Patricio Guzman

Patricio Guzmán was born in 1941 in Santiago, Chile. As an adolescent, inspired by the work of Chris Marker, Frederic Rossif and Louis Malle, he was drawn to documentary. He studied filmmaking at the Film Institute at the Catholic University of Chile and at the Official School of Film in Madrid, where he earned his degree in Film Direction in 1970.

Guzmán returned to Chile in 1971, and directed his first documentary, The First Year, which covered the first 12 months of Salvador Allende's government. The film was released in commercial theaters that very year. Chris Marker, impressed by the film, offered to help get it seen in France. Two years later, Marker again provided invaluable assistance again when he donated the raw stock necessary to commence filming The Battle of Chile, Guzmán’s 4 and ½ hour documentary trilogy about Allende's final year. Filming on this project continued until the very day of the coup d'etat.
The day of the coup, Guzmán was imprisoned in Chile's National Stadium, where he remained for 15 days. After regaining his freedom, he left for Europe with his footage. Eventually, the Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC) offered to support the editing and postproduction. Guzmán flew to Havana and finished the film a few years later. The Battle of Chile won 6 Grand Prizes in Europe and Latin America. It was shown in?commercial theaters in 35 countries. The Cineaste Magazine declared it as "One of the ten best political films in the world."

Guzmán continues to make documentaries, many focusing on Chilean concerns. In 1987 he made In God's Name (Grand Prize, Florence '87) about the Catholic Church's fight for human rights in Chile. From 1990 to 1992 he worked on The Southern Cross (Grand Prize, Marseille '92) about the theology of liberation and popular religion in Latin America. In 1995, Town in Stasis focused on the historical memory of a Mexican village.

In 1997, Chile, Obstinate Memory looked into collective political amnesia in Chile. 1999 brought Robinson Crusoe Island about the remote Chilean island of the same name. In 2001, The Pinochet Case examined the case brought against General Augusto Pinochet (Grand Prize, Marseille '01). In 2002, he completed Madrid, a look at Spain's capital. Guzmán’s acclaimed, award-winning film Salvador Allende (2006) tells Allende's story, from his youth in Valparaiso and his early presidential campaigns, to his bold nationalist ?reforms and his death during the violent rightist coup of September 11, 1973.
Patricio Guzmán currently chairs the International Documentary Film Festival (FIDOCS) in Santiago, Chile, which he founded in 1997. He lives in Paris with Renate Sachse, who collaborates on the scripts for his films. His two daughters, Andrea and Camila, are also filmmakers and frequently collaborate on his projects.

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