{"id":2047,"date":"2021-04-22T18:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T22:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/?p=2047"},"modified":"2021-04-27T18:22:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T22:22:39","slug":"the-journey-of-the-chilean-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/the-journey-of-the-chilean-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"The journey of the Chilean documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Diego Pino Anguita<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chile is a country where documentary filmmakers stand out. Some have been winning awards and participating at prestigious festivals and international markets for decades. Younger ones who are just beginning their adventure already enjoy success and recognition. Knowing this journey is essential to demonstrate the importance of the Chilean documentary audiovisual sector, one that already holds distinction beyond its borders.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Allende-mi-abuelo-allende-300x195.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1957\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-22T20:41:40+00:00\"><em>Beyond my grandfather Allende<\/em> | dir. Marcia Tambutti | prod. Paola Castillo y Martha Orozco<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>It is not new to say that the national film industry has a documentary heritage since the beginning of its history, and working with the materials given by reality has provided the experimentation, innovation and social connection for the Chilean cinema. For the same reason, and with the documentary making history again with <em>The Mole Agent<\/em>, nominated for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, we wanted to remember how non-fiction has always been opening up paths for Chilean cinema.<\/p>\n<p>From its beginnings, the documentary will try to observe and film different moments of daily and social life, endowing them with a patrimonial power and memory, fundamental at the minute of reviewing today\u2019s history. Thanks to the work of those who protect our heritage, we have knowledge that the first film archive in Chile was a documentary and it happened 124 years ago, with <em>A cueca in Cavancha<\/em> .<\/p>\n<p>Next there will be other historical archives such as the funerals of Pedro Montt or Luis Emilio Recabarren; the opening of the Vi\u00f1a del Mar casino or different military and civic acts. By then, the documentary resolves to go along with a story. From Edmundo Urrutia\u2019s <em>El Coraz\u00f3n de una Naci\u00f3n<\/em> (1928), to the unthinkable feat of the Jesuit priest Alberto Mar\u00eda de Angostini who in 1933 gave us unseen footage in <em>Tierras magall\u00e1nicas<\/em>, to the impeccable journalism work that Na\u00fan Kramarenco has been doing since 1945. It is not, in my opinion, until 1955 that the pair, Armando Parot and Fernando Balmaceda, present us footage with more political regards and transforms the documentary in a fundamental tool to expose a reality endowed with narrative and point of view. This marks the beginning of a period in which it becomes a key ally in the country\u2019s production processes. <em>Petr\u00f3leo Chileno<\/em> (1955), for example, tells the story and procedure of \u00abblack gold\u00bb with an impeccable cinematographic narrative.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/La-cordillera-de-los-suenos-300x189.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2007\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T15:00:21+00:00\"><em>The Cordillera of the Dreams<\/em> | dir. Patricio Guzm\u00e1n | prod.<br \/>\nRenate Sachse<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in the late 1950s, a group of amateur filmmakers, called to narrative, cinematographic and visual experimentation to portray the social reality of the people and workers&#8217; movements, exploited the genre, impacting at a national and international scale: the filmmakers of the Experimental Center of the University of Chile with their precise works burst onto the world scene.