Mi país imaginario

Mass demonstrations recently set Santiago and Chile on fire in a "marvelous chaos." A different kind of country is emerging from the ashes.

For over thirty years since the last dictatorship in Chile, conservative men retained their grip on power. They did not represent the country. What began as a protest over mass transit in Santiago grew into a broader movement for dignity, housing, pensions, health care, paid tuition, and equality for women. A violent repression followed. In the face of oppression what remains standing is hope, resilience, and marichiweu (a word of the Mapuche people that stands for "always the people will win." The changes to Chile's constitution are coming along with a new and long imagined future of true equality. It is the beginning of life rather than mere survival for the Chilean people.

The most outstanding and mesmerizing documentary films I've ever seen, Nostalgia for the Light and The Pearl Button, are from veteran documentary filmmaker Patricio Guzman. First off, if you did not see either film, stop what you are doing right now and stream them on the nearest electronic device! These compelling and heartrending stories, the knowledge of Chilean affairs that they convey, and the beautiful cinematography from start to finish, will leave you spellbound and dazzled. While My Imaginary Country is not at the level of Guzman's previous films, it is still high quality coming from him. Guzman was filming during the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende and just gained in documentary filmmaking prowess since that time. My Imaginary Country combines interviews and commentary from his fellow activists as well as his own takes on the incendiary events that began in 2019 in Santiago. It first appeared at Cannes.

Perhaps because I've recently watched quite a few lively and informative documentaries based around the protests in Hong Kong, I found this all rather repetitive, partisan and dry. It's not that the story isn't well worth telling, it's just that Patricio Guzmán relies too heavily on the (perilously shot) archive footage and protester interviews without really putting much context into just what is happening in Chile in 2019. The narrative suggests it's about equal rights for education and job opportunities, but there is little illustration from that narrative just how the protesters aim to achieve that in a politically divided nation that hovers close to bankruptcy and has very close ties to a Catholic church that is catholic in more the just name. They present many of the answers but are they viable solutions? This film just presents us with a rather one sided video-diary of police excess whilst students merrily throw petrol bombs at people doing their jobs - in this admittedly flawed democracy. This also assumes a degree of knowledge of the local situation that I doubt many independent observers have, and thereby it presents us with a sort of David and Goliath scenario clearly inviting us to support one side without making any effort at all to explain the strategy of the Piñera government. I think balance is really important with political documentaries. Present us with both sides and let us choose which to believe and maybe endorse. Present me with a once-sided, intellectual, fait accompli and I'm afraid I usually just lose interest. It's worth a watch, but needed much more meat on the bones of debate.

While I am aware of the Chilean protests, my knowledge was barely surface level.

As soon as I saw this film documentary, I am fully aware of not just how it all happened. But also how pivotal this is for the country in every way.

This is my first experience of director Patrizio Guzman's work and I have heard good things and it shows how much they love their country. Especially when they've making documentary films about their country for the last half century.

From the word go, you are already into the action, on the frontline and hearing directly from the people involved.

There is a lot of energy coming from both the interviewees and the filmed footage. Along with a well structured narrative, you get a pretty thorough look at the many things the whole is fighting for.

There are also some astonishing images caught on camera that will stay with you.

I would have liked an aspect that saw the other side contribute to the documentary. But considering the circumstances was never going to make that possible, it wasn't a major gripe.

This was a very raw viewing experience and felt like a definitive look at this event. The first-hand account of the action makes the imagery striking and the interviews are compelling. It further shows how passionate this part of the world is and makes any outsider truly understand what is happening over there.

Romantic narrative of what was nothing more than an attempted coup against a president democratically elected by his people.

Those of us who live in Chile and witness what happened firsthand have a very different vision from that of the director of this documentary.

Since Chile's return to democracy in 1990, Chile had made progress on multiple fronts, becoming the Latin American country with the highest human development index and highest per capita income. All this, under a functioning democracy and a free market development model.

But the Latin American ultra-left of a Chavista character, under the coordination of the Sao Paulo Forum, does not tolerate that a Latin American country develops except under its terms.

This is the story of how that ultra-left did not respect democracy in Chile.