In the 1970s, Latin America saw the rise of Operation Condor, a campaign of political repression and state terror. The campaign involved intelligence operations and the assassination of opponents, officially implemented by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America.

Details on the campaign are not very precise due to the clandestine nature of the whole thing. As a result, very few accounts have been recorded and it has yet to be explored in cinema.

Last year Bolivia did its utmost to take a film "Olvidados (Forgotten)" based on a fictional account of the events surrounding Operation Condor, to the Academy Awards. The film was not nominated, but it still got the publicity necessary to spread the word about the events.

A year later the film will be released through Cinema Libre in the U.S, a rarity for a Bolivian film. Carla Ortiz, the producer, writer and actress, had a chance to speak to Latin Post about her experience on set and her work to promote the film.

Ortiz is a recognized actress in Bolivia and around Latin America so it was important for her to get this film produced, especially because of the subject matter.

"Everything started because I have a friend who did research for about seven years about the dictatorships and Operation Condor and the involvement that the CIA had with it. He then handed me a book that he had written which I read and I realized how important it was. I knew it was really important and I wanted to produce the film."

However, she had never produced a single work before so she did not know where to start. "I went to Frank Giustra, the investor and founder of Lionsgate. He heard my pitch of the movie and he loved it.

"That is how 'Olvidados' started."

In order to prepare the movie in the best way, Ortiz conducted hours of research and interviewed 45 ex-prisoners. Her job as a writer was to create the most realistic circumstance.

"How do I create this dark and realistic experience? As much as I wanted, the versions of the scripts did not even get close to what my interviewees told me," Ortiz said. "But we didn't want to make exactly how it was or it would have been a horror movie. So we focused on the emotions and tried to have individuals according to their experiences."

During her process, Ortiz interviewed a woman who told her that the only way she stayed alive was remembering her life and singing. This inspired the character of Lucia, a pregnant woman who is abducted and tortured; Ortiz portrays Lucia in the film. Ortiz was excited about the prospect of the movie but she never expected to be both the producer and the lead actress.

"My friend Mauricio offered me the role of Lucia but I told him, 'No wait, I want to produce it.' So it was always there. But when I spoke to the director, Carlos Bolado, I told him who I had in my mind for the film."

"When we did the casting, Carlos thought I was perfect for Lucia. It was always something in the air but it was ultimately our director's choice."

When she got the role, her work doubled and she credits her line producer for really helping her out on the film. A producer's job is all encompassing from putting together a production to being on set and making sure everything is working out correctly. Ortiz had to deal with the fact that she was both acting and producing.

"When you're producing you have to be in everything. You have to make sure that everything has to get done even if there are difficulties."

And she notes that before the film went into production, there were four months of pre-production to figure out the schedule. The film jumps around many time periods, so different wardrobe and sets are required. "During these months the art directors were planning and creating all sets and choosing the furniture. It was also the time when we chose the wardrobe. It was absolutely essential because when we shot it, it was practically 12 weeks. That is a lot for a Latin film."

Once it came time to production, Ortiz still had the responsibility as a producer and it was a challenge to maintain focus in her role as Lucia. But Ortiz credits director Carlos Bolado for helping her through the journey. "He really pushed me as an actress. He took me out of what I thought and out of the script."

Her experience on set was definitely taxing. The film features a number of gruesome torture scenes which depict the horrors of the time but also the savagery of how these prisoners were treated.

"The torture scenes were definitely the hardest because if we filmed them four or five times, we always ended exhausted. It didn't matter whether the scenes were always blocked because sometimes we would end up hurting ourselves."

"But beyond on that, Bolivia does not have studios so we had to redesign a factory and create the prison cells there. As a result we would get out dirty every single day."

For Ortiz this movie represents many things, including the chance to work with Damian Alcazar, one of Mexico's finest and most respected actors. "Damian Alcazar was the most beautiful present that Bolivia and Olvidados received because he is so generous. His arrival was so important because we all admired him. He is so disciplined and prepared in the scenes. It was a great learning experience. It made us work harder and for me this is one of Damian's most challenging roles of his career."

It was also a chance to educate the population about what happened during this time period in Latin America. Ortiz herself recognizes that the political situation in Egypt, which she visited prior to the production of the film, really opened up her eyes about this movie. "This is the first movie about Operation Condor so It is something that if we don't learn about then it will continue to haunt us."

"And what is so beautiful is that we have had a great response from the festivals. We had theaters filled with 480 people and many of the people were foreigners, not Latinos. It seems like such a foreign topic that we know little about but it seems like people really want to know more about the topic," she revealed. "In Ecuador, something beautiful happened and some of the audiences spoke about their experience during this time. One person said, 'Nobody helped us' when President Jaime Roldos, who supported operation Condor, was in power.

"We as Latin Americans did not know this because everything was so closed off. That is the power of cinema, we are allowed to enter that world and educate the rest of the world," she said.

But the movie also represents an opening for Latin American cinema. Bolivia has a small film industry and rarely are films produced there. In 2013, only four films were made in the country. "Olvidados" also became the seventh film to compete for the Academy Awards.

However, what was most important was not winning or getting nominated, but that it helped get the word out for the film.

"It was beautiful because all of a sudden, the L.A Times, the Hollywood Reporter all wrote about the film. It was a difficult and great ride because we were never prepared for what was ahead but it was a great learning experience. Our Facebook and Twitter pages have great followings and our fans have really followed everything that we were doing during the process. Everyone got so involved with the movie and I think it has been very important for Latin America."

Ortiz hopes that this is the start to something new in her career. She notes that being shortlisted for the Premios Platino opened up her eyes to how much talent Latin America has.

"I was able to understand the great talent we have. I hope that we can stop making just Mexican, Colombian and Bolivian cinema. I hope that we are are able to make Latin American cinema. That is why this film has such an international cast. That is what my principal journey is. I want to make stories that unite us and that bridge that gap."

Related