AllMovie

Between 1976 and 1983, following the death of Juan Peron, Argentina was ruled by a right-wing military faction who conducted a covert "dirty war" against its people, in which those who spoke out against the abuses of the leadership often "disappeared" -- they were kidnapped and murdered without any acknowledgement by the government and little evidence. Filmmaker Juan Mandelbaum was a student activist during this period, a moderate who demonstrated on behalf of progressive causes without calling for the overthrow of the ruling junta, and he fled the country when he had reason to believe that he might soon face arrest. Nearly thirty years later, Mandelbaum returned to Argentina in hopes of learning what became of his close friend Patricia Dixon, a fellow leftist who was one of the estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people who disappeared during the dirty war. In the documentary Nuestro Desaparecidos (aka Our Disappeared), Mandelbaum explores the story of Dixon and how she seemingly vanished after being apprehended by plain clothes police, as well as the fate of many of the others who went missing. Mandelbaum also touches on how a variety of political groups attempted to stage a revolution that would drive the junta from power, and why their efforts tragically failed. Our Disappeared was an official selection at the 2008 Los Angeles Latino Film Festival.