HOW CHILEAN CINEMA RULED in 2013 Chicotr Ujillofici…
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Best of 2013 Listen to some of our favourite tracks of 2013. To find out more about the Best South American Music of 2013 just click here (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/best- albums-of-2013/) Nacion… La Vid… 3:59 4,150 Nacional Recor … HOW CHILEAN CINEMA RULED IN 2013 Chicotr ujillofici… By Nick MacWilliam (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/author/nick/) - 28 December, 2013 Sounds and Col… quem asucabez… Tw eet 31 5 Me gusta 266 kar olconka - Bo… If the last few years have witnessed growing recognition, both critically and commercially, for the Sounds and Col… Chilean film industry, 2013 has been a year of consolidation for cinema in the narrow country, as Bixiga 70 - Kr ip… Chile provided further justification to those who believe it currently boasts Latin America’s Apanhador Só -… brightest film scene. Following a number of internationally well-received Chilean films over the last couple of years (Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia for the Light, Andrés Wood’s Violeta went to Heaven and Cookie policy Pablo Larraín’s No, to name but three), filmmakers continued to display talent and confidence in Sounds and Colours several films and documentaries which made a splash across different continents in 2013. Related Articles The rise of Chilean film was emphasised by the announcement late last year that the Pinochet-era Sundance Festival drama No would compete against four other films for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2013, the announces line-up: not first time a Chilean film had made the final nominations at the world’s grandest awards show. many Latin American Although No eventually lost out to Michael Haneke’s Amour, its presence in the final shortlist films included (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/argentina/sundance- reemphasised the film’s compelling content, merging fact and fiction in a tale of social unity film-festival-2014/) against tyranny. No was an international success, thanks to its weighty narrative and the presence Where the Condors Fly in the lead role of brilliant actor, beautiful human specimen and all round good egg, Gael Garcia (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/chile/where- Bernal. the-condors-fly/) Festival In-Edit, But No was a hit in its native country in 2012. So, what was this year’s equivalent, a film to showcasing the best music films, coming to showcase the verve of contemporary Chilean cinema, which would be just as well-received by Colombia and Chile international audiences as by those at home? The Chilean film of 2013 was undoubtedly Sebastián (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/colombia/festival- Lelio’s Gloria, the widely-acclaimed tale of a mid-fifties divorcee for whom singledom and age in-edit-showcasing- the-best-in-music- initially represent no barrier to exploring life’s pleasures yet, for Paulina Garcia’s eponymous films-coming-to- heroine, this ultimately results in an emotional void until new relationships serve as a conduit colombia-and-chile/) through which to examine Gloria’s, and to an extent Chile’s, past. Gloria was ‘at once funny, Bogota’s International uplifting, moving and deeply disquieting’ said The Observer, while Time Out noted the film’s socio- Documentary Encounter showcases political commentary, saying it was ‘a portrait of a certain comfortably-off segment of Chilean local filmmaking in society, still somewhat unsure as to how to cope with its recent history.’ Garcia’s superb Colombia performance in the lead role was recognised with the Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/colombia/bogotas- international- Festival. documentary- encounter-showcases- Released around the same time as Gloria, El Futuro was the first cinematic realisation of the work local-filmmaking-in- colombia/) of late Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, whose Una Novelita Lumpen was retitled and brought to the Locarno Film Festival screen by Alicia Scherson. Opening with the car wreck that orphans the two teenage sibling 2014 to focus on protagonists, the narrative follows Bianca and Tomás as they attempt to adapt to a new reality of Brazilian Cinema self-dependence, a state which leads them to formulate a plan involving an ex-Mr Universe, played (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/locarno- film-festival-2014-to- by Rutger Hauer. It is a strong first attempt at a Bolaño dramatisation, and poses the question as focus-on-brazilian- to whether there are any filmmakers out there willing to take on the immense task of adapting the cinema/) st writer’s 21 century masterpiece, 2666. Uma História de Amor e Fúria (Rio 2096: a The recently-announced Cinema Tropical awards also reflected the current strength of Chilean Story of Love and Fury) filmmaking with a preponderance of films from the country. Gloria and No were both among the (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/rio- 2096-a-story-of-love- nominees for Best Feature Film, while Pablo Larraín also received a Best Director nomination for and-fury/) No, along with Sebastián Silva for Crystal Fairy. With just five