16 septiembre, 2014

PITCHING CHILEAN CINEMA TO THE WORLD


 Film is a powerful medium that influences the way we see and think about the world. From its beginnings cinema has always been a window to travel in space and time; an opportunity to reflect on our history and to experience realities that we might not encounter otherwise. As a moving language cinema has entertained us, but simultaneously educated and enlightened us. It is through films that we tell stories to pass on ideas and meaning (Eco & Carrière, 2011); a privileged instrument to look at ourselves and a mirror of our society.

 My invitation today is to take you to the recent history of Chile and its cinematographic landscape; a journey to the southern hemisphere where you will find a broad range of cinematographic expressions. There, many acclaimed directors and film professionals are currently enriching Chilean’s contemporary film culture in ways that our history has not heard of for a long time. It is, I believe, an exciting period in Chile for film industry executives and public screen agencies to be looking at. In what follow, I will contextualize Chilean film culture under two different periods: the Pre-Dictatorship filmmakers from the 1960s and 1970s who would go to Europe into exile, and the Post-Dictatorship period. In the latter, I will focus on the work of various acclaimed directors from the last fifteen years, a time when cinematographic manifestations have started to proliferate exponentially.           

 During 1973 and 1990 Chile was under a military dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet and supported by the CIA. Established three years after the democratically elected government of socialist Salvador Allende, Chilean stimulating cultural milieu would be violently suppressed and many artists persecuted. It was a time where filmmakers would be politically committed to the socialist project and their camera became a portal to introduce a Chilean reality in the form of faces, places, situations and ways of speaking that usually were not found in other media. As Raul Ruiz has suggested for his socialist realism movement: ‘cinema for us should not be a matter of aesthetics; it is a matter of ethics rather than aesthetics’ (Bandis et al, 2004:20).

 By the end of 1973 Chilean’s cultural landscape would lay in ruins and a whole generation of selected minds were either death or thrown into exile. Many Chilean filmmakers of that period found in Europe a new home to develop their cinema, but the allegory to the southern hemisphere would never disappear. Patricio Guzman, who you might well know, never stopped reflecting on his Chilean past. His two recent films Salvador Allende (2004) and Nostalgia de la luz (2010) -both screened at Cannes Official Selection- are indicative of this period, where the country of his youth remains up to now as the muse for his poetic documentary stamp (B. Nichols, 2010).  Raul Ruiz also dwelled in France and Cannes favourite, has been described by film critics as one of the most exciting and innovative filmmakers to emerge from 1960s world cinema (Raoul Ruiz Biography, IMDB). His films –over a hundred in forty years- provide a mix of surrealism, intellect and artistic experimentation that I can only compare to the size and figure of Jean-Luc Godard. But if we are to talk about surrealism and experimentation in cinema, I should not overpass the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky, this strange avant-garde film director whose film El Topo (1970) became a hit at midnight showings in the neighbourhood of Manhattan or, in the case you have recently seen Frank Pavich’s highly acclaimed documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013), you might recall his ambitions to look beyond our understanding of science fiction, a genre in which I still see Jodorowsky’s fingerprints all over; from George Lucas’ Star Wars (1977) to James Cameron’s Avatar (2009).

 The relevance of this generation of filmmakers is crucial to understand why Chilean cinema has rapidly emerged in the last decade, but not before. The natural resource if you like, has always been there but all the violence applied in the past to culture; the general fear of the population and the lack of public funds have blocked a whole generation’s creativity. It will be not until this new century when the spell would definitely break, when those kids born into dictatorship, thirsty to protest and confront their parents’ fears would find through artistic manifestations a way to speak up.

 Today Chile has a renewed generation of filmmakers seeking for fresh identities and themes. They have created an original and varied cinematographic language that looks beyond the Americanization of Chilean’s society. Evidence enough is their recognition in a broad range of Film Festivals around the world. Pablo Larraín for example, awarded in Cannes, Rotterdam and BAFICI -with films such as No (2012), Post Mortem (2010) and Tony Manero (2008) has constantly explored Chilean recent political history as a theme of his filmography. In addition, in the more industrial side, his production company Fábula has revitalized the promotion and distribution of local films, which rapid success expanding the national cinema in different festivals -since its creation in 2003- is presumably another reason to keep an eye in this growing market. Various other public and private endeavours have also contributed in boosting national productions’ presence in the world’s markets and festivals, such as CinemaChile, Consejo Nacional del Arte y la Industria Audiovisual and Film Commission Chile. Also among the film professional community, the work of Bruno Betatti has probably accelerated the expansion and decentralization of the national product more than any person in the last decade. Based in Valdivia, as executive director of Valdivia International Film Festival and through his production company JirafaFilms, Betatti has managed to give more international visibility to filmmakers that were mostly known regionally. Cristián Jiménez, nominated at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with his film Bonsái (2011) or Betatti’s more recent production with Alicia Scherson’s film Il Futuro (2013) -awarded in Rotterdam- are some examples of the relevant role that film professionals have been playing lately in the general success of the industry.       

