Master documentarian Patricio Guzmán (b. 1941) has documented the tumultuous political history of his native Chile for over fifty years. From the democratically elected socialist government of President Salvador Allende in the early seventies to the US-backed coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, and more recently to the social uprising that opened the door for the rewriting of a new constitution, Guzmán has served as a witness and chronicler of the history of the South American nation. His commitment to filming the lived history of his country for more than 50 years is unprecedented in world cinema.
This September 11th marks the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup led by General Pinochet and his army, which drastically changed the history of Chile and Latin America. To mark the occasion, Icarus Films is proud to announce a special film series in New York City celebrating the work of the influential and lauded Chilean director and his five-decade career. The series, presented with Cinema Tropical, in partnership with Anthology Film Archives, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the IFC Center, includes the following programs:
His feature-length debut The First Year captures the first 12 months of Allende’s democratically elected, socialist government. It was released in 1972 in Chile and in France (where Chris Marker produced a French-language version of the film), but never in North America. Now fully restored in 4K, Anthology Film Archives will host a one-week run in its North American premiere.
Guzmán’s monumental, three-part epic The Battle of Chile, filmed in 1973, chronicles the escalating conflicts in Chilean society that led up to and ended with General Pinochet and his army’s coup, on September 11th of that year. Widely considered one of the greatest documentary films ever made, the Brooklyn Academy of Music will present the North American premiere run of the 4K restoration.
The IFC Center, where Guzman’s most recent films have all premiered theatrically in the US, will host special screenings of his memory and landscape trilogy: Nostalgia for the Light, The Pearl Button, and The Cordillera of Dreams, as well as last year’s My Imaginary Country on September 13th and 14th.
In addition to the screenings, the series will also feature special conversations and Q&As with invited guests to discuss the international relevance of Guzmán’s filmography, and specific issues around history, memory, cinema, and the current state of Chilean politics and society.