<\/p>\n<p>In 1957, Sergio Bravo\u2019s <em>Mimbre<\/em> won its first international award at the Ottawa Film sur l&#8217;Art Festival. Later, in 1958, the beautiful duo of Jorge di Lauro and Nieves Yankovic won the Santa Margarita de Liguria Award with <em>Andacollo<\/em> at the Genova Latin American Film Festival. In those years it is worth mentioning the tireless work of Sergio Bravo, who in 1961 took the Chilean documentary to the prestigious Locarno Film Festival with <em>L\u00e1minas de Almahue<\/em>, winning an honorary diploma for his expressive work. Another impressive pair, composed by H\u00e9ctor R\u00edos and Pedro Chaskel, will then surprise with <em>Aqu\u00ed vivieron<\/em> (1964), premiered at the great Venice Film Festival. It is worth mentioning the joint work between France and Chile, for the production <em>A Valpar\u00edso<\/em>, directed by Joris Ivens, written by Chris Marker, and the assistance director Sergio Bravo and the assistant cameraman Patricio Guzm\u00e1n. Perhaps the first international co-production in Chile to win awards in Leipzig, Oberhausen and Prades.<\/p>\n<p>Already in the 1970s, the Chilean documentary began to dialogue with artistic expressions and professionals at an international level. In 1961, the documentary <em>Creative Hands<\/em> obtained an honorable mention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and, in 1965, by Fernando Balmaceda, the <em>Tejidos Chilenos<\/em> was presented at the Moscow Festival. Years later, other productions brought with them the first screenings and presentations of Chilean documentaries on European public channels in Poland, Russia, Switzerland and France. The path of internationalization was already open.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Gaucho-americano-300x158.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2008\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>Gaucho Americano<\/em> | dir. Nicol\u00e1s Molina | prod.Jos\u00e9phine Schroeder<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>In 1970, three Chilean documentaries triumph in West Germany: <em>Desnutrici\u00f3n Infantil <\/em>and <em>Brigada Ramona Parra<\/em>, both by \u00c1lvaro Ram\u00edrez; and <em>Venceremos<\/em>, by Pedro Chaskel, would win the Fipresci Award at DOK Leipzig, festival attended by a Chilean delegation whose goal will be to strengthen ties with East Germany. However, it is <em>Venceremos<\/em>, a masterpiece of dialectics, which one year later achieved the first appearance of the Chilean documentary in the Directors&#8217; Fortnight in Cannes, that is, five decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile in Chile, in 1967, filmmakers led by Aldo Francia, started the first Vi\u00f1a del Mar Film Festival, a fundamental meeting event for all of Latin America, where cinema will be thought of as a tool for social change. Thanks to this space, later on, will also be born the beautiful manifesto of the Chilean filmmakers of the Unidad Popular (Popular Unity), which in one of its sections states: \u00abThat Chilean cinema, by historical imperative, should be a revolutionary art\u00bb lines that will soak the documentary in the coming years. It is also so, as from the political impact and experimentation, a symbolic film of the experimental Cinema of the University of Chile, <em>Descomedidos y Chascones<\/em> in 1973, by Carlos Flores del Pino, will premiere in Venezuela, Cuba and Spain.<\/p>\n<p>The works of Pedro Chaskel, H\u00e9ctor R\u00edos, Miguel Littin, Ra\u00fal Ruiz, Jos\u00e9 Rom\u00e1n, Fernando Balmaceda, Armando Parot, Patricio Kaulen, Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, among other male directors, stand out nationally and internationally. However, in 1972, following the paths of Nieves Yankovic, the architect and director Maril\u00fa Mallet with her work <em>Amuhuelai-mi<\/em> will break into the cinematography scene. Followed by Valeria Sarmiento and Carmen Duque, they will begin to change the balance around the leadership that women have in the Chilean documentary to this day.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/LA-FLACA-ALEJANDRA-OK-300x177.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1955\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>La flaca alejandra<\/em> | dir. Carmen Castillo y Guy Girard | prod. <\/ins><\/p>\n<p>Days before the coup d&#8217;\u00e9tat, Patricio Guzm\u00e1n will release his documentary <em>The First Year<\/em> (1971) at the Mannheim Festival in Germany, an event that to this day follows Chilean cinema very closely. But when democracy is violently interrupted, and as artists and filmmakers are persecuted, the cameras must be turned off and, on many occasions, go abroad, not before having filmed with strength the social process that Chile lived, and that no fiction could overcome.