>>> The presence of Chilean filmmakers extends the Official Section with the latest film by Pablo Larraín, Spencer. (about Lady Di) through the short film competition with Los Huesos, the new animation by directors Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña (and the only one from Latin America in the competition) to Venice Days with Piedra Noche from Iván Fund to Venice Production Bridge with three projects: Los Angeles, also by the directors León&Cociña, Los Colonos by Felipe Gálvez (a co-production of Chile/Argentina/France/Denmark) and Pamfir - from Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/France/Poland/Chile).

>>> For its part, CinemaChile will be participating in a round of meetings on the industry, in hybrid format. "CINEMACHILE MEETINGS was created as a way to connect our delegations of producers who cannot travel to distant locations, festivals, and markets, with the international industry. To do this, hybrid group meetings will be held where, with the help of technology, we provide access to in-depth conversation sessions with actors and professionals from the international industry for the projects in development by the producers. Broadcasting live from a stand at the market, I will meet with high profile professionals strategically invited based on the project profile of our delegation, who will connect remotely and can listen to you and agree to present your projects”, reports CinemaChile Executive Director, Constanza Arena.

Official Competition and Orizzonti Shorts

Spencer marks the return of Pablo Larraín to Venice after the premiere of Emo (2019) in the Official Competition of the Festival. While the last film was an in-depth look at Latin American art, desire, and family, this time it focuses on a worldwide media story: the intimate story of Princess Diana, starring Kristen Stewart.

Written by Steven Knight, creator of the series Peaky Blinders, the film focuses on a weekend in the early 1990s, when Diana decided to separate from the Prince Charles in the middle of rumors of infidelity.

Larraín's new work has generated great expectations, being named one of the most anticipated films of the year by media outlets such as Variety and Fotograma, and his first in English since Jackie (Venice, 2016).

The film depicts a moment in the life of Diana Frances Spencer - better known as Lady Di - during her Christmas holiday with the royal family, where Diana decides to leave her marriage with Prince Charles.

Steven Knight (Screenplay) ; Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design ) ; Claire Mathon (Cinematography) ; Sebastián Sepúlveda (Editing).

• Orizzonti Shorts

Another of the premieres in Official Competition, in the section Orizzonti Shorts is the new short film by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, Los Huesos, the duo of internationally successful directors whose last hit was La Casa Lobo (Berlinale Forum, 2018, produced by Globo Rojo Films), being named one of the best animated films of all time by IGN.

The short film pretends to be the first stop motion animation film in the world, imagining the unearthing of the two historical figures of Chile. The origin of that idea, say the directors, is touched by the social uprising of October 2019. Ari Aster, director of films like Hereditary and Midsommar, joined as executive producer with Mr. Liuhuabing from Track B Productions.

Los Huesos hase Constance Nordenflycht as its main character (a historical figure), a young woman who at the age of 15 began a relationship with Diego Portales (a promoter and framer of the constitution of 1833), with whom she had three children who were only recognized by the Chilean State after the death of the politician in 1837.

“It is an honor to have been selected to premiere worldwide at a festival as emblematic as Venice. We are very happy! Cristóbal and Joaquín (and all the talented team that works with them on many occasions) deserve this kind of recognition, and I hope this is just the beginning of a nice international tour”, according to its producer Lucas Engel.

Los Huesos is the only Latin American short film in the official Orizzonti Shorts competition, and marks Chile's return to the section after the premiere of Fiebre Austral(Thomas Woodroffe, 2019) starting an expansive international journey.

The short film from the duo of directors, León and Cociña, creates a fictional story as if it were the first stop-motion animated film in the world. Set in 1901, while Chile is drafting a new Constitution, it documents a ritual performed by a girl who appears to use human corpses. The ritual features Diego Portales (apolitician from the nineteenth century who promoted the Constitution of 1833) and Jaime Guzmán (politician and promoter of the Constitution of Pinochet), central figures in the construction of authoritarian and oligarchic Chile.

