Dismantling the traditional view of the feminine is not an easy task. As indicated in the prologue of the new illustrated book published by Dandelion Games, Some women like Silvina Ocampo and María Luisa Bemberg, from their privileged position but also with an enormous voracity to have their own voice in culture and its different forms of artistic expression, set about it.
Bemberg filmed six films in twelve years, “all with a look ahead of their time and politically transgressive, with female protagonists who questioned the social mandates of their time, confronting all institutions: the State, the family and the Church,” says Lucía. Puenzo in the note titled Bemberg by Lucía Puenzo: the cunning of releasing the axis.
Mercedes Monti and Josefina Schargorodsky, as writer and illustrator respectively, told the story of this filmmaker from an aristocratic family who was able, against all odds, to resist a time when women did not even go to school.
Already in 1971 the director defined herself as a feminist in the magazine People. In that context, that word was worthy of causing a scandal, and so it did. Thanks to all the readers who identified with her position, the Argentine Feminist Union was born, where feminist texts from all over the world were read and Bemberg found support to start her career.
Among his extensive work, the film of the same name as the book stands out. nobody’s lady (1982) and the iconic feature film of Argentine cinema Camila (1984), which tells the tragic love story between Camila O’Gorman and the priest Ladislao Guitérrez. It was the first film filmed after the recovery of democracy and second film in the history of Argentine cinema to be nominated for the Oscar awardr, as Best Foreign Film.
In dialogue with RED/ACCION, the author of the book Mercedes Monti delves into some aspects of the publication and the context in which it emerged:
—When looking at the Dandelion website, it caught my attention that this title is part of a series (in which you wrote for several issues), such as those about the lives of Doña Petrona, Marta Argerich, and María Elena Walsh. What is the broader framework that includes each of these specimens and the impetus behind the series?
— The illustrated biography of María Luisa Bemberg is the fourth title in our collection of extraordinary Argentine women. In the first two biographies we worked together with Adriana Riva. We chose María Elena Walsh because she is an undisputed reference in literature and music for children to whom we were very fond. We all grew up with her stories and songs. Then we did Doña Petrona because I really like to cook and hers was my first cookbook. The third, by Martha Argerich, was written by Adri, who in addition to being a writer is a musician. The fourth, María Luisa Bemberg, was written by me, who is a film lover and I always admired her career and her films. The four books were illustrated by Josefina Schargordsky.
— What was the process like to write the book about María Luisa Bemberg?
— In the research process I looked for material to reconstruct his life before becoming a public figure. I was interested in telling how I had managed to start filming at the age of 59 and have a meteoric career in such a short time. It is a very inspiring story for all ages because María Luisa had to overcome many prejudices and external obstacles, but also internal ones, to become what she wanted to be.
— All of these figures were central when it came to changing the role of women in society, but the work and impact of many of them goes back many years. Why do you think continuing to revisit their stories is important and how does it enrich our present?
— Each of them contributed to the change in the role of women from their place. Doña Petrona was not a feminist at a discursive or explicit level, but she was a feminist in her way of life. María Luisa, for her part, was one of the founders of the Argentine Feminist Union. We choose them because we like her works: her books, her music, her songs, her movies. And when we began to investigate their lives we thought it was interesting to tell how they had gotten to that place of recognition. The path that each one followed, in times when things were much more difficult for women, deserved to be told.
— Perhaps illustrated books tend to be considered “children’s”, although they are also interesting for adults. What is the process of taking stories from reality, turning them into an interesting story for people of very different ages, and what do you think the impact could be on boys and girls who reach the book?
—They are books for children and adults, written in a simple style and without solemnity. In the case of María Luisa Bemberg’s biography, it seems to me that it is a book for children aged 11 or 12 and up and also for adults who want to have a summary of this director’s life in a short text. Furthermore, the illustrations, which complete and reinforce the meaning, make the book a very attractive object.
