The major festival awards have won both Berlin (“Blue Trail”) and Cannes (“Flamingo’s Mystical Eyes”), Chile has landed in Venice, with Niles Atala’s short “Melimundi” competing in the Horizon section, with the country’s ministry positioning the country’s arts and arts.
More than 20 producers have been supported to participate in the festival, and five Chilean projects have been selected for the gap finance market. This acknowledges only projects that have reached at least 80% of their investment and presents strong artistic potential (see the full profile of all projects below).
During the Venice Production Bridge, Cinematil co-director, Alexandra Galvis, hosted a conversation with Santiago and famous producer of Los Angeles-based Quixote films, Giancarlo Nasi, to discuss the current state of their national films and the possibilities of co-production.
“We didn’t want to talk about funding lists or information that we could easily find online,” Garvis explains the various intents behind the talk. “What we really wanted was to explain how our producers could create a kind of talent that would allow us to understand not only the funds provided by our state, but also how the world works and collaborate in unconventional ways.
Commenting on the focus on creative co-production models as a way to boost Chile’s international profile, Galvis says its central focus is on “strategy design.”
“(It’s) how to collaborate with a large country, how to move forward when only minority funds are available, how to collaborate with the film industry in languages that don’t even speak, how to find an outlet in a challenging context,” she adds. “(It’s) the concept of thinking outside the box. For us, this is a huge added value: the ability to truly think beyond traditional boundaries, innovate, and develop projects that allow us to travel the world without necessarily relying on a large budget.
“Flamingo’s Mystical Gaze,” courtesy of Quijote Films
Nasi spoke about her recent three breakout projects throughout her hourly lecture. Gabriel Mascaro’s Silver Bear Award “The Blue Trail,” Diego Cespedes’ UN’s particular winner, “Flamingo’s Mystical Eye,” and Felipe Galves’ Fiplesi Award-winning “Setler.” All three projects are ambitious co-productions, and model Quijote Films has adopted it in all 25 feature films they have produced over the past 14 years, working with a whopping 23 countries, including unlikely partners such as Taiwan and Ukraine.
Nasi said Chilean filmmakers would “inevitably” co-produce. “Chilean producers co-produce overseas because Chile is a country that doesn’t produce that many films. They probably make 30 to 40 a year, much less than Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. But we always stand out at international film festivals.”
“We are a small country with an economy that is very open to the world,” he added. “It affects our fund’s rules. This is very liberal and flexible.” In this regard, Nasi praised how Chile offers a variety of production frameworks, including a cash rebate program, a national film fund for a majority Chilean production, and a specific co-production fund that offers a $120,000 pot that can be spent anywhere in the world “without costs and obligations.”
The pears especially praise the latter. “If you have a film that is co-produced with Ukraine, you can apply for the fund and send $120,000 to Ukraine for filming. That helps because when you co-produce, you have a lot of money to do post-production in Europe, but you don’t have enough money to film the film.”
Elsewhere in the talk, the veteran producers offered two important advice to the up-and-coming filmmakers. Maintain full power in the decision and do not provide co-production partners with exclusive rights to their territory. Of the former, Nasi said it was an important strategy to bring together key decisions to avoid confusion and protect the director (“If you’re making an ambitious film, you can’t have eight bosses”). Regarding the latter, the producers emphasized that it is pointless to work hard for French producers to acquire the best territory in the world for eight years.
“This is a difficult argument because older-school producers are so obsessed with maintaining their territory,” he admitted, but said that the strategy will not only bring financial benefits to all partners, but will also help secure equity investments from countries like the US and the UK, as the division is clear when it comes to recovering investments.
Finally, the producer reiterated that he doesn’t feel that he should “just make Chilean or Latin American films.” “I feel the whole world should work together. I like to do things that are legally very difficult, so I can push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of certificates, contracts and legal regulations.
The Chilean projects selected for the Venice Gap Finance market are:
Directed by Patus de Perot. Matthias Rojas
Labeled as the story of a boy who becomes “The Minotaur of Latin America,” the genre film tells the story of a boy born in a strange state. Sitting down, he is a dog. His life changes when he is taken to Carlos, a man who has just lost his son and fights to integrate his new child into society. It is accompanied by the famous Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (“El Conde”). It was produced by a simple view and Rhayuela film in collaboration with Klinker Films.
“People are still dying from love,” the director said. Fernando Guzzoni
This was Guzzoni’s follow-up to “Blanquita” in 2022, winning Silver Lion for the best script on Venice, and Chile’s official submission to the Oscars. “People Still Die” is a modern satirical dystopian drama that follows a woman who is caught up in a “delusional journey” of “the boundaries between reality and virtual world begin to blur,” after accidentally killing a young hitman on the street. It was produced by Oro Films in collaboration with Redrum (“Bardo”).
“To die on your feet (Morir de Pie), dir. Maria Paz Gonzalez
Cruz is a professional medical actress who teaches empathy to future doctors, but she begins to lose herself following the actual tragedy. When AI threatens her job, she joins her fellow actors to fight the loss of invisibility and human connection. “To Die on Your Feet” is a follow-up to the 2019 “Lina from Lima,” which premiered in Toronto. It was produced by Quijote Films in collaboration with Amore Cine, Tarantula and Bocacha.
“Drift Images”, dir. Nicholas Tabilo
Tabilo’s feature film debut is a hybrid autobiographical essay about the director and his mother as he navigates grief, labor and memories after the loss of his family. It takes place within the vineyard rim of the vineyard as the mother contemplates whether she should quit her job as a worker in the field, and the fields turn to stage to rethink identity, relatives and film as a space of care. Produced by Tabilos.
“Corte Culebra”, dir. Ana Elena Tegera
The debut of interdisciplinary artist Tejera’s “Panchiako” premiered in Rotterdam and represented Panama at the Goya Prize. Her follow-up is set in 2000, and when Panama’s soldiers enter the canal zone for the first time a century after the American occupation, he meets the mystical women of the jungle and helps to uncover the hidden history of the communities that were refuged by the occupation. It comes with “Earwig” cinematographer Jonathan Riquebourg and “Sound of Metal” composer Nicolas Becker. It was produced by Mestizo and Fulgurance in collaboration with Capicua Films.