films in either category, the presence of Brazilian Film Festival two Chilean productions on both shortlists gives another sign that Chilean cinema is currently of London runs from riding a particularly creative wave. Not bad for a country with less than a tenth of the population of 27th Sep – 1st Oct (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/brazilian- Brazil. The Cinema Tropical awards will be held in late-January. film-festival-of-london- runs-from-27th-sep- Crystal Fairy was undoubtedly a Chilean film, with its panoramic shots of the Atacama Desert and 1st-oct/) recreation of countless youthful road trips conducted through the country’s extensive northern Mexico’s ‘Heli’ wins landscapes. But it was a film with its eyes firmly fixed on the foreign market, evident in the Best Film at Lima Film Festival presence in the lead roles of North American actors Michael Cera, as the nerdy slacker on a (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/peru/mexicans- pilgrimage to find the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus, and Gaby Hoffman as the ditsy hippy girl heli-wins-best-film-at- who tags along annoyingly at first but then provokes a humanitarian awakening in her self-centred lima-film-festival/) compatriot. This was one of two films from Sebastian Silva in 2013, the other, Magic Magic, shifting Colombian Short Film ‘Our World’ wins at the action to the south of Chile in another play to international audiences, as a couple of North Spanish Film Festival American backpackers travel the region while slowly losing touch with reality. The foreign focus of (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/articles/colombia/colombian- these films meant they were less popular in Chile than certain other productions but, by setting short-film-our-world- his films at opposite ends of the country, Silva highlighted one of the great advantages and traits wins-at-spanish-film- festival/) of national cinema: namely that in spite of relatively low budgets, Chilean filmmakers are blessed Locarno Film Festival to with a stunning natural environment in which to frame their projects, and the majestic landscapes focus on Chilean that feature along the country’s full length are a key characteristic of national cinema. Cinema (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/news/locarno- Chile’s striking imagery is a brooding, powerful presence in its films, and perhaps no other film film-festival-to-focus- on-chilean-cinema/) summed this up more in 2013 than Dominga Sotomayor’s De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday till Sunday), winner of the naAtrigoennatiln pa rize at the 2012 (Vhatt(ldphi:tv/t(/iphatw:t /t(F/iphtwilt:m/ewt/prw w.:Fc/w.e/offawsemct.eiesv/dosbasouol.,us noaondknud.ccdnlso cdamuosndla/os.ncutoodhrumcesno/r/)d lsossotuaournrnsdy.dc cbsooaamlons/uedsdrcosou)lonCudarstsae/gn)odrcioelso: uBress)t New (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/argentina) around a road trip through the arid north. SotomayorL’iske de4bkut features a typical nuclear family in Films Bolivia (HTTPt:h/e /leWad rWolesW, as .thSeO incUreaNsinDglyS baArrNen lDanCdscOapLesO seUrveR asS a. mCeOtapMhor/ fo)r the parents’ lifeless (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/best- new-films), Chile Home relationship (mum and dad played by Paola Giannini and Emiliano Freifeld), both trying to maintain (http://www.soundsandcolours.com) (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/chile) the illusion of normality for the sake of their two young children. Held together through an Film News excellent central performance from Santi Ahumada as twelve-year old Lucia, all too aware of her (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/film) (http://www.soundspanadrceolnoutrs.c’ ocmr/inseiwss,) the film is a simply-constructed but pointedly-told account of decent people drifting Tags: Alicia Scherson apart. Music (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/tag/alicia- (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/music) scherson/), Argentine Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh) marked the full-length debut of another young director of rich promise. Cinema Film (http://www.soundsFaendrcnolaounrsd.com /Gfilum)zzoni’s film centres on Alejandro, an ageing ex-military official who is prone to bouts (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/tag/argentine- of psychosis that manifest in extreme violence. Haunted by undocumented events from before the cinema/), Carne de Perro Books film’s timeframe, Alejandro (played by Alejandro Goic) strives to hold down a normal life but grows (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/books) (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/tag/carne- increasingly more volatile as nothing works out, sending him deeper into a spiral of perpetual de-perro/), Catalina What’s On torment. The protagonist presents a conundrum as he attempts to redeem himself from the Vergara (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/event) (http://www.soundsandcolours.com/tag/catalina- wickedness of past deeds that he nevertheless took part in. In his strife, Alejandro is far from a vergara/), Chile Store sympathetic figure yet evidently a tragic one.