Screening & Discussion | Salvador del Solar | Magallanes 10 Years After

The Moynihan Institute's Program on Latin America and the Caribbean presents Maxwell alum Salvador del Solar, former minister of culture (2017) and prime minister (2019) of Peru. 

Through this film screening and the subsequent discussion, del Solar seeks to foster reflection on common social conflicts in Latin America, including corruption, organized crime, extortion and the role of government institutions in enabling—or failing to prevent—systems of injustice. By revisiting Magallanes ten years after its release, this event invites participants to consider how cinema can illuminate the long-term consequences of political violence and the enduring challenges of accountability, memory and justice in the region. 

Magallanes (2015), a film directed by Salvador del Solar, explores the humdrum life of a taxi driver when he runs into Celina, a woman he met in the violent years when he was a soldier with the Peruvian Army. This unexpected re-encounter after 25 years with the dark past that unites them prompts Magallanes to embark on a daring plan to help Celina get money and find his own redemption. Their meeting catalyzes confronting unresolved memories of violence, complicity, and moral responsibility that continue to shape society.

Salvador del Solar (Lima, 1970) is a lawyer from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. He is a former de Sardon-Glass fellow and he studied international relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He served as Peru’s minister of culture (2017) and prime minister (2019) and was a visiting fellow at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University (2018). He is an actor, screenwriter and director of the films Magallanes and Ramón y Ramón.