MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY

Patricio Guzmán / Chile, France / 2022 / 85 min

Hopeful portrait of the giant protest movement that broke out in Chile in 2019, with perspectives back to the military coup of 1973, told by Chilean documentary legend Patricio Guzmán.

Documentary legend Patricio Guzmán reels off the story of the biggest protests ever in Chile, which started when the price of riding the subway went up by 30 pesos, causing young students to storm the underground stations in anger. Guzmán draws a historical parallel to the run-up to the military coup that deposed Salvador Allende in 1973, through conversations with the young protesters and to action-packed clips of demonstrations, with rocks and paint bombs flying from one side and tear gas grenades and rubber bullets flying from the other. Black-and-white stills are a respite from the orange inferno of fire, smoke and water cannons in a hopeful and feminist revolutionary story to prove that a united people can still influence the direction of a nation.