● Aura Sinclair, a Chilean filmmaker and producer, was selected for the Doc Toolbox Programme at the European Film Market of the Berlinale—an initiative that promotes the internationalization of documentary creation by underrepresented communities. For Aura Sinclair, this selection recognizes a long-standing journey of work and resistance against the structural barriers faced by dissident voices in the audiovisual industry.
● In an interview with Chiledoc, the filmmaker discusses her expectations about the programme, the international projection of her production company Agencia Rekia, and the development of projects such as Pharmacopeia and Relatos Trans-Mutables. She also reflects on the challenges for dissident narratives in Chile and her interest in exploring new aesthetic forms that intersect body, politics, science, and emotion.
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What does this selection in the Toolbox Programme at EFM mean to you, and what are your main expectations for this opportunity?
At this stage of my career, the selection into the programme means validation for persistence and long-term work. It has been a path where patience, resilience, and tenacity have been crucial—especially because there is constant negotiation with the challenges that come with being a transgender woman occupying positions historically assigned to men: the power to decide which stories to tell, how to tell them, and fundamentally, whom to represent.
My main objectives in this context are to gain tools that help position my work and that of my production company, Agencia Rekia, as well as to establish connections that expand the spectrum of possibilities for our projects in development. Particularly for my debut feature, Pharmacopeia, a hybrid nonfiction film where I explore my relationship with the substances that extend my life.
It is a work narrated from the vantage point of a trans person, HIV-positive and a survivor of AIDS—seen through an intimate, poetic, and scientific lens that ranges from chemical compounds to the systems that sustain access to health, and with it, the continuity of my existence and that of many others.
I am also seeking strategic partners to finish the documentary Relatos Trans-Mutables, directed by Ume Tora Concha, currently in post-production. This is an ambitious, long-term project that brings together testimonies and experiences from the trans community in Chile—from activism to emotional narratives.
The work uses as a starting point the Oscar win of A Fantastic Woman and the subsequent enactment of the Gender Identity Law (Law No. 21.120), all told under the visceral, romantic, and wrenching lens of its director.
The Toolbox Programme at EFM is designed to provide tools for internationalization to production companies from underrepresented communities. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my opportunity to access the international market comes through this platform, as the gap between people like me and the ability to occupy these power spaces remains vast. In that sense, my expectation is to broaden my horizons and access opportunities that not only develop my films but also help me grow holistically as a producer and filmmaker.
Which aspects of the programme do you find most relevant for strengthening your work?
One of the most important aspects is access to global “market intelligence.” I am deeply interested in understanding the state of affairs outside our borders: seeing how other trans and sex-gender dissident production companies navigate the industry in Europe and elsewhere, and learning which production models are enabling sustainability.
However, I also seek to expand my network of contacts to explore possibilities beyond that niche. My and Agencia Rekia’s ultimate goal is not only to make political cinema but to create films capable of entertaining and moving audiences—works that traverse the themes that mobilize me, creating awareness and imagining new possible worlds.
I want to challenge the limits of our audiences. I want to validate that, although my projects arise from a specific experience, they are above all human stories that invite different people to see the world through other eyes. In that emotional connection lies the true power of the cinema I aspire to build and make visible.
What opportunities and barriers do you identify today for dissident narratives to find spaces for funding, production, and distribution in Chile?
Barriers remain structural and, unfortunately, outweigh opportunities. Chile is a small market where internationalization is vital for anyone trying to build a sustainable career. But for us, obstacles begin far earlier than cinema: I speak of access to lives free from violence, mental health care, and economic stability.
At times, artistic creation feels like that “fantasy of a room of one’s own,” as Virginia Woolf put it—something reserved for those who have their lives secured from birth, not for those of us struggling to survive day by day.
Nevertheless, the opportunity lies in the strength of our perspective. There is growing interest in new media and among young audiences for honest stories that make visible our experiences from within. The barrier of public funding—which is scarce and highly competitive—forces us to be creative and look beyond traditional avenues.
The greatest opportunity is in claiming our own voice. It is paradoxical to note that although our presence in leadership and decision-making roles is nearly nonexistent—both in the general economy and in the cultural sector—we continue to be an object of fascination for others. Whether through positive curiosity, compassion, or even irrational obsession from those who see us as a threat to the established system.
Many filmmakers have portrayed us and made us visible through performance, but rarely from authorship. The challenge and opportunity today is to stop being merely the “subject” of the film and instead be those who hold the camera—showing that our lives, with all their complexity, are not just raw material for others but narratives with high aesthetic and narrative value in their own right.
What new narrative or aesthetic forms are you interested in exploring in your work?
With my project Pharmacopeia, I am exploring a radical hybridity that moves between documentary, scientific essay, and intimate diary. I am interested in placing in tension the intersection of science, technology, identity, and sex.
I want to move away from the classic documentary model to delve aesthetically into my own body as an intervened territory—exploring how pharmacology and gender technologies shape our subjectivity, our desires, and our position in the world. I am interested in addressing sex as a space that is both intimate and collective, where pleasure, politics, and the biological imperative of reproduction intersect.
My visual pursuit aims to question the place that patriarchy has historically assigned to bodies like mine—using an aesthetic that mixes the organic with the synthetic to reclaim that space with a new kind of beauty—one that is both technology and flesh.
This conceptual exploration demands new forms of representation involving transdisciplinary teams of programmers and artists. We use tools such as TouchDesigner, cymatics, datamoshing, and macro photography to translate sound, electrical pulses, breathing, and cellular reproduction into visual and sonic textures—seeking an aesthetic where the static and the fluid blur together, including the exploration of artificial intelligence as a medium for digital intervention on recorded image.
I intend for the algorithm to emulate the effect of medications: just as drugs act by reconfiguring my biology, I seek for AI to intervene in the “chemistry” of the audiovisual archive—altering its structure and generating a digital mutation that faithfully reflects my process of organic transformation.
All of this integrates traditional elements such as performance and first- and third-person recording—without losing sight of the most important aspect of a film: its narrative and its ability to stir emotions in viewers.
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