<\/p>\n<p>This is how <em>The Battle of Chile<\/em>, by Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, with its three parts, will tell the world, before any history book, what happened in the country, becoming over the years the Chilean film that has been touring around the world the most, translated into more than fifteen languages, and participating in countless international festivals and retrospectives. His heroic deed not only captures the process, but rescues the footage material at the expense of the lives of the filmmakers themselves, in a new breakthrough that the documentary gives to the world. Because of its historical and political importance, and its journey over time, is that <em>The Battle of Chile<\/em> (1973-1976) in our humblest opinion, is the most important film in the history of our country to date.<\/p>\n<p>From exile or clandestinity, other filmmakers will continue to tell the history of the country from the images. Here we highlight Orlando Lubbert\u2019s <em>Los pu\u00f1os al frente del ca\u00f1\u00f3n <\/em>(1979), which won the Best Documentary Award at the Havana Latin American Film Festival; <em>Chile y su verdad <\/em>(1977) by Aliro Rojas Vilch; or <em>Recado de Chile<\/em>, by Carlos Flores and Jos\u00e9 Rom\u00e1n, which will participate in the Lille Documentary and Short Film Festival in France and will receive a special mention at the New Latin American Film Festival in Havana.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/El-otro-d\u00f3a-300x167.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2009\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>The Other Day<\/em> | dir. Ignacio Ag\u00fcero | prod. Daniela Salazar  Ignacio Ag\u00fcero y Christian Asp\u00e9e<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>In the midst of the Chilean \u00abcultural blackout,\u00bb and facing the need to find new ways to tell stories with the materials of reality, the documentary cannot turn a blind eye to what it was happening. Under the pseudonym of Pedro Meneses, in 1984, a young Ignacio Ag\u00fcero will present <em>No Olvidar<\/em>, a film that tells of the tragedy of the transgression to the human rights in Chile and of his relatives. The documentary can fortunately bring that story to the world and is presented at the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival and gets a special mention at the Havana Latin American Film Festival. Then in 1988, Ag\u00fcero breaks in with <em>Cien ni\u00f1os esperando un tren<\/em>, a fundamental film of Chilean cinema, which is also open to thinking about portraying social change from another perspective. This work again clears the way to other latitudes, being awarded as Best Documentary at the Latin Film Festival in New York, with the OCIC award at the Cartagena de Indias Film Festival and celebrated at the Havana Film Festival, event that was already transforming into a great exhibition turf for Chilean cinema.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Patricio Guzm\u00e1n from France offers another perspective of the Chilean dictatorship with <em>En nombre de Dios<\/em> (1987), a film that gives an account of the role that the Catholic Church and the creation of the Vicariate of Solidarity played in the struggle for human rights and against the Pinochet dictatorship, winning the Grand Prize at the Festival dei Popoli in Italy. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/La-ciudad-de-los-fot\u00f3grafos-1-300x199.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2010\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>The City of Photographers<\/em> | dir. Sebasti\u00e1n Moreno | prod. Claudia Barril y Viviana Erpel<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>During democracy, the cameras seem to come back on, and so did the screening windows to the world. In 1994, in Havana, a young Carmen Castillo presents <em>La Flaca Alejandra<\/em>. A year before, Ignacio Ag\u00fcero, follows an iceberg to Seville in his poetic film <em>Ice Dreams<\/em>. And again, it will be Patricio Guzman who in 1997 with Chile, <em>The stubborn memory<\/em>, opens more distant borders, achieving the audience award at the Marseille Film Festival, event where Chilean films continue to be watched with close attention. With this work he arrives at the prestigious Canadian documentary festival Hot Docs and wins the Grand Prize at the DocAviv Film Festival in Israel.