The film by JA Bayona premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2023, was released in select cinemas in December 2023 and was added to Netflix’s programming on January 4, 2024. The Snow Company was submitted by Spain as an entry for the 2024 Academy Awards as Best International Film. The film received 13 nominations at the Goya 2024 awards.
But what is the film about? On October 13, 1972, one of the worst dramas of survival began with the crash of a plane in the Andes. 16 survived 72 days in snow hell by eating the flesh of the dead.
The pilot thought he was already beyond the South American mountains and began his descent. The military plane that was supposed to take a rugby team from Uruguay, friends and relatives of the players to a match in Chile, hit the summit and lost both wings. The hull hit the snow. Twelve of the 45 passengers died immediately, and five more died on the first night in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees.
Survivors ate the flesh of the dead
On the eighth day, the missing people heard from a small radio that the search for them had been stopped.
Image: Netflix
The little food on board was quickly consumed. What happened next was not easy for anyone: the survivors ate the flesh of the dead. Roberto Canessa was the first to suggest that the others eat the hearts and other parts of the corpses. Cannibalism out of necessity doesn’t haunt him: “Even the parents of our dead friends were understanding. And each of us said that in the event of death, of course, his body should be there to save others from death. We just avoided it say who we just ate from.”
Rescued after 72 days
The next tragedy occurred on October 30th: an avalanche surprised those sleeping and eight died. On the 62nd day, Canessa and Fernando Parrado plucked up the courage to trek across the Andes to get help. After a total of ten days, the two managed to walk below the snow line and establish contact with civilization. The 16 survivors were then rescued by helicopters.
They still live in close proximity today in the Carrasco district of the capital Montevideo. They also set up a small museum there to commemorate the accident. Some of the survivors now give lectures around the world on the subject of survival in extreme situations. In addition, some of them also worked as experts in the 2010 mine accident in Chile.
