- Seven films make up the selection of one of the most outstanding sections of the Santiago International Film Festival, SANFIC. Some of the actors cast in these productions are Alejandro Goic, Manuela Martelli, Grimanesa Jiménez , Trinidad González, among others .
- In the 16th edition of the Festival, this competition will include five world premieres and two national releases in total. These films will compete in the categories of Best Film, Best Director and Best Performance .
Seven recently completed national films will be part of the Chilean Film Competition in the 16th edition of the Santiago International Film Festival, SANFIC, an event organized by the CorpArtes Foundation and produced by Storyboard Media , which for the first time will be held in digital format, between August 16 and 23 . This competition, which has become one of the most relevant sections of the festival, premieres every year outstanding films that have been directed or produced by Chilean filmmakers, exhibiting throughout its 15 editions recognized productions such as Lemebel, by Joanna Reposi, La once, by Maite Alberdi and Cola de mono, by Alberto Fuguet.
“Today Chile and the world are suffering the impact of a health crisis that, among other consequences, has forced the closure of cultural centers and movie theaters, as well as the cancellation of festivals around the world. CorpArtes Foundation is aware of this reality and we have sought to redouble our work and commitment to maintain our support for people, communities and the audiovisual sector through our SANFIC Festival, this year through a digital version. The Chilean Cinema Competition has become, over our editions, one of the most important events of the festival, a unique window to present and make known the points of view and thoughts of Chilean filmmakers through their new works . This year, for the first time, this competition will be seen throughout the national territory and for free, which will also allow many more Chileans to access these national productions and learn about the work of our directors and producers”, says Francisca Florenzano, Executive Director of CorpArtes Foundation.
Among the seven feature films that will be part of the competition this year, there are five world premieres that stand out , among them the documentaries Onkel Günter, by the visual anthropologist and journalist Juan Francisco Ruimalló – who with this project , in its development stage, participated in the DOX:Academy of the CHP:DOX within the framework of the International Documentary Film Festival Copenhagen – , which tells the story of a Chilean family of German descent, that must comfront events that took place during World War II ; Viaje Vegetal, by Antonio Fernández -who premiered El tiempo aqui in SANFIC 2006- , which follows a very particular couple of healers from the Shipibo Conibo ethnic group, in the Peruvian Amazon; ¿Hay algo en lugar de nada?, by Peter McPhee ( El final del día. SANFIC 2015 ) , about a group of friends searching for a mysterious island located in the south of Chile, supposedly inhabited by extraterrestrial beings with great technological advances .
Two fiction feature films will also be world premieres, Las mujeres de mi casa, Valentina Reyes’ first film, where actresses Grimanesa Jiménez, Trinidad González and Bernardita Nassar play a family of three generations of women, who live and coexists with their different processes and stages of life in an old house in Ñuñoa ; and Piola , first feature film by Luis Alejandro Pérez – winner of six awards in the Construye event of the Guadalajara International Film Festival 2019 – , in which Steevens Benjamin Alejandro Trejo and Paula Zúñiga play a group of young Chileans in their difficult transition to adulthood .
“We are very excited to have this year these incredible films by filmmakers with great talent, style and vision. Films that will be shown for the first time in the world and Chile, raising issues that connect with our audience. In unprecedented times, we are inspired by the adaptability and resilience of the film community that works so hard to make their films, and also by the strength and spirit of the people for whom they are made”, Carlos Núñez, Artistic Director of SANFIC, commented.
The two films to be showcased as national releases are, De la noche a la mañana, by Manuel Ferrari (Cómo estar muerto( 2008), A propósito de Buenos Aires ( 2006) ), presented at festivals in Mar del Plata and Miami, which features performances by Manuela Martelli, Alejandro Goic , Esteban Menis , Rosario Varela and Sebastián Brahm and, Sanguinetti, by Christian Díaz Pardo ( González, falsos profetas 2014) exhibited in the recent editions of the Havana International Film Festival and the UNAM International Film Festival, FICUNAM, in Mexico, in which Natalia and Ernesto Benvenuto play Valentina and Mario; she is a Chilean journalist who has been investigating human rights cases from the dictatorship, and he is her father, whom she meets again through this search, with terrible consequences for both.
All information on the Chilean Film Competition and the Santiago International Film Festival 2020 is available at www.sanfic.com . The sixteenth edition of SANFIC is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage through the support program for Outstanding Festivals 2019-2020, Audiovisual Support Funds. More information on SANFIC 16th edition at www.sanfic.com
