Special Programme  

Chile has a special place – the Atacama Desert. The humidity level here is equal to zero. Scientists travel from all over the world to observe the sky and look for the answers of human existence in cosmos. But right next to scientific telescopes and discoveries, women are looking for the most precious past – the remains of their beloved ones. Under regime of Pinochet, the political prisoners were massively killed. The women of men are still hoping to find their bones in this Atacama Desert. This film is a metaphysical cinematic narrative navigates between earth and sky, life and death, between the curiosity of the mind, historical consciousness, and the all-pervading memory.

Awards

European Film Awards – Best European Documentary Award, 2010
International Documentary Association – Best Feature, 2011
Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival – Best Documentary Award, 2011
Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Nueva Vision Award, 2011
Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Social Justice Award, 2011
Sheffield International Documentary Festival – Special Mention, 2010
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards – Allan King Documentary Award, 2011
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival – Mayor’s Prize, 2011
Adu Dhabi Film Festival – Best Documentary Feature Award, 2010

Patricio Guzmán

Patricio Guzmán was born in 1941 in Santiago, Chile. As an adolescent, he was inspired by the documentary films of Chris Marker, Frédéric Rossif and Louis Malle. He has dedicated his career to documentary filmmaking. His films have been screened in many festivals and have gained international recognition. From 1972 to 1979, he directed The Battle of Chile, a five-hour-long trilogy on Salvador Allende’s government and its downfall. This film laid the foundation for his work as a director. The North American periodical CINEASTE described it as “one of the ten best political films in the world”. After Pinochet’s coup, Guzmán was arrested and spent two weeks in the National Stadium, where he was subjected to mock executions several times. In 1973 he left Chile and moved to Cuba, then to Spain and France, although he remains deeply attached to his country and its history. He chairs the Santiago International Documentary Film Festival (FIDOCS), which he founded in 1997.

Filmography

The Cordillera of Dreams, 2019
The Pearl Button, 2015
Salvador Allende, 2004
The Pinochet Case, 2001
The Southern Cross, 1991
The Compass Rose, 1983
The Battle of Chile, 1975-1979