 Chile’s natural richness and cultural geography is probably the raw material for the various filmmakers’ sensitivities to depict on the big canvas. It has not only inspired foreign features and acclaimed directors to shot in the country, but most importantly it has been a vehicle to develop a fresh stylistic national cinema embedded in the rituals, traditions and curiosities of the territory. Thematic preoccupations regarding a Chilean ethos have accompanied the internationally celebrated films of Andres Wood, such as Machuca (2004) and La Buena Vida (2008); or the applauded ethnographic documentaries of Ignacio Agüero whose camera has constantly reflected on people’s memory and costumes. More recently, younger filmmakers have also continued to explore Chile’s cultural landscape. Marcela Said’s film El Verano de los Peces Voladores (2013) screened last year at TIFF’s official selection and Cannes’ quinzaine des realisateurs brought to the wide audience the conflicts of Mapuches’[1] clans and conservative landlords. But most probably, it is through the dark cinema of Sebastian Lelio where Chilean geography has been appreciated worldwide in the form of social taboos, class struggle, marginalized characters, earthquakes and tsunamis. His first feature film La Sagrada Familia (2005) described by some film critics as the Chilean version of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorema (1968) would already find the recognition of the international audience, winning ten awards from a variety of Film Festivals around the globe. His most recent film Gloria (2013) somewhat lighter than the others, not only was a Film Festival success –getting 3 prizes at Berlinale and a total of seventeen awards-; but it was also a box office hit in the indie circuit of the United States. Among the 2014’s twenty-five grossing films tracked by Indiewire’s box office charts, by June this year Gloria was ranked twelfth with a gross of $2,107,925 (Carol, 2014), on top of Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) or James Gray’s The Immigrant (2013).

 The profitability and quick expansion of the independent circuit in the last decade has also been visible in the work of post-dictatorship Chilean filmmakers. As Mark Cousins suggests, the possibility to shooting on videotape, the use of small crews, editing on home and dubbling in the simplest suites, radically changed the world of film production, which opened the doors to what he calls ‘the meritocratic epoch of cinema’ (2006:434). In that line, I read Chilean cinema’s independent turn as a response to this wider phenomenon in our contemporary film culture, but its healthy current moment -constantly applauded in the international circuit- I could only compare it to those golden days of cultural expansion abruptly cut for decades by military forces. Ladies and gentlemen: Chilean cinematographic feast is back on the table for all of you to relish.

  No doubt. We are living in a time of cinematic bounty where film goers have a greater variety of choices than at any time in history. As one of them, I see the quality of contemporary cinema as exciting as the quantity is intimidating. Thus, veiled by personal preferences, anything that could help me to reduce complexity would be taken into account; from film festival stamps to film critic’s recommendations. It is in such context that rankings have also played an important role in suggesting what to watch from this vast horizon of cinematographic alternatives, what the people in public relation’s offices call free publicity. Interestingly, the signatures of young Chilean filmmakers are also there.  The influential newspaper The New York Times for example, has recently created a list of twenty directors under forty years old to watch. Among cinematographers such as Canadian Sarah Polley and Norwegian Joachim Trier, the list is accompanied by the presence of three Latin American directors; the Argentinean Matias Piñeiro and the two Chileans, Pablo Larraín –of whom I have already spoken- and Sebastian Silva, whose film La Nana (2009) won more than thirty awards, including two prizes in Sundance. Silva’s success in this last festival was also probably the key to open the doors for a whole new bunch of Chilean features. Since then, the presence of national films in Sundance has been constant: In 2011 Andres Wood’s Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011) obtained Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize; in 2012 Marialy Rivas’ Joven y Alocada (2012) won the Sundance’s World Cinema Screenwritting Award; in 2013 Sebastian Silva would get again the festival’s recognition achieving a Directing Award by his film Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (2013); and this year the list increased with Alejandro Fernandez Almendras whose film Matar a un hombre (2014) has recently obtained the Grand Jury Prize.

