Patricio guzman biography of abraham lincoln

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But the aspect which, some forty years after the events, established him as a filmmaker on the global stage was another trilogy, comprising three feature length films Nostalgia for the Light (2019), The Pearl Button (2015), and The Cordillera of Dreams (2019). So they leave, they disappear.

Though even if they leave my life and we don’t stay in touch, I still consider them a friend.

I can do more than one film if the subject matter allows, because I believe some subjects deserve more than one film.

What I like about the trilogy is that it allows you to pace yourself, so that you don’t have to pack everything into one film; if you overload on the first part it becomes more methodical, and then it’s not for everyone.

He lives in Paris with Renate Sachse, who collaborates on the scripts for his films and produced Nostalgia for the Light and The Pearl Button.

Nancy Berthier
Professor at the Sorbonne University (Chair of Visual Arts of the Hispanic World) and director of Casa Velázquez

Cover image: Patricio Guzmán during the shooting of The Cordillera of Dreams (2019).

I actually went into a crisis because of this. His 2019 film The Cordillera of Dreams completes a trilogy on his native Chile and the lasting impact of Pinochet's coup d'etat, while his 2022 film My Imaginary Country documents an explosive social revolution that brought 1.5 million Chileans to the streets - an event Patricio Guzmán had been waiting for since 1973.

Patricio Guzmán currently chairs the International Documentary Film Festival (FIDOCS) in Santiago, Chile, which he founded in 1997.

The Battle of Chile (1975-1979) was a milestone in committed film at the time. 

Following on from this somewhat “initial” account, his documentary choices to date have varied hugely.

patricio guzman biography of abraham lincoln

Once there he began to search for the economic means to complete the film. His famous documentary trilogy The Battle of Chile (1975-1979) which, in the aftermath of the fatal coup, bore witness with highly dramatic images, not only to the events, recorded with daily devotion, but also to the ideas and hopes that were soon to be dashed.

It’s seriously bad. The Pinochet Case in 2001 examined the international legal case brought against General Augusto Pinochet (Grand Prize, Marseille '01). He presides over the International Documentary Festival in Santiago de Chile (FIDOCS), which he created in 1997. It was such a bad experience; one that started quite well with a group that ultimately broke up.

Your oeuvre has certainly developed quite radically since your earliest days working with Chris Marker.

Patricio Guzmán: Really the greatest change is that it has gotten far easier to make films since I first started making them. Guzmán's next film was the gorgeous and personal meditation, Nostalgia for the Light (Cannes 2010).

It was shown in commercial theaters in 35 countries. As an adolescent in the late 1950s, he became drawn to documentary filmmaking when he had the opportunity to see some of the films of Chris Marker, Frederic Rossif, and Louis Malle. Now there are infinite ways to craft good quality films. The French documentary filmmaker Chris Marker, who was passing through Chile at the time, happened to see the film and offered to help screen it in France.

Two years later, Marker again provided invaluable assistance when he donated the raw stock necessary to begin filming The Battle of Chile, Guzmán's 4 ½ hour documentary trilogy about Allende's final year.

It’s all about dividing the narrative well. This time, the saving grace came from the Cuban Film Institute - the ICAIC - which offered to support the editing and post-production. I ended up inventing this fantastical fiction film that takes place in the jungle with all these imaginary characters. The Cordillera of dreams, presented in the official selection at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, closes a trilogy which begun with "Nostalgia for the lights" (Cannes 2010) and "The pearl button" (Berlin 2015).