A South Fork Pictures production
in association with Tu Vas Voir Productions
Starring
GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL
RODRIGO DE LA SERNA
MÍA MAESTRO
Directed by WALTER SALLES
Screenplay by JOSÉ RIVERA
Based on the books
“The Motorcycle Diaries” by Ernesto Che Guevara
“With Che through Latin America” by Alberto Granado
www.motorcyclediaries.net
DISTRIBUTION:
Monopole Pathé Films AG
Neugasse 6, Postfach
8031 Zürich
Tél. 01 277 70 83
Fax 01 277 70 89
miriam.nussbaumer@pathefilms.ch
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THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
Short synopsis
In 1952 two young Argentines, Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado, set out on a road
trip to discover the real Latin America. Ernesto is a 23-year-old medical student
specializing in leprology, and Alberto, 29, is a biochemist. The film follows the young
men as they unveil the rich and complex human and social topography of the Latin
American continent.
With a highly romantic sense of adventure, the two friends leave their familiar
surroundings in Buenos Aires on a rickety 1939 Norton 500. Although the bike breaks
down in the course of their eight-month journey, they press onward, hitching rides along
the way. As they begin to see a different Latin America in the people they meet on the
road, the diverse geography they encounter begins to reflect their own shifting
perspectives. They continue to the heights of Machu Picchu, where the majestic ruins
and the extraordinary significance of the Inca heritage have a profound impact on the
young men. As they arrive at a leper colony deep in the Peruvian Amazon, the two are
beginning to question the value of progress as defined by economic systems that leave
so many people beyond their reach. Their experiences at the colony awaken within
them the men they will later become by defining the ethical and political journey they will
take in their lives.
Based on the journals of both Alberto Granado and the man who would later become “El
Che,” The Motorcycle Diaries follows a journey of self-discovery, tracing the origins of
a revolutionary heart.
FilmFour presents, The Motorcycle Diaries, a South Fork Pictures Production in
association with Tu Vas Voir Productions. Directed by Walter Salles. Screenplay by
José Rivera. The film stars Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna and Mía Maestro.
The producers are Michael Nozik, Edgard Tenembaum and Karen Tenkhoff. The
executive producers are Robert Redford, Paul Webster and Rebecca Yeldham and the
co-producers are Daniel Burman and Diego Dubcovsky. The director of photography is
Eric Gautier, A.F.C., production designer is Carlos Conti and editor is Daniel Rezende,
with costumes designed by Beatriz di Benedetto and Marisa Urruti and music by
Gustavo Santaolalla. Gianni Minà serves as artistic supervisor. Pathé Pictures
International will sell the film internationally.
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THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
Long Synopsis
In 1952, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL) is 23-year-old medical
student. Almost finished with his training, he leaves his upper-middle class home in
Buenos Aires to go on a road trip with family friend Alberto Granado (RODRIGO DE LA
SERNA), a robust biochemist. The two ride off on Alberto’s temperamental Norton 500,
optimistically nicknamed La Poderosa (The Mighty One), to fulfill a restless dream they
share: to explore Latin America, a continent largely unknown to them at the time.
Considering their limited funds and faulty equipment, the route they have plotted is an
ambitious one -- through the Andes, along the coast of Chile, across the Atacama
Desert and into the Peruvian Amazon -- but they are not daunted by the arduous nature
of their plans. According to their schedule, they will arrive in Venezuela just in time to
celebrate Alberto’s 30th birthday.
After a farewell visit with Ernesto’s aristocratic girlfriend Chichina Ferrayra (MÍA
MAESTRO) in Miramar, the pair restart their journey in earnest. Progress is slow as La
Poderosa subjects them to frequent spills and mechanical failures. Still, their spirits are
high. As the idealistic men survey the land around them, they dream of the clinics they
will build and the progress to be made in their lifetimes.
As they cross the border into Chile, they begin practicing different methods of coaxing
their daily needs from strangers, especially lodging. After a particularly awkward
attempt involving the mechanic’s wife in Temuco, Alberto and Ernesto are chased out of
town…and meet with disaster. A terrible collision with a herd of cows leaves La
Poderosa badly damaged. The pair travels into the Chilean city of Los Angeles in the
back of a truck to consult with a mechanic. As they wait for the prognosis, Ernesto is
asked to look in on a sick, old woman. He leaves her with some of his medicine – a
valued item for a traveling asthmatic, but even more precious to one whose means and
resources are so severely limited.
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He returns in time to hear the mechanic deliver the bad news: La Poderosa is beyond
repair. Alberto is devastated, but Ernesto convinces him to continue their journey and
honor the momentous day that will mark his 30th year.
They hitchhike through Valparaiso, then continue on foot through the blistering Atacama
Desert. Physically exhausted and hungry, the encounters they have with migrant
workers and people of the area start to take on a different character. They meet an
impoverished couple, dispossessed of their land for their political beliefs, who are
journeying to a nearby mine in the hopes of finding work. Ernesto and Alberto are
beginning to see a Latin America different from the one they saw from the back of a
motorcycle.
The two continue into Peru, arriving in Cuzco where they are exposed to Incan
architecture and the living history the city represents. They continue onward to Machu
Picchu and then Lima. They find the contrast between the majestic remains of the
Incan city and the urban sprawl of contemporary Lima disturbing and are unable to
accept that one was destroyed to make way for the other.
In Lima, they meet Dr. Pesce (GUSTAVO BUENO), one of the most important leper
researchers in Latin America. Dr. Pesce makes arrangements for them to work in the
largest leper colony in South America: San Pablo, in the heart of the Amazon River.
They travel to the colony on a boat, La Cenepa. During the long ride over, Ernesto has
a severe asthma attack and is bed-ridden. He writes in his journal while he
convalesces.
When they arrive at San Pablo, the undercurrents of their shifting perspective begin to
rise to the surface. They opt to disregard the policy of the nuns administering the
leprosarium to segregate the healthy staff from the diseased, preferring to mingle with
the patients freely. It is in San Pablo that, on the day he turns 24, Ernesto decides to
swim across the Amazon, in order to celebrate his birthday with the destitute and the
sick. The next day, he and Alberto depart on a raft christened the Mambo-Tango, given
to them as a gift by the residents of the colony.
When the two finally arrive in Venezuela, the distance they have traveled can no longer
be measured in kilometers. The journey into the heart of Latin America has awoken
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within each of them the men they would become; they have felt the first stirrings of what
will become a lifelong passion for justice, a drive to improve the conditions of the world
around them. One will return to his work in science with a renewed sense of purpose.
The other will go on to become one of the most important revolutionary leaders of the
20th century.
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Q & A WITH DIRECTOR WALTER SALLES
What attracted you to this project?
The fact that The Motorcycle Diaries unveils a human and physical geography
that pertains to Latin America and is, at the same time, an extraordinary coming
of age, a story about two young men finding their own place in the world.
The Motorcycle Diaries can be seen as a rite of passage, a journey through a
continent that would utterly define, on both an emotional and a political level,
who these two young men would become.
Why was José Rivera chosen to write the screenplay and did you work closely
with him?
Of all the writers I met for The Motorcycle Diaries, José was the one who had
the most discerning vision of what this screenplay should be. What interested
him was the humanization of such unique characters. This film is about eight
months of these two young men’s lives -- eight crucial months in which they were
confronted with a reality that departed completely from the one they were used to
in urban Argentina, a reality that asked them to make choices in life and
ultimately decide which path they were going to take. José understood this from
the start.
Can you talk about the research you did to make this film?
Research took more than two years. José and I read all the biographies that had
been written about Ernesto Guevara, including the one that was the most
interesting to me, by the Mexican writer Paco Ignazio Taibo. I went to Cuba
several times to meet with Alberto Granado, a young man of 82, and Ernesto
Guevara’s family. The support of his widow, Aleida, and his children was very
important for us to move forward. Finally, we retraced the motorcycle journey
and scouted extensively throughout Argentina, Chile and Peru: journeying in
Patagonia, crossing the Andes and the Atacama Desert, entering the Amazon
Basin, ultimately reaching the San Pablo leper colony, near Iquitos, Peru.
What is the story of the film?
The Motorcycle Diaries is the story of two young men who leave on an
adventurous journey throughout an unknown continent, and this journey of
discovery becomes one of self-discovery as well. This is a film about the
emotional and political elections we have to make in life. It’s also about
friendship, about solidarity. Finally, it’s about finding one’s place in the world,
one that is worth fighting for.
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Do you see the film as a documentary?
