Chile's Past and Present: A Trilogy

Bittersweet hommage to his home country by Patricio Guzmán, Chile's master of documentary

Chilean director Patricio Guzmán (born 1941 in Santiago de Chile) is one of the most important documentarists in the world. Influenced by the films of Louis Malle, Frédéric Rossif and Chris Marker, he studied history and philosophy at the Universidad de Chile in the early 1960s and at the Film Institute of the Catholic University of Chile from 1963 to 1966. He later became director of the documentary film workshop at Chile-Films. After the armed forces' coup on 11 September 1973, Guzmán was detained for 15 days in the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile. As he also had Spanish citizenship, he was able to leave for Spain with the completed film reels for his four-and-a-half-hour trilogy "La Batalla de Chile". In 1997, he founded the International Documentary Film Festival in Santiago de Chile. He was the director of the festival from 1997-2006. Between 2010 and 2019, Guzmán created his "Trilogy of Homeland", which includes the documentary films brought together in this collection.

He later became director of the documentary film workshop at Chile-Films. After the armed forces' coup on 11 September 1973, Guzmán was detained for 15 days in the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile. As he also had Spanish citizenship, he was able to leave for Spain with the completed film reels for his four-and-a-half-hour trilogy "La Batalla de Chile". In 1997, he founded the International Documentary Film Festival in Santiago de Chile. He was the director of the festival from 1997-2006.

Between 2010 and 2019, Guzmán created his "Trilogy of Homeland", which includes the documentary films brought together in this collection.

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