Initially triggered by a sudden hike in the cost of subway tickets, emotions soon overflowed into a deeper unease about the uneven balance of power, economic and political structures & institutions in Chile, revealing many grievances that have been simmering for a long time. Banners express the feeling of unity, with the optimism that this was the new Chile that they want to create: “It’s like a massive relief that you can go out and say something that expresses your mind.”
The reaction of the authorities was grossly OTT as the young protesters were met with a politicized police force and the army, who used baton charges, plastic bullets (deliberately aimed to blind), water-cannon and tear gas.
Water cannon at the protests
Some street scenes resembled a carnival, while others were disturbingly violent, where the protesters resorted to hurling cobblestones at the ‘pacos’ (police pigs), with depressing echoes of Paris 1968, as largely female crowds sought to vigorously defend their right to protest. At one point these crowds numbered up to a million people. In the search for the underlying reasons for the revolts, Guzmán interviews a selection of women. Some are activists who desperately want a better future for their children and who, by protesting, feel that they are finally empowered.
Women protest
Others, political analysts, outline the high level of mistrust that has developed between the political establishment and the population. It is terrible to see a young 17-year old collecting rubbish saying he has given up school because he has to provide for his parents and grandparents, as their pensions are so inadequate: “ I hope to go back,” he says, “but for the moment I am proud to do this as I can provide for my family.” Guzmán’s thought-provoking commentary, beautifully written and narrated by Guzmán himself, threads the various elements together.
Women cover an eye to protest against blinding
Have we seen it all before? There is something painfully constant about the way people take to the streets with authorities over-reacting in fear, leading to dozens ending up dead or injured: - ‘The repression is so violent it provokes rage and despair’.
We don’t need to look far. It has also been happening all over Iran. In an astonishing coincidence, those Iranian demonstrations have also been led by women, as in Chile. Women in many parts of the world are no longer prepared to have their rights ignored.
Protesters on the streets
“I cannot believe I am in present-day Chile. I feel as if I am witnessing a civil war” says Guzmán, finding it hard to believe that on the streets of Chile today, he was filming scenes that so closely resembled the dark days of the coup d’état in 1973. It was only during that brutal dictatorship that a head of state had felt the need to ‘call in the army to quell social unrest’.
Starting out as young filmmaker in the late 1960s and early 1970s, just as Salvador Allende was elected to power, Patricio Guzmán chose to document the first months of Allende’s presidency (‘The First Year’ 1971) unaware at the time, of the profound importance his film would eventually attain. He was attracted to study film by directors such as Louis Malle (The Silent World 1956), Frederic Rossif and, in particular, Chris Marker (La Jetée 1962 & writer of Terry Gilliam’s ‘12 Monkeys’ 1995).
Patricio Guzmán, director
Fatefully, Chris Marker happened to be in Chile at the time that Guzmán was shooting ‘The First Year’. Marker loved the film and later promoted it in Europe, helping the young Guzmán to continue his valuable work by providing essential film stock (unavailable in Chile at the time).
The resulting 4-hour, multi-awarded trilogy, known as the ‘Battle of Chile, documenting Allende’s final year and filmed right up to the actual coup d’état, is an historic document with no parallel in the history of Chile. Guzmán questions whether he would be where he is today without that help. It was no surprise that Chris Marker was to remain a life-long friend of Guzmán.
Following on from that, Guzmán went on to create another equally powerful trilogy that revealed the hidden scars left behind by the brutal Pinochet Dictatorship. With three poetically powerful films, he delved deep into the significance of experiences that remain lodged in the memory and how they have affected everyone’s lives in Chile. They could be described as Sand (Nostalgia for the Light- 2010) Water (The Pearl Button- 2015) and Rocks from the Andean Mountains (The Cordillera of Dreams -2019).
While this trilogy dealt with memories and time, in ‘My Imaginary Country’ 2022) Guzman brings us back to the here and now with a bang. This is a fresh look at the situation in his country. Samuel Lahu’s photography in ‘My Imaginary Country’ is also powerful. We find ourselves in the midst of the protesters who are defending themselves with stones that seem to have fallen off the mountains, but have, in reality, been ripped up from the streets.
It is all the more significant as we learn that photographers and film makers became targets themselves, seen as dangerous due to their documentation of the excesses on the part of the ‘politicized’ police and military forces.
Led largely by women of all ages, the demonstrators banged on their saucepans, and wore eye-patches and blindfolds, to emphasize the brutality of those who really lost their sight at the hands of the authorities. Four of these women (Colectivo Las Tesis) wrote a poem to express their demands, that went viral. They railed against many issues, including abuse, the woefully inadequate pension system and the humiliations and impact of a patriarchal society that has, for years, resorted to lies and violence.
“In Chile, human rights are systematically being violated” complains one protester.
Patriarchy is a judge who judges us for being born
And our punishment is that violence that you cannot see
It is not my fault, it is not the place, it is not my clothes
The rapist is you! The Cops
The demands became more complex as the demonstrations continued over the years since October 19h 2019. They covered such a vast array of grievances, that the protesters saw the need to consolidate. They concluded that an important first step in the process was to write a new constitution for the country so they organized ‘cabildos’ or assemblies for that purpose. Few opposed the need to replace the rigid constitution created in 1980 by the dictator Augusto Pinochet, exclaiming: “The oppressive state is a macho rapist.”
Assemblies.
Articulate and determined, the protesters have persisted and finally obliged the government to initiate the writing of a new constitution, the first to be written in a democratic context and hold a plebiscite on the issue by September 4th 2022.
‘My Imaginary Country’ ends before the results to this plebiscite are known. The participants are overwhelmed with optimism. They feel that despite so many obstacles, they succeeded in getting the government to listen. This time, the draft constitution has been written by a convention, split equally between male and female delegates, including some of indigenous heritage. As a result, it boasts a progressive stance, with a greater focus on social rights, the environment and gender equality, including abortion rights and significantly, a number of important land rights for the large (13%) indigenous communities. Meanwhile, the new Chilean president Gabriel Boric has been lobbying hard for a positive outcome.
Epilogue:
Despite all these efforts, the new constitution was resoundingly rejected by the bulk of the population (c62% against, to c38% for). But as the President Gabriel Boric has said: “The anger is latent and we cannot ignore it”. This only the beginning.
Many considered it failed for trying to cover too much ground altogether, ending up too long and lacking in clarity. Created as a knee jerk reaction to the years of protests, many voted against it because, although they felt that, although it was a ‘path of hope’, they could see it needed more time & thought, in effect, a full re-write, to achieve a leaner, more succinct version, that would appeal to all sectors of the society.
‘My Imaginary Country’ 2022 will be screened at the BFI London Film Festival, on Sunday 9 October at the Curzon Soho Screen and Monday 10 October at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
It will also be on general release soon.
Credits
Writer/Director Patricio Guzmán/ Producer: Renate Sachse and Alexandra Galvis / DOP: Samuel Lahu/ Editor Laurence Manheimer/ Atacama Productions.
