Juanjo Pereira at Kino Arsenal

17.06.2026 / 19:00 – 23:00
With Juanjo Pereira

Paraguayan filmmaker, producer, and festival founder Juanjo Pereira (BKP Fellow 2026) has selected two films that, in a sense, archaeologically unearth various aspects of Paraguay’s history: his latest essay film, Bajo las banderas, el sol, assembled entirely from archival footage, and the historical film Noites Paraguayas from Brazil, which is unknown in Germany. 

7:00 pm
Bajo las banderas, el sol (Under the Flags, the Sun), Juanjo Pereira / Paraguay, Argentina, USA, France, Germany 2025
90 min. / DCP / Original version with English Subtitles

General Alfredo Stroessner, who came to power in a coup in 1954, ruled Paraguay until 1989. Based on archival material found thanks to extensive research both in Paraguay and abroad, this documentary essay reconstructs the 35-year dictatorship chronologically. The spectator sees an extreme cult of personality, spectacular construction projects, state visits (including to Germany), and learns about Operation Condor, the suppression of opposition figures, and the protection afforded to SS doctor Josef Mengele. Instead of a voiceover, the sound design serves as a subtle commentary—as do interventions via montage, slow motion, time-lapse and rewind techniques. A contribution to the politics of memory for a country where the dictatorship is not mentioned in school textbooks —and a reflection on the power of images in politics and society in general.

Followed by a discussion with Juanjo Pereira, moderated by Birgit Kohler
Tickets

9:15 pm
Noites Paraguayas (Paraguayan Nights), Aloysio Raulino / Brazil 1982
90 min. / Digital file / Original version with English Subtitles

Rosendo leaves his humble abode in the countryside to seek a better life in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción. He befriends Pedrito, an adventurous folk musician. They decide to emigrate to the Brazilian city of São Paulo, where they stay with relatives and are faced with the harsh social reality of being immigrants in a foreign country. Incorporating documentary elements—including footage of Asunción during the dictatorship, a boat ride on the Paraguay River, and a visit to the indigenous Maká community—the feature film debut of the Brazilian filmmaker Raulino, in which the main language spoken is Guaraní, demonstrates a sensitivity to Paraguay’s history, culture and society.

Introduction (in English): Juanjo Pereira
Tickets

Kino Arsenal, Plantagenstr. 30, 13347 Berlin

Image credit: Juanjo Pereira, “Bajo las banderas, el sol” (2025), film still