Through the mystery of an enigmatic doctor, the suspense-ridden drama problematizes the Argentinean government’s decision to offer refuge to a great number of Nazis after WWII.
Patagonia, 1960. A German physician meets an Argentinean family and follows them on the long desert road to Bariloche where Eva, Enzo and their three children are going to open a lodging house by the Nahuel Huapi Lake. This model family reawakens his obsession with purity and perfection, in particular Lilith, a 12 year-old with a body too small for her age. Unaware of his true identity, they accept him as their first guest. They are all gradually won over by this charismatic man, by his elegant manners, his scientific knowledge and his money – until they discover they are living with one of the biggest criminals of all time.
»I spent almost a year writing the script of Wakolda, based on my eponymous novel, submerged in the complex reasons which made the Argentinean government open its doors to so many Nazis, even introducing a law to allow them the use of their real names, while entire towns – like Bariloche – were openly friendly to welcoming them… Why hundreds of Argentinean families became accomplices to these men?«
- Lucia Puenzo
Lucia Puenzo
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1976. After studying literature, cinema and theatre, she published three novels. Her feature debut, XXY, won the Critics’ Grand Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Her second film, The Fish Child, opened the Panorama Section at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. Wakolda is her third feature film.