Perfil honours nation's greatest achievers in 50th anniversary prize-giving

By Michael Soltys

T

he XVI edition of the ‘Premios Perfil’ (Perfil Prizes) might not be a round number but the 50th anniversary of the media company (founded in the first days of 1976) is with the occasion drawing many distinguished guests to the ceremony, held in the stately belle époque salon of City Hall’s Casa de Cultura (once housing Argentina’s oldest newspaper, La Prensa, founded in 1870).

The prizes were distributed in 10 categories with a further three awards linked to the freedom of expression. The winners were selected out of a shortlisted trio by a jury of 10 consisting of Agustín Salvia, Daniel Grinbank, Carlos Melconian, Isela Constantini, Juliana Cassataro, José Natanson, Mauricio Kartun, Angela Lerena, Dolores Reyes and Gustavo Beliz (most of them names needing no introduction).

The Best Contribution in Literature award went to the writer Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (who defines herself as “queer”). The equivalent prize for sports looked like a slam dunk for the national football team recently winning the hearts of a nation in North America but went instead to the Las Leonas field hockey team winning the World Cup even more recently a fortnight ago against the Dutch hosts and defending champions – the award was received by their full back Juana Castellaro.

The Best Contribution in Science prize went to quantum physicist Juan Pablo Paz while the Perfil ‘Oscar’ for best actor went to Mariano Pensotti, eclipsing the more famous name of Leonardo Srbaglia. The Best Contribution in Music award was won by the rock group Divididos (headed by Ricardo Mollo), which was born in 1988 as heirs of Sumo, even if the competition included María Becerra, who sang the national anthem at the World Cup final.

The jury voted sociologist Ariel Wilkis as the best essayist while economic historian Pablo Gerchunoff was considered the best economist, squeezing out his highly respected colleague Marina Dal Paggetto (also present) – Gerchunoff concluded his brief acceptance speech by quoting Antonio Gramsci: “History teaches but has no pupils.”  

With the visit of Pope Leon XIV just two months away, the Best Contribution in Civil Society went to Hogares de Cristo, founded in 2008 by Cardinal-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires (prior to becoming Pope Francis) in the Barracas shantytown of Villa 21-24 to go out to the slums to battle situations of social vulnerability and substance abuse (especially paco). The award was accepted by a dozen volunteers.

Finally, the Best Private-Sector Contribution prize went to the biodiversity monitors Eirú and the Best Public-Sector Contribution to the Mirador Tecnológico of Entre Ríos.

The three awards for freedom of expression went to the organisers of the papal visit, the author of the controversial World Cup banner ‘Las Malvinas Son Argentinas’ (accepted by his cousin and two veterans in military fatigues) and the recently dissolved Coro Nacional de Niños children’s choir. Former Army chief-of-staff Martín Balza (on the islands throughout the war) made an emotional speech asking that veterans no longer be called “pibes de la guerra” after 44 years

The acceptance speeches were generally minimalist (or Landrú’s “Lo bue cuando bre dos veces bue,” to express it in Spanish), with a common denominator of thanks in all cases and a brief phrase to bemoan the destructive effects of President Javier Milei’s chainsaw in many, with the notable exception of choir director María Isabel Sanz, who spoke for almost 20 minutes. But given the trauma of the recent dissolution by presidential decree of a youth choir created in 1967, she could be forgiven.

The ceremony began with presentation of a new Perfil logo, consisting of its traditional dove assembled with newspaper cuttings and designed by Verónica Martínez Castro for the Golden Jubilee and ended with words from co-founder Jorge Fontevecchia, who announced that as from November 3 (the 50th anniversary of Perfil’s first publication), there will be an initiative aimed at bringing newspapers and print media to the attention of the younger generations. It will consist of the daily distribution of copies of newspapers to various schools. “Screens are good for producing interaction but do not fix the memory nor permit questions,” Fontevecchia noted.

The ceremony had many distinguished guests too numerous for this space, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Horacio Rosatti, San Juan Governor Marcelo Orrego, Senator José Mayans (Justicialist-Formosa) heading the Peronist caucus, former Cabinet chief Juan Manuel Abal Medina, political leader Margarita Stolbizer, veteran Radical leader Jesús Rodríguez, journalist Marcelo Bonelli, Melconian and Balza with Turkish Ambassador Ömur Budak and Diego Guelar, a veteran of the top four postings abroad, providing a diplomatic presence, among many others.

Finally, it might be regretted that the Perfil prizes did not include an award for Fiercest Insults against Journalists, which President Milei would have fully deserved but might not have shown up to receive it.