FilmRise will release on April 14 Finding Oscar, the new documentary about the ongoing search for justice related to the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala in 1982.
The film, which is executive produced by Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List), produced by Frank Marshall (Sully, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and directed by Ryan Suffern, had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Fest.
In October of 1982, during Guatemala’s 30-year civil war, guerillas in the north ambush a convoy of Guatemalan soldiers, making off with roughly 20 rifles.
Seen as a humiliating defeat for the military, in retaliation, two dozen army commandos — an elite squad known as Kaibiles, many of whom were trained by U.S. forces — dress up as guerilla soldiers and invade the jungle hamlet of Dos Erres.
The attack takes place two days after President Reagan endorses Guatemalan general Ríos Montt. The Kaibiles kill everyone in their wake, dumping the bodies of over 200 victims, the majority of whom were women and children, into the village well. A search reveals no weapons, including the missing rifles, are found in Dos Erres.
Finding Oscar follows the stories of two little boys, Oscar and Ramiro, who were abducted during the genocide in Dos Erres and raised by the soldiers who murdered their families. These boys offer the only living evidence that ties the Guatemalan government and the Kaibiles to the massacre.
Documentarian Ryan Suffern follows the men and women who have spent nearly three decades looking for answers — from the human-rights worker Aura Elena Fárfan, who was the first to hear the story of Dos Erres, to the forensic anthropologist Fredy Peccerelli, who works relentlessly to identify victims and contact their families in the search for justice.
Finding Oscar tracks the dangerous journey of the rookie Guatemalan prosecutor Sara Romero, who took on her own government, and the U.S. immigration agents who followed the trail of evidence and began rounding up the war criminals they found living in the States.
This dedicated team continues to seek justice to this day, uncovering truths more significant than anyone could have imagined.
Running time: 95 minutes.
Directed by Ryan Suffern.
Writers: Ryan Suffern and Mark Monroe.
Producers: Frank Marshall and Ryan Suffern.
Director of photography: Michael Parry.
Editor: Martin Singer.
Music: Paul Pilot, John Stiratt.
Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg.
A Kennedy-Marshall Company Production.
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