After the Oscars, Triple Frontier movie big news in Paraguay


2003 satellite image of the triple frontier, urbanization predominates on the Paraguayan side

Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, newly minted with well-deserved Oscars, now turn their attention to their next project, a movie about the triple frontera, the tri-border area between Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina that's a node of movement between the three countries. While popular imagination sets Ciudad del Este, Paraguay's city at this border, as the weak and corrupt link, the reality is much more interconnected, with much of the movement across the border (and certainly the compraturistas who cross the Friendship Bridge for day shopping trips) performed by Brazilians themselves (and the vast majority do not live in Foz do Iguaçu, the Brazilian city across the river).


The Friendship Bridge, which connects Paraguay to Brazil, under construction (in the 60s)

Miami Vice also filmed in Ciudad del Este... their legacy lives on in a wooden ramshackle car repair shop (taller) named after them, on Carlos Antonio Lopez (but no one in CdE knows the names of the streets).

Now the Paraguayan press has caught wind of the new movie project, Triple Frontier (Guerra al terror). Already sadly familiar with serving as a setting for international dramas (the fame of the border arises from more than just the smuggling that goes on there, but from the presence of Lebanese and Taiwanese communities, which have been accused of links to organized crime and terror--a charge they vigorously repudiate), Paraguayans seem to be responding with a "meh" or "I wish someone would make a movie about the War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70) instead."

That war saw the death of 9/10 Paraguayan males and the loss of about 1/3 of its territory as Paraguay lost to the combined forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.


The region in 1973... all the growth you see above is on the Paraguayan side.

Posted in , , , . Bookmark the permalink. RSS feed for this post.

5 Responses to After the Oscars, Triple Frontier movie big news in Paraguay

story said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sarah said...

Christine,

Great site! I was looking for Paraguay and literary scene (a bit of an oxymoron) and found your blog with reference to the cafe you noted. I was a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) in Asuncion and Pilar during the Stroessner regime (83-85) and recently returned for the first time this past October. I'm now helping a current PCV in Pilar acquire books for a library for some of the schools she works in. Outside of Asuncion, reading for pleasure does not seem to be a happening thing. What have you found in your research? I went to the fancy bookstore in Asuncion, some mall, and was impressed with the selection, though the prices were well beyond the average Paraguayan's range. It has made me think a lot about reading, imagination, dreaming, desire and when one grows up without that, what it does or doesn't do for one's development. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this, although Asuncion and the Triple Frontera es un mundo distinto de lo demas de Paraguay. Fuerza y suerte!

ceciliabrie said...

when do we hear your comments on the US Census and it's categories for race?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former U.S. President George W. Bush Accused the Southern Cone countries (Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay) of harboring Islamic terrorists because of the large presence of Arab traders in the region. Were the accusations never proven, but now the director Kathryn Bigelow (the Oscar-winning "War on Terror") rekindled the controversy by disclosing That has a script ready to shoot 'Triple Frontier' in the Triple Border Between the cities of Foz do Iguacu (Brazil), Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and Puerto Iguazú (Argentina), divided by the Paraguay river and the river Iguaçu. What Is Certain Is That Will this project bring only the stereotypes Against Arabs living in this region, the typical American view of "saving the world," war is nothing 'holy' Against Islam. More U.S. trash Cutura

Search

Swedish Greys - a WordPress theme from Nordic Themepark. Converted by LiteThemes.com.