Before he became the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015, Jose Pepe Mujica spent 12 years along with two of his comrades in different prisons in the country. Belonging to a Leftist guerrilla organization, the three, along with six others were held hostages by the civil-military government who wanted to kill them; but balking under severe international pressure, they subjected the three prisoners to utmost mental torture over the years.
Directed by Alvaro Brechner, this gritty Uruguayan film examines the conditions and degradations prevailing in military camps of a brutal regime – and the indomitable spirit of human beings prevailing against all odds.
A TWELVE-YEAR NIGHT (2018, Uruguay) is streaming on Netflix.
Ranjan Das is a Mumbai based filmmaker & Faculty