● The Getting Real event will welcome Chiledoc and the production house La Ventana Cine (Chicago Boys) to Los Angeles. This biennial market serves as North America’s foremost gathering for documentary cinema, bringing together industry representatives and numerous financing opportunities.
The United States undoubtedly boasts one of the largest film industries in the world, operating under a logic that is utterly different from that of other territories. In the US, the International Documentary Association (IDA) is dedicated to promoting the documentary sector and independent production, bringing together both the local and international community and fostering a thriving and inclusive documentary culture. The IDA’s activities include providing funds for development and production, as well as offering filmmakers the opportunity to apply for «Fiscal Sponsorship.» Annually, it hosts the IDA Documentary Awards, the IDA Documentary Screening Series, and DocuDay LA, events designed to bring the documentary genre to a broad audience.
The IDA also organizes the Getting Real conference, a biennial event focused on documentary films, which is the only one of its kind in North America. This year, the conference will take place from April 15 to 18 in Los Angeles, United States. Thanks to support from ProChile, producer Carola Fuentes of La Ventana Cine and Paula Ossandón, Chiledoc’s director will be in attendance.
«The documentary is becoming one of the biggest ambassadors of Chilean cinema abroad, winning awards at festivals worldwide and establishing itself with productions of high technical quality and content that appeals to a global audience. Being present in the United States is important, as it is one of the most relevant markets for Chilean audiovisual content and has become the main destination for exports of Chilean audiovisual services,» points out Raúl Vilches, Head of the Department of Creative Industries at ProChile.
“This marks the second time Chiledoc is participating in Getting Real, aiming to raise interest and forge commercial alliances between Chile and the United States, which offers the most significant distribution possibilities on television and platforms, with around 150 million streaming subscriptions. Additionally, it presents a potentially very profitable educational market, with a network of more than 4,600 universities and specialized distributors,» says Paula Ossandón regarding the market objectives and characteristics. The director will be part of the panel We Don’t Need to Reinvent the Wheel: Connecting to Audiences, where she will delve into documentary distribution in Chile.
In the post-pandemic years, the number of active buyers of documentary films in North America has increased, demonstrating great enthusiasm for independent non-fiction cinema. Streaming platforms such as Disney+, HBO MAX, and Hulu, the leading platform in the United States, have expanded their catalog of non-fiction films, joining the effect that Netflix and Amazon had already begun.
An example of this is that Chilean productions such as The Mole Agent and the series Children of the Stars were acquired by Netflix. Additionally, Sergio Larraín, the Eternal Moment reached HBO Max (now MAX). The Eternal Memory was recently acquired by MTV Documentary Films, employing a global distribution strategy that led it to platforms such as Paramount+, among several others. This approach has enabled the film to be viewed on all continents.
La Ventana Cine
The production company behind documentaries such as Chicago Boys and Breaking the Brick, comes to Getting Real with several projects that will be of interest to both North American audiences and Chilean audiences.
According to Carola Fuentes, producer and director of La Ventana Cine, «in particular, the project El expediente Letelier has high possibilities of internationalization, especially in the United States, since the story basically takes place on North American soil». It is a documentary series based on the case of Orlando Letelier’s assassination. Through the eyes of a journalist, born the same day of the assassination of the former Chilean ambassador to the United States. «We want to present the project to potential allies such as ‘America Reframed’ representatives from POV or Frontline from PBS. We are also interested in Canadian channels or producers. Additionally, we aim to connect with representatives of funds or institutions such as the Ford Foundation (Justin Films). Additionally, we seek editorial and artistic feedback» says the Chilean producer.
United States in the Spotlight
The United States has a wide variety of funding possibilities, such as Chicken&Egg Pictures, Sundance Institute, Sundance Film Festival, and Open Society Foundation. In just the last three years, three Chilean projects have received funding from the Sundance Institute. Additionally, the Chilean project Here, the Silence is Heard was selected for the Chicken&Egg fund and lab space. The Chilean documentary project Oasis won a grant from the Open Society Foundation, and the project Artificial Clouds received funding from MIT, among others. In other words, unlike ten years ago, Chilean projects are finding a place and success in North America, thanks to private initiatives enabling financing and sales of Chilean works, opening up an increasingly promising space.
About Chiledoc
Chiledoc’s objective is to promote and generate global collaboration networks for the audiovisual production of Chilean documentaries that favor exports. 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
