{"id":2707,"date":"2021-11-25T17:19:26","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T20:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/?p=2707"},"modified":"2021-11-25T17:20:32","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T20:20:32","slug":"idfa-industry-interview-chiledoc-exec-director-flor-rubina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/idfa-industry-interview-chiledoc-exec-director-flor-rubina\/","title":{"rendered":"IDFA Industry interview: Chiledoc exec director Flor Rubina"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Business Doc Europe<\/a>
\nNovember 24, 2021<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not a sector. We are a collective force!\u201d is the slogan under which Chiledoc operates. The Chilean documentary community has shown considerable resilience during really tough times. Chiledoc\u2019s Flor Rubina explains how to Business Doc Europe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are busy times for Chiledoc, the organization that develops, produces, promotes and distributes Chilean documentary. There has been IDFA, the world\u2019s largest documentary festival, to deal with. Chilean films have been screening in Amsterdam, among them, Nicol\u00e1s Videla\u2019s Travesti Odyssey<\/em> while La Casa,<\/em> directed by Bettina Perut and Iv\u00e1n Osnovikoff was at IDFA Forum, winning the prize for Best Pitch. (This has among its producers Maite Alberdi, the illustrious filmmaker who was Oscar-nominated for The Mole Agent<\/em>). <\/p>\n

As well as IDFA, there is another major industry event on the horizon. Chiledoc is organizing the 6th Conecta, its networking bazaar (29 Nov-7 Dec) which brings together filmmakers, funders, distributors, exhibitors, TV programmers and sales agents from the Americas, Europe and Asia. Covid has meant the event is happening online. <\/p>\n

\u201cMoving to the virtual edition, everything is\u2026bigger,\u201d Flor Rubina, executive director of Chiledoc, acknowledges that, yes, she has a lot to juggle. There are almost 90 projects from Latin American countries as well as guests from 30 countries. \u201cThat is huge for us.\u201d European sales agents like Autlook, Rise and Shine and Lightdox are all expected to participate.<\/p>\n

Chiledoc has a distribution program, MiraDoc, to help the circulation of Chilean docs in their own marketplace. Travesti Odyssey<\/em> is among the six films that will be released through this initiative next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic did us harm. We were doing really well in art house cinemas [pre-Covid]. We try to work in cities outside Santiago. We go to 17 different cities [in Chile] in the presence of the director,\u201d Ruben says. \u2018[But] we are just starting to be in theatres again\u2026our strength is the theatrical [side] and the contact with audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiledoc shares revenues with the cinemas on a 50\/50 or 60\/40 basis and then, from its share, takes 10%. \u201cThe rest is for the producers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, Rubina says, the Oscar nomination secured by Alberdi\u2019s The Mole Agent<\/em> gave the entire sector a big boost. \u201cIt also made it possible for us to spread the word about documentaries in Chile. It opened the eyes of the Chilean audience to documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes it is significant that films like The Mole Agent<\/em> and The Cordillera of Dreams<\/em> by Patricio Guzm\u00e1n continues to be chosen as Chile\u2019s representatives for awards like the Oscars and Goyas.<\/p>\n

There has been a squeeze on government funding during Covid. Travel by the national cultural agencies has more or less stopped this year because of the pandemic and those Chilean filmmakers who have made it to international events have often had to make their own arrangements.<\/p>\n

The sense of uncertainty has been heightened further by the national elections earlier this month which didn\u2019t provide a definitive result. There will be a run-off next month and right-wing candidate Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast has made strong gains. If he wins, it is very unlikely to be good news for the cultural sector. Nonetheless, Rubina is heartened by the new documentary talent emerging in Chile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not a sector. We are a collective force!\u201d is the slogan under which Chiledocs operates. The Chilean documentary community has shown considerable resilience during really rough times.<\/p>\n

As in many other parts of the world, local producers are growing exasperated at having too many Zoom interviews. They\u2019re desperate to attend international markets and festivals in person. This is important not just for their morale but because so many rely on co-production partners \u2013 and it\u2019s generally easier to collaborate when you can meet face to face.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, there are reasons for optimism. \u201cAccording to what we know, everything will go back to normal in 2022,\u201d Rubina says of the expected loosening of the current travel restrictions. Next year, she and her team should again be leading delegations to events like Sheffield, Hot Docs and IDFA.<\/p>\n

Asked to identify directors and projects from Chile to excite international distributors and festival programmers, Rubina names a few.<\/p>\n

Patricio Guzm\u00e1n is working on a project about the new constitution. Maite Alberdi has at least two new films. One, La memoria infinita\/The Timeless Memory<\/em> is about Paulina Urrutia, the politician and actress, and her husband, a victim of Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Another new project Rubina flags up is Breaking the Brick<\/em> by Carola Fuentes and Rafael Valdeavellano, about the political battles over the brutal neoliberal policies imposed on Chile for so many years.<\/p>\n

There are also high hopes for El porvenir de la mirada<\/em>, directed by Cristi\u00e1n Leighton, which was presented in the co-production forum in San Sebasti\u00e1n. Set in a hospital, this deals with the repression and violence faced by many young Chileans during the social and political upheavals of 2019. This is associate-produced by Sebastian Lelio, one of Chile\u2019s best-known fiction directors.<\/p>\n

\u201cChile is now living through stormy times,\u201d Rubina reflects. She believes that Chileans are still coming to terms with the Pinochet era. \u201cWe as a country haven\u2019t been able to close that cycle. What happened in 2019 has to do with that also\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, the political turmoil provides very rich material for documentary makers. So does the ongoing environmental crisis in the country. Whatever else, Chilean documentary makers won\u2019t be lacking for stories in the coming months and years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Business Doc Europe November 24, 2021 \u201cWe are not a sector. We are a collective force!\u201d is the slogan under which Chiledoc operates. The Chilean documentary community has shown considerable resilience during really tough times. Chiledoc\u2019s Flor Rubina explains how to Business Doc Europe. These are busy times for Chiledoc, the organization that develops, […]<\/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\/2707"}],"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=2707"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2712,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2707\/revisions\/2712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chiledoc.cl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}