana Calcagno Revista Haciendo Cine

“On the West Coast, Oscars were being plied Her Majesty the Queen, Helen Mirren walking off deservedly with her portrayal of the enduring crowned head. The red carpet buzz has Tom Cruise restructuring the “studio system.” The East Coast film set filled the screening room at Soho House [the stronghold of ex-pat Brits] for art dealer Daisy Hill’s new husband, director peter Sanders’s powerful documentary film, The Disappeared, followed by a dinner upstairs for this intellectual group.”
- Jeffrey Bradfield, Who’s Who

“This simple but necessary testimonial film, a film enriched by its is magnificent soundtrack by Gustavo Beytelmann.”
- Gente Revista

Multiple Voices For A Real Life Story Desaparecido, an honest documentary - Good Film (3 stars)
- Diego Battle, La Nacion

“Desaparecido” offers an objective account ofthe confiscation of babies during the dictatorship
- Isabel Croce, La Prensa

“There is still testimony out there that we haven’t heard. But the presence of other testimony, particularly that of Bernardo Neustadt, makes it a solid film and gives perspective to the story.”
- Juan Carlos Fontana, Critica de la Argentina

I could identify with the search for self that compelled Horacio Pietragalla to discover and tell his story. My travels to Patagonia symbolize only a simulation of Horacio’s spiritual quest.
- Diario Perfil, Backpacker under the stars

Sanders was too ambitious, attempting to conjugate a story of national scope with someone’s personal story.
- Cecilia Martinez Ruppel

It’s important to march every year, or more often than that, and stand up for what you believe; it’s the only way to live in a democracy and to bring about change. If not, any group with an ideology in opposition to your own can change your life completely,
- El Litoral, Santa Fe

The movie pits heaven and hell together: Bernardo Neustadt and Horacio Verbitsky, a gathering of officers from the military and Estela de Carlotto.
- Clarin

“It touches the soul,making it different from other films in this genre. Summary: another detail never to forget.”
- Caras y Caretas

The Disappeared” confronts us with truths we already know from other documentary projects, but this time these truths are from the perspective of a foreigner.
- Revista Veintitres

PRODUCTION:
Eight 12 Productions presents “The Disappeared” A Peter Sanders Film. Filmed in Argentina.

CREW
Directed and Produced by Peter Sanders; Executive Produced by Peter Sanders and Daisy Sanders, Edited by Barry Malkin and Matt Spewak, Assistant Editor Sean Glassman, Cinematography by Peter Sanders, Associate Producer Sofia Vilaro, Music by Gustavo Beytelmann,Music Consultant Malena Kuss, Public Relations and Sales Agent Bucky Butkovic, Sound Editor Hernán Camihort , Archival Research Marcela Blanco, Post-Production Sound Nicolás Tabárez and Pablo Coronel, Special Thanks to Bryan Sarkinen

FEATURING
Robert Cox, General Martin Balsa, Andrew Grahm-Yoll, Horacio Pietragalla, Mario Villani, Estella Carlotto, Jorge Pietragalla, The Corti family, Bernardo Nuestat, Julio Cesar Strasera, The Castillo family, Martin Malharo, Horacio Verbitsky, Rosa Rosinblit and Carlos Manuel Auna.