Directed and written by Juan Antonio Bayona, The Snow Society premiered on December 15 in all cinemas in the country. Since that day, thousands of people have been moved by the tragic story of the survivors of the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which occurred in the Andes mountains in October 1972.
The film is based on the book of the same name by Pablo Vierci, and portrays, with fidelity and harshness, how the 29 passengers who resisted the fall of the plane fought to survive. Many of them died due to adverse weather conditions and injuries, but some managed to stand up to isolation and food shortages for more than two months. Of course, the methods to achieve this were not simple: those who wanted to live had to resort to cannibalism.
Fortunately, 72 days after the accident and thanks to the journey of Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa to Chile – where they ran into someone who alerted the authorities – the survivors were able to be rescued.
Since the story became known in ’72, the protagonists have been questioned by the public and the media on countless occasions, given the moral decisions they had to make to avoid dying of hunger. With the exception of two, the entire group of rescued people is still alive today, and most of them have decided to share their experience over the years.
One of the recent deceased (2015), Javier Methol, dedicated himself to creating the Viven Foundation, initially designed to be a channel for disseminating the tragic story and later converted into a historical institution and conservation of the memory of the deceased.
It was a traumatizing experience and, as a result, Carlos Páez suffered from addiction problems for a long period. Luckily, Páez managed to overcome it and became the author of After the 10th and La cordillera del alma, two books in which he delves into the pain and horror of his experience.
As for the two brave people who decided to move to find help, both have directed their lives towards good causes. Roberto Canessa finished his medical studies and became a children’s cardiologist, while Fernando ‘Nando’ Parrado ended up dedicating himself to communication, giving talks about firmness and will in complicated situations.
The others also rebuilt their lives: Gustavo Zerbino is a businessman and lecturer, Antonio Vizintin is dedicated to the development of real estate investment projects, and Eduardo Strauch is an architect and visual artist. The latter wrote in 2019 From Silence, a book that narrates the accident 40 years later.
José Luis Inciarte, who died in July 2023, dedicated himself to agricultural engineering; Ramón Sabella is dedicated to his companies outside the media landscape and Álvaro Mangino is a member of the board of Old Christians, the rugby team that was made up of a good part of the passengers on the flight.
Finally, Roy Harley is an engineer in the painting industry, Roberto Francois is a technician and agricultural producer; Daniel Fernández is into computer science and Alfredo Delgado finished Law, while Pedro Algorta has channeled his profession towards motivational speaking.
