Icarus Films has announced the North American theatrical release of My Imaginary Country / Mi país imaginario, the most recent film by Chile’s master documentarian Patricio Guzmán which premiered to standing ovations at the Cannes Film Festival last May. The documentary feature will have an exclusive engagement at IFC Center in New York City beginning on Friday, September 23, followed by openings at the Laemmle Monica Center in Los Angeles on September 30, as well as in Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco also on that date.
In October 2019, without warning, a revolution exploded across Chile. It was an event that Guzmán had been waiting for since 1973, when a violent military attack overthrew the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, and became the ending of Guzman’s most famous film, and one of the greatest documentaries of all time, The Battle of Chile.
Now, millions of people took to the streets of Santiago and across the country, demanding economic justice, free education and health care and fundamentally, a new constitution.
Featuring harrowing front-line protest footage and interviews with dynamic activists—of a movement largely led by women and feminist leaders—My Imaginary Country powerfully, yet elegantly connects Chile's complex, bloody history to the country’s contemporary social movements, and leading to the recent election of a new president. An urgent and powerful film, My Imaginary Country also serves as an inspiring and exemplary tale for other nations of how a popular revolt can spark deep political change.
My Imaginary Country’s North American release is closely tied to two important upcoming political dates: On September 4, 2022, the Chilean people will vote on adopting a new, radical constitution for the country – the most important fruit of the transformative protest movement documented in the film. And that vote will take place just one week before the 49th anniversary of the US supported military coup that brought Pinochet to power, on September 11, 1973.
The IFC Center will commemorate not only this “other” September 11 but also the incredible arc and accomplishment of Guzman’s work over more than fifty years, by accompanying its presentation of My Imaginary Country with screenings of his earlier films, including The Battle of Chile, which itself premiered in Cannes, in 1975.
