Our International Catalogue of New Chilean Films offers a large number of productions every year, including renowned directors and emerging talents. To guide you in the process of discovering upcoming Chilean cinema, we are highlighting 5 new films by renowned fiction and documentary directors:
5.LEO MEDEL - LA VERÓNICA
For more than ten years, Leo Medel has explored the possibilities of cinematographic narration through scenes that include only close-ups, and his interest in the universal and incomprehensible elements of the human face are evident in his latest feature. In La Verónica, the director takes a look at the expressive capacity of facial gestures through the powerful performance of Mariana Di Girolamo (Ema). The actress plays a model who is popular on social media, as she discovers that she is the main suspect behind the assasination of her daughter. Having released his latest film Hotel Zentai at the 2018 Raindance Film Festival, Medel now returns with a pop thriller about the connection and disconnection that virtuality generates.
4.SERGIO LARRAIN, THE ETERNAL MOMENT
In his new documentary biopic, Sebastián Moreno constructs a portrait of the internationally awarded and renowned Chilean photographer, Sergio Larraín, picking up the traces that his life left behind. Archives, testimonies, philosophical texts and letters are the gateway to the mysteries of his life and work, revealing a link between spirituality and photography. Fifteen years after the international success of his opera prima, The City of Photographers (IDFA, 2005), Moreno insists on the importance of the role of art and photography in the fight for human rights. A political film about solidarity, defining characteristics of one of the most important documentary filmmakers working in Chile today. Produced by Claudia Barril (Películas del Pez).
3.JUAN IGNACIO SABATINI - TO KILL PINOCHET
To Kill Pinochet reflects on universal themes that will resound with audiences. Not only in Chile, a country that has been trying for more than 30 years to end the legacy of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, but also worldwide, as the dangers of fascism become increasingly prevalent in various corners of our planet. Sabatini's film is a journey through the gray areas of human existence, constructing complex characters who find themselves extreme situations, a political thriller inspired by true events. To his advantage Sabatini showcases his knowledge of dramatic suspense, something also evident in the successful series he directed, Zamudio and El reemplazante, as well as in his opera prima Red eyes, released in 2010, one of the highest-grossing documentaries in the history of Chile. Produced by Juan Pablo Sallato, Pablo Díaz and Adrián Solar (Villano).
2.ELISA ELIASH - FEVER
In her third film, Elisa Eliash once again breaks the mold, revisiting the conventions of genre cinema to recreate what “family-friendly” films can look like. By mixing animation, live-action and delusion, the director creates an unmissable cinematographic adventure. The film follows Nino, a boy suffering from a strong fever who becomes absorbed by a mysterious painting. Taking the classic structure of children's literature and fragmenting its narrative, mutant and psychedelic imagery begin to take over. In the past years, Eliash has been busy writing films that include El Bosque de Karadima and Sin Norte. Fever marks her return to directing since Aqui estoy, Aqui no (BAFICI, 2011) almost a decade ago. With the risk-taking spirit and irreverent humor characteristic of her film, Fever will arrive to enliven our 2020. Produced by Clara Taricco (La Forma Cine y Válvula Films Films).
1.JOSÉ LUIS TORRES LEIVA - AGAINST ALL THE EVILS OF THE WORLD
José Luis Torres Leiva is one of the most prolific directors of his generation and this year we have the pleasure of witnessing the release of another of his films: Against all the evils of the world. In his last feature, Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes (San Sebastian, 2019) Torres Leiva focused on the power of emotional bonds between two people. In this years documentary, the director also reflects on the power of affection, but this time focused on our personal relationship with selfhood and individuality, taking a look at the mysterious mechanisms of the human mind. In the film, Torres Leiva explores the mind of Lois, a schizophrenic artist and staunch follower of Virginia Woolf. Like her, Lois proclaims: "There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind" A documentary that confronts the conceived notions of rationality, and the contradictions and the joys of having to live with oneself.
