– Alien Island and A la sombra de la luz are the projects that will take part of the Hot Docs Forum, the most important documentary market in North America.
– A delegation composed of 13 Chilean representatives will participate in the market activities that the festival offers to the documentary sector.
– Download here the online catalogue with the delegation and national projects that are part of Hot Docs 2020
Two national productions are part of the 22 projects – from 19 countries – chosen from the more than 460 applicants that wanted to be part of this year’s Hot Docs Forum. These documentaries had the opportunity to present live before the main decision-makers of the industry, on Tuesday, May 5th and Wednesday, May 6th, in order to obtain financement for the production of the films.
María José Díaz, producer of A la sombra de la luz, tells how the launch of online markets is presented as an opportunity never seen before for national projects: “As producers, we understand that national funds are of great help, but to open up to International markets means increasing the possibilities of financing, of association with other producers, buyers, and thus generating robust businesses that strengthen the Chilean audiovisual industry. Although the current context is adverse, this also opens us to the possibility that it is no longer necessary to take a plane to connect with others. If we are optimistic, we can even see it as an opportunity to make key international connections, without leaving our countries. We understand that being able to continue creating and pushing projects in such a context requires the efforts of all sectors».
Diego Breit, producer of Isla Alien describes how was the experience of presenting before the decision makers of one of the markets with most international relevance: «We are very happy because the Forum is one of the most important documentary pitch instances in the world and of course the most relevant in North America and having been there, in front of funds, channels and co-producers from Europe, Asia and North America is really a unique opportunity. We saw that the «decision makers» reacted very well, understood exactly the background of the story and many managed to connect with this documentary. We hope that in the coming meetings we will be able to make progress with the financement. In our agenda there are co-producers, platforms and television channels very relevant that were interested in the project, so we hope to have good reception and see if we can work together now or in the near future.
A la sombra de la luz directed by Isabel Reyes and Ignacia Merino and produced by María José Díaz, tells the story of a town in southern Chile from where all the energy is powered to the rest of the country but, paradoxically, lives in the dark.
[Click here to watch a video of María José Díaz telling us about A la sombra de la luz y Hot Docs]aquí]
Alien Island, directed by Cristóbal Velenzuela and produced by Diego Breit, is the story of Ernesto, a man who quit his job and settled in a forest in Chiloé (southern island) where he began to communicate by radio with some characters who claimed to live in «Friendship Island» associated with an alien race. A story where lies and truth intersect, creating an island myth that has not stopped growing.
[Click here to watch a video of Cristóbal Valenzuela telling us aboutAlien Island Hot Docs]aquí]
Hot Docs Forum eis the largest international documentary market in North America, bringing together projects for two days with top editors, film fund representatives, sales agents, programming executives, and delegates from around the world in order to stimulate international financement for co-production.
Delegation and National Projects
Alongside them, there are seven more projects that will be part of various festival markets such as Distribution Rendezvous and Doc Shop. These are Rompiendo el ladrillo, Asteroid 2518, La vida sigue, Custodio the tiger of the East, American Gaucho, Bloques erráticos and The Other One (recent winner at Visions du Réel, check this news here aquí). The directors of the projects are the members of the Chilean delegation, which is led by Paola Castillo, deputy director of Chiledoc, the sectoral brand of the national documentary.
A total of 12 filmmakers had the opportunity to meet with the most effective buyers in the Northern Hemisphere:
-Mixie Araya | Producer – Yareta
-Diego Breit | Producer – Glaciar Films
– María José Díaz | Producer- Galgo Story Telling
– Rodrigo Díaz | Producer – Brisa Films
– Carola Fuentes | Director and producer - La Ventana Cine
– Francisco Greene | Producer
– Ignacio Hernández | Producer – Para Amanda Films
– Francisco Hervé | Producer – Juntos Films
– Ignacia Merino | Director – Dos Be Producciones
– Isabel Reyes | Director – Dos Be Producciones
– Joséphine Schroeder | Producer – Pequén Producciones
– Cristóbal Valenzuela | Director
– Paola Castillo | Executive Director – Chiledoc
This virtual activity to Hot Docs Forum was financed by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage and organized by Chiledoc, the sector brand of the Chilean documentary.
internacional@chiledoc.cl
@copyright Corporación Chilena del Documental CCDoc
