Nominated for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards and winner of the SOC’s Camera Operator of the Year in Film, Society of the Snow recounts the harrowing true story of the survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.
Camera Operator had the chance to speak with A camera operator Juanjo Sánchez, SOC, and B camera operator Manuel Branáa, SOC, about working on the film—from shooting in the four different sets used to recreate the fuselage of the crashed plane to what it was like working with the young ensemble cast that portrayed the stranded rugby team. We also discussed their recent wins for Camera Operator of the Year in Film and what that recognition has meant for their careers.
In October of 1972, a flight carrying the young members of an Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the midst of a storm, leaving 29 people stranded in the Andes mountains with no hope of rescue until the snow thawed. For 72 days, the survivors of the crash had to endure extreme cold, brutal storms, starvation, an avalanche, and the mental toil of isolation as they work together to stay alive and ultimately escape the glacier in search of help. Society of the Snow is directed by J. A. Bayona from a screenplay by Bayona, Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques-Olarreaga, and Nicolás Casariego. It stars Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contigiani García, Esteban Kukuriczka, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, and Valentino Alonso.
