It’s hard to believe, but we’ve already made it to the middle of the year! Six months where our industry has reactivated itself, forging new ways to enjoy and share cinema, while bit by bit, the borders of our filmic world begin to open up.
The presence of Chilean films in festivals and labs last month made us feel excited and hopeful for what’s to come in the second half of this year. As we gear up preparations to kick-off July with full force in Cannes, we’re taking a look at the milestones that June had to offer.
We know the information overload of the virtual world is intense, that’s why we are here to make sure you are never out of the Chilean industry loop! Take a look at some of the prizes and selections that may have flown under your radar last month.
June was a busy month, where Chile’s presence in festivals and labs opened up new global opportunities for our directors and producers, with films present in Toulouse, Málaga, Annecy and Tribeca, while two new projects in development were awarded at FIDLab!
Patricio Alfaro has been the eye behind the camera for films that include Reinos by Pelayo Lira (Karlovy Vary, 2017) and Plants by Roberto Doveris (Berlinale, 2015). His keen interest in exploring photography in cinema has expanded his artistic expression to the directing arena, and his short doc, Remember when we used to take the train? has been screened around the world. Selected in more than 10 festivals and exhibited in Warsaw, London, Bogotá, and Moscow, and premiering nationally in Bío Bío, this leap in his career has definitely payed off.
Remember when we used to take the train? is a personal journey that sheds light on the complexities of intimate yet universal relationships. Love, distance, adaptation, change, displacement, immigration, loss, nostalgia, and memories are ideas that mix in the film, testing the limits between the real and the fictitious, tracing stories we create over time to feel comfortable in strange places.
This month we honor Violeta Vidaurre (1928-2021), one of the most beloved national actresses who gave life to more than 200 characters in theater, television, and cinema.
Some of her most fondly remembered roles occurred in the golden age of Telenovelas, where she shared the stage with Alfredo Castro in Romané (2000) and was central to the success of Pampa Ilusión (2001) and El Circo de Las Montini (2002). We will also treasure forever one of her last roles in cinema, La madre del cordero by Enrique Farías and Rosario Espinosa (2014).
CANNES 2021 AROUND THE CORNER
We end this month looking forward to starting the next one with Cannes 2021. Dominga Sotomayor will give us something to talk about with her recent selection in Special Screenings with the film The Year of the Everlasting Storm, co-directed along with other consecrated filmmakers like Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, David Lowery, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
Chilean producers will search for new horizons for our cinema by participating in Marché du Film in sections like Producers Network, Cannes Docs, Animation Work in Progress, Short Film Corner, and Blood Window. And as if it weren’t a big deal, the launch of our new film catalog is coming. We’re looking forward to it!
