“The Hyperboreans,” the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight entry from Chile, defines the inventive works that have emerged from this small nation. Many of its films touch on traumatic national events of the past but play with rarely explored genres in the region. Case in point: the country’s recent Oscar submission, “The Settlers,” about Chile’s bloody colonial 1901 battle in its south, is a neo-Western.
Helmed by animation mavens Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, “The Hyperboreans” (“Los Hiperbóreos”) combines live action and stop-motion animation in a story that also stands out for its singularity. In it, Chilean actress and psychologist Antonia Giesen films a script from her patient’s mind, leading to a reality-bending spiral when she discovers it originates from Nazi poet Miguel Serrano.
“We planned this as an exhibition of the filming process at an art gallery in Chile, so we filmed this in a single space and with only one actress, turning the set into a public art exhibition,” says producer Catalina Vergara of Globo Rojo Films. “The shoot was a playful exploration, merging acting techniques, puppets, theater and animation, which grew each day into a unique cinematic experience.”
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Alexandra Galvis, co-general coordinator of CinemaChile and VP of film and TV producers org APCT, says, “once again, the talent of these directors goes hand-in-hand with a unique, creative endeavor that takes risks in form and content. Something that, when you think about it, is one of the hallmarks of Chilean cinema: originality.”
APCT successfully pushed for the reactivation of the IFI Audiovisual Fund, which enables international producers shooting in Chile to access rebates of up to 30% of eligible expenses.
CinemaChile, celebrating its 15th anniversary, has much to salute. At the 2024 Oscars, Pablo Larraín’s black-and-white reimagining of Chile’s military dictator Augusto Pinochet as a vampire in “El Conde” was nominated for its cinematography and Maite Alberdi was nominated for her documentary “The Eternal Memory.”
In her 2020 Oscar – nominated “The Mole Agent,” Alberdi put her own stamp on the documentary genre, threading a fine line between fiction and nonfiction. “I find it flattering when people ask me if the story is real or not,” says Alberdi.
She’s now editing her first venture into fiction filmmaking, “La Homicida,” produced by Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s shingle Fabula for Netflix. “I’ve discovered how much easier it is to make a fiction film, as one has way more control over the story,” she notes, adding that it takes her at least five years to make a documentary and not knowing how it ends can be pretty stressful.
Sebastián Lelio, who won an Oscar for his 2017 trans drama “A Fantastic Woman,” is venturing into musicals with “The Wave” (“La Ola”). Inspired by the 2018 feminist movement in Chile, it centers on Julia, a music student, who joins the protests at her university, where women are speaking out against harassment. Dancing and singing with friends, she confronts her own past.
Meanwhile, Quijote Films (“The Settlers”) is embarking on its first sci-fi horror drama, “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo.” It’s the feature debut of Diego Céspedes, who made a splash with his Cannes shorts “The Summer of the Electric Lion” and “The Melting Creatures.” “It will be our most ambitious project yet,” says Quijote’s Giancarlo Nasi.
“If not for our co-productions with various countries and our collaborations with platforms, we would not be able to thrive,” notes Fabula producer Rocío Jadue. “The challenge is for Chile to set up a stable support system for its audiovisual community that will not change with each government that comes into power.”
