Santiago Van Dam

Marcos was once a successful author of children's books. For years, his goal has been to finish his first "adult" and "serious" novel. But his lack of social interaction, his excessive ambitions, and the influence of the drugs he grows and sells for a living don't help him. He is about to give up when his friend Walter suggests another path: Marcos just has to live a more intense life. And write about it, like so many great writers...

"Chipadelia", "The poor man's Pink Floyd", "psychedelic space chamamé"... Dazzle Lights demands a certain amount of creativity from Dick el Demasiado, Alan Courtis and other music journalists as they seek to describe the indescribable Síquicos Litoraleños. Alejandro Gallo Bermúdez never tries to profile the members of the band from Curuzú Cuatiá; the director appears to respect the privacy of a group that keeps its distance with different outfits and an ongoing quest to alter perceptions. The documentary shifts between the cultural shockwaves made by the group from Corrientes at home and at European festivals and the unintended creation of a rural psychedelic scene at the North-East of Argentina, as well as an unexpected clash with the Curuzú Cuatiá native Cristian Osorio, found of the now defunct group Saltimbankis.

Batato Barea, the “clown/intellectual/transvestite” was a genius of the underground scene who was able to represent all the nuances of a changing country with his own poetic radicalism, in such a unique way that it made him irreplaceable. That paradox is the basis for this documentary by Peter Pank and Goyo Anchou, two authors in search of a character and his legacy, but also his irreplaceable presence and instantaneous, evanescent theatricality, which challenged every mandate and convention.

Santiago has been unable to control his epilepsy for 28 years, dealing with the side effects of various medications. In 2010, he was hospitalized for three days in an attempt to induce seizures—to locate the point of discharge—and try brain surgery, but he was also deemed inoperable. At this point, Santiago decided to try something no one had suggested: accepting his body as it is, with its “abnormal” moments.