What a great year for co-productions. During 2022, Chile has positioned itself as one of the most successful and award winning countries in international co-productions. The platforms and the different recognitions have become the perfect setting for the series, films and even the new formats that are starting to be created from Chile for the world.

During Ventana Sur, the last big market of the year, we had the opportunity to talk to Juan Pablo Felix (Argentine Director of Karnawal) ; Anabel Jessenne (Deputy Manager of International and Institutional Management for INCAA) ; the outstanding actor Alfredo Castro and Catalina Vergara (Producer of Globo Rojo Films) and hear about their experiences, future agreements and details of the co-productions between Chile and Argentina.

In the last two years these alliances have been the carriers of content, talents, directors and producers, generating projects with visions that cross the mountain range, and that are also positioned as cases of successes being co-productions between Chile and Argentina, among them stand out Karnawal (Golden Biznaga for Best Ibero-American Film,  Best Supporting Actor, Malaga Film Festival 2021 and eight of the South Awards, including Best Film and Best Debut at the Platino Awards ; Death will come and shall have your eyes (Best Screenplay, Image+Nation Film Festival. LGBTQueer Montréal 2020) ; My Tender Matador (Audience Award, Cinélatino Rencontres de Toulouse, France, 2021); Villa Olímpica, Recuerdos de un mundo fuera de lugar (Bafici, 2022) and Piedra Noche  by Iván Fund, among others.

We invite you to read the exclusive they shared with us CinemaChile.

ARGENTINA

“Chile was our first strategic ally after a long search for financing, which lasted more than three years for this to happen. We got to meet our Chilean co-producer, Diego Rougier, at the co-production forum in San Sebastian and from that day on the two countries worked together non-stop until we had all the funds we needed” Juan Pablo Felix director of Karnawal

What events have marked this successful co-production?

A very nice anecdote of this alliance was a few years ago during a meeting at Ventana Sur, where all the co-producers of the different countries managed to meet in the market and upload the submission call to apply for the Ibermedia production fund, and we finally got it. And another thing I can recall is that I also find it very pleasing, thinking of Latin American co-productions, winning two Platino Awards this year for Ibero-American cinema, where we feel that the effort to sustain these alliances finally gave a good result.

What do you feel the country contributed from a technical and creative point of view? 

Chile gave us one of the most beautiful things it could give us for this film: to be able to count on the great maestro Alfredo Castro for his interpretation and composition of the character, who plays the father of the young dancer.

I always say it, but Alfredo is a great professional who does not stop taking risks and bets on all kinds of stories. That is very much respected and appreciated.

In creative terms we also have sound technicians and dubbing in Santiago de Chile. To shoot the film, Chilean technicians traveled to northern Argentina and lived with us for two months. It was a very interesting work because with them we worked a lot on Alfredo’s accent and the idioms that I needed for this character.

“The work that has been developing between Argentina and Chile is very satisfactory and is growing in recent years, in these 5 years 25 films have been made as a co-production and we also have many projects in the pipeline”  Anabel Jessenne, Deputy Manager of International and Institutional Management at INCAA

What do you highlight of the co-productions between Argentina and Chile?

It is always very useful for the bilateral Argentine-Chilean call, the last edition was held this year and the first week of December the winners will be announced and as always we are open to discussions for a new call.

It is also very important to highlight the synergy that we have with the organizations of both countries and the permanent dialogue between the technical areas which allows greater access when processing a co-production project.

What factors influence or motivate to do a co-production with Chile?

Being neighbors makes us strategic partners when thinking of work in cultural cooperation. Also because we have a bilateral co-production agreement that links us and gives opportunities for the joint calls with the purpose that our producers and filmmakers can carry out their projects, seek funding, other windows and professional exchange that can enrich the work, and also because it is very important the existing connection between both countries through the work developed by the institutes of Argentina and Chile.

CHILE

“A few years ago it was unthinkable to see Argentine cinema in Chile or Chilean cinema in Argentina. Today it is a reality that co-productions have enriched us at industry levels but also at humane levels, of solidarity in our collective imaginaries, in humor, in the stories we tell and for our common emotions” Alfredo Castro

How was the shooting process with Argentine producers and directors?

Working in Argentina has meant a great growth for me as an actor, because of the challenges involved in inserting into a production system much more developed than in our country by the history of Argentine cinema itself. There is a big film industry, very powerful unions of technicians, actors and actresses.

What benefits have the different productions between Argentina and Chile brought you in your career as an actor?

The most interesting thing is to corroborate that we share common imaginaries, stories that can only be narrated from this region. A mainly critical, political cinema, which also proposes a diverse and different aesthetic, not in moral terms, but different from the North American, European and Asian industry, which is imposing itself in the various film festivals.

“It is important to seek allies that allow us to increase the production value of the film, multiply the possibilities of financing and increase the budget. By partnering specifically with Argentine production companies, excellent opportunities are opened such as working with INCAA and Ibermedia” Catalina Vergara

How was your experience working the production of the film with Argentina? 

It was with the fictional feature film Piedra Noche, in which I was a minority co-producer. The teamwork with the Argentine producer, the exchange of knowledge and strategies, were elements that contributed consistently to the project. This allowed the feature film to have a very good run. We are just premiering in theaters in Chile, and we already have another project in the works looking for financing with the same Argentine production company.

From your experience as a producer. What is the main strength that Chile has and that can attract the attention of international co-producers like the Argentines?

An important strength that Chile has is that many good films are being produced. There is a lot of good talent and opportunities to join very interesting projects. Naturally, with Argentina there are opportunities to work, in terms of financing strategies, where talent exchanges can be generated and the value of productions can grow.