In a milestone for the national film industry, Malqueridas, directed by Tana Gilbert and produced by Paola Castillo and Dirk Manthey, was the first Chilean documentary to be part of this section of the Venice Film Festival, where it received three critical acclaim awards.
Malqueridas received the IWONDERFULL Grand Prize Settimana Internazionale della Critica, the award for best film in the competition; the Mario Serandei – Hotel Saturnia Award for Best Technical Contribution, awarded by a committee of film critics, members of the National Union of Italian Film Critics; and the honorable mention «Under The Umbrella of the Premio Pedicini for under-40 filmmakers«, for Javiera Velozo and Tana Gilbert.
This documentary portrays stories of women in prison who recorded their experiences of motherhood through videos and photographs captured with banned cell phones while serving their sentences. «To be in Venice was unforgettable; we experienced it intensely and with much emotion. We went with some of our crew members and discussed the film together. The collective efforts we achieved during our premiere also reflected the transformative work process we underwent with the movie. Being in the company of Karina, the film’s protagonist, has been key to reflecting on how to think about and address the issue of maternity in prison«, says Tana Gilbert.
Paola Castillo highlights the importance of telling this story through a documentary: «It is fascinating to see how the film manages to cross territories and identities and how it succeeds in sensitizing, understanding, and making visible such an important issue as motherhood in prisons, which is a very harsh and often overlooked reality. The images in the film were created by women while serving their sentences, and these recordings provide a unique opportunity to become aware of what they experience that otherwise we would not be able to access. This collective archive is a form of resistance to the context of invisibility and marginalization they live in.»
A Milestone for the Chilean documentary
In the 38 years of the Venice International Critics’ Week, it’s the first time a Chilean documentary has made it to this stage. With an emotional world premiere, Malqueridas marked a turning point for female filmmakers within the most significant international spaces in the film industry.
«It is significant for the Chilean documentary to achieve this showcase and this recognition with these awards, which we did not expect, to tell the truth, which adds value to the film itself and the documentary genre. We are a community that grows year by year and continues to strengthen, and these experiences are shared, which strengthens us even more,» says Paola Castillo, who is also a producer of films such as Beyond My Grandfather Allende.
A story like Malqueridas also aims to create new spaces for observing the issues of a society that transforms every day. «We believe in the expressive and aesthetic power of the documentary; as Italian director Cecilia Mangini said a long time ago, «the documentary is the freest form of filmmaking. I constantly ask myself about our ethical responsibility as filmmakers, and we believe that documentary film can create new imaginaries about the problems surrounding us,» says the documentary director.
The Next Steps for Malqueridas
Malqueridas will have its national premiere at the Valdivia International Film Festival, where it will be part of the Official Selection of Feature Films. «With this premiere begins an important journey through international festivals, and hopefully national ones as well. We want to raise awareness about the issue of motherhood in prison through the film, with the goal of achieving even small changes in the mindset of those of us living in Chile,» says Gilbert.
The filmmaking crew mentions that the official premiere in commercial theaters is planned for the first half of 2024, and they hope to reach both national and international audiences.
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