Imagining Argentina (film)

Imagining Argentina
Theatrical release film poster
Directed by	Christopher Hampton
Produced by	Michael Peyser Diane Sillan Santiago Pozo Geoffrey C. Lands
Screenplay by	Christopher Hampton
Based on	Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thornton
Starring	Antonio Banderas Emma Thompson Leticia Dolera Maria Canals Rubén Blades
Music by	George Fenton
Cinematography	Guillermo Navarro
Edited by	George Akers
Production company	Multivideo Arenas Entertainment Myriad Pictures Green Moon Productions Imagining Argentina Productions Ltd. Mike's Movies Tide Rock Entertainment
Distributed by	Arenas Entertainment (USA) Manga Films (Spain) United International Pictures (UIP) (Argentina)
Release date	12 September 2003
Running time	107 min.
Country	Spain United Kingdom United States
Language	English

Imagining Argentina is a 2003 drama historical film written and directed by Christopher Hampton and starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Leticia Dolera and Rubén Blades. It is based on the award-winning homonymous novel by Lawrence Thornton. It was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

The film, centered on a couple living through the ominous last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), depicts graphic images of suffering, such as rape and torture. The closing caption states that around 30,000 Argentines disappeared during the beginning and end of the regime.

During the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina, the military government is abducting those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a dissident journalist living in Buenos Aires, is kidnapped by the secret police to join the ranks of the disappeared. Cecilia had earlier published a provocative article in her outrage over the forced disappearance of students protesting the bus fares.

As her husband Carlos, a theatre director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired psychic power that enables him to predict the future. This not only puts Carlos in high demand by those who have also lost a loved one, it also helps Carlos to foresee what happens to his wife and other detainees. At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School, the notorious torture center.