• Sunset Over America, a short film directed by Matías Rojas Valencia and produced by Tomás Gerlach Mora, will have its world premiere at the Berlinale.
• Selected for the Doc Toolbox Programme, Daniel Díaz Oyarzún, producer at Pikun Films, has been participating since November 2024 to promote the documentary Mapurbekistán.
• Also part of the official selection, filmmakers Carolina Moscoso Briceño and Celeste Rojas Mugica are participating in Berlinale Talents.
• Rounding out the presence of the Chilean documentary sector at the EFM and Berlinale are production companies Pikun Films, Cábala Films, Faro Cine, Galgo Storytelling, Araucaria Cine, La Ventana Cine, Quijote Films, Juntos Films, Villano and Amilcar Films. Joining them is Paula Ossandón, the director of Chiledoc.
Check the catalogue of documentaries at EFM and Berlinale.
Chile will participate in the 75th edition of the Berlinale and its European Film Market (EFM) from February 13 to 19 with a delegation of renowned and emerging filmmakers and producers. Representing the documentary sector, the delegation includes Matías Rojas Valencia director of Sunset Over America; Tomás Gerlach Mora from A Simple Vista; Daniel Díaz Oyarzún from Pikun Films; filmmakers Celeste Rojas Mugica and Carolina Moscoso Briceño; director José Jiménez; Gonzalo Argandoña Lazo and Diego Rojas from Cábala Films; Fernando Fuentes from El Espino Films; Claudia León from Faro Cine; María José Díaz from Galgo Storytelling; Isabel Orellana Guarello from Araucaria Cine; Carola Fuentes from La Ventana Cine; Giancarlo Nasi from Quijote Films; Juan Ignacio Sabatini from Villano; Karla Falcón from Juntos Films; and Sebastián González Méndez from Amilcar Films.
This contingent, along with its range of projects, will arrive at one of the largest film events in the world with the support of Chiledoc and its director, Paula Ossandón. They are also part of the Chilean audiovisual delegation managed by CinemaChile, which has promoted Chilean cinema talents worldwide for 16 years. Both sector brands receive support from ProChile.
«Our narratives have become increasingly interesting and appealing to the industry and new audiences outside the country. EFM is a great space to promote production and find commercialization opportunities. Germany is the third country with the most co-productions with the Chilean documentary sector, and we are looking to intensify these alliances,» said Paula Ossandón, director of Chiledoc.
Lorena Sepúlveda, National Director of ProChile, states: «Chile has maintained a constant presence at the European Film Market (EFM) for several years, reflecting the public-private effort to internationalize the Chilean audiovisual sector. In 2024, our country’s creative industries reached a record level of exports, totaling nearly US$98 million across 45 markets, including key partners such as Germany. This achievement strengthens our commitment to the internationalization of creative industries, which not only diversify our export portfolio but also position Chile as a creative, diverse, and innovative country on the global stage.»
For Alexandra Galvis, co-director of CinemaChile, «This year’s Berlinale highlights the significance of Chilean cinema’s internationalization strategy and the central role of co-production within it. Our industry thrives on international collaboration and the ability of Chilean professionals to build both commercial and creative connections worldwide. For a Chilean company to bring an international co-production to the official competition and another to a prestigious section like Generation Kplus is a testament to its ability to establish high-quality creative partnerships and reflects its strong expertise in achieving top-tier co-productions. Moreover, it is remarkable that Chile has secured the selection of a short film by an established director like Matías Rojas, further demonstrating the ability of Chilean filmmakers to address globally relevant themes through a distinct narrative voice.»
World Premiere
Director Matías Rojas Valencia, along with producer Tomás Gerlach Mora, will be present at the Berlinale, exploring the powerful theme of migration with the world premiere of the short film Sunset Over America.
The film, co-produced by Françoise Nieto-Fong, is featured in the Generation 14+ section. It takes us to the Andean Highlands, a region now considered one of the most perilous migration routes in Latin America. A teenage girl reflects on the night she crossed the highlands, feeling accompanied by a spiritual presence that wanders like the wind.