The Motorcycle Diaries is a film inspired by events that happened in 1952 in
the life of Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado. It is not, therefore, a
documentary about that adventure. What it aims for is to retain the original spirit
of the journey made on La Poderosa. Alberto and Ernesto’s trip was shaped by
the encounters they had on the road, and I tried to keep this quality alive in the
film. In places like Cuzco or Machu Picchu, for example, we encouraged the
actors to mingle with the people they met on the road, as Alberto and Ernesto
would have done fifty years ago. This purely improvisational material was then
blended with the more structured screenplay by José Rivera.
How much impact do you think this trip had on Guevara’s later political
career?
The Motorcycle Diaries is a film about Ernesto Guevara before he becomes
“The Che.” This definition, by the way, is not mine and was given to me by his
son, Camilo. On the other hand, Alberto told us many times how decisive this
trip was for both of them and how much it helped to shape their future. You have
to remember that this is the first time that they ventured throughout Latin
America. They were confronted with the remains of the Incan culture and were
exposed to theoretical works of such Latin American thinkers as Mariategui.
Such extraordinary and diverse experiences certainly helped them rethink their
understanding of the world that surrounded them.
Can you describe both Guevara and Alberto’s personalities at the time the film
is based? What were their reasons for wanting to do this journey?
When The Motorcycle Diaries starts, Alberto is 29 and lives in Cordoba,
Argentina. He’s working at a local hospital and is somewhat uncomfortable with
the way the patients are treated there. He’s been dreaming about this journey
throughout Latin America for years and absolutely wants to do it before turning
30. He’s got a younger brother, Tomas, whose best friend is . . . Ernesto
Guevara, whom he’s going to invite to take the trip with him.
Ernesto is 23 when they leave Buenos Aires in January 1952. He comes from
an upper middle class family, but his curiosity and interests go way beyond the
limits of his class. He’s well read, and he has traveled throughout Argentina on a
bicycle on which he installed a small engine. His asthma has been a constant
concern from a very young age, but he has learned to fight it. He’s a medical
student, and he’s not far from graduation when he opts to take the trip with
Alberto.
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Can you describe the different countries and locations you have been
through: how faithful have you been in terms of using the original locations?
We filmed in more than thirty locations in Argentina, Chile and Peru. We
endured temperatures that were way below zero in the Andes, to more than 45
degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Amazon. We used the original
locations that Ernesto and Alberto traveled through as much as we could. A
large number of the more distant locations, in reality, have not been dramatically
transformed by what we know as “progress.” And when we couldn’t use a
location, we tried to find alternatives that would be very similar to the places that
our friends cruised through on La Poderosa. The extensive research conducted
by Carlos Conti, our production designer, was very important in this sense.
What have been the hardest moments of filming? And the highlights?
The most fascinating part of the journey for me was the one centered in the San
Pablo leprosarium, in the middle of the Amazon. This is where Ernesto and
Alberto spent more than three weeks of their journey and entered a reality that
was drastically different from anything they found elsewhere. Several people
who played lepers in the film had been patients at the actual leper colony, and
this granted an additional gravity and density to our work. On the other hand,
filming in the Amazon is extremely hard, due to the heat, the humidity, the
impossibility of predicting the weather. You have to accept the fact that the
nature surrounding you is much stronger than any human resources; you have to
comply with and embrace what the filmic gods grant you every single day.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
If I present you with an image and say, for instance, that it was taken at night,
you can either believe me, or not; it matters little to me, since if you don’t happen
to know the scene I’ve “photographed” in my notes, it will be hard for you to find
an alternative to the truth I’m about to tell. But I’ll leave you now, with myself, the
man I used to be…
-- Ernesto Guevara de la Serna
Ernesto Guevara’s “The Motorcycle Diaries” is not the travel journal of a man
who would become one of Time Magazine’s “icons of the century.” Rewritten by
Guevara some years after the journey, it is a memoir. The entries from his travel
diary depicting the events and people encountered on the trip in combination
with his ruminations on their later significance provide a rare opportunity to
witness the retracing of a remarkable man’s destiny, the solidifying of his identity
from an earlier state.
The filmed version of The Motorcycle Diaries originated at South Fork Pictures
with executive producer Robert Redford, producers Michael Nozik and Karen
Tenkhoff of Wildwood Enterprises. They immediately recognized the project as
a great opportunity to work with Walter Salles, a director who had won
Sundance’s NHK grant in 1996 with the script for Central Station.
Says Redford, “The Motorcycle Diaries seemed like the perfect way to
collaborate with him, especially since Che Guevara can be such a tricky subject.
I knew Walter would handle the story with lyricism and humanity rather than
focusing on the politics of who Ernesto would later become.”
Director Walter Salles was already quite familiar with the book when the
producers approached him to helm the film. Says Salles, “The book really had
an impact on me because it is about a journey to discover not only one’s identity
and one’s place in the world, but also about the search for what I think we could
call a Latin American identity. I was very moved by the intertwining of this
personal search with one that had a larger meaning for all of us who come from
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those latitudes.”
Salles continues, “When you finish reading this book, you have the impression
that you can actually change things in the world, by understanding them and
taking part. The beauty of the journey lies in the fact that their perception of the
world changed; they didn’t refuse to see. In turn, they would go on to try to
change the world, according to what they had come to understand on this
journey.”
To bring the coming of age story to the screen, the filmmakers enlisted the aid of
one who had been close to the material from its first publication -- Italian
journalist and documentarian Gianni Miná, who served as the European editor of
“Mi Primer Gran Viaje,” the travel diary of Che Guevara throughout Latin
America. Miná would stay on throughout the production as an artistic supervisor.
With Miná, the filmmakers made the first of several trips to Havana, Cuba, not
only to begin their extensive research, but also to meet with Guevara’s family
and to interview Granado, now in his 80s and as vivacious as ever. They met
with Guevara’s widow Aleida March, her daughter Aleida, and her sons Camilo
and Ernesto.
To adapt the story, they selected José Rivera, a young, award-winning Puerto
Rican playwright who had studied at the Sundance Institute. Director and writer
researched together, reading all the existing biographies on Guevara. It would
take Rivera two years of writing and rewriting before the script was finished.
To ensure that the story balanced its portrayal of the two main characters evenly,
Rivera drew from both Guevara’s travel diary and Granado’s own account of the
trip, “Con el Che por Sudamérica.” Unlike “The Motorcycle Diaries,” Granado’s
version is not a memoir. It contains the actual entries documenting his
observations on the road. The immediacy of the journal and the humor evident
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throughout were instrumental in not only reconstructing the events that take
place within its pages, but the personality of the charismatic man who wrote it, as
well.
Says Salles, “José never let the young [Guevara] be confused with his future
mythological image. José was more interested in revealing the human side of
these two unique characters. He tried to look at these young men as who they
could have been, in that moment and time. He retained the humor that is so
vitally present in Guevara's book, as well as in Granado's account of the journey.
Most importantly, he added layers of gravity as the two travelers went deeper
and deeper into their journey – not unlike Ettore Scola’s screenplay for Il
Sorpasso.”
Says Rivera, “The challenges to writing this screenplay were many. How do you
even begin to approach an iconic figure like Ernesto Guevara? How do you
humanize the myth? How do you honor the memory and serve history? How do
you give his companion Alberto equal weight? How do you capture the inner
geography of a boy turning into a man? How do you capture that flickering pre1960s Latin America, poised, it seems, between centuries? How do you capture
the mind-boggling variety of faces, temperaments, cultures, races and voices?
Ernesto Guevara once wrote that a true revolutionary was guided by great
feelings of love. Ultimately a writer’s greatest and most singular gift to any film is
his or her love for the themes and people of the project at hand. I was lucky.
Writing the screenplay and balancing its many demands only required a lot of
hard work – lending my love to stories of young Ernesto Guevara and Alberto
Granado was easy.”
The filmmakers found early support for the project at FilmFour. In 2001,
executive producers Paul Webster and Rebecca Yeldham joined the
development process for The Motorcycle Diaries, and the company financed
the picture.
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In the meantime, the director himself set out on a personal journey through the
towns and cities mentioned in the books to experience first hand the route that
Guevara and Granado had taken 50 years earlier. This first trip allowed Salles to
reconstruct the adventure and discover the present-day state of the places
described in Guevara’s and Granado’s travel diaries.
Says Salles, “The first impression I had in retracing their steps was that the
structural and social problems that caught both Ernesto’s and Alberto’s attention
in 1952 are mostly still present today; what was transmitted on the page was still
pretty much what I felt in taking the journey. What came as a revelation was how
modern and contemporary both books felt. And that may be because the
political and social realities of the Latin American culture have not changed all
that much from the 1950s to today.”