<\/p>\n<p>That same year, with the support of documentary filmmakers who were starting to group together, the first edition of the Santiago International Documentary Festival begins, FIDOCS, one of the oldest in Chile, which already has 23 years, and that long before others, was presented as a cinema meeting event, becoming a great achievement for Chilean cinema. Later, in 2000, the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Chile, ADOC was born, a trade union that brings together filmmakers from the sector not only to socialize and discuss experiences, but also to improve the conditions of the sector.<\/p>\n<p>In the first decade of the new century, already with a lukewarm National Fund (FONDART) that allows the financing of some documentaries, important productions appear that will begin to travel the world. In 2000, Esteban Larra\u00edn premiered <em>Ralco<\/em> at the Gij\u00f3n Film Festival, again bringing up the Chilean social reality. In 2001 <em>La \u00faltima huella<\/em>, Paola Castillo\u2019s debut film, rescues the memory of the last Yaganes and manages to reach the Berlin Film Festival, in the Panorama section, becoming a turning point of what, even today, we see in that festival. In 2002 <em>Estadio Nacional<\/em> by Carmen Luz Parot, premiered at the Malaga Film Festival, where every year Chilean films go by today. And once again, thanks to Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, the Chilean documentary returns to Cannes with <em>El caso Pinochet<\/em>, which in 2001 took part in the Semaine de la Critique of the festival and won the Grand Prize at the Marseille Film Festival.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Lemebel-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2013\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>Lemebel<\/em> | dir. Joana Reposi | prod. Paula Saenz-Laguna<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>Since then, it is not uncommon to see Chilean filmmakers break into prestigious world film festivals. In 2001 Cristi\u00e1n Leighton won the Best Documentary Award at the New York Independent Film Festival with <em>Nema Problema<\/em>. That same year, Marcela Said surprised with <em>I love Pinochet<\/em>, a documentary that shows with subtle sarcasm the Pinochet phenomenon after the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London. In 2002, filmmakers Bettina Perut and Ivan Osnovikoff premiered <em>A Man Aside<\/em> at the most important documentary film festival in the world: Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, IDFA. In the same year, Ra\u00fal Ruiz himself landed with his series <em>Cofralandes<\/em>, which won the Fipresci Award and the Glauber Rocha Award for Best Film at the Montreal Film Festival. Even, from regional places, begins to produce and will surprise <em>Antofagasta, the Hollywood of Latin America<\/em>, by the avant-garde Adriana Zunic, which obtains awards in the United States and Latin America, while in 2004, Carlos Klein makes his way to the renowned Swiss festival Visions du R\u00e9el with his film <em>Tierra de agua<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Patricio Guzm\u00e1n\u2019s persistent work once again takes the Chilean documentary to Cannes with <em>Salvador Allende<\/em> (2004) who will have an out-of-competition screening. The following year, Chile began to attend regularly at IDFA and the film <em>The City of Photographers<\/em>, directed by Sebasti\u00e1n Moreno, is part of the official competition. In 2005, David Abala premiered his <em>Perspecplejia<\/em> in Guadalajara, obtaining a special mention. In a more experimental front, in 2006, Crist\u00f3bal Vicente premiered Arcana at Cin\u00e9ma du R\u00e9el and won awards in Portugal, Spain, Germany and Belgium, among others. Finally, in 2007, it will not be Patricio Guzm\u00e1n who returns to Cannes, but rather an experienced filmmaker, Carmen Castillo, who from France will present her courageous work <em>Calle Santa Fe<\/em>, in the section a &#8216;Un Certain Regard&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>From then on, the presence of the documentary at festivals will be overwhelming, which will also be replicated in the markets of the audiovisual industry. In 2008 Paola Castillo and Tiziana Panizza will participate for the first time in the Forum of the Hot Docs Film Festival in Canada, with their film <em>74m2<\/em>, which will later become the first co-production with the United States public television. In 2011 an emerging Maite Alberdi will participate with her developing film, The Lifeguard, in Pitching du R\u00e9el in Switzerland; and in DocMontevideo, Marcia Tambutti, presents <em>Beyond my grandfather Allende<\/em> in the Pitch Central.