Chile Gets Venice Focus, Discusses Co-Productions

Following major festival awards wins in both Berlin (“The Blue Trail”) and Cannes (“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo”), Chile landed in Venice with a strong presence, with Niles Atallah’s short “Merrimundi” competing in the Horizons section and the country’s Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage positioning Chile as one of this year’s three spotlight countries at Venice’s industry sidebar. 

More than 20 producers have been supported to attend the festival, and five Chilean projects have been selected for the Gap Financing Market, which only admits projects that have reached at least 80% of their investment as well as presenting strong artistic potential (see full profiles for all projects below).

During the Venice Production Bridge, CinemaChile co-director Alexandra Galvis hosted a conversation with renowned producer Giancarlo Nasi, of Santiago and Los Angeles-based Quijote Films, to talk about the current state of their national cinema and the potential of co-productions. 

“We didn’t want to talk about funding lists or information that can easily be found online,” Galvis tells Variety of the intention behind the talk. “What we really wanted was to explain how our producers can create entirely different co-production models, built not only on funds the country provides, but a kind of talent that understands how the world works and allows us to co-produce in unconventional ways, achieving truly international projects that circulate with the same strength as Chilean films themselves. We believe this is the true key to the success of Chilean cinema on the global stage.”

Commenting on this focus on creative co-production models as a way of boosting Chile’s international profile, Galvis says that, at its core, it is all about “designing strategies.”

“[It’s about] how to co-produce with larger countries, how to move forward when only minority funds are available, how to collaborate with film industries in languages we don’t even speak, how to find exits in challenging contexts,” she adds. “[It’s] the concept of thinking outside the box. For us, this is the great added value: the ability to genuinely think beyond conventional boundaries, to innovate, and to develop projects capable of traveling the world without necessarily relying on large budgets, but rather on the ingenuity that enables us to move strategically within the field of co-production”.

Throughout his hour-long talk, Nasi spoke about three recent breakout projects: Gabriel Mascaro’s Silver Bear-winning “The Blue Trail,” Diego Céspedes’s Un Certain Regard main winner “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,” and Felipe Gálvez’s Fipresci prize-winning “The Settlers.” All three projects were ambitious co-productions, a model Quijote Films has employed for all 25 feature films it produced over the last 14 years, made in collaboration with a whopping 23 countries, including unlikely partners such as Taiwan and Ukraine.

Nasi said Chilean filmmakers co-produce “out of necessity.” “Producers in Chile look abroad to co-produce because Chile is a country that doesn’t produce that many movies. We probably make 30 to 40 a year, way less than Argentina, Mexico, Brazil…. But we always stand out in international film festivals.”

“We’re a small country that also has an economy that is very open to the world,” he added. “That affects the rules of our fund, which is very liberal and very flexible.” On this, Nasi praised how Chile offers a variety of different production frameworks, including a cash rebate program, a national film fund for majority Chilean productions, and a specific co-production fund that offers a pot of $120,000 that can be spent anywhere in the world “without expenses and obligations.” 

Nasi is particularly praiseful of the latter. “If you have a film in co-production with Ukraine, you can apply to the fund and send $120,000 to Ukraine for the shoot. It helps, because sometimes when you co-produce, you have a lot of money to do post-production in Europe but not enough money to shoot the film.”

Elsewhere in the talk, the veteran producer offered two key pieces of advice to budding filmmakers: Retain full power of decision and do not give co-producing partners exclusive rights to their territories. Of the former, Nasi said it’s a vital strategy to funnel major decisions and avoid chaos as well as protecting directors (“If you’re making an ambitious film, you can’t have eight bosses”). As for the latter, the producer emphasized it makes no sense for him to “work hard for eight years for a French producer to get the best territory in the world.”

“That’s a hard discussion because old school producers are very attached to keeping their territories,” he admitted, but noted that the strategy not only benefits all partners financially but also helps secure equity investment from countries like the U.S. and the U.K. since the split is clearer when it comes to recouping their investment. 

Lastly, the producer reiterated he doesn’t feel he should “only be making Chilean or Latin American films.” “I feel the entire world should work together. I like doing things that are very difficult legally so I can push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of certificates and contracts and legal regulations. If you tell me producing in Ukraine will be hard, I’ll want to do it.”

Here are the Chilean projects selected for the Venice Gap Financing Market:

“Patas de Perro,” dir. Matías Rojas

Labelled as the story of a boy who becomes the “Latin American minotaur,” this genre film tells the story of a boy who was born with a strange condition: from the waist down, he is a dog. His life changes when he is taken in by Carlos, a man who has just lost his son and who will fight to integrate his new child into society. Renowned Chilean actor Alfredo Castro (“El Conde”) is attached. Produced by A Simple Vista and Rhayuela Films in co-production with Klinker Films.

“People Still Die of Love,” dir. Fernando Guzzoni

This is Guzzoni’s follow-up to 2022’s “Blanquita,” which won the Silver Lion for best screenplay at Venice and was Chile’s official submission for the Oscars. “People Still Die of Love” is a dystopian drama in a contemporary satire key that trails a woman who finds herself caught in a “delirious journey where the boundaries between reality and the virtual world begin to blur” after accidentally killing a young hitman in the street. Produced by Oro Films in co-production with Redrum (“Bardo”). 

“To Die on Your Feet (Morir de Pie),” dir. María Paz González

Cruz is a professional medical actress who teaches empathy to future doctors, but begins to lose her own following a real-life tragedy. When AI threatens her job, she joins her fellow actors to fight against invisibility and the loss of human connection. “To Die on Your Feet” is González’s feature follow-up to 2019’s “Lina From Lima,” which premiered at Toronto. Produced by Quijote Films in co-production with Amore Cine, Tarantula, and Bocacha.

“Drifting Images,” dir. Nicolás Tabilo 

Tabilo’s feature film debut is a hybrid autobiographical essay about the director and his mother as they navigate grief, labor, and memory after a family loss. It takes place in the fringes of a vineyard as the matriarch contemplates whether she should leave her work as a laborer in the fields, the fields turn to a stage to reimagine identity, kinship and cinema as a space of care. Produced by Tabilos.

“Corte Culebra,” dir. Ana Elena Tejera

Multidisciplinary artist Tejera’s debut, “Panquiaco,” premiered in Rotterdam and represented Panama at the Goya Awards. Her follow-up is set in 2000, as a Panamanian soldier enters the Canal Zone for the first time after a century of American occupation, he meets a mysterious woman in the jungle who helps him uncover the hidden history of communities displaced by the occupation. “Earwig” cinematographer Jonathan Riquebourg and “Sound of Metal” composer Nicolas Becker are attached. Produced by Mestizo and Fulgurance in co-production with Capicua Films.