Once the script was completed, the filmmakers began to prepare for the
production. Honoring the origins of the film’s main characters, the filmmakers
believed firmly that The Motorcycle Diaries should be an Argentine film, so they
set up the production office in Argentina, selecting BD Cine as their Argentine
partner. A Chilean partner was then found in Sahara Films, with Inca Cine acting
as partner in Peru.
From the outset, Salles knew that the authenticity of the project would rely
heavily on shooting the film where the events actually took place. To that end,
the first full scout for locations took place in early November of 2001, when the
production team visited Argentina. Full scouting throughout all the different
countries involved began in January the following year and continued until May.
Equally important to the authenticity of the film and the different cultures
portrayed within it was the decision to use local actors for each region. Casting
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sessions were held throughout Latin America, and actors were selected from
Argentina, Chile and Peru.
For the role of Ernesto Guevara, however, Salles would make an exception for
talented Mexican actor Gael García Bernal, whom Salles describes as “one of
the most unique and talented actors of his generation.” Intrigued by the
opportunity to portray the legendary man in his earlier years, Bernal accepted.
Says Bernal, ”Che has had a strong influence on our lives, especially for the
ones born after the Cuban Revolution… [My generation] was born with the idea
of a modern Latin American hero. He was a man who struggled for his beliefs,
an Argentinean man who fought in a country that was not his country, who
became a citizen of Latin America, a citizen of the world… I think this story may
strengthen people to search for their own beliefs.”
With Guevara cast, an actor still needed to be found to bring the role of Alberto
Granado to life. During casting sessions conducted by Walter Rippel in Buenos
Aires, one actor stood out in particular: Rodrigo de la Serna. A young performer
trained mainly in theater in his native Argentina, de la Serna makes his
international debut in The Motorcycle Diaries.
Says Salles, “His physical resemblance with the young Alberto is staggering, but
this is not why I ended up choosing him. I think that Rodrigo is a young actor in
the tradition of the great Italian actors like Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi.
He is always ready to surprise us, blending humor and drama in a unique
manner. There was also an incredible coincidence, which I realized only after
casting him: Rodrigo de la Serna is a second cousin of Ernesto Guevara de la
Serna.”
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The cast was rounded out both with experienced actors and actresses such as
Mercedes Morán, Mía Maestro and Jean Pierre Noher as well as with actors who
will be making their screen debut in The Motorcycle Diaries.
Once the lead actors were cast, they began preparing for their roles, reading
biographies and viewing interview footage of Granado shot by Salles and Miná
during one of their trips to Cuba. Bernal began reading the books Guevara was
reading during that period in his life (French existentialists, Latin American social
theoreticians), while de la Serna read Granado’s unedited diaries and began
gaining the 15 pounds necessary to play the part. In addition, Salles took the
two actors to Cuba to meet Granado and the Guevara family. Granado would
travel to the set to provide additional inspiration, once production was underway.
As the start of production grew closer, the two actors began intensive training for
a period of 14 weeks. They learned how to ride the 1939 Norton 500 and
practiced their soccer skills. Bernal took classes to perfect his Argentine
Spanish and worked out daily to achieve the athletic form that characterized
young Ernesto. His fitness program would also serve him well when it came time
to shoot the scene where Ernesto swims across the Amazon. De la Serna took
mambo and tango lessons and learned to master the accent from Córdoba.
Along with the rest of the crew, both actors participated in seminars and lectures
to further their knowledge and enhance their work in the film. Topics included:
“Argentina in the 50s,” “Argentine Film,” “Popular Music of the 50s,” “The Incan
Empire” and “Chile and Peru in the 50s.”
The production also sought the assistance of Luis Valdez and Ricardo
Achenbach as consultants on leprosy, one of the pivotal subjects in the storyline,
and of Dr. Guillermo Menga on “The effects of asthma during the 50s.”
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As the actors immersed themselves in training, the director continued the
process of defining the overall aesthetic for the film. Salles and his team drew
inspiration from the photographs taken by Guevara during the trip, as well as the
evocative work of Aimará photographer Martin Chambi. Production designer
Carlos Conti worked on reconstructing the era, alluding to the historical context,
while striving to give the production a somewhat modern feel, to underscore the
timelessness of the story’s themes.
Says Conti, “Considering Che is a modern hero, I thought the production design
should not emphasize any particular period; everything should look as
contemporary as possible. We tried to create a very subtle set so decoration
would not overwhelm the actors in their environment. Cinematographer Eric
Gautier, costume designers Beatriz Di Benedetto, Marisa Urruti and Walter
Salles and I agreed on the use of a limited palette of colors. During the
preliminary scout we found the character of the various locations to be quite
chaotic, so we wanted to create a more unified look for the film.”
Collaborating with director of photography Eric Gautier, the director developed a
cinematic style for the film. Says Salles, “We opted for a simple, direct cinematic
grammar to tell this story and the simplicity of the super 16 format, blended with
a few images shot at night on 35mm. Most of the time, I refrained from
imposing a ‘mise en scene,’ trying to be carried by the flow of what we were
finding on the road, and not imposing pre-conceived ideas. We were also trying
to do the opposite of what one would call ‘induced documentary.’ We basically
tried to film the story as if it were unfolding under our very eyes.”
Having made the unusual decision to shoot the film in script sequence, the
director worked with the cinematographer to create a natural rhythm for the
shots, as well. Salles’ approach was similar to his attitude toward developing the
script with Rivera. Explains Salles, “I always thought that this film should be
constructed in layers. A road movie has by definition an episodic quality, but that
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can be a danger if you don’t grant the time for the information to sink in slowly
and delicately. In the story, the social and political reality of Latin America takes
over little by little, in subsequent layers of gravity. This is what I tried to convey,
with the help of such extraordinary actors as Gael and Rodrigo, is that there is
not a defining moment where everything changes. Rather, the layers are
superimposed delicately, in such a way that you understand that they have been
transformed by the journey. In the narrative, you need the silence in order to
hear the chaos, and you needed to respect the inner time in the fate of the
characters. We didn’t want to impose an unnatural rhythm to the story, but to let
it in fact evolve quietly until the end.”
The decision to shoot in chronological order provided the opportunity for certain
parallels to emerge between the production and the journey it was trying to
capture. Shooting in the actual locations –- at times as exotic to the actors as
they were to the pair being portrayed -- enhanced not only the authenticity of the
project, but its creative possibilities, as well. In keeping with the spirit of the
original journey, Salles encouraged the actors to improvise with the people they
met on the road in order to incorporate the material into the film.
Says Salles, “Little by little we introduced scenes that integrated what was being
offered to us generously by reality into the filmic structure. And that happened,
more specifically, from the moment where the bike breaks down which reflects,
interestingly enough, what both Alberto and Ernesto tell in their respective
diaries. When they were on the bike they had the possibility of going from point
A to point B, but once the bike broke down, they were obliged to hitchhike and
walk. They were in the position now to make much more direct contact with the
people that were living in Latin America. The same thing happened to us, as we
were entering deeper and deeper into the heart of Latin America and most
especially when we arrived in Peru and were confronted with the Inca heritage.
We were approached by Indians who spoke Quechua who were asking of us to
initiate a dialogue, and we integrated the results of those encounters in the film.
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In some ways, these scenes, I think, are closer to the spirit of the original journey
than scenes that would simply revisit events that are specifically told in the
book.”
Full preparation for the shoot commenced mid-June of 2002 and lasted 16
weeks, with principal photography beginning in mid-September. The film was
shot in over thirty locations, where most of the actual events occurred -- Buenos
Aires and Bariloche in Argentina; Temuco, Atacama Desert and Valparaíso, as
well as the mine visited in Chile and Iquitos and Machu Picchu in Peru. The
Motorcycle Diaries was shot over the course of 84 days.
In the end, the journey the filmmakers undertook themselves in order to bring the
coming of age story to the screen had its own effect, as well.
Says Salles, “If there’s one thing I can tell you about this experience that we had
– ‘we’ being the group of people who went on the road for two years to do this
project – is that we were also very different when we got to the end of our
journey in comparison to where we were when we started it.”
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ABOUT THE CAST
Gael García Bernal (Ernesto Guevara de la Serna)
Gael García Bernal made his feature debut in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s
acclaimed Amores Perros, which won the Audience Award at AFI Fest as well as
both the Critics Week Grand Prize and the Young Critics awards at Cannes. The
film would go on to win the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film and was
nominated for an Academy Award®. Bernal’s performance in the film earned
him a Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival and a Silver Ariel
Award in Mexico.
