OUR DISAPPEARED / NUESTROS DESAPARECIDOS
(Visit Official Website)
Through a casual Google search director Juan Mandelbaum finds out that Patricia, a long lost girlfriend from Argentina, is among the thousands who were kidnapped, tortured and then “disappeared” by the military during the 1976-1983 dictatorship. Juan embarks on a journey to find out what happened to her and others he knew who disappeared and re-examines his own choices.
Using rare archival footage he evokes the dreams for a revolution that would transform Argentina. As he shares dramatic stories told by parents, siblings, friends and children of the disappeared, Juan grieves the tragic losses and shows that when brutal regimes attack the fabric of a country with great impunity, the suffering lasts for generations.
Written, Produced, and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor and Co-Producer: David Carnochan
Director of Photography: Vicente Franco
Music Composed by Gustavo Moretto
Additional Funding: Sundance Institute Documentary Fund
Executive Producer: Sally Jo Fifer
Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos is a co-production of Geovision, Inc. and The Independent Television Service (ITVS), in association with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) with funding provided by The Corporation For Public Broadcasting.
2008, 99 min.
Watch ‘Shadows of Memory,’ about the making of ‘Our Disappeared / Nuestros Desaparecidos.’
Shadows of Memory from GEOVISION on Vimeo.
IN WOMEN’S HANDS
Part of the PBS series AMERICAS, IN WOMEN’S HANDS portrays Chilean women’s participation in public life over a twenty-year period, starting in 1969. Women’s struggles and victories are reflected through portraits of women of all classes and how they lived through the election and overthrow of socialist Salvador Allende, the Pinochet dictatorship and the eventual return to democracy.
Produced and directed by Rachel Field and Juan Mandelbaum
Editors: Michal Goldman & Bernice Schneider
Camera: Maryse Alberti
Narrator: Raul Julia
Executive Producer: Judith Vecchione
A production of WGBH Boston and Central Television for Channel 4 UK
1992, 58:30 min.
BUILDERS OF IMAGES
Part of the PBS series AMERICAS. BUILDERS OF IMAGES celebrates the creative energy that enlivens all forms of artistic expression in Latin America and the Caribbean. The complex, distinctive and increasingly influential artistic voice of the Americas is seen in the works of four gifted individuals: Luis Rafael Sánchez, a Puerto Rican writer, the Brazilian popular music star Caetano Veloso, Mexican actress and performance artist Jesusa Rodríguez, and Argentine filmmaker Fernando Solanas.
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor: Betty Cicarelli
Camera: Ned Johnston
Narrator: Raul Julia
Executive Producer: Judith Vecchione
A production of WGBH Boston and Central Television for Channel 4 UK
1992, 58:30 min.
CAETANO IN BAHIA
The great singer/songwriter Caetano Veloso takes us on a vibrant musical journey to the city of Sâo Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos, the heart of Brazil’s cultural mix.
The prolific star of Brazilian Popular Music reviews his eclectic career, singing with people in the streets and visiting his hometown for the Sâo Joâo festival. A music-filled insight into a remarkable artist’s creative process.
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor: Jean Boucicaut
Camera: Ned Johnston
Produced by GEOVISION for WGBH Boston
Based on the AMERICAS series
1994, 28:30 min.
A NEW WORLD OF MUSIC
The New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on a concert tour of Chile and Argentina. Led by vibrant conductor Benjamin Zander, A NEW WORLD OF MUSIC follows the experiences of five of the orchestra’s members, as the group performs in a variety of venues, from a packed gymnasium in an agricultural region of Chile to Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón, one of the greatest concert halls in the world. Like the emerging nations they visit, theirs is a voyage of growth and change.
Produced and Directed by
Juan Mandelbaum
Editor: Jean Boucicaut
Camera: Mark Gunning
Additional Music:
Gustavo Moretto
Executive Producer:
Gerald Slavet
A Concert Productions / GEOVISION Production
1995, 58:00 min.
Distribution: WGBH
POETRY HEAVEN
A three-part series on the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival featuring poets from all over the United States reading and discussing poetry. Featured poets include Robert Hass, Philip Levine, Yehuda Amichai, Yusef Komunyakaa, Pattiann Rogers, Thylias Moss, Marie Howe and Allen Ginsberg, in one of his last readings.
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor/Co- Producer: Bernice Schneider
Co-Director: Barry Bransfield
Original Music: Gustavo Moretto
Directors of Photography: Gary Henoch and Mark Chamberlain
1998, 3 x 58:00 min.
Distribution: Films for the Humanities
View trailers and order:
RINGL AND PIT
A captivating portrait of Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach, two pioneering artists who met in Berlin in 1929 and started the “ringl + pit” studio” to do advertising photography.
Full of humor and vitality at 89 and 86 years old, they reflect on their work, their lifelong friendship, and what being a “New Woman” was like 70 years ago.
Review in the New York Times (February 6, 1997).
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor: Bernice Schneider
Camera: Rick Siegel, Stephen McCarthy & Gary Henoch
Original Music: Gustavo Moretto
Produced by GEOVISION
1995. 59 minutes.
Distribution: First Run/Icarus Film
LILIANA PORTER:
FRAGMENTS OF THE JOURNEY
FRAGMENTS OF THE JOURNEY traces the artistic development of one of Latin America’s leading artists. Argentine artist Liliana Porter discusses aspects of her art and life in Latin America and New York. The program explores her career over 25 years, from her early photo etching to her use of symbols like Donald Duck and Alice in Wonderland, and her allusions to Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. Porter is seen working in her Soho studio and in the galleries of the Bronx Museum of the Arts during her 1992 retrospective.
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Editor: Jean Boucicaut
Music: Astor Piazzola, interpreted by Astor Piazzola and Gary Burton
Produced by GEOVISION
1993, 28 min.
LAST ALARM: The Vendome Firefighters Memorial
LAST ALARM follows the process of design, construction and dedication of one of the most successful public art projects in Boston, designed by artist Ted Clausen and landscape architect Peter White. Lauded by art critics and firefighters alike, the memorial honors the nine firefighters who died at the Vendome Hotel on June 17, 1972, the single greatest loss of life in the history of the Boston Fire Department.
Produced and Directed by Juan Mandelbaum
Co-Directed by Leonora Calderón
Editor: David Carnochan
Additional Editing: Jean Boucicaut
Camera: Leonora Calderón, Alfredo Cottin, Thomas Danielczik, Roberto “Luminito” Fernández, Juan Mandelbaum
Produced by GEOVISION
1999, 29 min.