 In hard numbers, as a way to sum up all these particular examples that I have offered, the consolidation of Chilean cinema is clear. In 2013, thirty-three films obtained more than seventy international awards; national films are increasingly screened in the most important international Film Festivals and traded in an ever wider range of world markets, including Cannes, Berlinale, Locarno, TIFF, San Sebastian and Visions du Reel (Cinemachile). The good evaluation of Festival’s directors and programmers is also indicative of this success. Marché du Film de Cannes’ Executive Director Jerome Paillard states that ‘the fast growing recognition and importance of  Chilean cinema today has spread worldwide’ (CinemaChile). Or in Locarno’s Artistic Director opinion: ‘In the last years Chile has been the South American country with the most prolific expansion of its cinema, and definitely the most popular Latin American cinema among Cannes, Berlin and Venice’ (Nadia Dresti, CinemaChile).

 My proposition today would be to invite you to engage and to be part of this remarkable moment that Chilean cinema is going through. The political and economic stability of the country, its natural and cultural richness, the enthusiasm of local professionals at the film industry and most importantly, the prosperous vitality of its cinema; they are all good reasons to seriously consider Chile as a strategic place to be looking at. You are all welcome to explore and see the long cultural geography that Chile has to offer through its cinema.   






BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Cousins, Mark (2006). The Story of Film. Pavilion Books. London: 512.
Nichols, Bill. (2010) Engaging Cinema: An Introduction to Film Studies. Norton & Company Ltd. New York. Pp. 545. ISBN: 978-0-393-93491-5
Eco, Umberto. & Carrière, J.C. (2011). This is not the end of the book. Harvill Secker.
Bandis, Helen. Martin, Adrian. & McDonald, Grant (2004) Raúl Ruiz: Images of Passage. Rouge Press & International Film Festival Rotterdam  ISBN: 0-97518-690-6.

ONLINE ARTICLES

Cinechile: Enciclopedia del Cine Chileno. www.cinechile.cl
CinemaChile. www.cinemachile.cl
Carol. (2014) Twin Lens. The 25 Highest Grossing Indies of 2014 (A Running List): IndieWire. www.twinlensfilm.com/?p=2568
Dargis, Manohla (2013) The New York Times: 20 Directors to watch
Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB). Raoul Ruiz Biography.
Valdivia International Film Festival. http://www.ficvaldivia.cl/

FILMS

Cameron, James (2009) Avatar United States: Lightstorm Entertainment
Fernández Almendras, Alejandro (2014) Matar a un hombre Chile: Arizona Films
Gray, James (2013) The Immigrant (2013) United States: Kingsgate Films & Keep Your Head
Guzman, Patricio (2004) Salvador Allende Chile: Alta Films
Guzman, Patricio (2010) Nostalgia de la luz Chile, France & Germany: Blinker Filmproduktion, WDR, Cronomedia & Atacama Productions.
Jodorowsky, Alejandro (1970) El Topo Mexico: Producciones Panicas
Jarmusch, Jim. (2013) Only Lovers Left Alive United Kingdom: Soda Pictures
Jiménez, Cristián (2011) Bonsái Chile: Jirafa
Larraín, Pablo (2008) Tony Manero Chile: Fábula
Larraín, Pablo (2010) Post Mortem Chile: Fábula
Larraín, Pablo (2012) No Chile: Fábula 
Lelio, Sebastián (2005) La Sagrada Familia Chile: Horamágica, Zoofilmes & Bixo
Lelio, Sebastián (2013) Gloria Chile: Fábula 
Lucas, George (1997) Star Wars United States: LucasFilm
Pavich, Frank (2013) Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013) United States: City Film
Rivas, Marialy (2012) Joven y Alocada Chile: Fábula  
Said, Marcela (2013) El verano de los peces voladores Chile & France: Jirafa & Cinémadefacto
Scherson, Alicia (2013) Il Futuro Chile, Italy, Germany & Spain: Jirafa
Silva, Sebastián (2009) La Nana Chile: Forastero
Silva, Sebastián (2013) Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus Chile: Fábula
Wood, Andrés (2004) Machuca Chile: Wood Producciones
Wood, Andrés (2008) La Buena Vida Chile: Wood Producciones
Wood, Andrés (2011) Violeta se fue a los cielos Chile: Wood Producciones




[1] One of the Chilean aboriginal groups, meaning ‘people of the land’.