His next big screen appearance was in Alfonso Cuaron’s equally celebrated coming
of age tale Y Tu Mama Tambien, which also starred Bernal’s lifelong friend Diego
Luna. Y Tu Mama Tambien won the National Society of Film Critics award in
addition to 8 regional film critics awards, the Independent Spirit Award for Best
Foreign Film and was nominated for a BAFTA, an Academy Award® and a Golden
Globe. For their performances, Bernal and Luna shared a Marcello Mastroianni
Award at the Venice Film Festival.
In 2002, Bernal played the title role in Carlos Carrera’s romantic drama El Crimen
del Padre Amaro, which was nominated for a Goya Award, a Golden Globe and an
Academy Award®. For his performance in the film, Bernal won Best Actor from the
Mexican Cinema Journalists and Most Promising Performer from the Chicago Film
Critics Association.
Bernal stars in Pedro Almodovar’s latest film Bad Education, which opens the
Cannes International Film Festival and is released in the UK in May 2004.
Rodrigo de la Serna (Alberto Granado)
Rodrigo de la Serna has established himself as a versatile actor in his native
Argentina, where he has worked in several plays. Film credits to date include Same
Love, Same Rain (1999), directed by Juan José Campanella, Nuts For Love (2000),
directed by Alberto Lecchi and Gallito Ciego (2001), directed by Santiago Carlos
Oves.
His television work to date includes Naranja Y Media (1997), Okupas (2000) and
Calientes (2000).
Mía Maestro (Chichina Ferreyra)
Argentinean actress Mía Maestro has accrued a selection of impressive film
credits since she made her debut in Tango, directed by Carlos Saura in 1998.
Film credits to date include Mike Figgis’ Timecode, starring Saffron Burrows and
18
Salma Hayek and Hotel, starring Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter and Kyle
Machlachlan. She recently co-starred with Geoffrey Rush, Edward Norton and
Salma Hayek in Frida, a biopic of the artist Frida Kahlo, directed by Julie
Taymor. She also starred in In The Time Of Butterflies, directed by Mariana
Barroso for television.
19
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Walter Salles (Director)
Walter Salles’ 1995 feature, Foreign Land, won eight international awards
including Brazil’s Best Film of the Year. His next film, Central Station, was
selected for the Sundance-NHK Cinema 100 Award for its screenplay and
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. Central Station went on to
receive the Golden Bear for Best Film and Best Actress at the Berlin Film
Festival that same year, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA Award for Best
Foreign Language Film in 1999 and two Academy Award® nominations.
His most recent feature, Behind the Sun, was nominated for both the BAFTA
Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002.
In addition to his feature film directing, Salles also acts as producer or coproducer of young filmmakers' features in Brazil. He co-produced City of God,
directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Katia Lund, and produced
Karim Ainouz's Madame Sata. He is now producing Cidade Baixa, the first film
by his former Assistant Director Sergio Machado, as well as Andrucha
Waddington’s new film, The House of Sand.
José Rivera (Writer)
José Rivera’s plays have been seen nationally and translated into six
languages. They include Marisol (Obie Award Best Play), References to
Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Obie Award), Cloud Tectonics, Each Day Dies with
Sleep, The Promise, The House of Ramon Iglesia, Giants Have Us In Their
Books, Sueno, The Street of the Sun, Sonnets for an Old Century, Brainpeople
and Adoration of the Old Woman. Rivera studied with Gabriel García Marquez at
the Sundance Institute and was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre,
London, on a Fulbright Arts Fellowship in Playwriting. TV work includes the
critically-acclaimed series “Eerie, Indiana,” which he co-created and produced for
NBC. Film work includes The House of Ramon Iglesia (PBS), A Bolero for the
Disenchanted (Showtime), Somewhere in Time II (Universal), Lucky (Radar
Pictures), The Eddy Matos Story (HBO) and Revenge (HBO for director Julie
Taymor). Rivera serves on the boards of The Sundance Institute and IFP.
20
Michael Nozik (Producer)
Michael Nozik served as president of Robert Redford’s film production
companies – Wildwood Enterprises and South Fork Pictures – for six years. He
received an Academy Award® nomination for his work as the producer of Quiz
Show, directed by Redford and starring Ralph Fiennes.
Recently, he produced People I Know, starring Al Pacino and Kim Basinger, and
the Redford-directed The Legend of Bagger Vance, starring Matt Damon and
Will Smith.
For South Fork, Nozik also produced How to Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog, starring
Kenneth Branagh and Robin Wright Penn; Slums of Beverly Hills, starring Alan
Arkin and Marisa Tomei; No Looking Back, starring Edward Burns and executive
produced She’s the One, starring Burns, Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston.
Previously, Nozik produced three films for director Mira Nair: The Perez Family,
starring Marisa Tomei and Angelica Huston; Mississippi Masala, staring Denzel
Washington and the Academy Award®-nominated Salaam Bombay! His other
producing credits include Thunderheart, starring Val Kilmer; Crossing Delancey,
with Amy Irving and Abel Ferrara’s China Girl. For televison, he executive
produced Skinwalkers, based on the Tony Hillerman novel, directed by Chris
Eyre and the HBO movie Criminal Justice.
Nozik is a founding partner in the newly formed Serenade Films, a company
financing low budget digital video films for theatrical release created on the
egalitarian business model in which the entire filmmaking team work for
extremely low but equal fees and then share from first dollar in the revenue from
the sale and distribution of the film.
Edgard Tenembaum (Producer)
Edgard Tenembaum was born in Rosario, Argentina and has a master's degree
in cinema studies from the Sorbonne University, Paris.
As an associate producer at IMA Productions, he produced documentaries and
feature films including Archipelago, directed by Pablo Perelman and Berlin Film
Festival nominee Amnesia, directed by Gonzalo Justiniano.
Working at both Ellipse Canal + and Morgane Productions since 1997,
Tenembaum has been working as a producer of documentaries, special movies
for TV and feature films, such as: Berlin Film Festival Nominee The 92 minutes
of Mr. Baum, directed by Assi Dayan; Late Marriage, directed by Dover
Kosashvili; (official selection, Un Certain Regard – Cannes Film Festival, 2001)
and Venice Film Festival winner Le Souffle, directed by Damien Odoul. His
recent projects include Errances, directed by Damien Odoul, which premiered at
21
Toronto Film Festival in 2003 and Gift From Heaven, directed by Dover
Kosashvili, which will be released by Metropolitan in spring 2004.
Tenembaum, along with partners Gerard Lacroix and Gerard Pont, founded TU
VAS VOIR, a subsidiary of Morgane Production dedicated to feature film
production; The Motorcycle Diaries is the company’s first film.
Karen Tenkhoff (Producer)
Karen Tenkhoff initially began her film career in post-production, working at
LucasFilm and the Saul Zaentz Film Company as an assistant editor. She then
transitioned into development, working with writers on several projects, including
Donnie Brasco. She is now a producing partner at Wildwood Enterprises, Robert
Redford’s production company. She has developed a number of film projects for
the company, including The Horse Whisperer, The Legend Of Bagger Vance
and the upcoming Fox Searchlight picture, The Clearing.
Robert Redford (Executive Producer)
Long one of Hollywood's most prominent leading men, Redford has acted in over
thirty films; his distinguished career has included starring roles in such notable
features as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Great Gatsby, The
Natural, Out of Africa and, most recently, Spy Game and The Last Castle.
Through his company, Wildwood Enterprises, he has produced several of the
pictures in which he has starred, including Downhill Racer, The Candidate, The
Electric Horseman, All the President's Men and The Horse Whisperer. The
company has an outstanding record of producing quality feature films with an
emphasis on social and political relevance. As a director, Redford received an
Academy Award for his directorial debut, Ordinary People and earned dual
Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for his work on Quiz Show.
In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, which is dedicated to the
support and development of emerging screenwriters and directors of vision, as
well as to the national and international exhibition of independent cinema.
Through his company, South Fork Pictures, he has executive produced the work
of such notable independent filmmakers as Tamara Jenkins, Edward Burns and
Dan Algrant.
In addition to his cinematic and artistic accomplishments, he has been very
active in working with local, regional and national organizations on a variety of
environmental, arts and justice issues.
Paul Webster (Executive Producer)
Over the last 25 years Paul Webster has worked in many capacities in the film
business. He has been involved as an executive and a producer in over sixty
22
films both in the UK and the USA. He was Head of Production at Miramax from
1995-97 and oversaw the production of films as diverse as The English Patient,
Welcome To Sarajevo, Good Will Hunting and Shakespeare In Love. He was
Chief Executive Officer of FilmFour in London from 1998-2002 and oversaw the
production of almost fifty films including Sexy Beast, East Is East,
Touching the Void and Hilary and Jackie.
