September 13, 2022
Chile lands in Spain with great cinematographic works. The San Sebastian Film Festival once again welcomes our country with a magnificent presence at Horizontes Latinos where My Imaginary Country by the renowned documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzmán and Manuela Martelli’s 1976 debut feature will participate.
The Official Section will be led by two Chileans: The outstanding director Sebastián Lelio who returns to San Sebastián with his new feature The Wonder (Ireland) and the renowned actor Alfredo Castro who on this occasion comes for his performance in the Argentine film El suplente by Diego Lerman.
Also in Zabaltegi-Tabakalera will be screened the short film The melting creatures (Chile-France) by one of the outstanding directors of our recent years, Diego Céspedes.
To top it off, the attendance to the market will also be huge. Chile will have 2 projects in WIPLatam; 2 projects in the Co-production Forum and the participation of more than 10 production companies –including 5 CAIA National delegates, supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage- who will be in Spain charting the future of national cinema.
The news of the Chilean presence in San Sebastian is impressive, and we tell you all about it in this article.
The Wonder is Lelio’s eighth feature film, which arrives after having its World Premiere at TIFF 2022 and also being part of Telluride Film Festival. In addition this new film by Lelio will be released on Netflix during December of this year.
After winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with A Fantastic Woman (2017) and then premiering consecutively Disobedience (2017) and Gloria Bell (2018) the renowned Chilean director returns with a feature film that delves into the mysterious story of a nurse in the nineteenth century (Ireland) who is hired to investigate the strange case of a child who has not eaten for four months. The film stars renowned actress Florence Pugh.
 | “It is exciting to return to San Sebastian, a festival that has been very important in my formative years. Coming back now with The Wonder, to its official selection, has a very special flavor, filled with gratitude” Sebastián Lelio |
Horizontes Latinos is the section that has a major Chilean presence this year. Every year, feature films produced entirely or partially in Latin America, directed by filmmakers of Latin origin, are brought together here.
On this occasion the presence of My Imaginary Country by renowned documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzmán and 1976 debut film by Manuela Martelli.
Both films arrive after being premiered in Cannes and receiving various international awards, as well as a great reception from the audience when telling in both cases about issues of political and social contingency of the past and also of the present of the country.
In Zabaltegi-Tabakalera will be screened the short film The melting creatures (Chile-France) by the young director Diego Céspedes, the festival section is intended for films that dare to try new angles and formats where there are no rules or limits of style nor running time.
The short film is co-produced between Chile (Giancarlo Nasi & Rodrigo Díaz) and France (Damien Megherbi & Justin Pechberty) and had a successful run at the Cannes Film Festival some months ago.
 | “The Chilean Creative and Cultural Industries are a contribution to the diversification and the aggregation of value and quality of our exportable offer and, from that point of view, are a priority focus for ProChile” Lorena Sánchez, International Director ProChile |
 | “The presence of the Chilean audiovisual industry at the most important meeting events of the cinema world has become a virtuous tradition that, as the Ministry of Cultures, we continue to support” Andrea Gutiérrez Vásquez, Undersecretary of Culture and the Arts |
Chile will have two co-production projects, both of which are debut films that will participate in WIPLatam : Penal Cordillera (Chile/Brazil) by Felipe Carmona, produced by Cinestación and Sandra (Colombia/Chile) by Yennifer Uribe co-produced by Pinda Producciones.
In the Co-Production Forum the selected projects are: The Fire Doll by Niles Atallah (Chile/France) who previously participated in the festival in its Cinema in Construction section and New Directors with his first feature film (Lucía, 2010).
Also, To die in your feet (Chile/Argentina) by María Paz González, her second feature after Lina de Lima. “It is an important space to give international visibility to the project and helps to get financing. I have never participated in the forum before and I know there will be many meetings. I hope to return with a clear idea of the possibilities that the film has,” says the director.
Chile takes over the San Sebastian industry! In this new edition of the market there will be 13 production houses that will be in Spain, to establish alliances, co-production agreements and seek funding for a promising number of projects.
Among them stand out 5 Chilean professionals supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage: Afro Producciones (Sebastián Araya); Globo Rojo Films (Catalina Vergara); El otro Film Producciones (Marianne Mayer-Beckh) ; Juntos Films (Daniela Raviola) and Lucho Films (Luis Cifuentes).
“For the ninth consecutive year we are supporting our creators through the Support Program for Participation in International Markets. This is an event that brings together the European and Ibero-American world, and is an essential date for national cinema” highlights Andrea Gutiérrez Vásquez, Undersecretary of Cultures and Arts.
In turn, among the 12 delegates, seven of them will form the complete delegation representing their production companies, among them: Agosto Cine ; Cinestación; Jirafa; Mayra Morán; Pinda Producciones; Quijote Films and Storyboard Media.
In this same line, the presence of the director Alba Gaviraghi (Agosto Cine) stands out, who during the month of August was the winner of the second edition of CinemaChile Market Lab in the film section with her project Only Child.
 | “This is the first market in which my project is a part of and I believe that the Spanish-speaking and Latin American industry that meets every year, have an ideal profile to be the partners of the film” Alba Gaviraghi |
No doubt Chile’s participation in San Sebastián will be amazing.
“Through the public private work the Chilean audiovisual industry has achieved great international recognition that is reflected in the various awards it has received in recent times,” says Lorena Sanchéz, International Director Prochile.
Soon you will be able to zoom in to our exclusive scoops, photos and videos from the festival, follow us on our social media @cinemachile and don’t miss the news about Chile in San Sebastián!