- Maite Alberdi's "La memoria infinita" and Vuk Lungulov-Klotz's "Quiltro" will represent Chile at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival. In addition, 22 Chilean production companies will present their projects to the world film industry. The Chilean delegation, with more than 40 representatives, has an on-site stand and a digital guide with details of Chile's participation.
- Chilean cinema arrives in Berlin at its best moment, after a record year in international awards, with 219 awards at international festivals; and with the highest participation of women in the history of national cinema: 37 Chilean women directors and producers shone at the main international festivals, where they received 88 awards.
The Berlin International Film Festival began this February 16, the first fully on-site edition after the years of the pandemic. This also marks Chile's return to this first major event in the annual calendar of festivals, with a delegation that includes film and series projects, in a very favorable context for Chilean cinema globally.
Our country is represented by a delegation of more than 40 Chileans in different sections, including "La memoria infinita", by Maite Alberdi and "Quiltro", by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, both of which received awards at Sundance.
"The infinite memory"
This year Chile surprises at the European Film Market (EFM) with 22 national production companies participating - seven of them (Equeco, Juntos Films, Mar Pictures, Mesa Redonda Studio, Quijote Films, Storyboard Media and Wood Producciones) supported by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage - along with three Chileans in Berlinale Talents, two projects in screenings, two projects in the Feature Film Pitches, among others.
For CinemaChile's International Producer, Ashley Salman, Chile's return to Berlin is promising. "We have built a great relationship with the market and in this edition we seek to continue strengthening it. This delegation comes with a strong presence of women's and young people's stories. There are also comedies and genre films: detective, historical or action", she commented.
Chilean-German co-production agreement
The commercial director of ProChile Berlin, Germán Vergara, emphasizes that the work "at the Berlinale is key to continuing the positioning of the Chilean audiovisual creative industry in the European market," efforts that have now been reinforced thanks to the recent co-production agreement signed with Germany at the end of December, which will be presented at a networking space between producers from both countries on February 20.
The dual nationality of the production, a key element of the agreement, "allows access to benefits and promotion instruments and/or tax advantages that exist in both countries, whether the majority is Chilean or German," according to the president of the Chilean Film and Television Producers Association (APCT), Gabriela Sándoval.
This agreement is in addition to those signed with Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy and Venezuela, which allow access to different sources of financing, facilitate the temporary entry of technical and artistic personnel, or the import and export of additional material for producers.
Chile present with a documentary on climate change
An unprecedented activity within Chile's participation in the Berlinale 2023 is the "Chile Event" (Saturday 18), organized by Cinemachile, Prochile and Imagen de Chile; where the producer of Fábula, Juan de Dios Larraín, and the Chilean Ambassador to Germany, Magdalena Atria, will present the documentary: "I am the Earth. Stories from the end of the world", which shows the efforts that Chilean men and women are making to contribute to mitigate climate change, in the framework of the leadership that Chile is having globally on the subject. Recently, Chile was ranked by the NewClimate Institute as the country with the best performance in climate protection in the Americas, surpassed worldwide only by Denmark and Sweden.
"I Am Earth. Stories from the end of the world."
"Chile is positioning itself as a relevant actor in climate change mitigation, ocean protection and ecosystems. Our turquoise foreign policy and the subscription to carbon neutrality by law are examples of how we are advancing with special emphasis towards a sustainable development model, with public policies and citizen innovations in different areas and scope. That is what we wanted to highlight in this documentary," said the executive director of Imagen de Chile, Rossana Dresdner.
For more details on Chile's participation in Berlin 2023, visit the CinemaChile website.
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