Under the Flags, the Sun

Bajo las banderas, el sol

27th TIDF: International Premiere
In 1989, the fall of Alfredo Stroessner’s 35-year dictatorship in Paraguay marked the end of one of the world’s longest authoritarian regimes, but also the abandonment of the audiovisual archives that had cemented its power. This footage, crafted to shape a national identity and celebrate the regime, was left to fade from memory. Decades later, a trove of unseen and long-forgotten footage – as newsreels, public television broadcasts, propaganda films, and declassified documents – has been recovered from Paraguay and abroad, revealing the hidden mechanisms of power behind Stroessner’s rule. A visual experience through the history of the media, covering all the supports that have been able to store pieces of memory during the 20th century. The found Paraguayan footage reflects the appropriation of the past to indoctrinate, the construction of a national imaginary, and the cult of Stroessner. The foreign archives narrate the Cold War, international alliances, and the power game that allowed the dictatorship to prosper, in addition to denouncing propaganda and oppression. It is an archeology of the present, in a country where the descendants of the regime's leaders still rule.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Direction: Juanjo Pereira
Script: Juanjo Pereira
Cinematography: Francisco Bouzas
Editing: Manuel Embalse
Sound: Julián Galay
Music: Julián Galay, Andrés Montero Bustamante
Production: Cine Mío, MaravillaCine
Producers: Juanjo Pereira, Ivana Urizar, Gabriela Sabaté, Paula Zyngierman, Leandro Listorti
Co-production: Lardux Films
Executive producer: Juanjo Pereira, Gabriela Sabaté, Ivana Urizar, Paula Zyngierman, Leandro Listorti, Hernán Mazzeo, Trevor Burgess, James Costa, Sofía Lena Monardo, Daniela Martínez Nannini
Format: DCP
Color: Colour and B&W
Production Country: Paraguay, Argentina, USA, France, Germany
Production Year: 2025
Duration: 91'
Contact: Cinephil

Juanjo Pereira

Filmography

2017 Pokhot (short)
2019 Small Events in Medium Gray (short)
2021 The Impossible Future (short)
2025 Under the Flags, the Sun