PolyGlobal, Back to the Big Screen, and World Languages Dept. Partner For Powerful Screening of Norita

On Friday, October 16, Poly’s Back to the Big Screen debuted its 2026-2027 season with an incredibly riveting and powerful film that was co-produced by Poly alum Dr. Sarah Schoellkopf ‘92 and longtime actress and social justice activist, Jane Fonda. The 2024 film, Norita (trailer), firmly captivated the 140 people in attendance for both the inspiring screening and the insightful panel discussion that ensued. 

The documentary centers on the personal tragedy suffered by Nora Cortiñas, a former suburban housewife with no prior political experience, which fueled her unwavering determination and intrepid activism during Argentina’s dictatorship when the military regime kidnapped and “disappeared” her activist son, Gustavo, and thousands more. This led her to co-found the globally-renowned Mothers of Plaza de Mayo resistance movement in 1977 before emerging on the country’s political scene, time and time again across four decades, as a stalwart of human rights.

An insightful panel discussion followed the film screening to the nearly full house with Schoellkopf ‘92 and Oscar winning Argentinian composer, musician, and producer, Gustavo Santaolalla who took questions from PolyGlobal moderators and audience members. In response to one question during the Q&A, Dr. Schoellkopf recalled a day in Upper School Spanish class when former Poly faculty Laura Pendorf screened the 1985 film, La historia oficial, leading Schoellkopf to reflect on the then unforeseeable impact her Poly education ultimately had on her future doctoral scholarship and transition into filmmaking as a social tool to inform and inspire. To date, the award winning documentary has been screened in numerous film festivals and countless educational settings for communities all over the world.

The nearly 90 students in attendance expressed how revealing, thoughtfully constructed, and stirring both the film and the panel discussion were. A Poly senior noted, “Beyond the film’s amazing visuals, history, and music, both Dr. Schoellkopf and Mr. Santaolalla’s panel discussion was mind-blowing and surreal…The fact that they were able to create such a beautiful masterpiece highlighting Nora’s story while humanizing her to the audience through emotion, memories, music, and firsthand accounts makes it all the more remarkable. Seeing Nora’s story through her youth, through animation, and through her hard work until the end was really awe-inspiring…I have to be quite honest, too. I was basically crying by the end. The film was so moving. If I weren’t co-hosting the event in front of a big audience, I would’ve been fully bawling my eyes out.” Another student shared, “Hearing the filmmakers talk about their choices showed me that the film’s style was deliberate and made with respect for Nora and the people who lived this history. It also made me think about how storytelling can keep memory alive. The Madres refused to let their children be forgotten, and this film carries that same effort forward to people who might never have learned about it.  Overall, Norita showed me that telling a true story sometimes takes creativity, and that art can help people remember what they might otherwise never see.”

The evening was historic not only in content but also form, marking PolyGlobal’s 200th event to date as well as the kickoff to the Back to the Big Screen cinema series’ fifth year of programming. This event launched a year-long partnership between these two programs invested in a joint mission of bringing topics of global relevance to the Poly campus and community through the power of the cinematic arts. The 2026-2027 “Global Poly” cinema series will highlight examples of cinematic subjects that resonate on a global scale, acknowledging the diversity of cultures, peoples, and narratives represented on the big screen with many instances also being directly connected to our greater global Poly family.

The event’s program expanded beyond a film screening with an impassioned Q&A. The Norita proceedings started mid-week when Profe Levin, Spanish teacher of the Modern Latin America (MoLA) course and leader of the recent PolyGlobal travel programs to Argentina, offered a special presentation in the South Campus library for students and faculty alike, providing foundational context for a dictatorship that upended the lives of everyday Argentinians from 1976 until the end of the so-called "Dirty War” in 1983.

 

Those who arrived early to the Friday screening enjoyed complimentary Argentinian empanadas and alfajores in the lobby along with a playlist of regional music filling the air.

 

At the close of the evening, attendants were greeted with a nightcap in two parts: a homemade Chocotorta, an ovenless, typically Argentinian dessert (recipe) made by two former MoLA students who also attended the last PolyGlobal travel Program to Argentina and complimentary promotional bandanas from the film’s production distributed as a keepsake.

This event served as a significant intersection of Poly’s Portrait of a Teacher and Portrait of a Graduate tenets when collegial collaboration between Back to the Big Screen, PolyGlobal, the World Language Department and, the Advancement Office. With nearly two years of planning between PolyGlobal Director Rick Caragher, Back to the Big Screen programmer Adam Feldmeth, World Language Dept. Chair Evelyn Barrientos, local Argentinian expert Patricia Levin, and generous assistance from Emily Fischer in the Alumni Office, the powerful evening represented a bold case of Poly’s newly adopted Portrait of a Teacher tenets through these colleagues bringing together a set of intersectional interests of global politics, activism, the Spanish language, Argentina’s history, and film studies while also giving all in attendance a strong example of Poly’s Portrait of a Graduate and who our students can become through the education they receive in our community.

Afterword: This event was the last that Rick Caragher organized before his unexpected passing. Throughout the entire process—from the planning, to coordinating the proceedings, to contributing to this article—Rick was, as ever, consummately gracious, supportive, and committed to making sure everyone involved in its realization—student, colleague, alum, and audience alike—felt they had agency and an equal voice in welcoming another poignant, political story into our Poly community, opening our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts to the importance of embracing empathy in a deeply complex world. It was an honor to work alongside Rick in bringing this event to life and continuing his commitment to raising awareness of global challenges within our Poly community and fostering meaningful dialogue around the important issues that shape our world and affect our communities.