Jayson Mcnamara and Andrea Tortonese’s documentary Norita, about the late Mother of Plaza de Mayo and iconic human rights activist Nora Cortiñas, premiered on Tuesday 25 in the US at the Dances With Films festival.

With executive production by Argentine Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla and Hollywood legend Jane Fonda, Norita focuses on the life story of Nora Cortiñas, one of Argentina’s most iconic human rights activists, who passed away on May 30 this year. 

A co-founder of Mothers of Plaza de Mayo who spent her life searching for her son Gustavo after he was disappeared by the military dictatorship in the 1970s, Cortiñas became a relentless human rights advocate. She also became a symbol of the women’s movement, who held her up as a fundamental fixture in their success during Argentina’s fight to legalize abortion.

“Nora Cortiñas was a wonderful and absolutely unique being,” said Santaolalla, who attended the premiere at the TLC Chinese Theater in Los Angeles. “Someone who turned the unimaginable pain of losing a son at the hands of the military dictatorship into a tireless search for truth and justice, confronting those responsible for the kidnapping, torture and systematic murder that culminated in the disappearance of thousands of people.”

The film’s executive producers include author Naomi Klein and CBS host Avi Lewis, as well as film producer Barbara Muschietti and her brother Andy Muschietti, director of The Flash and It Chapter Two.

Co-director Andrea Tortonese joined the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in 2012, helping out with their archives and communications. “During those years, I personally met several Mothers and joined Norita in many activities. Those experiences left a profound mark on me and led me to stay with her and tell her life story in a documentary,” Tortonese said in a statement. 

Mcnamara, who was born in Australia and moved to Argentina to work as a journalist, described meeting Cortiñas as “one of the happiest and most liberating moments” of his life. He first met the human rights icon at queer rights events, and they immediately hit it off. “We bonded and soon I started filming her world. We started in 2015, the year when Nora became a symbol of the campaign for women’s rights to legalize abortion.”

The co-directors described how their camera at one point became a natural element to Cortiñas, allowing for a unique and intimate approach to the tough balance between her street activism and her home life. A tension that, they emphasize, is the basis for the film’s drama: “a very dynamic woman who politicized her pain and turned it into a collective call for action to defend human rights and democracy”.

“Despite so much pain, both Norita and the film leave us with a sense of hope,” the directors wrote. “A powerful ethical legacy at a time of great uncertainty and fear”.