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/malqueridas-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2011\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>Malqueridas<\/em> | dir. Tana Gilbert | prod. Paola Castillo<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>In parallel in Chile, in 2007 Docs Santiago was initiated, a space for the presentation of projects in development to the national industry. Nine years later, Conecta, the first international documentary industry market, will conitnue to do so. Another important milestone in Chile is the documentary <em>Ojos rojos<\/em>, directed by Juan Ignacio Sabatini, Juan Pablo Sallato and Ismael Larra\u00edn, a film that in 2010 became the most watched documentary of Chilean cinema with more than 125,000 spectators in theatres.<\/p>\n<p>It is no coincidence that the Chilean Documentary Corporation CCDoc, then called Chiledoc, was born that same year in order to support the commercialization and distribution of the Chilean documentary. Since that time, the organization has made it possible to open up spaces for the training and experience of executive producers, the distribution of documentary films in cinemas in Chile, the creation of an international documentary market in the country, the organization of more than 35 official delegations to festivals and markets around the world and the consolidation of a collaborative and active community around the specificity of the documentary.<\/p>\n<p>From 2008 to date, the Chilean documentary has been represented year after year at the most important film festivals in the world, highlighting among many others: <em>The Chilean Building<\/em> (Macarena Aguil\u00f3, 2010, Dok Leipzig); <em>News<\/em> (Bettina Perut &#038; Iv\u00e1n Osnovikoff, 2009, IDFA); <em>Nostalgia for the light<\/em> (Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, 2010, Cannes); <em>The Lifeguard<\/em> (Maite Alberdi, 2011, IDFA); <em>The Young Butler<\/em> (Marcela Said, 2011, Berlinale); <em>Hija<\/em> (Mar\u00eda Paz Gonz\u00e1lez, 2011, Thessaloniki), <em>The Last Station<\/em> (Catalina Vergara &#038; Cristi\u00e1n Soto, 2011, Dok Leipzig); <em>The Other Day<\/em> (Ignacio Ag\u00fcero, 2011, FICG); <em>Propaganda<\/em> (Colectivo MAFI, 2014, Visions du R\u00e9el), <em>Tea Time<\/em> (Maite Alberdi, 2014, IDFA); <em>The Beavers<\/em> (Antonio Luco &#038; Nicol\u00e1s Molina, 2014, Sheffield Doc\/Fest); <em>Chicago Boys<\/em> (Carola Fuentes &#038; Rafael Valdeavellano, 2015, Edimburgo); <em>The wind knows I\u2019m coming back home<\/em> (Jos\u00e9 Luis Torres Leiva, 2016, Rotterdam), <em>Cielo<\/em> (Alison McAlpine, 2018, Hot Docs), <em>Petit  Frere<\/em> (Roberto Coll\u00edo &#038; Rodrigo Robledo, 2018, Visions du R\u00e9el), <em>Las cruces <\/em>(Teresa Arredondo &#038; Carlos V\u00e1squez, 2018, FidMarseille), <em>Flow<\/em> (Nicolas Molina, 2018, Sheffield Doc\/Fest), <em>Living There Is Not Hell, It Is the Fire of the Desert. The Plenitude of Life That Stayed There Like a Tree<\/em> (Javiera V\u00e9liz, 2018, Cin\u00e9ma du R\u00e9el);<em> The Dreams of the Castle<\/em> (Ren\u00e9 Ballesteros, 2019, Cin\u00e9ma du R\u00e9el); <em>The Kings<\/em> (Bettina Perut e Iv\u00e1n Osnovikoff, 2019 IDFA); <em>The Grown-ups<\/em> (Maite Alberdi, 2016, IDFA); <em>God<\/em> (Collective MAFI, 2019, Dok Leipzig); <em>El Gur\u00fa<\/em> (Rory Barrientos, 2019, Visions du R\u00e9el); <em>Story of my name<\/em> (Karin Kuyul, 2019, Rotterdam); just to name a few.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Chicago-boys-300x180.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2012\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>Chicago Boys<\/em> | dir. y prod. Carola Fuentes y Rafael Valdeavellano<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>It is important to underline that not only has the documentary provoked internationally as a feature film format, but as in other formats as well, for example, <em>MAFI.tv<\/em>, which in 2012 was selected at DocuLab IDFA; <em>Quipu<\/em> project, by Mar\u00eda Ignacia Court and Rosemarie Lerner, premiered at Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc\/Fest and IDFA in 2015; and more recently, <em>Symbiotica<\/em>, by Natalia Cabrera, Juan Ferrer and Sebasti\u00e1n Gonz\u00e1lez, selected at Dok Leipzig and CPH DOX.