In 1932, when the war between Paraguay and Bolivia over the boreal Chaco had just been declared, cameraman Roque Funes travelled to Paraguay in order to record with his camera their army, during the first episodes of the conflict. A few months later he went back to Buenos Aires and declared: “No one can fully understand what that is. Combat after combat occurs, leaving behind piles of dismembered bodies, and an environment rarified by the rapidly rotting corpses”. In a few days, Funes (who was very active in the local film scene before and after this experience) selected the material, created maps and descriptive texts, and edited a documentary of 60 minutes, which premiered in December with the title of “En el infierno del Chaco” (In the Chaco Hell).

Fortunately, an original nitrate print was preserved by the Estagó family in Paraguay. Hugo Gamarra (president of the Paraguayan Cinematheque) and APROCINAIN arranged the restoration of the print, which took place in Buenos Aires thanks to the collaboration of Cinecolor and Kodak. (Fernando Martín Peña)