Fifty-one years have passed since the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes, a moment that became one of the century’s most enduring survival stories. Now Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona aims to bring the people back into that plane and tell the tale of those who did not return from the mountain.
“I thought I knew the story, but the book on which Pablo Vierci’s new film is based offers a deeply introspective view. It tells the tragedy from a human, spiritual, almost philosophical vantage point”, Bayona explained in an interview at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, a marquee event in Latin American cinema.
Recognition from the festival granted him the Astor Lifetime Achievement Award. Bayona, revered by fans for his mastery, delivered a measured yet excited speech in an Argentine coastal city theater as the project moved toward fruition.
Bayona launched his career in 2007 with The Orphanage, a landmark in Spanish cinema that achieved broad commercial success in both Spain and Hollywood. His follow-up, Impossible (2012), recounted the extraordinary survival story of Spanish nurse Maria Belón during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
For Snow Community, Bayona set out from the start to tell the story from within, insisting that the survivors’ experiences could not be judged from a detached position. The film places the audience in the midst of the events, rather than watching them from a distance.
Thus the movie does not shy away from portraying the crash’s horror or the cannibalistic episodes that unfolded as the young men endured more than two months on the mountainside. The Uruguayan club Old Christians is part of the backdrop that adds historical texture to the narrative.
“As realistic as possible” is Bayona’s guiding principle throughout the production, which was shot in Spanish with a mix of Argentine and Uruguayan actors. The film is currently in theaters and has also reached audiences online through Netflix.
Bayona believes the film’s blunt honesty is a form of respect and sincerity. He emphasizes the importance of not softening the story or condescending to the subjects, but rather presenting the emotions candidly so viewers can understand the choices made during the ordeal. He notes his careful approach to the disaster, ensuring it is treated with maximum honesty and sensitivity.
A striking example appears in one of the film’s opening sequences, which conveys the crash through powerful, almost physical imagery. Bayona recalls a line from Vierci’s book that captures the immediacy of the event: what the mountain taught them did not arrive gradually, it came suddenly. The director views the accident as the first and strongest of a series of unexpected lessons drawn from extreme circumstances.
The emotional arc is grounded in a long process of dialogue with survivors and the families of those who perished. Bayona and the production team met with them multiple times in Uruguay; the most recent gathering occurred just before his arrival in Argentina, after a visit by the producer. He acknowledges that telling the experiences of those less fortunate is also a responsibility he must bear, and he aims to honor their memories without sensationalizing their pain.
To give voice to this aspect, he brought in a cast that could embody the film’s emotional depth. The actors, guided by the director, were chosen for their capacity to convey a shared sense of feeling. The production proceeded under harsh conditions, with the team working in environments that echoed the Andes and Spain’s climates, enduring cold, snow, and demanding schedules while maintaining a rigorous, disciplined regimen.
Bayona notes that directing Snow Community marked a departure from his prior experiences. Although it carried the thrill of adventure, the project demanded endurance and focus over a compact period of time, continuing a prolific run in recent years. The filmmaker, who began when he was a child idolizing cinema and watching adventures on video, now seeks rest, reflection, and reading before returning to the big screen where he feels most at home.
In the end, the film presents not just a survival tale, but a meditation on moral decisions, human fragility, and the bond between those who live through catastrophe and those who mourn. The narrative remains anchored in real people and their memories, inviting audiences to consider how crisis can reveal the best and worst in us and how empathy shapes the way stories are told. The project stands as a testament to careful storytelling, quiet dignity, and the enduring power of cinema to illuminate difficult passages in history. [Citation: Vierci, book-based narrative, interview sources].