Natalia Geisse, Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña (Production Design) ;Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña, Niles Atallah (Cinematography) ; Joaquín Cociña (Editing).

Catalina Vergara: A film at Venice Days and project at Venice Production Bridge

Catalina Vergara is one of the most outstanding Chilean producers today. With a wide portfolio of projects premiered at prestigious festivals (Death will come and have your eyes, San Sebastian, 2019) and others in development, he is leading the participation of two works that arrive in Venice.

• Venice Days

Piedra Noche (2020) by Iván Fund (Wip Latam Industry Award, San Sebastian, 2020) is an Argentine-Chilean co-production produced by Rita Cine, Insomnia Films and Globo Rojo Films, the latter represented by Vergara.

"Getting involved in a film directed by Iván Fund, an award winner at Cannes for his film Los Labios, and co-directed with Santiago Loza; means I will participate with Globo Rojo Films in foreign productions with a director of great renown”, says the producer.

Starring Alfredo Castro, Maricel Álvarez, Marcelo Subiotto and Mara Bestelli, Piedra Noche is a film about devotion, through the figure of the witness, and about living with the belief systems of the other, about the tenderness of that mutual pact to overcome pain. (Sales: Elle Driver).

This marks the continuation of Chile at Venice Days, after the world premiere of Tengo Miedo Torero (Rodrigo Sepúlveda, Stranger) in 2020, also starring Castro.

Produced by Laura Mara Tablón and co-produced by Catalina Vergara, it tells the story of Greta's son, who mysteriously disappeared at sea. While she and her husband Bruno fight their suffering, put their house up for sale, and while they collect everything and prepare to move, Bruno says he has seen something that confirms the rumors of the locals: the appearance of a strange figure coming from the sea.

Adrián Suárez (Production Design) ; Gustavo Schiaffino (Cinematography) ; Lorena Moriconi, Iván Fund (Editing).

• Venice Production Bridge:

The second feature in development by León and Cociña, Los Angeles, produced by Catalina Vergara, is a science fiction thriller that appears to have been made in the 1940s and whose action takes place in a dystopian Chile of 2020. In this setting, Dalia León (Antonia Giesen) is a police officer from ‘Andinia’, the name given to Chile after being annexed to the United States.

"The film will be a mixture of acting, animation, puppets, models, and other things. The story is inspired both by the tradition of science fiction cinema as well as the symbolic world of Miguel Serrano, a Chilean poet, ambassador, and nazi who lived during much of the twentieth century and part of the twenty-first,” said Cociña.

This section also featured the selections of Los Colonos by Felipe Gálvez (a co-production between Chile/Argentina/France / Denmark) and Pamfir - by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/France/Poland/Chile), both produced by Quijote Films.

Los Colonos tells of how, at the end of the nineteenth century, sheep farms came to cover more and more territory in Chilean Patagonia. In 1893, Segundo, a Chilean mestizo; Maclenan, an English soldier, and Bill, an American mercenary, set out on an expedition on horseback to cordon off and reclaim the lands that the State has granted to José Menendez. What appears to be an administrative expedition is transformed into a violent hunt of Onas. 20 years later, Vicuña, a direct envoy sent by the President, visits the now civilized lands. Segundo sees in hims the opportunity to redeem his guilt.

The importance of Venice for Chilean cinematography

Chile has had a progressive and constant participation at Venice. This historical presence accounts for the growth and quality of productions and stories coming from this side of the world. In 2019, the participation featured four productions that won a total of five awards.

The first prize was the Starlight International Cinema Award awarded to the country's homegrown actor Alfredo Castro, for his artistic career in cinema, in the framework of the presentation of Blanco en Blanco, then came the historical news about the Queer Lion Award being awarded to El Principe by Sebastian Munoz; it was also announced that the FIPRESCI Award would be given to Blanco en Blanco, by Theo Court and later, the ARCA and Unimed Awards announced for the movie Ema, from the renowned director Pablo Larrain.