INVASION

by Abner Benaim

SYNOPSIS

INVASION is a documentary about the collective memory of a country. The invasion of Panama by the U.S in 1989 serves as an excuse to explore how a people remember, transform, and often forget their past in order re-define their identity and become who they are today.

Invasion documents the collective memory and willful amnesia of Panamanian filmmaker Abner Benaim's fellow countrymen, utilizing a combination of reenactments and interviews of the 1989 US Invasion. The people's lives were deeply shaken by the invasion: Defense forces who fought symbolic battles, politicians who justify their actions, friends of the church, from civilians to former General Noriega. The Invasion is a platform to talk about the perils of sovereignty, democracy and endangered virtues of today's ultra-capitalist world. Invasion not only explores the mechanisms in which memory is turned into history, but holds a mirror to the present to show how our recent past shapes new Panama.

DETAILS

93 mins

2014

Panama, Argentina

Spanish

TRAILER

CREDITS

Directed by   Abner Benaim    

Produced by   Apertura Films (Panamá)

Coproduced by   Ajimolido Films (Argentina) 

  Executive Produced by Alejandro Israel, Gema Juárez Allen 

Cinematography by Guido De Paula    , Mauro Colombo   

Sound  by Manuel De Andrés 

Edited by Andrés Tambornino    

Sound Design by   Lena Esquenazi     

Supported by  DICINE  , INCAA,   Programa Ibermedia,  Doha Films Institute,  Cinergia, Hivos

BIOGRAPHY

DIRECTOR - ABNER BENAIM

Abner Benaim was born in 1971 and raised in Panama City, Panama. In 1999, began his filmmaking studies at Camera Obscura, Tel Aviv. He also studied Directing Actors with Marketa Kimbrell from NYU, and has worked on various Israeli, Panamanian and US film productions. Before his film career, Abner Benaim received his BA in International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, studied Art in Florence, Italy, and worked as an entrepreneur in Panama. Benaim is currently based in Panama City where he founded Apertura Films in 2004.

SELECT FESTIVALS

IFF PANAMA 2014 - BEST DOCUMENTARY & AUDIENCE AWARDS〡IDFA 2014〡SXSW 2015〡MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2015 - BEST DIRECTOR AWARD〡IFF CARTAGENA 2015〡IT'S ALL TRUE 2015〡BIOGRAFILM 2015〡MALAGA SPANISH FF 2015 - AUDIENCE AWARD〡OPEN CITY DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2015

PRESS

“Invasion” delivers telling anecdotes – including details of the incompetence and slaughter of women and children by the invaders –and captures the complexities of the past: Many Panamanians wanted Noriega out but opposed an invasion. "
- Variety  

"Wows audiences with its hard-hitting exploration of the U.S. invasion of Panama to take out Noriega – an event that most Panamanians seem all to quick to forget. "
- The Wrap

“Abner Benaim’s Invasion, an inventive, taboo-breaking reflection on America’s infamous invasion of the country in 1989, which confirms Benaim as a filmmaker who really needs to be noticed outside Panama”..
- Screen Daily

“Invasión is timely historical reminder.”
- Buenos Aires Herald