Late Argentine Writer Beatriz Sarlo's Unpublished Script '2017' Published

The digital journal Cuadernos LIRICO, dedicated to contemporary Rioplatense literatures, has published an unpublished script by the acclaimed Argentine writer Beatriz Sarlo. Titled "2017," the work was discovered in the digital archives of film critic and screenwriter David Oubiña, a friend of Sarlo and her partner, filmmaker Rafael Filippelli. The script, written by Sarlo before her death in December 2024 at age 82, is set a century after the Russian Revolution in a society under total control.

The narrative centers on an Argentine scientist who agrees to work for a government described as "not precisely democratic or republican." The script's characters include Inés, the scientist; Acuña and Rabasa, unscrupulous government officials; Antonio, a dissident leader; Silvia, Inés's friend; Susana, Inés's sister who is institutionalized; and various international officials and intellectuals. The story explores themes of political betrayal and the compromises made within oppressive regimes.

Sergio Delgado, one of the journal's directors, explained that Sarlo had initially begun writing a "scientific anticipation" novel in the mid-1980s. She later revisited the story in the early 1990s, focusing on Inés Garzani, a scientist in a technocratic society. Sarlo then collaborated with Filippelli and Oubiña to adapt the project for film, continuing work until shortly before Filippelli's death. Oubiña's article within the journal reconstructs the history of this unfinished cinematic project, highlighting the surprising relevance of its themes today.

Cuadernos LIRICO, a digital publication supported by the IMAGER laboratory at Université de Paris Est-Créteil, operates without commercial aims. This allows for the publication of Sarlo's previously unreleased text without requiring judicial approval, as her estate is still being processed. The journal's 32nd issue, titled "Territorios imaginados," is also dedicated to the memory of Spanish writer Andrés Sánchez Robayna and poets Daniel Samoilovich and Sarlo and Filippelli.