Chile, memoria obstinada

I select Chile, Obstinate Memory for multiple reasons. Not unlike the mission of Cinéma du Réel itself, Patricio Guzmán’s dogged commitment to the pursuit and bringing to light of uncomfortable truths is a continual source of inspiration. Returning to Chile in 1997 after 23 years of dictatorial rule, Guzmán in Chile, Obstinate Memory provides us with many useful insights, including the special knowledge that bonds forged in the struggle for justice are indissoluble. Amidst a “Don’t Look Back” culture, hardly dissimilar than that still experienced by most of us daily, Guzmán’s camera draws back the curtain on the consequences of erasures of history. Suitably for a film about memory, it is a decidedly indelible experience, as eloquent in its silences as in its words, as vital today as it assuredly will be tomorrow. (John Gianvito)