UNDER THE FLAGS, THE SUN

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 @ 6:30 PM

NYU's Cantor Center

RSVP HERE

BAJO LAS BANDERAS, EL SOL

Juanjo Pereira

Paraguay; Argentina; U.S.A.; France

Documentary

2025

90 min.

A conversation with Professor Juana Suarez and historian and UNFPA director, Susana Sottoli. Moderated by author and LAFC member, Pablo Picatto

SYNOPSIS

In 1989, Paraguay's long dictatorship under Alfredo Stroessner ended after 35 years. When his regime collapsed, the government's media archives used to promote and glorify his rule, were abandoned and forgotten. Decades later, a vast collection of recovered footage and documents from Paraguay and abroad reveals how media was used to manipulate history, promote propaganda, and sustain authoritarian control. This film explores the hidden machinery behind Stroessner's regime, from domestic indoctrination to Cold War alliances, offering a striking visual journey through 20th-century media and its lasting impact on a nation still influenced by its authoritarian past.

Juanjo Pereira

Juanjo Pereira is a Paraguayan filmmaker, researcher and producer based in Berlin, whose work centers on interdisciplinary research through essay films and video installations, with the Paraguayan film archive as his primary field. He is co-founder and artistic director of the Asunción International Contemporary Film Festival. His debut feature, Under the Flags, the Sun (Bajo las banderas, el sol), assembled entirely from archival material, traces the 35-year dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner and the media machinery that sustained it; it premiered in the Panorama section of the 75th Berlinale, where it won the FIPRESCI jury prize, and was selected as Paraguay's submission to the Academy Awards.

Juanjo Pereira es un cineasta, investigador y productor paraguayo radicado en Berlín, cuyo trabajo se centra en la investigación interdisciplinaria a través del cine ensayo y las videoinstalaciones, con el archivo fílmico paraguayo como principal campo de estudio. Es cofundador y director artístico del Festival Internacional de Cine Contemporáneo de Asunción. Su ópera prima, Bajo las banderas, el sol, construida enteramente con material de archivo, recorre los 35 años de la dictadura de Alfredo Stroessner y el aparato mediático que la sostuvo; se estrenó en la sección Panorama de la 75ª Berlinale, donde obtuvo el premio de la crítica FIPRESCI, y fue seleccionada como la candidatura de Paraguay a los premios Óscar.