THE GREAT PRETENDER

El Gran Simulador (released originally as No a los Papelones in Uruguay) is a 2007 Argentine documentary directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. The film premiered amid political controversy in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and was later barred from distribution in Argentina. It explores themes of identity, media fabrication, environmental conflict, and the fine line between fiction and truth in the realm of documentary filmmaking.

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Synopsis

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The documentary follows Montes-Bradley in his search for Nahuel Maciel, a journalist of alleged Mapuche origin who once committed several major acts of plagiarisms.  The quest takes the filmmaker from Buenos Aires to the activist stronghold of Gualeguaychú, where Maciel has resurfaced as a member of the environmentalist movement opposing a paper mill built by Uruguay on the eastern shore of the Uruguay