>>> The feature films Ema, Blanco en blanco, El príncipe and the documentary La cordillera de los sueños will have their Asian premieres, bringing stories that range from a failed adoption to the narration of what the Andes Mountains mean to the Chilean people, and which are set in places such as Patagonia or the streets of Valparaiso.
>>> The sectorial brand CinemaChile will be in attendance for the first time, broadening business opportunities and promoting the films in competition.
An unprecedented presence consisting of four films is the latest news in Chilean film, which continues to break barriers and travel across the globe through its stories. On this occasion, and starting from October 3rd, the Chilean film industry will land at the Busan Festival in South Korea with Pablo Larrain’s Ema; El Príncipe, by Sebastián Muñoz; Blanco en blanco, by Theo Court; and La cordillera de los sueños, by Patricio Guzmán.
Ema is director Pablo Larraín’s (Jackie, Neruda) latest film, which has already had an international tour that includes the Venice, Toronto, and San Sebastian film festivals. Larrain’s eighth film was produced by Fabula and features performances by Mariana di Girólamo and Gael García Bernal. The film tells the story of a young dancer who decides to separate from her boyfriend after giving up a child they both to chose to adopt and were incapable of raising. Ema roams the streets of Valparaiso, searching for new loves with which to quell her guilt, but this isn’t her only objective: she also has a secret plan for getting everything back.
El Príncipe, Sebastián Muñoz debut film, produced by El Otro y Niña Niño Films in coproduction with Le Tiro (Argentina) & Be Revolution Pictures (Belgium), is a feature length film based on a homonymous novel by Mario Cruz set in 1970. After a night of heavy drinking, Jaime, a solitary and narcissistic man in his twenties, stabs his best friend in friend in what appears to be an outburst of passion. In prison, he meets “El Potro” (Alfredo Castro), an older and respected man with whom he will initiate a relationship. Jaime begins to be known as “The Prince” and discovers affections and loyalties, while at the same time dealing with the power struggles that exist behind bars. This is Muñoz’s first foray into directing after a long career as an art director, working with filmmakers such as Alicia Scherson and Pablo Larraín.
Blanco en Blanco stars Alfredo Castro and is coproduced by Quijote Films along with production companies from Spain, France, and Germany. Set in Tierra del Fuego at the beginning of the 20th century, Blanco en Blanco narrates the story of Pedro, who arrives at a hostile and violent territory to photograph the wedding between a powerful landowner and a 14-year-old girl, who becomes his obsession. However, Pedro is discovered, punished, and stripped of his privileges. The man is unable to escape, and ends up being complicit and participating in a society that lives with the genocide of Selknam natives. “Blanco en Blanco seeks to portray the destiny of a society that was forged on death, a story about the invisible guilt that we participate in on a daily basis. This is the burden our protagonist carries, in an untouched land marked by the horror of genocide,” says Court.
Patricio Guzman’s latest film La Cordillera de los Sueños, is a documentary produced by Market Chile and Atacama Productions. The synopsis reads: “In Chile, when the sun rises, it must climb hills, walls and mountain tops before reaching the last stone of the Andes Mountains. In my country, the mountains are everywhere. But for the Chilean citizens, they are unknown territory.”