Doc Toolbox Programme
Producer Daniel Díaz Oyarzún, from Pikun Films, is part of the official selection for the Doc Toolbox Programme 2025, an initiative where producers learn new tools to promote and market films. The Chilean documentary project selected is Mapurbekistán. Regarding this, Daniel Díaz stated: «During this time, I have participated in online workshops to acquire tools and build connections for attending the EFM in February and making the most of this opportunity. Additionally, I have received personalized consultations to develop the project dossier and create new strategies for the film’s future.»
Directed by Claudio Alvarado Lincopi and produced by Daniel Díaz Oyarzún and Sofía del Pozo, Mapurbekistán follows a Mapuche historian exploring his people’s experience in Santiago, from its founding in 1541 to the defeat of the plurinational New Constitution proposal led by Elisa Loncon. Through the concept of the pewma («dream»), the film takes us on a journey through photographs, paintings, and performances to imagine the evolution of a champuria («mestizo») city.
Berlinale Talents
Chilean filmmakers Carolina Moscoso Briceño and Celeste Rojas Mugica have been selected for Berlinale Talents, a talent development program featuring project labs, workshops, and public panels.
Carolina Moscoso Briceño has worked as a director and editor on music videos, animations, visual arts, and theater projects. Her debut feature film, Night Vision, premiered in Chile at the Valdivia International Film Festival (FICV) in 2019, where it won the Special Jury Prize. Its international premiere was at FIDMarseille 2020, where it won the Grand Prize in the International Competition. The film also received several awards, including Best Film in the Outros Olhares section at Olhar de Cinema 2020, Best First Film at the Cinema Tropical Awards 2021, the Silver Puma for Best Direction at FICUNAM 2021, and the Excellence Award at the YAMAGATA International Documentary Film Festival 2021.
She is currently working on her second feature film; I Will Never Be a Cop a film essay based on her uncle’s home video archive. For 35 years, he «recorded the most beautiful images of our family’s everyday life as police officers in the 1990s. On one Christmas, my uncle filmed me using my first camera. The film creates a dialogue between our images as I imitate him in making them. I reflect on inheritance, the purpose of filming, and how it all points to the future. As I edit the footage, I realize I don’t want to follow the path of becoming a police officer,» explains Carolina Moscoso.
Chilean-Argentine filmmaker Celeste Rojas Mugica was also selected to participate in the activities of the Berlinale Talents program. She is bringing her project Exterra, chosen for the Doc Station program, where it will receive guidance and ultimately be presented publicly to a group of key industry guests.
Celeste is developing this project alongside José Jiménez, with production by El Espino Films. The film follows a group of archaeologists excavating the backyard of Ingrid Olderock’s house—the most powerful woman in Pinochet’s secret police. The personal archive of this notorious torturer emerges, unveiling not only her story but also the history of the spaces that harbored and perpetuated horror. The film combines archival reality with dramatized storytelling.
Celeste Rojas Mugica is a visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose work explores themes of memory, violence, and imagination. Her debut feature film, An Oscillating Shadow, premiered at FIDMarseille 2024, where it received the Jury’s Special Mention. The film also won the ZIFF Award for Best Film in the First Film Competition at ZINEBI in Spain. In Chile, it won Best Chilean Film at FICValdivia and FIDOCS, as well as the DOCMA Award for Best International Film at L’Alternativa in Spain.
Chilean Projects
Scientific and innovation-related topics will also be part of the Chilean delegation’s portfolio at EFM. The production company Cábala Films, with a long history of working on these themes, is presenting the project ‘Unveiling the Cosmos’ The Rubin Observatory, directed by Gonzalo Argandoña Lazo and produced by Diego Rojas.
This feature film explores how, starting in the fall of 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will map the entire night sky at an unprecedented speed, capturing changes almost in real time. Researchers around the globe anticipate groundbreaking discoveries about supernovae, dark matter, and dark energy. Will this revolutionary telescope provide observations that challenge—or even transform—our understanding of the cosmos?
