The Andes feat told through Uruguay’s film richness 

The movie ‘Society of the Snow’ recreates the survival story of the passengers of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes and vividly portrays one of humanity’s most remarkable feats and an emblem of resilience for the Uruguayan people. 

On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their family members crashed in the Andes. After several days lost in highly adverse conditions, the survivors faced desperate situations such as intense cold and lack of food. After 72 days, 16 survivors were rescued. The tragedy’s story has been immortalized in books and films, highlighting the incredible spirit of survival and solidarity among those affected. 

The new Netflix production, recently released in theaters and set to stream on January 4, was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards as the Best Foreign Language Film and chosen to represent Spain in the 2024 Oscars for Best International Film. 

Narrated in the first person, akin to the eponymous book by journalist and writer Pablo Vierci upon which it’s based, the two-and-a-half-hour film was partially shot in Uruguay, featuring Uruguayan talent and national technical resources. Its direction was helmed by the Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona, known for successes like ‘The Impossible and his contribution to ‘Jurassic World.’ 

In addition to the Andes and Sierra Nevada landscapes in Granada, Spain, the locations included Uruguayan areas like Sierras de Minas, the old Carrasco airport, the Pando Air Base, rugby fields, the San Juan Bautista church in Pocitos, and streets in neighborhoods such as Carrasco and El Prado. 

With the participation of several survivors, like Carlos Páez, who portrays his own father in the movie, the outstanding performance of Uruguayan Enzo Vogrincic representing Numa Torcatti, and the cinematography direction by Uruguayan filmmaker Pedro Luque, ‘The Society of the Snow’ is not only an international top-tier film production (Spain-United States) but also puts Uruguay on the map as a prime cinematic destination. 

Other Uruguayan artists involved in the film include Maxi de la Cruz, who portrays Lieutenant Colonel Dante Lagurara, the theater actor and director Roberto Suárez in another supporting role. 

The film, which has been receiving numerous awards at festivals such as San Sebastian, Mill Valley, and Middleburg and earned recognition for its original soundtrack for an independent film at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, highlights Uruguay’s richness and diversity as a setting, but also as a country brimming with technical and artistic talent. 

‘The Society of the Snow’ offers a unique cinematic experience and solidifies Uruguay as an attractive place for audiovisual production due to the universality of its local stories and the quality of its artistic and technical resources. The combination of local elements, talent, and global collaboration makes the production significantly impact how Uruguay is perceived in the film world.