With the next World Cup approaching: "protecting human voices and faces"
ArgentinaOn the occasion of the 60th World Day of Social Communications, celebrated on Sunday, May 17, Pope Leo XIV chose the motto "Guarding human voices and faces".
The Holy Father's message begins as follows:
The face and voice are unique, distinctive features of each person; they manifest their own unrepeatable identity and are the constitutive element of every encounter. The ancients knew this well. Thus, to define the human person, the ancient Greeks used the word face (prosopon), which etymologically indicates that which is visible, the place of presence and relationship. The term person (from per-sonare), on the other hand, includes sound—not just any sound, but someone's unmistakable voice.
The Pope's text then goes on to examine the influence of technology, specifically AI, on communication and critical thinking today.
Leaving aside this analysis, I return to the beginning of the writing to revalue a genre of non-fiction cinema that is often denigrated: that of on-camera interviews, also called, in a somewhat derogatory way, "talking head documentaries".
Analysis of “Argentina 78: truth or lie”, by Christian Rémoli.
Just days before the start of a new World Cup, and on the occasion of a documentary film series about the tournaments won by Argentina, in Mar del Plata, “Argentina 78: Truth or Lie” by Christian Rémoli was shown, a 2007 work that collects numerous and varied interviews to address the social and political context that surrounded the football championship organized by the dictatorship in our country, giving rise to all the issues that have been debatable, controversial and even taboo, practically since the end of the 78 World Cup, overshadowing the sporting result.
The number of interviews included in the documentary speaks to the enormous production capacity of Rémoli, who comes from sports journalism and whose film features testimonies from:
Carlos Ares (journalist, former editor of “El Gráfico” magazine), Miguel Bonasso (former press secretary of the Montoneros, and later national deputy), Héctor Vega Onesime (former director of “El Gráfico”), Julio Grondona (former president of the AFA), Adrián Paenza (journalist), Diego Bonadeo Sr. (journalist), Enrique Macaya Márquez (football commentator and journalist), Ricardo Petracca (president of Vélez Sarsfield club), Ubaldo Fillol (Argentine footballer), Fernando Vaca Narvaja (member of the Montoneros), Abel Madariaga (political exile), Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (detained by the dictatorship, later Nobel Peace Prize laureate), Lila Pastoriza (survivor of the ESMA), Eduardo Anguita (ERP, former political prisoner), Nora Cortiñas (Mother of Plaza de Mayo), Oscar Ortiz (Argentine footballer), Américo Gallego (Argentine footballer), Ricardo Julio Villa (Argentine footballer), Alberto Tarantini (Argentine footballer), Sergio Renán (theater and film director), Juan José Panno (former journalist for “El Gráfico”), Ricardo Pizzarotti (physical trainer of the Argentine national football team of 1978), Omar Larrosa (Argentine footballer), Norberto Alonso (Argentine footballer), Héctor Chumpitaz (Peruvian footballer), Roberto Rivelino (Brazilian footballer), José Velásquez (Peruvian footballer), Ramón Quiroga (Argentine footballer who became a Peruvian citizen), Luis Trisano (Peruvian journalist), Rodulfo Manzo (Peruvian footballer), Mario Escobar (Colombian journalist), Leopoldo Luque (Argentine footballer) and Mario Kempes (Argentine footballer).
The value of testimony.
Reading the previous list is monotonous, but the result of the testimonies included in the documentary, accompanied by abundant archival material, is categorical: there is no way to replace human communication achieved through medium shots and/or close-ups, because they manifest their own unique identity, as expressed in the letter of Pope Leo mentioned at the beginning. The screen is dominated by facial expressions and words; the spatial context surrounding the interviewees is irrelevant. Their spoken statements, accompanied by gestures, produce an immediate and personal effect of denotation and connotation for each viewer, providing information that each person will understand as revealing if they believe the interviewee, or compromising if they detect a hint of doubt in their expression—a meaning that is entirely personal. As I mentioned, the sheer number of topics covered through first-person interviews in this audiovisual work makes it essential viewing for revisiting the history of the 1978 World Cup.
But it's not only Christian Rémoli's photographs that elicit an immediate sensory and intellectual response: the inclusion of archival footage of speeches delivered by the top brass of the dictators produces a sense of unease and revulsion with the passage of time, revealing a similar mode of expression in Generals Videla and Galtieri, years apart in their speeches, both employing a measured, calculated, cold, and impersonal rhetoric and gestures. For his part, General Ramón Camps, the provincial police chief at the time, displays a defiant attitude in a television interview. And closer to our time, the statements of Julio Grondona, former president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), are no less sinister, with an almost mafia-like feel. It's interesting to note that these individuals were also seeking to deceive at that time through the discursive "fabrication of realities," something that Leo XIV now warns is being done through AI.
Our faces and voices remain our primary means of expression, which is why we must continue to "protect" them, as Pope Leo XIII urges. Documentaries featuring "talking heads," such as "Argentina 78: Truth or Lie," further confirm the unparalleled value of archives, another form of heritage at risk.
In a highly conflicted world, the next World Cup will soon take place. Controversies are already shaping the agenda, and pundits have as much influence as the players themselves in the mass media. Time will tell who proved to be the most influential and credible figures at the 2026 World Cup.
“Argentina 78: Truth or Lie,” by Christian Rémoli, can be viewed online. While watching it on a computer or TV doesn't have the same impact as in a movie theater, it is highly recommended.
To read the full message of Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of the 60th World Day of Social Communications, visit:
Miguel Monforte
President of SIGNIS Argentina