“The migration crisis, feminism in Latin America, ancient cultures, and political conspiracies” are the themes explored in the Chilean projects presented in La Rochelle this year, underline promotion body Chiledoc on the eve of Sunny Side 2024.
Unwelcomed by Amilcar Infante and Sebastián González is one of six projects in Official Selection (Impact Campaigns Pitch section). Furthermore, two Chilean companies, María Wood Producciones and Cábala Films, attend with some their latest projects. Both companies are seeking co-production opportunities and sales.
Comments Diego Pino, Deputy Director of Chiledoc: “Sunny Side of the Doc is celebrating 35 years promoting the meeting of the international documentary community, becoming a key event to connect with the industry and generate new opportunities for new non-fiction projects, both unitary and serialized. Likewise, one of the focuses of Chiledoc is to strengthen international co-production ties, especially with France. In this sense, the meeting is a must for our country. This year, producers who are working hard on the dissemination of nature, conservation, native peoples, gender issues and the current migration crisis that is affecting so many countries, among many other issues, are participating, giving us the diverse and professional character that characterizes us so much.”
The project Unwelcomed, directed by Amilcar Infante and Sebastián González, who is also its producer alongside Esteban Sandoval, addresses the current migratory crisis in northern Chile through the stories of those who experienced the country’s largest anti-immigrant demonstration, which involved the burning of tents and belongings of entire families. These witnesses offer “a vivid testimony of the social and cultural reality of the region.
Traversing the majestic Andean Highlands, the Atacama Desert and the Coastal Cliffs, the documentary unveils the harsh reality of the migration crisis in Latin America and northern Chile’s “radicalization.” The pic is set to premiere in 2025.
“I’ve been a migrant myself. When I was 10, I moved with my mother to Venezuela. I lived there for about six years, and my mother was a migrant too. At my same age, she moved with her family from Venezuela to Chile,” commented Infante on the project at CPH:DOX 2024.
“Our movie follows the Venezuelan migrant crisis in Latin America and, specifically, in Chile [as well as] the conflict it has created in [the country’s] northern regions.”
Gonzalez Mendez explained a particular event that unfolded in September 2021. “[Back then] over 4,000 people marched against Venezuelan migrants in Iquique. They attacked them, burnt their tents and belongings. The police forces did nothing. They turned a blind eye. So we woke up in a country we couldn’t understand. We knew something different was going on, so we started our journey [with this film].”
“More than 7 million Venezuelans had left their country. Around 1 million arrived to Chile over the last few years. Migration is a complex issue. It has many layers, and there’s no easy answer or solution. And there’re [surely] problems related to criminality. We can’t ignore those. But, above all, we found how this context has been manipulated to serve political interests,” continued Infante.
Also at Sunny Side 2024, María Wood Producciones presents the project Chile: An American Secret, described as “a personal story of an ordinary man’s quest for justice who dedicated his life to unraveling the darkest secrets about how and why his country, the United States— the champion of freedom—supported and protected a dictator who persecuted and murdered friends and family and then pressured for his removal from power.” Directed by Orlando Arriagada, María Elena Wood, and Patricio Pereira, this documentary promises to be “a profound and revealing perspective on events in our recent history.” It is produced by Andrea Insunza, Javier Ortega, María Elena Wood, Patricio Pereira, Paola Arriagada-Nuñez and Orlando Arriagada.
Cábala Producciones is in attendance at La Rochelle with two series projects: Not One Less, which addresses the issue of gender violence in Latin America, and The Lost Civilization of the Amazon, which explores the mysteries of the Amazon. “Once believed to be an area lacking history, a recent discovery could reveal the migration and extinction of its earliest inhabitants, dating back more than 12,000 years ago,” writes Chiledoc of the latter project.
Both series seek co-productions and sales at Sunny Side of the Doc “to promote these relevant and significant stories.”
