Printed claim on celluloid: the documentary Argentine Sovereignty in the Antarctica

In early 1947, the documentary Soberanía Argentina en la Antártida (Argentine Sovereignty in Antarctica) premiered in Argentine cinemas, with a limited release of its English-language version abroad. This film marked a significant shift in the cinematic representation of Antarctica within Argentine cinema. It is a cinematic adaptation of a homonymous book published at the time by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which outlined the legal and historical foundations of Argentina’s territorial claim over Antarctica. The documentary functions both as a product and an expression of the unprecedented Argentine Antarctic deployment launched during the summer of 1946–47 – a process that spanned more than a decade and largely coincided with Juan Domingo Perón’s first and second presidencies. Through a socio-historical analysis of the film and its production context, this article examines the representational transformations concerning Antarctica promoted by the Argentine state during this period. It highlights the documentary’s uniqueness by interpreting it as a political instrument of public communication aimed at articulating and asserting Argentina’s sovereignty claim.