As an independent producer he has worked since the mid-1980's making such
films as The Tall Guy, a first film for both Richard Curtis and Emma Thompson,
Bob Roberts, Tim Robbins' directorial debut and Little Odessa, a Silver Lion
winner at the Venice Film Festival. Webster is currently producing an adaptation
of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" for Working Title Films.
Rebecca Yeldham (Executive Producer)
Rebecca Yeldham was born in Sydney, Australia and relocated to the U.S.
fifteen years ago when she transferred to Brown University, obtaining a B.A. in
Modern Culture and Media, magna cum laude.
For several years, she ran FilmFour’s U.S. production wing where she oversaw
the development and production of the company’s American and U.S.-originated
international projects. While there, she worked with such filmmakers as Todd
Haynes, Alison McClean, David Siegel and Scott McGeehee, Don Cheadle and
brought in and oversaw such projects as Elmore Leonard’s Tishomingo Blues
(which she is now producing with Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney’s
Section 8), George Pelecanos’ Right As Rain (now being developed at Warner
Bros. with David Benioff and Curtis Hanson), as well as The Motorcycle
Diaries.
Prior to joining FilmFour, Yeldham was the Senior Film Programmer of the
Sundance Film Festival and Associate Director of International Programs.
There, between 1986 and 2000, she was responsible for selecting movies for the
festival and organizing initiatives around the world to support emerging
filmmakers, writers and producers.
In April 2003, Yeldham partnered with veteran producer, Bill Horberg (Cold
Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley) at his Dreamworks-based Wonderland Films
where she is producing projects with him.
Daniel Burman and Diego Dubcovsky, BD Cine (Co-Producers)
In 1997 Daniel Burman and Diego Dubcovsky created BD Cine in Buenos Aires
to produce its inaugural feature, Un Crisantemo Estalla en Cincoesquinas,
directed by Burman. Since then, BD Cine has continued to evolve as a
production company committed to the development of Argentine filmmakers with
a focus on projects which promote a strong cultural identity, providing the
23
appropriate distribution and screening channels for each project from the outset.
In the process, the company has developed strong relationships with European
and Latin American production companies.
BD Cine has produced such films as Every Stewardess Goes To Heaven (Todas
las Azafatas van al Cielo), directed by Burman, which won the 2001 Sundance
NHK Best Script award and was nominated for AFI Fest’s Grand Jury Prize;
Smokers Only (Vagon Fumador), directed by Verónica Chen; Fuckland (DOGMA
95 N°8) by José Luis Marqués and Garage Olimpo, directed by Marco Bechis.
Upcoming films include Buenos Aires Lesbians, directed by Santiago García;
Swimming Alone (Nadar Solo), directed by Ezequiel Acuña and Burman’s A Torn
Hug (El Abrazo Partido), which was produced with the support of Canal Plus and
will be distributed by Bavaria Film International.
Director and producer Burman began his career as a filmmaker in 1993 with the
documentary ¿En qué estación estamos…?, which was awarded the UNESCO
Honorary Mention. The following year, he won the Annual Short Competition
award given by the National Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (INCAA) for
Niños envueltos. BD Cine partner Dubcovsky has worked as a cinematographer
and television producer since 1992, with such companies and television
channels as Aleph, Cablevision, Channel 9, Multimedios America, Flehner Films,
among many others.
The BD Cine founders’ commitment to Argentine filmmaking goes beyond
producing films; both Burman and Dubcovsky teach film production at the
University of Buenos Aires, as well.
Gianni Minà (Artistic Supervisor)
For forty years, Gianni Minà, has been an esteemed correspondent for RAI, the
Italian State television network, producing such projects as A History of Jazz, A
History of Central and South American Music and A History of Boxing. In 1981,
he was awarded with the Saint Vincent Prize for Best TV Journalist of the Year
and from 1981 to 1984 he created and produced Blitz, a very successful TV
program.
In 1987, Minà produced an historic documentary interviewing Cuba’s President
Fidel Castro for 16 hours and later published two books based on his interviews
with Castro. Minà’s other published works include Marcos e l’insurrezione
zapatista (Marcos and the Zapatist Insurrection), Un continente desaparecido (A
lost Continent), Il Papa e Fidel (The Pope and Fidel), Storie (Stories) and Un
mondo migliore è possibile (A better world is possible).
In addition to his published works, some of Minà’s best known documentary films
include Muhammad Alì, una storia americana (Muhammad Alì, an American
story); Marcos: aquí estamos (Marcos: here we are) and Diego Maradona: non
24
sarò mai un uomo comune (Diego Maradona: I’ll never be a common man).
Between 1996 and 1998 Minà produced Storie (Stories), another very
successful interview-based TV program.
Most recently, Minà produced and directed Travelling with Che Guevara, a
behind the scenes look at the making of The Motorcycle Diaries.
Eric Gautier (Director of Photography)
Eric Gautier's film credits include Son Frere , directed by Partrice Chereau; the
romantic drama Une Femme De Menage (A Housekeeper), directed by Claude
Berri, Les Ames Fortes, directed by Raoul Ruiz; the highly-acclaimed, awardwinning film Intimacy, directed by Patrice Chereau and starring Kerry Fox, Mark
Rylance and Timothy Spall; Les Destinees Sentimentales, directed by Olivier
Assayas and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Isabelle Huppert; Pola X, directed
by Leos Carax and starring Guillaume Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve and
Love Etc, directed by Marion Vernoux and starring Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Daniel Rezende (Editor)
Daniel Rezende won a BAFTA (British Academy Award) for his editing work on
the Golden Globe Nominated Brazilian Film City of God (Cidade De Deus),
directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund. He has also edited numerous
music videos and television commercials in his native Brazil.
Gustavo Santaolalla (Composer)
Gustavo Santaolalla's professional music career started at the early age of 16,
when he wrote, recorded and produced his first single. After three successful
decades as a musician and producer, Santaolalla, along with his fellow Argentine
partner, Aníbal Kerpel, launched the record label Surco, in 1997. In 2003, Surco
artists won in 8 Latin Grammy categories.
Parallel to his work as a producer, Santaolalla was able to fulfill one of his
dreams: film scoring. He was an advisor for the critically acclaimed Star Maps
soundtrack, which included songs by Julieta Venegas, Puya (both Santaolalla's
discoveries) and others. He's also the man behind the original score for Amores
Perros, the most-acclaimed Mexican film since Buñuel's Los Olvidados
(according to the New York Times). The success of Amores Perros and its
soundtrack brought Santaolalla and director Alejandro González Iñárritu back
together: 21 Grams, starring Benicio del Toro and Naomi Watts, which was
recently released to considerable critical acclaim.
25
Carlos Conti (Production Designer)
Carlos Conti, born in Cordoba, Argentina, lives in Paris, France. His credits as
production designer include Les Marin Perdus, directed by Claire Devers and
starring Audrey Tatou; Le Boulet (Dead Weight), directed by Alain Berberian and
Frederic Forestier, starring Benoit Poelvoorde; Nelly And Mr. Arnaud, directed by
Claude Sautet and starring Emmanuelle Beart and Michel Serrault; Ma Saison
Preferee directed by Andre Techine and starring Catherine Deneuve and Daniel
Auteuil and Tango Lesson directed by Sally Potter.
Beatriz Di Benedetto (Costume Designer)
Beatriz Di Benedetto recently designed costumes for Assassination Tango,
directed by and starring Robert Duvall. She has also worked with director
Eduardo Mignogna on his thriller La Fuga (The Escape) and on the drama El
Faro. Other credits include the historical drama Frontera Sur, directed by
Gerardo Herrero and Tango, directed by Carlos Saura, starring Cecilia Narova
and Mía Maestro. Her television work includes The Man Who Captured
Eichmann, directed by William A. Graham.
Marisa Urruti (Costume Designer)
Marisa Urriti recently designed costumes for Alejandro Agresti’s Valentin. Other
film credits include Pablo Trapero’s El Bonaerense, Marco Bechis’ Garage
Olimpo,
Hector Babenco’s Foolish Heart and Martin Donovan’s Apartment Zero.
Jean Claude Brisson (Sound)
Jean Claude Brisson worked previously with director Walter Salles on Central
Station. Brisson's sound credits include Filantropica, directed by Nae Caranfil;
Ligne 208, directed by Bernard Dumont; La Ciel Du Moitie (Half Of Heaven),
directed by Alain Mazars and Le Comedie de Innocence, directed by Raoul Ruiz
and starring Isabelle Huppert.
