“Two bald men fighting over a comb” is how Jose Luis Borges described la guerra de las Malvinas. BLESSED BY FIRE is the award-winning, moving story of the dehumanising effects of the war – both during and after the conflict.
The first Argentinean fiction feature to deal directly with the legacy of the Malvinas (Falklands) War, ILUMINADOS reveals the great scars – physical, psychological and political – caused by the conflict. Esteban has been called to the hospital bedside of a friend who has tried to commit suicide. A friend with whom he shared the mud, coldness, hunger and officers’ abuse during their time as inexperienced, untrained soldiers on the islands. The war was fought to bolster the Junta’s standing, but the soldiers had no idea why they were there. And the cost in human lives continues as hundreds of veterans have subsequently attempted suicide.
Winner of the 2006 Goya for Best Foreign Film in the Spanish Language and of the Best Film at Trbeca Film Festival, New York.