Matías Rojas is the director of A place called Dignity (QuijoteFilms) and Our Memory (A Simple Vista and ClaraFilms), both Chilean projects that will be part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which runs until November 28.

In recent years, the Estonian Film Festival has become one of the most important Class A films in Northern Europe, sharing the prestige with 14 other international film festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, Venice and San Sebastian.

We talked with Matías to learn all about his point of view and the great experience of leading the Chilean participation, both in the official section of the festival and in the industry area, where for the first time in history there will be a Latin American project participating in the Coproduction Market in Tallinn.

THE ATMOSPHERIC JOURNEY IN "A PLACE CALLED DIGNITY"

Coproduced by Chile, France, Germany, Argentina and Colombia, and directed by Rojas, A place called Dignity (Quijote Films) will have its premiere in the official competition of the festival. A film that takes the audience on a journey inside Colonia Dignidad, masterfully recreating the atmosphere of horror that marked that place and that chapter in the recent history of our country.

How was it like co-producing with France, Germany, Argentina and Colombia? How do you feel about what each country contributed to the development of the film for it to be premiered today at a Class A festival?

It felt like a completely school point-of-view experience; it helped me grow professionally and meant a total change from the way I understood production up to that point.

A place called dignity was a long-term development project, our first involvement in an industry event was in 2013; a tour in which we had the opportunity to be selected in different meeting events that brought us closer to the co-producers and gave important visibility to the project, including the San Sebastian co-production forum, the Berlinale Coproduction Market, Produire au sud of Nantes and L'Atelier of the Cannes Cinéfondation.

With Germany there was a natural co-production, due to the film’s theme and language; however, it not only empowered the film in terms of production, but also through that country’s cultural approach and perspective on the subject of Colonia Dignidad. With France, a very strong relationship was made from the beginning regarding the artistic perspective, in fact, the film was finished in that country. Argentina and Colombia were key players in the creation of the production team, which, along with the French and German professionals, formed an international crew.

What was it like directing Hanns Zischler and how did you come to him for a role as powerful and mysterious as playing Paul Schäfer?

From the beginning we paid particular attention to casting, taking into account the language complications: the film is spoken in German and Spanish. It wasn’t until Titus Kreyenberg (Una Films) and Linus Günther, German co-producers, joined that we were able to begin the casting process for the character Uncle Paul (character based on Paul Schäfer).

We had approaches with different actors, until the possibility was given to send the script to Hanns.

The process of working with Hanns was very interesting since he gave me a vision on the subject of Colonia Dignidad as a German citizen, which many times, served me as material for deep reflection.

On the other hand, we also had another difficulty casting since the protagonist is a 12-year-old boy. It was a long process until we found Salvador Insunza, who plays the child who entered the boarding school of Colonia Dignidad, and he worked in a very committed way, surprising the whole team for his acting abilities, concentration and dedication.

This trio of main characters was completed by Amalia Kassai, who plays Gisela, a nurse from Colonia Dignidad. Amalia was the first actress to take part of the cast of the film and is one of the characters who has dialogues in Spanish and German; she helped us a lot in terms of research and language, due to her German roots and perfect language skills.

"OUR MEMORY" THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN PROJECT PRESENT AT THE BE - CO PRODUCTION MARKET

Produced by A Simple Vista and ClaraFilms, the project will be represented in multiple industry activities by its producers Tomás Gerlach, Clara Larraín and Paulina García, who between November 23 and 26, will look for the necessary partnerships to secure the funding and completion of this promising Rojas film.

In Rojas' words, "it is a hybrid film that mixes documentary and fiction; two distinct stories that intertwine through a common topic: memory"

The director tells in more details about this participation in the industry event.

How do you see the continuing development of this film after the Be Coproduction Market in Tallinn?

It is an important opportunity for the project in terms of possible production agreements, distribution and also visibility. Even more taking into account that the selection committee informed us that it will be the first Latin American project in history.

Along with the producers we believe that it is important to enter a "new" market that is beginning to put a special eye and interest in Latin American films.

Our memory is a film that has already completed its development and production stage, and we are about to begin the editing part, so we take the selection in this instance as a key opportunity for the raising of potential co-producers for the post-production stage, as well as sales agents and distributors, in order to expedite this stage process and be able to have a premiere in mid-2022.

What inspired you to create Our memory?

During the research conducted for A Place Called Dignity, I met a couple of survivors in Colonia Dignidad, who, to this day, struggle against the aftermath of a life full of torture and slavery. In one of our encounters, they made a request that marked me deeply: to tell their story so that it did not disappear into oblivion.

This experience made me reflect on the connection between their history and memory, from an intimate and also historical place, which resulted in a cinematographic, narrative, aesthetic and expressive proposal, that unites this documentary story with a fictional one of a different plot; "a film within a film".

And what’s the movie about?

One part tells the current life of this couple, Ingrid and Franz, who try to live in the present, the past that was taken from them, while struggling against oblivion in all its forms and where their constant hope is expressed, but also contradiction.

This documentary story is intertwined with a fictional story, in which a woman in her sixties, played by Paulina Garcia and faced with the imminent loss of her memory due to Alzheimer’s disease, decides to go into a forest to bring to light a secret and thus ask for forgiveness, for a feeling of guilt that she has carried throughout her life, connected to the darkest chapter in the recent history of Chile. This is a film that, within the mix of genres and formats, delves into memory, wounds, scars and the search for redemption.

It should be noted that Paulina García is not only one of the leading protagonists in the film, but also that she has joined the project as an executive producer...

I’m very curious to see the moment when the film will have its premiere, due to the construction of a structure very different from everything I have done previously; it is a hybrid film not only in terms of plot, but also of format (the two parts were filmed by different cameras, lens formats and aspect ratios), so there is a component of experimentation that we are looking forward to see.

Personally, I’m very grateful to Clara Larraín and Tomás Gerlach (producers), for the trust and all their work, in a film that involves many technical and production risks. The entire documentary was filmed in Villa Ortega, in the Aysén region and there was a very interesting bond with the community, where we also had the opportunity to film in locations in Chile that had never been filmed before.

After Tallinn, Matías Rojas will begin the festival tour with A Place Called Dignity and have its premiere in Chilean cinemas. The continuation of the editing stage of Our Memory will also carry on its path, looking to be premiered in mid-2022.

Currently, the director is in the development and script writing of his next feature film entitled El bosque arderá, a project that will once again unite Chilean producer Clara Larraín (Clara Films) in association with A Simple Vista Producciones, represented by Thomas Gerlach.