<\/p>\n<p>Among the many Chilean short films that have led oficial selections and screenings are, and just to name a few: <em>White Death<\/em> (Roberto Coll\u00edo, Locarno); <em>SNAP<\/em> ( Anank\u00e9 Pereira and Felipe Elgueta, Sheffield Doc Fest), <em>City Plaza Hotel<\/em> (Violeta Paus, Berlinale);  <em>Lettres a la administration<\/em> (Jos\u00e9 Jim\u00e9nez, FICCI); <em>Ri\u00f1a de gatos<\/em> (Jairo Boisier, Visions du R\u00e9el); <em>I\u2019m still here<\/em> (Tana Gilbert, Hot Docs); <em>Maria K<\/em> (Juan Francisco Gonz\u00e1lez, Cin\u00e9ma Du R\u00e9el); <em>Siluetas de agua<\/em> (Violeta Paus, Dok Leipzig) and <em>I\u2019m not from here<\/em>, by Maite Alberdi and Giedr\u0117 \u017dickyt\u0117, premiered at Visions du R\u00e9el and awarded at countless festivals.<\/p>\n<p>In parallel, the same Alberdi, had premiered <em>Tea Time<\/em> at IDFA in 2014, winning the award for best female documentary direction by the circle of women film journalists and achieving a new historical breakthrough: the nomination for a Chilean documentary in the category Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards.<\/p>\n<p>The latest milestones of documentary have installed us in the most important film festivals in the world. Thus, in 2015, Marcia Tambutti, would achieve her world premiere in the Directors&#8217; Fortnight of Cannes, with her film <em>Beyond my grandfather Allende<\/em> that, in addition, would be the first film in history to win the newly inaugurated Award \u00abThe Golden Eye\u00bb for best documentary in all sections of the Cannes Film Festival and its parallel competitions. That same year, the Silver Bear Award for Best Screenplay for the film <em>The Pearl Button<\/em> by Patricio Guzm\u00e1n was awarded at the Berlinale, a turf opened for Chile and the documentary with big premieres, since the next few years in the Panorama section <em>Adriana\u2019s Pact<\/em> by Lisette Orozco (Peace Film Award) and <em>Lemebel<\/em> by Joanna Reposi (Teddy Award) would be screening and competing as well. Both films managed to tour a series of festivals around the world, achieving an echo rarely appreciated before. And in 2020, The Mole Agent would become the first Chilean documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/La-batalla-de-chile-300x195.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1953\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>The Battle of Chile I<\/em> | dir. Patricio Guzm\u00e1n | prod. Chris Marker<\/ins><\/p>\n<p>In addition, since 2011 to date, important and historic Chilean and Latin American focus events have been held where national films were included as well, these were held at the festivals of Dok Leipzig, Visions du R\u00e9el, Yamagata Film Festival, the Iran Documentary Film Festival, the Santiago \u00c1lvarez Film Festival, and a historical exhibition with more than seventy screenings and forty Chilean documentary films of all time at the world-famous Centre Pompidou in Paris. Chile has also been present at key events such as Cannes Docs de March\u00e9 du Film (Cannes) with its own Chilean Showcase; or at DocSalon of the European Film Market (Berlinale), and has consolidated its participation in other markets that are sometimes not so mentioned, but fundamental to internationalization as they are in the United States (Sundance), Colombia (BAM), China (CCDF), Hong Kong (FILMART), France (Sunny Side of the Doc), Brazil (DocSP, Brazil Cine Mundi), Uruguay (DocMontevideo) and Mexico (DocsMX), among others, expanding in an unprecedented way the networks of the sector worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>In the past two years, Chilean documentarians have excelled in numerous film festivals, international markets and broadcasters, digital platforms, immersive exhibitions, art galleries and innovation catalogues. International co-productions with countries such as Canada, France, the Netherlands, United States, Colombia and Argentina, among others, have paid off. Several documentaries have continued to expand territories. To name but a few: <em>The Space Journey<\/em> (Carlos Araya, Sheffied Doc Fest); <em>Night Shot<\/em> (Carolina Moscoso, FidMarseille); <em>The Journey of Monalisa<\/em> (Nicole Costa, DocNYC); <em>The other one<\/em> (Francisco Bermejo, Visions du R\u00e9el); <em>El Negro <\/em>(Sergio Castro, Toulouse); <em>The sky is red<\/em> (Francina Carbonell, IDFA); <em>The Cordillera of Dreams<\/em> (Patricio Guzm\u00e1n, Cannes).