Chilean Docs Rise on World Stage
variety.comAnna Marie de la Fuente Thrown into the limelight by the Oscar nomination for Maite Alberdi’s “The Mole Agent” in 2021, Chilean documentaries been growing in stature worldwide for years.At Cannes, venerable Patricio Guzman world premieres his latest doc, “My Imaginary Country” (“Mi País Imaginario”) as a special screening, following on his lauded “The Cordillera of Dreams” which was awarded the 2019 L’œil d’Or award for Cannes’ best documentary.
Matias Rojas’ “Our Memory” will be among the spotlighted projects at Cannes Docs. A Chilean Docs in Progress showcase, slated for May 23 at Cannes Doc Day, is creating considerable expectation.“Chilean documentaries often reflect the major social problems the country is undergoing,” says Chiledoc director Paula Ossandon.
One instance, she notes, is a number of films dealing with the great social upheaval that took place in Chile from October 2019 that are beginning to surface, led by “My Imaginary Country.”“There are also upcoming projects about our president-elect Gabriel Boric, the world’s youngest president, such as the German-Chilean-U.S.
co-production ‘Gabriel,’ which screened at Canada’s Hot Docs Forum,” she observes, adding: “The current rewrite of Chile’s constitution is another theme of interest.”Ossandon notes that there are also more docs exploring gender dissidence and identity. “Ethnic identity (‘On Suspicion: Zokunentu’) is also becoming a more relevant and recurrent theme in Chilean documentaries,” she adds.The showcase comprises four docs at editing stage.
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