Synopsis

Like a river returning to its bed after centuries of drought, the Diaguita people rise anew from the cracks of oblivion. ‘Lineage of the Earth’ is the cinematic heartbeat of this homecoming—an intimate journey across Chile and Argentina, where mining- scarred land and ancestral voices weave a shared song. Elena Varela, filmmaker and daughter of this people, transforms her camera into a stronghold of memory: between interviews that bloom like confessions to the wind and archives pulsing beneath the dust, the film unearths not just a struggle, but the soul of a culture flowering amid the rubble. Here, every frame is an act of resistance; every word, a seed of a future already taking root.

Team

• Elena

  Varela

  Director

  Elena Varela is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and documentarian with a background in film and music. She holds a degree in Music and a Master’s in Musicology (U. of Chile) and is pursuing a Master’s in Cultural Heritage. She directed Newen Mapuche (2011), Lineage of the Earth (2022), and the fiction series Isabel (2023). President of the Artists’ Guild Association of La Araucanía.

• Ricardo

  Mahnke

  Producer

  Ricardo Mahnke, Chilean filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. He has directed three feature films and over 50 short films in 16 mm and digital. Founder of festivals such as Resistencia Film Fest and «Pucho Dorado.» Film professor and television host. His work explores identity, memory, and resistance. Member of the Chilean Film Academy.

Technical Info

Year of production: 2025
Format: 4k
Country: Chile
Director: Elena Varela
Producer: Ricardo Mahnke
Production Company: OjoFilms