During the sneak peek of Cannes, we spoke with Alexandra Galvis, Chilean producer of Patricio Guzmán, one of the masters of documentaries recognized worldwide. Here you can relive his career in our 5 steps.

His latest film, My Imaginary Country will have its world premiere on May 20 at the Cannes Film Festival, where it is part of the Special Screenings of the official selection.

This film is a new proof that we are witnessing a master of cinema. With more than 70 awards throughout his career, and after making history by winning the Goya for Best Ibero-American Film with The Cordillera of Dreams, his career continues to shine.

Alexandra Galvis has accompanied the documentary filmmaker’s creative process in his last two productions. On this occasion, his new documentary -which begins with the social outbreak and culminates in the constituent process- takes him back to Cannes, which awarded him in 2019 with the Oeil D’Or for Best Documentary for his feature film `The Cordillera of Dreams‘.

“This is a film different from the previous trilogy, but that maintains very present the emotionality in the story and the voice of its author (…). “For a creative producer, the biggest challenge is to share and deeply understand the author’s vision, which in this case is very strong and is the most relevant of the film,” says Alexandra Galvis.

What would you highlight from this film within the cinematography of Patricio Guzmán, what does he add to it?

It is a film that we can see again years later and understand the climate that crossed the country. In addition, for the first time it focuses on exclusively female voices to account for the change that Chile is going through. It is they who, in every area, lead the changes that are taking place in the country today.

What do you think captures the attention of Cannes on Patricio Guzmán’s cinema?

His ability as an author to navigate the current context of a country -which abroad is less known- and turn it into a story capable of thrilling, with aesthetic, artistic and poetic ambitions. I think they consider him a director who, beyond the vision and the political fact, manages to create stories with a powerful emotion and a mastery of the work of an enormous filmmaker.

What is it like working with Guzman, what challenge does it mean for you as a producer?

Renate Sachse (French producer) and I do the production work. She is his wife and has been involved in his cinematography for a long time.

For me the biggest challenge of the production is to fully understand the vision that Patricio has. It is to understand that it is not simply about what is happening but about the author’s vision of it.

What route do you think this film can have based on a reality so current and changing at the same time?

Patricio Guzmán’s cinema has another great virtue: the ability to be timeless. So the situation in Chile changes, so the country takes a different direction from the one we see in the film, I think they are films that can age very well.  I hope that when someone wants to understand what happened from here to 30 years, this film can be a valid reference to grasp it.

We never work thinking about the changes that may come because, like all his cinema, this film is so personal in the voice of its author that allows us to share his vision about what happens, and contingency takes a back seat.