When the director and the star of "Argentina, 1985" stepped on stage to accept a 2023 Golden Globe Award, the title of the film may not have meant much to many Americans in the audience. But for Argentines, 1985 is pivotal: the year leaders of its most recent dictatorship went on trial.
Santiago Mitre's film details the complex judicial process against members of the military junta, which helped secure Argentina's democratic future after years of repression that killed tens of thousands of people. The story illustrates how justice is built by both top-down and bottom-up forces, as ordinary people's work for human rights turns them into heroes.
