El Ayudante (English: The Helper) is a 1971 Argentine drama film directed and written by Mario David on his directorial debut, and starring Pepe Soriano, José Slavin and Enrique Fava. The screenplay, about a truck driver who befriends a young deaf man, was written by David, based on the book El sordomudo by the author Bernardo Kordon. The film premiered on 25 March 1971 in Buenos Aires, and was both a box office success and critically acclaimed.