Film: Maró’s Secret: Armenian Recipe for Sensitive Hearts – Come and See

After almost five years, Norma Aleandro returns to the cinema with “Maró’s secret”, a film about identity and second chances that, incidentally, is one of the few productions of national filmography that faces the challenge of releasing later that the confinement motivated by the pandemic and the forced closure of theaters kept the public away from the cinema and confined them to homes and streaming.

Maró, Norma’s character, passed the barrier of the 80s and is the cook of an Armenian club in a Buenos Aires neighborhood. She is also one of the survivors of the genocide of her people who has chosen our country to continue its history. Alejandro Magnone, the director of the film, presented his creation with these words: “The recipe, simmering 15 thousand kilometers of absence, 80 years of waiting and a reunion. This film talks about life after pain, the reconstruction of one’s own history, hope and reunion ”.

Maró came to Argentina as a child, lost contact with her family and never heard from them again. Hard, quiet, survivor, her life, which was always difficult, is devoted at this stage to trying to prevent the closure of the Armenian Club.

Norma Aleandro spoke a few days ago of the satisfaction of playing a character like the one in “The secret …”. He recalled that he always reads scripts and that this story interested him from the first moment.

“Talking to the director before filming started, we started talking about the Armenian holocaust, a terrible subject. But the approach to these issues is given in the film in the sweetest way imaginable, from the kitchen of an Armenian club that is going down financially ”, highlights the protagonist.

“The Secret…” had its world premiere at the Golden Apricot International Festival, which is held annually in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The cast includes Lidia Catalano and Analía Malvido, who play Luisa and Rita, affectionate and patient assistants to Maró in the kitchen. There are also Héctor Bidonde, Manuel Callau, César Bordón and Florencia Raggi.

The film had, from the beginning, the unconditional support of various Armenian institutions. There was a special screening for the community and a reception was held at the embassy.

It is precisely to that diplomatic legation that Maró goes when he manages to find out information that he will continue to transform the course of his existence. “The embassy has a special mission and that is pointed out in the film. In different countries they usually call meetings to recognize photos and drawings, things that are used to find relatives,” said Norma Aleandro.

The director, Alejandro Magnone, admits that the issue of immigration is one of his obsessions. Six years ago he did “Subte Polska” where the protagonist was a Polish Jew and shortly afterwards he wrote the journey of someone from Bolivia. “The secret …” demanded a long elaboration and traveled the complex path that always implies presenting the project to seek financing in a situation like the current one, especially complex because people are just trying to return after a long absence.