● Aliyá, Yeridá, Unwelcomed, The Stationary Traveller and Returning Were I Have Never Been, are the projects that will participate in the international market.
● The documentaries, in the final editing stage, will be presented to programmers, distributors and sales agents, among others, at the documentary space of the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, the most important film market in the world.
Each year Cannes Docs, the industry instance for documentaries of the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival in France, invites a group of institutions to organize a work in progress during the days of the meeting. For the fourth time, Chile is one of the invited countries and Chiledoc, together with Prochile, is one of the organizing institutions.
Marché du Film takes place from May 14 to 22 and the presentation of projects will be on Monday, May 20. The Head of Cannes Docs, Pierre-Alexis Chevit, celebrated the presence of the Chilean documentary sector in this industry space: «As always, it’s a great pleasure to welcome at Cannes Docs 4 Chilean docs-in-progress, as well as one additional Chilean project from Conecta 2023. So it’s going to be a great Chilean delegation this year! The Chilean documentary ecosystem is truly remarkable — artistically vibrant, politically engaged, creatively diverse –, and it is passionately supported by the organizations in charge of its global promotion, starting with Chiledoc itself. Viva el documental chileno!»
The Docs-In-Progress Chile Showcase will allow the search for financing and distribution opportunities for the works that will be present there to be boosted. «We arrive at Cannes Docs with four projects in the Work in Progress stage, which show the diversity of Chilean production. Both in thematic and aesthetic terms. Immigration in northern Chile; a young woman who returns to Patagonia to value her Selknam identity; a Jewish family that questions its ties to the State of Israel; and a legendary film director who embarks on an extravagant project. All fascinating stories that touch on contingent and creative themes,» comments Paula Ossandón, Director of Chiledoc.
The projects are:
● Aliyá, Yeridá | Directed by Rafael Guendelman and produced by Joaquín Echeverría | Production company @brisafilms. Aliyá in Hebrew means to go up and immigrate to Israel; Yeridá, the opposite, to descend and emigrate. From family archives, the author investigates the motivations of his family to emigrate to Israel in the 70’s, as well as the disappointments that motivated their return to Chile, decades later.
«We are at a crucial stage to meet our goal of releasing during the first half of 2025, after securing funding for post-production and having advanced editing. At Cannes Docs, our goal is to establish connections with programmers and distributors interested in political and migration narratives. We seek to reflect on the armed conflict in the Middle East from a Latin American perspective,» says Joaquín Echeverría, producer of the project.
● Unwelcomed | Si vas para Chile | Co-directed by Amilcar Infante and Sebastián González, and co-produced by Sebastián González and Esteban Sandoval | Production company @amilcar_films and @pejeperrofilms. In 2021 the north of Chile witnessed one of the most newsworthy anti-immigration demonstrations in the country, highlighting the lack of control of its adherents, burning of tents, baby carriages and family belongings. His images traveled the world, but not the stories of those affected. This choral account is the living testimony of those who continue to enter Chile despite the adversities, and inhabitants of the territory who live in the midst of a growing social conflict and the harshness of the Atacama Desert.
Sebastian Gonzalez, producer of this project, says: «We are very excited and happy with the news of being part of the Chilean Showcase and presenting our project at Cannes Docs at the Marché du Film. It is a source of pride and a great opportunity to make our debut film visible on the international stage, seeking to raise the necessary funding and partnerships to finish the film and start working on the next premiere.»
● The Stationary Traveller | Viajero inmóvil | Co-directed by Fernando Lavanderos and Sebastián Pereira, and produced by Francisco Hervé | Production company @juntos_films. Two young filmmakers approach Cristián Sánchez (70), a mythical cult Chilean filmmaker, to propose him to make a new film. They impose certain rules on him: the film has to be about zombies, and must resurrect characters from his most classic films. The experiment has a purpose. Our documentary is a kind of making-of of Sanchez’s film. The aim is to put in tension, with humor and spectacle, the need for efficiency in today’s culture versus the de-stressed tranquility of the 70’s that Sánchez’s films so beautifully represented.
«To be participating in the Marché du Film and also in the Showcase is an invaluable opportunity for our film. It is the first time we will show a preview of what has been a work of many years. This is a unique instance, not only in terms of visibility – being one of the largest markets in the world – but also as an opportunity to generate networks for this and the other projects in our portfolio,» says Francisco Hervé.
● Returning Where I Have Never Been | Vuelvo donde nunca estuve | Co-directed by Constanza Vásquez and Andrés Morales, and co-produced by Alejandra Rosas and Magdalena Ponce | Production company @tonina_sur and Quetro Producciones. Two journeys that take place a century apart. In 1895, a group of 165 Selk’nam is captured on the island of Tierra del Fuego and forcibly sent to the city of Punta Arenas to be delivered to the domestic service of settler families. In 2021, Fernanda Olivares, a Selk’nam descendant, is the first of her community to return to live in the territory of her ancestors after the genocide, to prove that her people are not extinct.
Constanza Vásquez remarks «Our documentary seeks to disseminate what the Selk’nam people have been working on for some time: to communicate to the world that they are not an extinct people and that they seek to give a new beginning to their history in their ancestral territory. We feel that Cannes Docs is a very important opportunity to take big steps towards that goal.»
In previous versions of this industry activity, renowned documentary filmmakers of long trajectory have passed through, such as Ignacio Agüero, with Notas para una película and Maite Alberdi with El Agente Topo. And outstanding films have received awards, such as Monguen, directed by Antonio Caro and produced by Michel Toledo (Totem Producciones) and Antonio Caro (Lemuntu Producciones), which last year won the Think-Film Award, consisting of a workshop and communications consultancy in impact campaigns.
In 2022, the winner was Malqueridas, directed by Tana Gilbert and co-produced by Paola Castillo and Dirk Manthey. Production companies Errante (Chile) and Dirk Manthey Films (Germany). Won the Alpha Panda award for a digital marketing consultancy.
In 2021 Cannes Docs and its activities were held online and of the four Chilean projects present, the winning film was Punto de encuentro (Meeting point), directed by Roberto Baeza and produced by Paulina Costa and Alfredo García, Production Company La Toma Producciones. It received the VOSTAO Award, to subtitle the film once it is finished.
About Chiledoc
Its objective is to promote and generate global collaboration networks for the audiovisual production of Chilean documentaries that favor exportation. It is a public-private partnership between ProChile, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chilean Documentary Corporation CCDoc.
internacional@chiledoc.cl
@copyright Corporación Chilena del Documental CCDoc
