In Argentina, the controversial launch of a biopic praising Javier Milei – Technologist

LETTER FROM BUENOS AIRES

It’s on your screens now: The series about Argentina’s far-right, ultraliberal president, Javier Milei, was launched on Wednesday, September 11 on X, “the platform of freedom,” as stated in the first post from the account dedicated to Milei – The Series.

The head of state himself took charge of promoting this six-episode saga by posting the trailer on his personal account on August 27, which has 3.4 million followers. A tightly edited montage with thunderous music and punctuated by slogans, the clip – exactly 1 minute and 41 seconds long – set the tone. “The phenomenon captivating the world,” “from nothing to president,” “the most epic campaign in history.”

Based on archives and previously unseen footage, the series claims to trace the meteoric rise of the 53-year-old ultraliberal economist, from his past as a controversial television pundit to his inauguration as president on December 10, 2023. “I said I wasn’t coming to guide sheep, but to awaken lions!” we hear at the start of the first episode, a phrase Milei uttered in the wake of the 2021 legislative elections, when, at the beginning of his political career, he was elected MP for Buenos Aires.

The first two episodes focus on this campaign, while the next four trace his journey to the Rivadavia chair – named after Argentina’s first president. They start with the mandatory primary elections in August 2023 a full-scale electoral test held two months before the main election, where he came out on top. The story continues to the second round, which he won decisively on November 19 with nearly 56% of the vote despite facing a unified Peronist front.

‘Frenetic editing’

There’s nothing journalistic about this documentary series. Its director and producer, Santiago Oria, is quite open about this. “It’s a propaganda film, in the best sense of the word,” said this former lawyer who has been working in the film industry for just over 10 years. A liberal and admirer of Milei, he met the current Argentine president at the height of the pandemic, through the mother of a friend.

At the time, Javier Milei was preparing to release his new book, Pandenomics (untranslated, 2020), a bleak analysis of the consequences of lockdowns on the global economy. He was later accused of plagiarizing a scientific article by Mexican mathematician Salvador Galindo Uribarri.

The new filmmaker, for his part, was also working on the subject after giving up on directing and producing music videos, which had been his primary work: “I wanted to make films with a liberal perspective but struggled to find my place,” said the director. “I was mainly making music videos, but at that time, in addition, gender and LGBT issues were everywhere […] I suggested to Milei that we make a series on the pandemic while also promoting his book.”

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