Daniel Cherniavsky (born March 16, 1933, Buenos Aires) is writer, director of cinema, theater, television and Argentine cultural producer.

He was known for the direction of the feature film El Último Piso ^[1] (The last floor^[2] ), selected to represent Argentine cinema at the Cannes Film Festival and the film El terrorista^[2] (The Terrorist ^[3]), about real events. His films were part of the nouvelle vague of the Argentine cinema in the 60's and in his artistic production, both in cinema and theater, carried a strong political and intellectual content.

He was known for the direction of the feature film El último piso, selected to represent Argentine cinema at the Cannes Film Festival and the film El Terrorista, about real events. His films were part of the nouvelle vague of the Argentine cinema in the 60's and in his artistic production, both in cinema and theater, carried a strong political and intellectual content.

His films, of lamentable fate, were persecuted by the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976/1983). In television directed the consecrated Argentine actor in "El teatro de Alfredo Alcón^[4]" – winning program of Martín Fierro Award of the Argentine TV and was artistic director of diverse television programs.

In Argentina, he founded the "Centro de Artes y Ciencias" where he was responsible for conducting important musical shows and cultural activities, before leaving for exile in Brazil. It is from this time the work with the musicians like Chico Buarque de Holanda, Vinicius de Moraes, Astor Piazzolla, Mercedes Sosa and intellectuals like Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Sábato, Rodolfo Walsh, Tomás Eloy Martínez, Augusto Roa Bastos, that among others add part of his cultural baggage.

Biography

Son of an industrial entrepreneur and a language teacher, who had 7 languages, his family had no close relation to art. He began as a filmmaker when he was only 14 years old, at a time (1947) in which there were no film schools in Argentina. Self-taught, he created his own program of studies and attended several universities as a student listener. He sought to study the subjects he considered fundamental and in which a film director should go deeper. At the age of 20 he directed an average-length film about a tale written by himself. His first feature came at age 24, with the film "El Último Piso", written by him in partnership with Tomás Eloy Martínez and Augusto Roa Bastos. He then directed "El Terrorista" and co-produced "Shunko". He began as a theater director in 1962, co-directing with Oscar Ferrigno the work "Georges Dandin – El marido Confundido" by Molière. From 1963 to 1974 he directed the "Centro de Artes y Ciencias of Buenos Aires", an important cultural house that fomented discussion and plurality of ideas, through the collaboration of artists, musicians, philosophers, sociologists and psychoanalysts, among other disciplines. In 1974, after a bombing attack, the current military dictatorship closed all the installations of the "Centro de Artes y Ciencias", forcing him to migrate his action to television. Finally, in 1976, harassed by the military repression, he exiled himself in Brazil where he lived for 40 years and continues his artistic career. He is married to the psychoanalyst Magdalena Ramos with whom he shares three daughters: "mine (Andy), “yours” (Carolina) and “ours” (Victoria)".

Exile

The military dictatorship closed the siege in the 70's in Argentina. Although not practicing any militancy in any political party, Cherniavsky was persecuted like almost all progressive intellectuals. Bombs were placed in the administrative headquarters of the “Centro de Artes y Ciencias” ("Arts and Sciences Center"), in the movie theater where "El Terrorista" premiered, on the stage of Mercedes Sosa and in the theater hall where Nacha Guevara presented the show "Las Mil y una Nachas" (One of the great successes of the Center and Cherniavsky). The latest incident resulted in the deaths of two people. With the kidnapping and death of the writer Rodolfo Walsh and Piri Lugones (press officer of the institute) as well as dozens of collaborators being kidnapped, killed or exiled, he was forced to a constant daily pilgrimage to remain incognito. He took refuge in different addresses with his family (wife and two daughters 2 and 9 years old) not to be found. His wife, Magdalena Ramos, a psychoanalyst, couple and family therapist and a college professor, also suffered from the closure of the University of Buenos Aires and the prohibition of gathering groups. She describes her misfortunes and those of Cherniavsky in the book "Sou daqui e sou de lá – Autobiografia do exílio" Archived September 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. ^[5]

The trigger for deciding the exile was the discovery of a list where his name appeared with the status: "marked to die". In September 1976, he runs away clandestinely of his country and exiles in Brazil. His family arrives a month later. Even today, he is painful to have left in Argentina his eldest daughter, Andy Cherniavsky, today a renowned photographer who at the time had already formed her own family. The disappointment and heartache for losing his history, his language and the codes of his country, made him take 7 years to return for the first time to Argentina.

Filmography

Theater

He began in the stages co-directing with Oscar Ferrigno the piece Georges Dandin or the Confounded Husband of Molière, staged in the open air and having as stage the Botanical Garden of Buenos Aires.

He also directed and performed dozens of theater shows in both countries, highlighting "Histórias para serem contadas" by Osvaldo Dragun, who spent two years in Argentina. Produced and directed the musical "Tango!" with season at the Alfa Theater in São Paulo and in 8 other Brazilian states. He directed the artist Antônio Carlos Nóbrega in the show "CLICK", with season in the theater Tuca.

He was also one of the pioneers in the improvisational theater of Argentina, directing "Peligro Seducción" and then "Teatro Compartido" – spectacle-experience that united Psicodrama (a psychoanalyst), theater (a playwright, a director and the cast) and the audience as authors of the work.

Main Directed Shows

Television

Teaching

Literary works

Written in Argentina:

• El último piso^[6] (Co-author with Tomás Eloy Martínez and Augusto Roa Bastos – Film adaptation of the novel of the same name (feature film) – Romance awarded by Editora Losada
• El Terrorista^[9] (Co-author with Tomás Eloy Martínez and Augusto Roa Bastos of the original book for cinema (feature film).)
• El Triángulo (Author of the original story and his adaptation for the cinema (half-length film)).
• Y dale que va... (Co-author with Armando Discépolo, Andrés Lizarraga, Atílio Stampone and Oscar Ferrigno of the satirical-musical play)

Written in Argentina:

• Soñadoras, Coquetas y Ardientes^[10] (Romance published in Brazil (Sonhadoras, Coquetes e Ardentes) and in Argentina. Best Seller da Editora)
• Ochocientos años Gabriel^[11] (Romance published in Argentina)
• Chocolate Amargo – La Novela de las Parejas – (Romance about the conflicts of coexistence in couples)

Cultural Producer

Awards and Highlights

References