• Breaking the Brick’s premiere, Chicago Boys’s highly anticipated sequel is one of Chile’s presence high points at the festival.
• Alis, recently awarded winner of the Best Iberoamerican Documentary Feature Film award at Guadalajara FIC, will be part of the official selection.
Between June 23rd and 28th Sheffield Doc/Fest’s 29th edition will take place -one of England’s primary appointments for documentaries-with a considerable Chilean presence. On the one hand, Breaking the Brick, directed by Carola Fuentes and Rafael Valdeavellano, officially selected to be part of the festival’s Rebellions section. Besides, Alis, directed by Nicolás van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf, produced with Lise Lense, Alexandra Galvis, and Radu Stancu, awarded at Guadalajara’s International Film Festival last edition, has been selected to be part of the People & Community section, as well as the Youth Jury Prize.
“When creators have their eyes set on the world and the social processes we live, a more than virtuous encounter between art and what we conceive as reality happens, understanding the point of view is set there. In this context, the work of documentary makers is essential in leaving testimonies, accounting for past and recent history. It is a work put at the service of memory and the observation of ourselves, using that specialized and trained eye to find the textures and crevices of what is being observed. That is why it is important to have showcasing spaces transcending national borders, like the ones Sheffield Doc/Fest provides, offering opportunities for the materialization of new projects too. We celebrate this delegation’s participation and contribution to national and international documentary cinema”, comments Andrea Gutiérrez Vásquez, deputy minister for Culture and Arts.
A Chilean delegation composed of national filmmakers and their developing projects will also be part of this important encounter. “Four Chilean producers will be arriving at Sheffield Doc/Fest looking for new network and business opportunities. At places like this is where the Chilean documentary community becomes stronger and grows internationally”, comments Paula Ossandón, Chiledoc’s director, initiative responsible for promoting and publicizing the Chilean documentary sector around the world.
Back to English lands
There is no doubt Chile’s participation stands out at this English festival and market’s new edition, partly because of Breaking the Brick’s world premiere, arriving at one of the world’s most important documentary festivals after a successful journey through international markets. The movie, conceived as a sequel to the Chicago Boys (2015) documentary, directed and produced by the same team, portrays the process lived in Chile in 2019 when millions of Chileans rose to defy economic theories imposed during the dictatorship.
It is not the first time Breaking the Brick has been present at Sheffield Doc/Fest, as in 2020, it was selected to be part of its Marketplace. “That was the first time we spoke about this project in public, and the feedback we got shaped the documentary. Therefore, premiering at Sheffield is pretty symbolic for us”, Carola Fuentes, one of its directors, comments.
On the other hand, Alis, was recently awarded Best Iberoamerican Feature Documentary Film at Guadalajara’s FIC last edition, the Cristal Bear for Best Movie in competition at Generation 14plus, and the Teddy Award at the Berlín International Film Festival 2021, has been selected to be part of the People & Community section and the Youth Jury Prize. Alis shows us how a group of female teenagers that lived in Bogotá’s unsparing streets can project their destinies, breaking off from the violence, even when they were born with no opportunities.
This powerful documentary passed through important international festivals like Berlinale, Bafici, Hot Docs, and Guadalajara FICS last edition, where it was awarded Best Iberoamerican Documentary Feature Film. “It is an honor to be back at Sheffield Doc/Fest this year. We are building a powerful and ambitious impact campaign (#AlisExists), allowing the protagonists and many more young people to have the opportunity of achieving their dreams. We hope being in this festival allows us to reach people and institutions that can become allies in this initiative”, mentions Nicolás van Hemelryck, one of its directors.
New Chilean voices
Besides the notorious premiere and official selection, a diversity of nationally produced audiovisual projects part of the Chilean delegation will be present at the festival.
Aliyá, Yeridá is a feature film project directed by Rafael Guendelman, and produced by Joaquín Echeverría, where the author investigates, starting from family records, his family’s motivation to emigrate to Israel in the ’70s, as well as the disappointments that motivated their return to Chile, decades later. “Family archives and actual records are contrasted to find the tension between personal and historical memory”, Echeverría comments.
On the other hand, Corrupted, directed by Juan Cifuentes Mera, and produced by Joaquín Tapia Ross, Rodrigo Díaz, and Margarita Egaña arrives at Sheffield Doc/Fest after premiering at Hot Docs. The documentary short film tells how Andrea tries to rebuild her past in search of her former self after losing her memory because of electroshock therapy. Rodrigo Díaz, one of the producers, mentions, “the festival has a strong VR content presence, an area we are very much interested in exploring”.
The Snowy Winter in the South, directed by Sebastián Vidal Campos, and produced by Sebastián Lavados, is another project that will be part of the market. “It is very relevant for us to be part of Sheffield, thinking on the work’s future internationalization, bringing it forward to important European documentary market decision-makers is a valuable opportunity, » says Sebastián Lavados, the producer. The documentary is about a handful of residents inhabiting south of the territory with a cruel and overwhelming nature, where men, women, and children, their packs and cattle, endure loneliness, cold, and the snow threatening to cover everything.
Besides, A Journey to the Roots, directed by José Manuel Loyola and produced by Carola Fuentes and Rafael Valdeavellano, tells the story of Adán, who returns to his territory to reconvert its community to the Mapuche spirituality and traditions. “Adán opens a regard on the weight of power, the responsibility it takes, and how it can affect its surroundings”, Carola Fuentes, one of the producers, comments.
Lastly, Chile Estyle, directed and produced by Pablo Aravena will be part of the market, looking to network and contact different market agents. The documentary feature project portrays the political muralism phenomenon in Chile, a documentary exploring the past and present of the street arts’ profound tradition, coming from a remix between political muralism and graffiti art, becoming an essential part of Chilean cultural and political life since the 60’s. The result is an entertaining and educational movie with a strong visual impact.
The delegation at UK’s Sheffield Doc/Fest is financed by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and organized by Chiledoc, Chilean documentary sectorial brand.
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