Katherina Harder, continues to add international recognition to her career, Estrellas del Desierto, the short film that was recently selected in the official section of international short films at the Huelva Festival, has received three awards during the last time at the New York Latino Film Festival, the Ensenada Film Festival (Argentina) and the Festival de Cinema Ambiental (Portugal) winning in all of them the award for best short film.

Before its international premiere, the short film produced by Maltrato Films and Volcánica Films, has had a great reception from the general audience and specialized critics, participating in more than 20 international festivals during the beginning of its circuit, Among them: Tribeca Film Festival (USA), Festival Internacional de Cortos de São Paulo – Kinoforum (Brazil), DYTIATKO International Children’s Media Festival (Ukraine) and Visioni Corti (Italy), among others.

In addition, in these last two Estrellas del Desierto won the Best Short Film for Children (Ukraine) and a Special Jury Mention for Best Editing (Italy) both added to the three awards obtained during its circuit in international festivals.

The compelling production filmed in the town of Pachica, in Tarapacá, portrays the water crisis in Chile, through a key piece that tells the story of Antay, a 12-year-old boy who sees his village disappear as a result of the drought that affects the area.

Although it is a story marked by local identity and geography,  the audience has felt it as a universal story, says Katherina, explaining that the eyes of childhood bring the short film to the audience and also because the water crisis is an urgent and global problem that transcends borders today.

Immerse yourself in the creative process of this short film and check out all the details of a regional production.

	his is the first film that I have been able to shoot in my region, which makes its distribution and awards have a special symbolism for me. Even more so because it is an extreme area where it’s so much harder to make films, and the production industry is scarce.

What inspired you to create this short film and how did you get to the story?

It was a story I saw a few years ago on regional TV, where a boy in an inland town was just banging against the wall because all his friends from the village were gone. That image stuck with me for years and was finally transformed into the reflection over the feeling of loss that I wanted to explore in this short film.

How would you define or what you think is the essential basis for representing territories and stories from cinema?

I think that’s a question I’m constantly thinking about as a director.

After years of exploring different stories and formats, what I feel today is that the most essential thing for me in the construction of my stories, is that they resonate honestly with my own identity. I think that connection with what we represent somehow allows us to dive into deeper places.

	“It is important to continue creating from the local regions and to generate greater diversity in the representation of stories, landscapes and identities”

What particularities or challenges did you face?

Filming was in October 2019, right at the start of the social outbreak. We were in the village of Pachica two days away from shooting.

It was overwhelming for everyone, because while we wanted to be on the streets, telling this story linked to the water crisis took on a very deep meaning precisely because it was one of the many reasons that was mobilizing us as a society.

There were crew members who could not travel, they did not let cameras and technical equipment coming from Santiago and we had to shorten the days of shooting, all in addition to the complexity of filming in the middle of the desert and also in an extreme region like ours, for example, there are no rentals and you must bring all the technical equipment traveling by land for days from Santiago.

	“This helped develop a beautiful bond with the children and their families, who were extremely important throughout the process and with whom I am very grateful for all the trust and affection with our team and project”

How do you feel about having worked with a team that was largely from the local region?

The visions that come together in a team connected to the territory also allows you to approach the story from a place closer and honest to what you are representing.

I remember with great affection all the help we received from social leaders of the town of Pachica, from teachers/school, from owners of stores, among many others. Without all that support we would not have been able to make the short film in the way we did. I think that all this support is something very typical of the region and that in large cities it turns out to be more complex to find.

What other projects do you have in mind?

I’m working as a showrunner for a fiction series with Parox, writing my first feature-length fiction and in pre-production for my upcoming short film, whose story, like Estrellas del Desierto and my feature film project, takes place in the region of Tarapacá. In addition, in 2020 we founded, along with Elliot Morfi, our production company in Iquique, Volcánica Films, with which we are currently developing and building projects to help strengthen regional cinema in Iquique and Tarapacá.

	“We got many messages from the community in Iquique and Pachica, all happy and proud with the journey of the short film, that was extremely rewarding and exciting”

What would be your recommendation for those directors/producers of local regions that are just beginning with their works?

Each region is very different, but I am sure we have everything to make something out of it. It is hard, vertiginous and often frustrating because the conditions are adverse, but in this context I believe that collaboration between colleagues in the same regions is essential. We must not forget that cinema is always collective and that our processes and stories are nourished by all these exchanges.

Watch the official trailer here!