Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

dictatorship; Gringuito (Sergio Castilla, 1998) explores
the strangeness of return through the eyes of a young
boy; Alarcón’s Tsikatriz (The Scar, 1996) follows the
story of two brothers who struggle to overcome their
ideological discrepancies after one of them returns from
Moscow.
Following his return to Chile, Guzmán wished to
confront the fact that, during the first years of the transition
to democracy, the government had encouraged a
policy of forgetting rather than addressing the violence of
the dictatorship. His documentary Chile, la memoria
obstinada (Chile, the Obstinate Memory, 1997) comments
on how historical memory has been avoided at all costs.
Around the turn of the twenty-first century, thanks to the
political leadership of La Concertación, an alliance of
centrist and moderate left-wing parties, the memory of
the coup is becoming an accessible topic on a large scale.
Some returnees insist on themes of return and memory,
in part so that the new generation of filmmakers,
who did not experience either exile or dictatorship, can
understand the national trauma. One of the few films to
comment on torture during the military regime, as well
as on the way the past haunts the present, Amnesia
(1994) by Gonzalo Justiniano (b. 1955), received critical
praise at international film festivals (Havana, among
others). Gaviola’s Mi último hombre (My Last Man,
1996) is a story of repression and betrayal that addresses
the manipulation of information on all levels of society.
Belonging to a new generation of filmmakers, Cecilia
Cornejo reconstructs the 1973 coup through her family’s
history in the documentary short I Wonder What You
Will Remember of September (2004). Other films provide
a critical outlook on the negative consequences of the
economic policies put forward by the military government.
Ignacio Agũero’s documentary Cien niños esperando
un tren (One Hundred Children Waiting for a
Train, 1988) and Gonzalo Justiniano’s feature film
Caluga o Menta (Candy or Mint, 1990) explore the theme
of poverty and marginalized youth in Santiago.
Chilean filmmakers, while striving to produce boxoffice
hits in Chile, have also sought a place on the
international film circuit. A complex interaction has
developed between the creation of a new kind of national
narrative based on pop culture and the production of
Hollywood-style features that can be exported around the
world. This new ‘‘Chileanness’’ is meant both to lure
national audiences to the theaters and to present a local
specificity that will attract the international public.
Notable success stories are Chacotero Sentimental (The
Sentimental Teaser, 1999), by Cristián Galaz; Sexo con
amor (Sex with Love, 2003), by Boris Quercia; and
Machuca (2004), by Andrés Wood.
In the absence of a star system, the most popular
actors have become known through a combination of
performances in TV series, theater, and feature films.
Among them are Tamara Acosta (Machuca), Daniel
Muñoz (El fotógrafo [The Photographer], Historias de fútbol
[Football Stories]), Boris Quercia (Sex with Love,
Coronation), Héctor Noguera (Sub terra), and Claudia
di Girolamo (My Last Man). One of the most important
screen figures is Patricio Contreras (b. 1947), the protagonist
of The Frontier. After receiving Best Actor award at
the Havana Film Festival in 1987, he has distinguished
himself in features produced in Argentina and the United
States.
SEE ALSO National Cinema; Third Cinema
Chile
FURTHER READING
Burton, Julianne. ‘‘Nelson Villagra (Chile): The Actor at Home
and in Exile.’’ In Cinema and Social Change in Latin America:
Conversations with Filmmakers, edited by Julianne Burton,
211–219. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986.
Chanan, Michael. Chilean Cinema. London: British Film
Institute, 1976.
Esther, John. ‘‘Chile in the Time of the Generals: An Interview
with Andrés Wood.’’ Cineaste 30, no. 3 (Summer 2005): 67.
Guzmán, Patricio, and Julianne Burton. ‘‘Politics and Film in
People’s Chile: The Battle of Chile.’’ In Film and Politics in the
Third World, edited by John Downing, 219–246. Brooklyn,
NY: Autonomedia, 1987.
King, John. Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America.
Revised ed. London: Verso, 2000.
Littín, Miguel. ‘‘Film in Allende’s Chile.’’ In The Cineaste
Interviews on the Art and Politics of the Cinema, edited by Dan
Georgakas and Lenny Rubenstein, 24–32. Chicago: Lakeview
Press, 1983.
Paranaguá, Paulo Antônio. ‘‘Of Periodizations and Paradigms:
The Fifties in Comparative Perspective.’’ Nuevo Texto Crítico
11, no. 21–22 (enero-diciembre 1998): 31–44.
Pick, Zuzana Mirjam. The New Latin American Cinema: A
Continental Project. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993.
Ryan, Susan. ‘‘Chile: Hasta Cuando? An Interview with David
Bradbury,’’ Cineaste 16, nos. 1–2 (1987–1988): 76–77.
Catherine L. Benamou
Andreea Marinescu
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