Past Film/Video | Series & Festivals

Prisoners of the Earth

(Prisioneros de la tierra, Mario Soffici, 1939)
Introduced by Margaret Bodde, Executive Director, The Film Foundation

A woman with a scarf around her head and a man in a striped shirt and hat smile at one another

Widely considered to be the greatest Argentine film of all time, Prisoners of the Earth was shot on location in the Misiones region and portrays the grim lives of the mensus, indentured workers whose lives are spent harvesting yerba mate for wealthy landowners under grueling conditions. When a rebellious worker and his whip-wielding foreman fall for the same woman, it sets the stage for one of the most brutal acts of vengeance the screen has ever seen. The restoration is part of the foundation’s World Cinema Project. (85 mins., 2K DCP)

 

More about the expert

Margaret Bodde is executive director of The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Martin Scorsese in 1990 and dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history. The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project has restored 35 films from 22 different countries around the world. This is her second appearance at Cinema Revival.

A woman with a scarf around her head and a man in a striped shirt and hat smile at one another

Prisoners of the Earth, image courtesy of World Cinema Project

Fishers stand on logs in the water

Prisoners of the Earth, image courtesy of World Cinema Project

Two men in button up shirts stand next to one another

Prisoners of the Earth, image courtesy of World Cinema Project

A group of men look at one man in the foreground of the photo

Prisoners of the Earth, image courtesy of World Cinema Project

Restored by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in association with the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken with elements provided by the Cinémathèque Française and the Národní Filmový Archiv. Funding provided by the George Lucas Family Foundation.

SEASON SUPPORT FOR FILM/VIDEO
Rohauer Collection Foundation

SUPPORT FOR THE FILM/VIDEO STUDIO PROGRAM
Institute of Museum and Library Services
National Endowment for the Arts

GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT FOR THE WEXNER CENTER
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Ohio Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
Nationwide Foundation 

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Past Film/Video

Prisoners of the Earth