26
THE FILMMAKERS
Directed by ................................................................................ WALTER SALLES
Screenplay by ................................................................................. JOSÉ RIVERA
Produced by...................................... MICHAEL NOZIK, EDGARD TENEMBAUM,
............................................................................................... KAREN TENKHOFF
Executive Producer ............................................................... ROBERT REDFORD
Executive Producer ............................... PAUL WEBSTER, REBECCA YELDHAM
Co-Producers ........................................DANIEL BURMAN, DIEGO DUBCOVSKY
Executive In Charge of Production ........................................ PETER MCALEESE
Artistic Supervisor ............................................................................. GIANNI MINÀ
Director of Photography .................................................... ERIC GAUTIER, A.F.C.
Editor ....................................................................................... DANIEL REZENDE
Music by ...................................................................... GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA
Production Designer .................................................................... CARLOS CONTI
Costume Designer ......................... BEATRIZ DI BENEDETTO, MARISA URRUTI
Casting Director ......................................................................... WALTER RIPPEL
27
FilmFour Presents
A South Fork Pictures production
In Association With Tu Vas Voir Production
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
Directed by Walter Salles
Screenplay by José Rivera
Based on the books
“The Motorcycle Diaries” by Ernesto Che Guevara
“With Che Through Latin America” by Alberto Granado
Starring
Gael García Bernal
Rodrigo De La Serna
Mía Maestro
Produced by
Michael Nozik
Edgard Tenembaum
Karen Tenkhoff
Executive Producer
Robert Redford
Executive Producers
Paul Webster
Rebecca Yeldham
Artistic Supervisor
Gianni Minà
Director of Photography
Eric Gautier, A.F.C.
Editor
Daniel Rezende
Music by
Gustavo Santaolalla
Production Designer
Carlos Conti
Costume Designers
Beatriz Di Benedetto
Marisa Urruti
Co-Producers
Daniel Burman
Diego Dubcovsky
Executive In Charge of Production
Peter McAleese
28
End Cast and Crew Credits
Sound Recordist
Jean-Claude Brisson
Casting
Walter Rippel
With Special Participation of
Mercedes Morán
And With Very Special Thanks
to the Families of Guevera and Granado
ARGENTINIAN CAST
(In Order of Appearance)
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna
GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL
Alberto Granado
RODRIGO DE LA SERNA
Celia de la Serna
MERCEDES MORÁN
Ernesto Guevara Lynch
JEAN-PIERRE NOHER
Roberto Guevara
LUCAS ORO
Celita Guevara
MARINA GLEZER
Ana María Guevara
SOFÍA BERTOLOTTO
Juan Martín Guevara
FRANCO SOLAZZI
Uncle Jorge
RICARDO DIAZ MOURELLE
Young Travellers
SERGIO BORIS
DANIEL KARGIEMAN
Rodolfo
DIEGO GIORZI
Tomás Granado
FACUNDO ESPINOZA
Kids
MATÍAS GÓMEZ
DIEGO TREU
ARIEL VERDÚN
GUSTAVO MANSILLA
Chichina
MIA MAESTRO
Aunt Rosana
SUSANA LANTERI
La Negra
NATALIA LOBO
Chichina Friends
MAÍDA ANDRENACCI
BÁRBARA LOMBARDO
DANA FRIJOLI
VALERIA ECHEVERRÍA
ARIEL PRIETO
MATÍAS STRAFE
NICOLÁS WATSON
Horacio Ferreyra
CARLOS RIVKIN
Uncle Martín
ELVIO SUÁREZ
Esteban Aguirre
PABLO VILLARRAZZA
Chichina's Mother
LILIANA KOLINSKY
Man with Oxen Cart
GUILLERMO OJEDA
Don Olate
OSCAR ALEGRE
Von Puttkamer
FERNANDO IGNACIO LLOSA
Schatzie Von Puttkamer
MARTA LUBOS
CHILEAN CAST
Luna
CRISTIAN F. CHAPARRO
Tulio
CRISTIAN ARANCIBIA
Piedad
GABRIELA AGUILERA
Araucano Father
JUAN MALIQUEO
Araucano Son
SAMUEL CIFUENTES
Chilean Sisters
CONSTANZA B. MAJLUF
EVELYN IBARRA
29
Waiter
Fire Chief
Cañaco
Fireman
Janitor
Old Woman
Mechanical
Truck Driver
Miner
Miner’s Wife
Mine Foreman
Chipi Chipi Band
Singer
Pianist
Percussionist, Trumpeter
Clarinet, Accordion
Double Bass Player
VÍCTOR HUGO OGAZ
FERNANDO FARIAS
MAXIMILIANO TOLEDO
CÉSAR LOPEZ
PABLO MACAYA
ROSA CURIHUENTRO
ERTO PANTOJA
VLADIMIR PAREDES
BRANDON CRUZ
VILMA M. VERDEJO
JAIME AZUCAR
MARIA ESTHER ZAMORA
"POLLITO" GONZALEZ
JORGE LOBOS
CUTI ASTE
ROBERT LINDL
PERUVIAN CAST
Felix
GUSTAVO MORALES
Dr. Hugo Pesce
GUSTAVO BUENO
Zdneka Pesce
MARÍA BEATRIZ ABELE
Luis Pesce
JONATHAN BALBIS
Tito Pesce
MATÍAS DELGADO RIZZI
Peruvian from Canepa
JORGE RODRÍGUEZ PAZ
Luz
JACKELYN VÁSQUEZ
Card Players
ERNESTO CABREJOS
VÍCTOR ÁNGELES
WILLY GUTIÉRREZ
GERALD MAYEUX
MATÍAS GOMEZ
Dr. Bresciani
JORGE CHIARELLA
Banca
RICARDO VELÁZQUEZ
Sister Margarita
CAROLINA INFANTE
Young Indian Nurse
NIDIA BERMEJO
Papa Carlito
CARLOS "CAITRO" SOTO DE LA
COLINA
Mother Sister Alberto
DELFINA PAREDES
Lepers from San Pablo
NEMESIO REYES
HERNÁN HERRERA
Silvia
ANTONELLA COSTA
Dr. Souza
IGOR CALVO
MAIN UNIT
First Assistant Director
JULIA SOLOMONOFF
2nd Assistant Director
FEDERICO BERÓN
Script Supervisor
MARÍA GOWLAND
Art Directors
LAURENT OTT
COCA ODERIGO
MARÍA EUGENIA SUEIRO
1st Assistant Camera
CONNIE OTT
Gaffer
SERGIO SCALISI
Electricians
ANÍBAL HARÁN
RODOLFO RESCH
AGUSTÍN ROCCA
Key Grip
JUAN FERNÁNDEZ
30
Special Make-Up Designer
Key Make-Up
Key Hairstylist
Still Photographer
Prop Masters
LUIGI ROCCHETTI
MARISA AMENTA
