The institution in charge of promoting the country's image around the world presented a series of audiovisual pieces that tell the stories of Chileans living in Sweden, Mexico and Argentina, seeking to portray how national identity is built beyond borders.
As part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état, the Fundación Imagen de Chile presented the documentary "50 years: identity, memory and future" at the film library of the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda.50 years: identity, memory and future"a 33-minute short film that tells the stories of Chilean men and women living abroad, reflecting the reality of those who, against their will, left the country half a century ago, as well as the families they built in exile.
"In different and profound ways, the 50 years marked us forever as a country in ways that perhaps until today we have not fully understood. Thousands of Chileans left in exile, and today, half a century later, they have forged a new life and family in those distant territories," says Rossana Dresdner, executive director of Imagen de Chile.says the executive director of Imagen de Chile, Rossana Dresdner.
The film also rescues the testimonies of those compatriots who build their lives abroad, either for academic or work reasons. "At Fundación Imagen de Chile we wanted to collect, portray and share that reality, show those lives, human stories of Chileans who live in those little pieces of Chile, showing what they have built, as Chileans, throughout these 50 years", adds Dresdner.adds Dresdner.
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Gloria de la Fuente, said that "there are many Chileans abroad making contributions of different kinds, in science, art and technology.there are many Chileans abroad making contributions of different kinds, in science, art and technology, I have been fortunate to meet many Chileans abroad but also, and in relation to what we are talking about, many Chileans abroad who were exiled are those who keep the memory alive and the fragments of thousands of stories contribute in a very fundamental way to remember that the defense of democracy and the never again is very necessary"..
A piece of Chile in the world
With the collaboration of the Chilean embassies in Sweden, Mexico and Argentina, it was possible to know the human stories that not only speak of Chile, but also of these territories that opened their doors to receive thousands of Chileans in times of fear and uncertainty.
"There were some pictures. A picture of my mom, my dad and me as a baby, the picture they had been looking for me with all these years. My captors, the family that raised me, had also taken pictures of me as soon as they had me, and I recognized myself in those photos", says Claudia Poblete, daughter of a Chilean couple who were detained in Chile.Claudia Poblete, daughter of a Chilean couple detained in Argentina, was recovered by her paternal grandmother in 1999, when she was 21 years old.
"In science we work on the adaptation of our cells, seeing how they change, modify phenotypes, and as we are migratory we also adapt to everything. I admire the Chilean community that had to emigrate to Sweden, because the cultures are completely different, and in a context of so much sadness for leaving your country behind, the adaptation had to be very strong," says Eduardo Villablanca, associate professor at the Karolinska Institute.says Eduardo Villablanca, an associate professor at the Karolinska Institute who has lived in Sweden for 8 years.
To this day, adaptation remains an ongoing process for many of those who had to leave the country. "I never, ever got used to it. My daughter has, my son has. They already have their life here, they love Sweden," says Gloria Bascur, a dressmaker and cook.says Gloria Bascur, a seamstress and cook, who has been in Sweden for 35 years.
It is also second and third generations of Chileans abroad who today analyze what these 50 years have been like: "I would like people to be open to listen to others.I would like people to be open to listen to others. Not only to the 50 years of a dictatorship, but to really see that what happened in Chile is not right. We have to take these spaces to remember what can't happen again, to celebrate what we have achieved and to see where we want to go"says Natalia Ponce, a political science student, daughter of Chileans born in Mexico.
Chile in 50 years
As part of the launching of the documentary series, Fundación Imagen de Chile launched a landing page that, in addition to hosting the documentary, offers a series of contents that seek to gather the "Chilean" reality of thousands of compatriots far from our borders and give an account of how the world has seen us in this half century.
From films, series, documentaries and documentation archives, the content hub, which is available from Thursday, August 31, will allow users to access material that portrays part of what these last years were like, as well as a historical review of the international media's coverage of our country during the last five decades.
In addition, on the site, under the heading "Our daily stories of the last 50 years"people will be able to send photographs that captured moments of their lives during the last half-century, seeking to reflect the evolution of our country.
If you want to know these and other contents of the landing page, click here
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