With a delegation of established and emerging filmmakers, Chile is present at the 74th Berlinale and the EFM market February 15 to 21 under the CinemaChile umbrella, the brand that promotes Chilean audiovisuals worldwide, and Chiledoc, whose mission is to foster and promote the Chilean documentary sector internationally. Both brands receive support from ProChile.
This year, Chile presents two documentary world premieres in Berlin. In Forum is the feature film Oasisdirected by Tamara Uribe and Felipe Morgado and produced by Alba Gaviraghi and Diego Pino. The experimental short film Towards the Sun, Far from the Center, directed by Luciana Merino and Pascal Viveros and produced by Javiera Pineda, is selected for Berlinale Shorts.
Oasis shows how Chile chooses to write a new political constitution after a period of unprecedented social revolt. A motley assembly will be in charge of putting on paper the dreams of dignity and social justice of a whole people. What could possibly go wrong?
In Towards the Sun, Far from the Center, two women wander around Santiago looking for a place to live their love. A digital zoom transforms images recorded in 4K, building a new sentimental architecture of a city where the peripheries become the center. The story narratives evolve into a city symphony that focuses on small gestures, revealing a territory that demands to be rediscovered.
Lorena Sepúlveda, National Director of ProChile comments: “For over 20 years now, ProChile has been supporting the internationalization of creative industries and our audiovisual sector through the fieldwork of its commercial offices. This year, the delegation will consist of at least 15 Chilean production companies with a presence in various sections of the Festival, achieving positioning and visibility for our country, its talent, creativity, and quality. This is in addition to the significant milestone of having two national productions nominated for the Oscars. Apart from being a fundamental pillar in shaping the image of our country, the participation of our cinematographic works in these instances helps us diversify our export offering, which is a priority for ProChile as it celebrates its five decades of existence,”
Paula Ossandón, director of Chiledoc, adds: “Today, the documentary is serving as a great ambassador for Chilean cinema. Examples include the Oscar-nominated film The Eternal Memory and Malqueridas, which received three awards at the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week. Now we have the premiere of Oasis and Towards the Sun, Far from the Center at Berlinale, one of the most important film festivals in the world. The documentary sector has consolidated its artistic and technical quality and, above all, its ability to attract global audiences with the themes it addresses.” Ossandón will give a talk on state funding for film and television, aiming to enhance to promoting co-productions between Chile and countries such as Germany, with which there is a film co-production agreement.
One prominent Chilean doc production company at EFM is La Ventana Cine, headed up by Carola Fuentes. “We closed 2023 with four international co-productions, and that has us very excited. We are convinced that even though Chile can be considered a small market in terms of audience, it is an enormous source of stories waiting to be told and shared with the rest of the world, and that fills us with passion. EFM is one of the most important markets in the circuit. For us, it’s an opportunity to meet in person with our co-producers – the German company Taglicht Media – and connect with other potential allies or producers with whom we can start new projects together,” Fuentes comments.
