Para no olvidar

Para no olvidar explores the epistolary and videographic relationship between two exiles. When director Laura Gabay’s father fled the Uruguayan dictatorship, he left his family behind, including his sister with whom he was very close. Throughout their entire lives, they would send each other video and audio recordings. Following the death of her father, the director attempts to solve the mystery of this paternal figure through a mesmerising work of collage. She superimposes Super 8 rushes, sounds and letters from this period, burying herself in an inaccessible past about which she knows almost nothing. The film ponders the notion of family, bearing witness to the pain of exile and to the great changes of the past century: the dictatorships and utopias of yesteryear, the hegemony of capitalism in the North, deforestation, the advent of globalisation in the South… This hypnotically beautiful debut feature length film takes us on a journey through time and space. After studying at the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD – Genève), Laura Gabay is now a documentary maker and producer, and teaches Super 8 workshops at the University of Geneva.

Bastien Bento