JEAN-JACQUES PUCHU LAPEYRADE
PAULA PRANDINI
MARTÍN LIBERT
JORGE MONDELLO
ALEJANDRO GASTÓN MONDELLO
ARIEL GUILLERMO MONDELLO
ESTELA ZEBALLOS
JULIO OJEDA
DANIEL MAUVIGNIER
OSCAR CARBALLO
LORENA ACIN
VÍCTOR TENDLER
JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA ESPINA
GUSTAVO AGRA
GRAHAM STUMPF
MARÍA MONTOREANO
FRANK GAETA
PATRICIO LIBENSON
LEO HAIDAR
DANIEL J. WALKER
SOPHIE BOROWSKY
PAUL GRINDEY
CHRIS BROCK
KIM BALLARD
ALISTAIR THOMPSON
MARCELO COHEN
GRACIELA SPERANZA
PABLO RAMOS GRAD
MARIA CARLOTA BRUNO
EILEEN GIBSON
CONNIE WETHINGTON
UNA MORERA
LAURENCE HENAFF
SHANY LITTMAN
BERNARD BERGE
BILL HOLDERMAN
DONNA KAIL
BRAD EMBREE
NICKY EARNSHAW
LAURA FRANSES
SEBASTIAN PONCE
CAROLINA MOYA
Assistant Prop Masters
Set Painter
Model Maker
Scenic Painter
Boom Operator
Location Manager
Key Motorcycle Mechanic
Post-Production Supervisor
Associate Editor
Supervising Sound Editor
Dialog/ADR Supervisor
Production Lawyer
Business Affairs for FilmFour
Production Financing for FilmFour
Chief Auditor
Spanish Translator
Assistants to Walter Salles
Assistants to Michael Nozik
Assistants to Edgard Tenembaum
Morgane Coordinator
Assistant to Karen Tenkhoff
Assistant to Robert Redford
Assistant to Rebecca Yeldham
Assistants to Peter McAleese
Assistant to Diego Dubcovsky
Assistant to Daniel Burman
ARGENTINIAN UNIT
Production Services
BDCINE SRL
Production Coordinator
PATRICIA APTER
Head Accountant
FERNANDO WAJS
First Accountant Administrator
SILVANA CEJAS
First Accountant Administrator
MARÍA PAULA MANCINI
Second Accountant Assistant
PAOLA SCAGNET
Assistant Accountants
CAROLINA PENELAS
Accountant Apprentice
MARÍA FLORENCIA COSENTINO
Assistant Director
CLAUDIO REITER
Key 2nd Assistant Director
SARA ROSSI
31
Assistant Director's Apprentice
Unit Manager
Assistant Unit Manager
Location Assistants
NATALIA VACS
RAÚL CAMPOS
VALERIA ROIG
EDUARDO COSTA
CRISTIAN GARCÍA SCARAMPI
FEDERICO NOEJOVICH
JORGE DUMITRE
ERNESTO FELDER
ANÍBAL CATTÁNEO
ARACELI FARACE
KATERINE ASTETE
NORMA RECALDE
ALEJANDRO STARICCO
ARIEL GODOY
NORMA RECALDE
ESTHER BARBIERI
MARÍA FATIMA MACERA
RAMIRO PIOMBO
CARMEN MONTECALVO
GABRIELA BELLACOMO
OLGA CATALINA ABRAHAM
BIBIANA THIEBERGER
MATÍAS MARTÍNEZ
SILVINA CARBALLO
ANGÉLICA ALVEAR
MARÍA ELENA DAHN
FERNANDA ABADÍA
MARÍA JOSÉ MASSIGOGE
MARÍA GABRIELA BONTEMPO
ANA PIAGGIO
JULIO PASCOLI
SERGIO PASCOLI
RAUL ENRIQUEZ
MIGUEL SCHVERDFINGER
LUIS BERNÁRDEZ
ANDREA SERVERA
MIGUEL ANGEL TISSERA
FX STUNT TEAM
MARCELO FIRMANO
FEDERICO CUEVAS
MARCELO MANGARANO
FERNANDO MENGHI
ERIC FERRER
VALERIA PIVATO QUIROGA
ILEANA RIPPEL
VERÓNICA SOUTO
NORMA ANGELERI
EMILIANO LOZANO
NATALIA CANO
PABLO PÉREZ GIMÉNEZ
ARIEL EPSTEIN
DANTE DECHECCO
JUAN PABLO GUGLIOTTA
NOELIA DI LEO
LEANDRO ÁLVAREZ
BELÉN GUILLÉN
2nd Assistant Camera
Camera Department Apprentice
Grip
Make-Up Assistants
Hair Dressing Assistants
Costume Department Assistants
Seamstress
Costume Department Apprentice
Art Department Assistant
Set Decorations Assistant
Set Dresser
Art Department Apprentice
Painting Assistants
Graphic Designer
Construction
Assistant Editor
Dailies Coordinator
Choreographer
Assistant Mechanic
Special Effects
Stunt Coordinators
Bernal Stunt Double
de la Serna Stunt Double
Casting Assistant
Casting Camera and Editing
Casting Villa Gessel
Assistant
Casting Bariloche
Casting Extras
Production Assistants
Receptionist
32
Production Apprentices
MAURO STECCO
JUAN PABLO CEBALLOS
ALEJANDRO VIRGINILLO
RICARDO SUÁREZ
JORGE "PAMPITA" MONTENEGRO
FABIÁN ANDRUSYSZYN
WALTER DONADO
TOM CUMDOM
AGUSTÍN FERRERO
SERGIO MIGUEL
ALEJANDRO BRESCIANI
HORACIO CEJAS
Clearances
Dialogue Coach
Animal Wranglers
Wind Effects
Security
Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Assistant
Drivers
SERGIO SALGADO
JORGE CORNAGLIA
DARIO CASAS
HORACIO CEJAS
JUAN CITTERIO
SEBASTÍAN ESTRELLA
FRANCISCO GARASTO
ENRIQUE MOLINA
GUSTAVO GUIDA
SILVIO FRANCISCO RUIZ
Catering Manager
Catering Assistants
ROBERTO GUISADO
ALBERTO GONZÁLEZ
JUAN GONZÁLEZ
MAURO D’ANDREA
DARÍO DÍAZ
EDUARDO CANOSA
FÉLIX MEMELSDORFF
MARIANA GÜIDO
BIN CINE
ALEJANDRO ZITO
ALFA VISION
ANIMAL CINE
AEROCLUBE DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
SERGIO FRAGA MACHADO
EDUARDO EIDT LETTI
LEONARDO BERNARDO NETO
FRANCIS BARROS
LUIZ GONZAGA HERMES
RICARDO SOCOLOSKI DORNELLES
PAULO DOUGLAS COLVARA
HAROLDO GOMES GAIAO
FURGANG COMMUNICATIONS
Argentinian Production Counsel
AVID Rental
Electric Equipment
Grip Equipment
Douglas DC3
Pilots
Co-Pilot
Mechanic
Press Liaison
CHILEAN UNIT
Production Services Company
SAHARA FILMS
CARLO BETTIN
GONZALO JUSTINIANO
DANIEL DE LA VEGA
Assistant Director/Local Casting
SAMUEL LEÓN
2nd Assistant Director
CLAUDIO LEIVA
Unit Manager
MANUEL HUEBNER
Key Grip
FLAVIO NARANJO
Local Casting
JOSÉ ANCAN
Casting in Calama
JUANO SOTA
Unit Manager
FRANCISCO CABEZA
Assistant Unit Manager
CARLOS RAMÍREZ
Production Coordinator
OSCAR ANDRADE
33
Casting Assistants
KITY BARRENECHEA
FELIPE CHRISTENSEN
VICTOR CIFUENTES
JAIME GARCÍA
ARIEL TRAIPI
INÉS BRAVO
VICENTE CARRASCO
CLAUDIA MELÉNDEZ
BARBARA CARRASCO
HÉCTOR RATTALINO
PATRICIO PEREIRA
CAROLA CARTER
JOSÉ ALVAREZ
GABRIEL BELTRÁN
PATRICIA CORTEZ
Costume Assistant
Production Assistants
Catering
Andres Wood Productions
Transportation Coordinator
Actors Motorhome
Art Vehicle
Publicist
PERUVIAN UNIT
Production Services Company
INCA CINE, S.A.C.