<\/p>\n<p>Without a doubt, the path widely known by the Chilean documentary reaches its greatest peak today, when the genius and talent of director Maite Alberdi, and the whole team behind <em>The Mole Agent<\/em>, install it, in a historic milestone, as part of the nominees for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards in Hollywood. Behind it, an endearing film and a clear strategy to conquer the American market, with a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and, subsequently, at the most important documentary festivals in that country, in addition to its premiere on public television in the United States PBS, the oldest slot for independent non-fiction films; on Hulu, massive platform in the country of the north; and later on Netflix, one of the most important digital platforms of the world. In parallel, her nomination for Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards and for Best Foreign Film at the Spirit Awards further enhance this path.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/El-agente-topo-OK-300x169.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1982\" \/><br \/>\n<ins datetime=\"2021-04-23T12:52:41+00:00\"><em>The Mole Agent<\/em> | dir. Maite Alberdi | prod. Marcela Santib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/ins><\/p>\n<p><em>The Mole Agent<\/em> is the only Latin American film nominated in the current edition of the Academy Awards, it\u2019s the first nomination for a female director in Chile and the first Chilean documentary nominated for these award. Like its ancestors and other outstanding national documentaries of which we have reviewed history, this film opens up unthinkable paths for future filmmakers and audiovisual professionals.<\/p>\n<p>For the documentary, with the passing of years, to gain more and more recognition in the international audiovisual industry, it is not only legitimate for its particular way of filming reality, or because it is a long known genre for us, but because it also contains a cinematographic value impossible to calculate. It is quite a relevant landmark when the challenge today is to find recognition of the productions in our own country. \u00abIt\u2019s always a test for the documentary filmmaker to defend documentaries as films, and I think this is an achievement for us\u00bb said Maite Alberdi when she heard about her Documentary Oscar Award nomitation, because any recognition of this genre is arduous, and has thus become evident. However, beyond this difficulty, the Chilean documentary has managed to settle within the national and international audiovisual industry, and position itself as a great exponent, occupying the place it deserves and always opening doors for the filmmakers who will come.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Vega, A. 2006. <em>Itinerario del Cine Documental Chileno<\/em>. Santiago. Universidad Alberto Hurtado<br \/>\n&#8211; Guevara, A y G\u00e1rces, R. 2007 <em>Los a\u00f1os de la ira<\/em>. La Habana. Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano.<br \/>\n&#8211; Mouesca, J. 2005. <em>El Documental Chileno<\/em>. Santiago. LOM<br \/>\n&#8211; Mouesca, J y Orellana, C. 2010. <em>Breve historia del cine chileno<\/em>. Santiago. LOM<br \/>\n&#8211; Balmaceda, F. 2002. <em>De zorros, amores y palomas, memorias<\/em>. Santiago. Aguilar chilena de ediciones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Diego Pino Anguita Chile is a country where documentary filmmakers stand out. Some have been winning awards and participating at prestigious festivals and international markets for decades. Younger ones who are just beginning their adventure already enjoy success and recognition. Knowing this journey is essential to demonstrate the importance of the Chilean documentary audiovisual [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2047"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2059,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2047\/revisions\/2059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}