Pablo Daniel Magee | |
|---|---|
 Pablo Daniel Magee onstage, being saluted byMaestro Jose Luis Ardissone after a play. | |
| Born | (1985-04-22)22 April 1985 (age 40) Paris |
| Language | French, English, Spanish |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | University of Provence,University of Greenwich,Sotheby's Institute of Art,Harvard University |
| Alma mater | University of Greenwich |
| Period | Contemporary |
| Genre | Non fiction novels, Chronicles, Plays, Film scenarii |
| Notable works | Opération Condor, Honorablissîme, Fanpharaonnes |
| Spouse | Human Rights Lawyer Romy Fischer |
| Relatives | FatherPatrice Stellest |
Pablo Daniel Magee (born 22 April 1985) is a French Swiss author, investigative journalist, screenwriter and playwright.
His father is the Swiss painter, sculptor and filmmakerPatrice Stellest. His mother is a poet and photographer who named her son afterPablo Neruda. He grew up inSaint-Rémy de Provence.[1] He was inspired to become a journalist by reading the adventures ofTintin[2] at a young age and after meetingJorge Semprún – an author,Naziconcentration camp survivor andscenario writer forCosta Gavras – during his final year at the Lycée Mistral ofAvignon.[3]
Having obtained his literarybaccalaureat, he was about to enter theInstitut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris when he shifted from this initial academic choice and travelled to Peru. Upon his return to Europe in 2005, he attended theUniversity of Greenwich, in London, where he pursued a multiple programme in philosophy, the arts, cinema and journalism.[4] During his London years, his philosophy professor disclosed to him that he had worked for the cabinet of U.S. Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger and had attended meetings with theCIA that focused on the coup d'état against Chilean PresidentSalvador Allende and the United States' support forOperation Condor in Latin America. This prompted Magee to become closely interested in the issue.[5]
In 2012, he traveled to Paraguay, where he metMartin Almada, human rights defender, and discoverer in 1992 of theOperation Condor archives, and decided to write a book about him. In 2013, he left France to settle in Paraguay for an investigation that was to last eight years, during which he met and interviewed personalities such asStéphane Hessel,Robert Badinter, Juan-Martín Guevara (brother of revolutionaryChe Guevara),Pope Francis,Pierre Rabhi,Jean Ziegler,Miguel Angel Estrella, andCosta Gavras.[6]
Parallel to his research, Magee devotes his time to dramatic and journalistic writing, contributing articles to international journals such asForbes.[7] He also familiarizes himself with buddhist scriptures at theHarvard Divinity School, under the supervision of ProfessorCharles Hallisey,Yehan Numata Senior Lecturer on buddhist literatures atHarvard University.
In 2020, Magee publishedOpération Condor, un homme face à la terreur en Amérique latine with Editions Saint-Simon. This non-fiction novel focuses on the life of Paraguayan human rights defenderMartin Almada, also known as "the hunter of the Condor" for having unearthed the Terror Archives of Operation Condor in 1992.[8] Opération Condor is prefaced by filmmakerCosta Gavras, president of theCinémathèque Française and director of the filmsMissing andState of Siege. The cover of the book is the photograph of a condor taken by renowned wildlife argentinean photographer Eliseo Miciu.[9]
In the 6 February 2021 edition ofMarianne, philosopherRobert Redeker writes:"The real-life novel of Pablo Daniel Magee, breathtaking like a crime novel, moving like a love novel, political like a spy novel and educational like a historical novel installs in the European imagination a character worthy of a place next to Antigone".[10] In his book, Magee is the first investigator to establish the presence of Cuban revolutionaryChe Guevara in Paraguay on 3 October 1966, based onTop Secret documents of theArchive of Terror and testimonies of first-hand witnesses such asJoel Filartiga, whose role was interpreted by actorAnthony Hopkins inHollywood biopicOne Man's War. Magee later dedicated a trilogy of chronicles entitledMy uncle the Che to this part of his investigation, published in the political analysis magazineTerere Cómplice in 2022.[11] On 25 May 2021 Opération Condor was added to the U.S.Library of Congress.[12] Following the book's publication, Almada was decorated with the National Order of theLegion of Honour by thePresident of France,Emmanuel Macron, on 6 December 2021.[13]
The latest work by Magee,Pundonoroso/Honorablissime, published in theSouthern Cone in a bilingual French/Spanish edition by Edición Servilibro, retracesMartin Almada’s journey in search of historical justice.[14] The book is prefaced by Agustín Nuñez, a master of South American theater, who describes it as occupying"a central place in the Latin American cultural pantheon".[15] This work is illustrated by urban street artist Oz Montanía.
The author relates that he was a victim of continuous threats against his life during his investigation and the writing of these two works, which he has dedicated to preserving the memory of the horrors of Latin American dictatorships.[16]
Between 2005 and 2009, Magee worked forPinewood Studios in the production teams of many American blockbusters, includingSherlock Holmes byGuy Ritchie, andGulliver's Travels byRob Letterman. During those years, he shared film sets with actorsAnthony Hopkins,Benicio del Toro,Emily Blunt,Hugo Weaving,Jack Black,Jude Law,Rachel McAdams, andRobert Downey Jr. This immersion in the world of cinema fuelled his passion for the field.[17] Magee reported in a televised interview that SirAnthony Hopkins told him about the dictatorship in Paraguay and his interpretation of human rights activistJoel Filartiga, when they met on the set ofWolfman byJoe Johnston,[18] which also encouraged the young writer to study paraguayan history.
In 2009, Pablo Daniel Magee wrote and directed a short film titledPass:on for Watch a Thought Productions, in which he featured eight international artistes, four painters and four musicians, who did a freeimprovisation, live and direct, of afresco and an original piece of music. The painters Magee directed included his father, artistPatrice Stellest. Magee also collaborated for this work with British musicianJohn Altman, film score composer ofTitanic byJames Cameron,James Bond:Golden Eye andNo Time to Die, orMonty Python’sLife of Brian; composer forBarry White,Michael Jackson,Prince orBjörk; and musician with the bands ofSting,Amy Winehouse,Bob Marley,Chet Baker,Jimi Hendrix and many others, as he describes in his memoirsHidden Man: My many musical lives.[19]
In 2011, Magee co-authored and directed the short 3D movieStellest Genesis for artistPatrice Stellest.[20] For this work he collaborated with New York City DJMoby, who composed the music for it.
In 2018, he collaborated with Canadian filmmaker Jorge Diaz de Bedoya to develop the scenario for the feature filmEl Supremo Manuscrito,[21] which plunges the spectator into the corrupt world of contemporary Paraguay in search of the last manuscript of writerAugusto Roa Bastos, stolen by art traffickers.[22]
Stellest Genesis
PASS:ON
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