How did Cinema Start in Chile?
It didn’t take long for cinema to reach Chile. In the year 1896, In Santiago de Chile, the first public exhibition of the cinematograph takes place, exhibiting the same films that the Lumiére exhibited 8 months before in Paris.
Until 1910, what a Chilean viewer could see in theaters were basically foreign productions or national documentaries with no major narrative intent. During this year, on the occasion of the Centennial of Independence, Adolfo Urzúa filmed and exhibited “Manuel Rodríguez”, the first national film. A short film that lasted about 10 minutes.
The First Productions
The first Chilean productions were a “filmed theatre”, Directors and actors came from the world of theatre. In spite of the problems of this starting industry (low budget and financing, exclusively individual initiatives), the cinema was revealed as a very popular spectacle. From 1915 onwards, the first film magazines appeared, which would allow greater diffusion and a sort of cinematographic education; through criticism.
In 1920, the boom of Chilean cinema was experienced. Between 1923 and 1927, 54 feature-length films were made in Chile. Of course, they were still silent films. Unfortunately, most of them have been lost or deteriorated over time. The themes of these early Chilean films were basically: love affairs, criminal situations, historical reconstructions, and regional identities, among others. In this decade a key figure was Pedro Sienna, actor and director, responsible for important projects such as “Un grito en el mar” (1924) and “El húsar de la muerte” (1925). Towards the end of the 1920s, national production declined due to U.S. distribution companies and the great economic depression.
At the end of the 1930s, national production resumed its activity. And it was during these years that directors such as Jorge “Coke” Délano (with “Norte y Sur” (1934) the first Chilean Talkie), the Italian Eugenio de Liguoro (“Verdejo spends a million” (1941) and “Entre gallos y medianoche” (1942)), were consolidated and managed to summon a national public.
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Based on these successes, the “Corporación de Fomento” (a group that promotes national production and the economic growth of the country) decided to create in 1942 a national company, Chile Films, which in less than a decade produced several works, with government financing, including “La Amarga Verdad” (1945) by Carlos Borcosque and “El Hombre Que Se Llevaron” (1946) by Jorge Délano, among others. However, the successes were fleeting and at the end of the 1940s, the production company plunged into a deep economic crisis, passing into private hands until the 1960s.
The dismantling of Chile Films in 1949 did not promise good times for national cinema. Indeed, the 1950s experienced a low level of national premieres.
The New Chilean Cinema
Many of the filmmakers who became relevant in the late 1960s were trained in documentary film, such as Miguel Littin, Patricio Guzmán, Helvio Soto, Pedro Chaskel or Aldo Francia, among others. In concordance with the movement of their time, the works of these filmmakers tended more and more towards political affirmation. A fundamental milestone was the 1967 Viña del Mar Film Festival, where the so-called New Chilean Cinema came into contact with Latin American filmmakers, marked by social revolution, anti-imperialism and the construction of one’s own culture. From this stimulus, Chilean viewers appreciated three films of great repercussion: “Tres Tristes Tigres” (1968) by Raúl Ruiz, “Valparaíso, Mi Amor” (1969) by Aldo Francia and “El Chacal de Nahueltoro” (1969) by Miguel Littin.
Chilean cinema adopted an image in the political context, leaving behind the commercial character that had characterized it. But this boom was not only due to a push of an ideological kind. The government of Eduardo Frei Montalva implemented important measures to encourage national production, such as the reactivation of Chile Films and the release of certain taxes.
1973-1990, The Military Dictatorship
The irruption of the military dictatorship seriously damaged the national film industry, not only because of the exile of many filmmakers but also because of the closing of universities with audiovisual programs and the strict censorship that was implemented. The boom in television also contributed to reducing the national cinema.
Few filmmakers were dedicated to the production of stories in the country, highlighting Silvio Caiozzi with “Julio Comienza” (1979), Cristián Sánchez with “Los Deseos Concebidos” (1982), Pablo Perelman with “Imagen Latente” (1988) and Tatiana Gaviola with “Ángeles” (1989).
The Return of the Democracy (the 1990s and Today)
With the return of democracy, it was thought of a revival of national cinema, but this took longer than thought.
The 1990s saw some failed experiments in public promotion and the number of premieres year after year was very irregular; however, at the end of the decade, it was possible to speak of a sustained increase in Chilean production, with historic box-office hits such as “El Chacotero Sentimental” (1999) by Cristían Galaz and “Sexo con Amor” (2003) by Boris Quercia. It is interesting to note how in these years the socio-political cinematography gives way to a more commercial cinema, which was expected to be a decisive stimulus to Chilean cinema as we see it today.
References:
http://www.cinechile.cl/cronologia.php
http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-3375.html
Chilean Cinema 