GUSTAVO SÁNCHEZ
Production Manager
MARCELO TORRES
First Assistant Director
MARCIA FARIA
Second Assistant Director
SAMUEL LEÓN
Production Coordinator
MONICA LIMA
Art Department Assistant
NELSO "COCO" CASTILLO
Inca Cine Coordinator
ROXANA EFFIO CROVETTO
Production Administrator
ESTHER AYARZA HURTADO
Make-Up Assistants
LAURA BORZELLI
JANA CARBONI
JUAN PEDRO RODRÍGUEZ
EDUARDO F. LANDÍVAR
JUAN ÁNGEL REDONDO
ROSA SALDAÑA
KARINA ARBULÚ
LAURA QUIJANDRÍA
Under Water Camera Operator
PETER ZUCCARINI
Second Camera Assistant
PABLO BAIÃO
Camera Video Assistant
ALBERTO BELLEZIA
MIGUEL VALENCIA
Sound Assistant
DAVID ROMERO
Special Effects Supervisor
GEORGES DEMETRAU
Special Effects Assistant
SARA HEMLINGER
Electricians
CARLOS DE LA CADENA
ALEJANDRO ARBULÚ
RÚBEN CARPIO
LUIS MORALES
ENRIQUE APESTÉGUI
Generator Operators
PERCY TABOADA
DAVID SALOMÓN
Grips
RAFAEL MACKAY FULLE
DENNIS RAMÍREZ
Assistant Hair Dresser
MARISOL ORTEGA
JACQUELINE JUSTO
NORA RINA ESPINOZA
Wardrobe Assistants
MARTHA SÁNCHEZ GARCÍA
LESLI HINOJOSA
GABRIELA NOVOA
34
SEBASTIÁN LLIMÓS
NORMA TAFUR
DELIA GARCÍA
JOHN HARRIS III
JULIÁN CHAVO TORRES
TERRY SÁNCHEZ
OBER LUIS BAOS CINTY
GABRIEL CELIS SANTILLIAN
CARLOS LAVY LUNA
NORA ANGLES ARRUÉ
CECILIA HERRERA
OCTAVIO LÓPEZ SILVA
JUAN DAHUA MURAYARI
FIDENCIO MACANILLA ARANDA
MARCOS RUBIO NIMAS
NAIR MURRIETA YAHUARCANI
SABRA TOTE YAHUARCANI
JUAN CARLOS LAULATE HUANAQUIRI
CÉSAR BAEZ
JOÃO NUNES
WALTERMIRO NASCIMENTO
CECILIA CARRASCO
CARLA ANAGULO QUIROZ
CRISTINA ALEGRÍA RUÍZ
MARILÚ GATICA
ROXANA ARÁOZ
CECILIA CARRASCO VALDIVIA
ADRIANA RIVERO GUILLÉN
CECILIA HERRARA SÁNCHEZ
SEVERINO FERREIRA DOS SANTOS
MARCOS MOSCOSO
JUAN CARLOS VILLANUEVA
LEONARDO OEST
PEPE RISCO
JEAN CARLOS TIZÓN
MERCEDES DE LA CADENA
RICARDO VELÁSQUEZ
BÁRBARA ACOSTA
MARJORIE RUBIO
MARIBEL PACHECO
PACO CALVO
Still Photographer
Transport Coordinator
Transportation
Set Painters
Set Dresser
Carpenters
Swing Gang
Catering Coordinator
Key Chef
Assistant
Production Secretary
Production Runner
Production Assistants
Set Production
Extras Casting
Casting Assistants
Bernal Stunt Double
CUBAN UNIT
Production Manager
MARIA CARLOTA BRUNO
Camera Operator
PABLO BAIÃO
Sound Technician
LEANDOR LIMA
POST PRODUCTION
Sound Editors
JAVIER BENNASSAR
JED DODGE
DENNIS TWITTY
TODD NIESEN
Music Editors
ANÍBAL KERPEL
STEPHEN LOTWIS
ROBERT BOYD
DAVID LEE SCOTT
35
Re-Recording Mixers
PATRICK GIRAUDI
TODD ORR
Re-Recording
ANDREA LAKIN
CHRIS SIDOR
Foley Mixer
GARY COPPOLA
Foley Artists
CATHERINE HARPER
CHRIS MORIANA
ADR Mixer
PETER GLEAVES
ANNE HADSELL
LAURO GALINDO
Assistants
TERRY ISTED
CLAUDIA CARLE
LUIS GERARDO MONJARAZ
Post-Production Accountant
PAUL CAFFERTY
Loop Group Leaders
VERA TAYLOR
MIGUEL VALDARRAGO
GABRIEL RODRIGUEZ
PATRICIO CASTILLO
Title Design
SUSAN BRADLEY FILM DESIGN
Titles and Opticals
TITLE HOUSE DIGITAL
Music Supervision and Licensing
ADRÍAN SOSA
Assistant
ANA LUCÍA PERAZA
AVID provided byDIGITAL PICTURE EDITORIAL, SONY
POST PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Subtitles
TITRA CA. INC.
RUBEN GUTIERREZ
Mixing Stages
TODD-AO WEST
TODD-AO VINE STREET
MONKEYLAND STUDIOS
Laboratory
LABORATOIRE ÉCLAIR
OLIVIER DUVAL
Productions Manager
Éclair Laboratories
OLIVIER CHIAVASSA
Post-production Manager
Eclair Laboratories
THIERRY GAZAUD
Color Timer Éclair Laboratories
ISABELLE JULIEN
PASCAL FABIEN
Negative Cutter
PATRICK THAUVIN
Aaton Cameras
CINECAM
CHRISTIANE BUREAU
FRÉDÉRIC LOMBARDO
DCA
MICHEL DURAND
CATHERINE TOCHEPORT
Unit Publicist
EMMA CHAPMAN
Score Musicians
Guitars, Guitarron, Ronroco
Charango, Caja, Pipes
Percussion Vibes, Flutes, Bass
GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA
Flute
DON MARKESE
Cajon
BRAULIO BARRERA
Violin
JAVIER CASALLA
Recorded at "La Casa Studios", Los Angeles, California
Recording Engineer
ANIBAL KERPEL
SONGS
36
(In Order of Appearance)
"Adíos Muchachos"
Written by: César Felipe Veldani & Julio César Sander
Publishing: César Felipe Veldani & Julio César Sander
By Arrangement with SADAIC
“Mala Junta”
Written by: Julio de Caro, Pedro Blanco Laurenz, Juan Miguel Velich
Publishing: Warner-Chappell Music Argentina - SADAIC
Performed by: Oscar D'elia
"Delicado"
Written by: Waldyr Acevedo
Publishing: Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)
By Arrangement with Warner-Chappell Music, Inc.
Performed by: Oscar D'elia
“Jardín”
Written by: Gustavo Santaolalla
Performed by:Gustavo Santaolalla
Courtesy of: Nonesuch Records
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing
Publishing: Gustavo Santaolalla & Universal Music Publishing Group
“Chipi Chipi”
Written by: Gabriel Rodriguez
Publishing: Peer International Corp. (BMI)
“Felíz Cumpleaños”
Written by: Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
Publishing: Summy-Birchard Music, A Division of Summy-Birchard Inc. (ASCAP)
By Arrangement with Warner-Chappell Music, Inc.
“Mambo #5”
Performed By: Dámasco Pérez Prado
Written by: Dámasco Pérez Prado
Courtesy of: BMG Entertainment Mexico S.A. de C.V.
Publishing: Peer Inernational Corp. (BMI)
“Qué Rico el Mambo”
Performed by: Dámasco Pérez Prado
Written by: Dámasco Pérez Prado
Courtesy of: BMG Entertainment Mexico S. A. de C.V.
Publishing: Peer International Corp. (BMI)
“Tomando Café”
Performed by: Dámasco Pérez Prado
Written by: Wello Rivas
Courtesy of: BMG Entertainment Mexico S.A. de C.V.
Publishing: Peer International Corp. (BMI)
"De Usuahia a la Quiaca"
Performed by: Gustavo Santaolalla
Courtesy of: Nonesuch Records
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing
Publishing: Gustavo Santaolalla & Universal Music Publishing Group
37
"Al Otro Lado del Río"
Written and Performed by: Jorge Drexler
Produced by: Jorge Drexler and Leo Sidran
Guitar, Programming and Vocals
Bass
Cello
Violin
Background Vocals
Drums, Programming, Piano
Piano
JORGE DREXLER
JEFF ECKELS
CARINA VOLY
JOHN VRIESACKER
ANA LAAN
LEO SIDRAN
BEN SIDRAN
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Ettore Scola
WITH THANKS TO:
Tessa Ross
Graeme Mason
Lisa Bellomo
Janine Gold
Andrew Hildebrand
Recardo Achenbach, Hermana Juana Belthave Acuna, George Borghi, Blanca Bronstein, Liliana
Capetini, Jorge Castañeda, Mariana Menéndez Castillo, Teo Chambi, Augusto Enríquez, Pedro
Etchebarne, Gabriel Franco, Patricia Funes, Paula Goldstein, Horacio Gonzalez, Dr. Humberto
Guerra, María Elena Iparraguerre, Aldo Isidrón, Augusto Jaime, Omar González Jiménez,
Eduardo Raastrilla Kerguelen, Michael Kohut, Mónica Leiman, María Luz, Dr. Guillermo Menga,
Susana Molina, Lorena Montes de Oca, Alan Pauls, Axel Pavlosky, Fernando Peña, Jonathan
Perel, Sergio Trabucco Ponce, Sergio Pujol, Pablo Reyero, Eric Rigney, Jorge Rocca, Lorena
Rodríguez, Miguel Romero, Matilde Sanchez, Dra. Elsa Segura, Paula Schmit, Ana María Carrillo
Soubic, Pablo Trapero, Camilo Vives, Kim Waugh, Carlos Zanolli, Paula Zyngierman
Che Guevara Center of Studies
Museum of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Buenos Aires
Dr. José Laurean Amorin
Museum of Pathology, University of Buenos Aires
Dr. Napoli
Cedinci
Horacio Tarcus
Acapol
National Institute of Movies and Audiovisual Arts
Argentina
Buenos Aires Film Comission (BASET)
Sound Archive of the University of Chile
Pablo Neruda Foundation
Chuqicamata Mine (CODELCO)
38
Diario Austral de Temuco
Amazonas Film Commission
Photographic Archives, Courtesy of The Che Guevara Center of Studies
Personal Archives of Alberto Granado
Fimed In
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aire, Miramar, San Bernardo, Bariloche, Lago Frías, Villa La Angostura, Mendoza
CHILE
Temuco Lautaro, Freire, Vaiparaíso, Chuquicamata, Desierto de Atacama
PERU
Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Cuzco, Lima, Iquitos, Santa Maria
CUBA
Havana
The characters and incidents portrayed herein, and their names, are fictitious, and any similarity to
the names, character or history of any actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and
unintentional.
This motion picture is protected under the laws of the United States and other countries and its
unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal
prosecution.
© FilmFour Limited 2004
All Rights Reserved.
39