Searching for Identity

Sources:

Project Website: http://searchforidentitydocumentary.com/about.html

Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo Website: http://www.abuelas.org.ar/english/history.htm   

UNESCO Press: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/plaza_de_mayo_grandmothers_to_receive_felix_houphouet_boigny_peace_prize_at_unesco_headquarters/

John Schmeltzer

Engleman/Livermore Professor in Community Journalism

(405) 325-9020

j.schmeltzer@ou.edu

C.A. Tuggle

Professor of Journalism at the Univerisy of North Carolina

(919) 962-5694

catuggle@unc.edu

C.A. Tuggle answers questions while John Schmeltzer monitors the process. PHOTO BY: Ajinur Setiwaldi

   The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications hosted a film Tuesday about a group of Argentinian women's struggle to recover the identities of children stolen or born in captivity during Argentina’s civil war.

     The documentary was created by C.A. Tuggle, a professor of journalism at University of North Carolina. The film unfolds the story by providing historical and political context to the situation.

    John Schmeltzer, a professor in community journalism at the University of Oklahoma and organizer for the event, said Tuggle is a close friend of the Dean of Journalism, Joe Foote, who offered to host the film at OU.

    According to the film at least 10,000 and as many as 30,000 Argentinians were kidnapped, tortured and killed during the Dirty War from 1976-1983. The film documents the efforts of a human rights organization created by women who search for grandchildren they believe were stolen by the government during the war.

    “From the moment that our children disappeared, we visited every court, office, orphanage, daycare center, and so on to locate them,” the Abuelas published on their website.

    In 2011 the organization received the 2010 Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize at UNESCO Headquarters according to the UNESCO Press. They were recognized for more than 30 years of fighting for human rights and recovering over the identities of 105 grandchildren.

    Tuggle's team worked closely with a crew of students the Catholic University in Argentina. It took two successive summers to complete the project, said Tuggle.

    “We were just there to tell a story,” Tuggle said.

    The film has been booked for screenings for over 80 universities and colleges in the United States, according to the documentary's website, searchforidentitydocumentary.com.