Adriana’s whiteboard is based on one of the many testimonies given during thetrials of the military junta in Argentina in 1985.

A teacher stands in front of a whiteboard and teaches Swedish to newly arrivedimmigrants. The actress who plays the teacher in the film was herself a teacher ofSwedish for immigrants in Sweden during the 70s. In the film, we see how sheteaches different sentences and words in an overtly educational way. As shegestures, explains and writes on the board, the words and sentences becomeincreasingly unpleasant as they come from an authentic testimony. Adriana Cabode Laborde (whose testimony the film is based on) was one of many young left-wing activists who were kidnapped and tortured by the Argentine military duringthe 70s. She was one of the few who survived. She also gave birth to a smalldaughter while in captivity.

In the film, we see the Swedish teacher’s whiteboard increasingly filled with thewords of the testimony while she benevolently explains enthusiastically how topronounce the words in Swedish. From the hilarious over-pedagogical gesturesthat initially make one laugh, the displeasure and anxiety grow ever greater as theterrible content of the testimony fills the whiteboard.