Faro Cine
The project I Shall Die Singing, directed by Sebastián Lavados and Eduardo Lavados and produced by Sebastián Lavados and Claudia León from the production company Faro Cine, is a portrait of the allegorical universe of two elderly poets from rural Chile. Their lives revolve around working in nature and popular religiosity: vigils of Canto a lo Divino and processions of dances that seem to sublimate the joys and sorrows of a people on the path to oblivion. An old shepherd and an old laborer were both born singers, and they will die singing.
Galgo Storytelling
Producer María José Díaz, from Galgo Storytelling, arrives at the EFM with a Virtual Reality project. The project, Ancestral Secret VR, is directed by Francisca Silva and María José Díaz and produced by Francisca Silva, María José Díaz, Gayatri Parameswaran, and Felix Gaedtke.
An ancient prophecy states that in the planet’s difficult times, harmony will return when the condor and the eagle fly together again. The condor represents Indigenous peoples, while the eagle symbolizes the globalized world. This project is a journey into the ways of life and worldview of the Q’ero community in Peru—a journey that redefines humanity’s relationship with Mother Earth, offering an immersive experience that breaks the physical boundaries of reality.
Araucaria Cine
Directed by Meliza Luna Venegas and produced by Isabel Orellana Guarello, Green Desert ask: How can a lineage of healers continue if there is no forest? A filmmaker embarks on a journey to the landscape of her childhood in search of the women in her family, the trees, and the flowers that once inhabited the mountains, while the monoculture pine plantations lurk, threatening to set everything ablaze once again.
La Ventana Cine
The Letelier File, a feature film directed by Rafael Valdeavellano and Nicolás Acuña and produced by Carola Fuentes, narrates the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean minister, who was the victim of a car bomb in Washington D.C. in 1976. A key opponent of Pinochet, he was silenced by the DINA. With elements of True Crime, the documentary combines family testimonies and historical reenactments.
Quijote Films
From director Picky Talarico and producer Giancarlo Nasi, the Chilean project Blessed joins EFM. This non-fiction series features the most prominent figures in Chile’s urban music share complex episodes of their lives and reveal their creative processes, making us privileged witnesses of how the media overexposure of their ideas and aesthetics jeopardizes their careers, their lives, and an entire society.
Juntos Films
The project The Stationary Traveller directed by Fernando Lavanderos and Sebastián Pereira and produced by Francisco Hervé, Felipe Egaña, Moisés Sepúlveda, and Daniela Raviola, follows two filmmakers as they present a proposal to a cult Chilean director: to make a new film under one condition—reviving the characters from his classic works, but as zombies. As he struggles to uphold his artistic principles, he ultimately finds himself trapped within his own film.
Amilcar Films
The project Unwelcomed, which explores the challenges of migration, arrives at EFM. Directed by Amilcar Infante and Sebastián González and produced by Sebastián González and Esteban Sandoval, this feature film has already gained international recognition, winning the Best Impact Movies Award at Sunny Side of the Doc.
Traversing the majestic Andean Altiplano, the Atacama Desert, and the coastal cliffs to the settlements and camps of Iquique and Alto Hospicio, Unwelcomed unveils the harsh reality of the Venezuelan migration crisis in the north, through a choral narrative, exploring the cultural clash and rising radicalization within the destination communities.
Villano
The project The Last Witness, directed by Francesc Relea and produced by Juan Pablo Sallato, Juan Ignacio Sabatini, and Ismael Larraín of Villano Productions, shows Chilean photographer Luis Poirot (Santiago, 1940) in action, whose work has had memory as its primary objective. Without a paralyzing nostalgic desire, but as a rescue from oblivion and destruction, so as not to repeat past mistakes.
About Chiledoc
Chiledoc promotes the talents of Chilean documentary filmmakers and their films and series worldwide. Our commitment lies in fostering the sector’s expansion through strategic promotion, creating and strengthening networks, and promoting associative practices. We are a collective force.
Chiledoc is a public-private organization supported by ProChile under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chilean Corporation of Documentaries (CCDoc).
Press Contact: Natalia Raipan | periodista@ccdoc.cl
internacional@chiledoc.cl
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