Chilean LGBT+ cinema

Latin American LGBT cinema

Chile has a growing body of national LGBT+ cinema.

History and society

In the latter half of the 20th century, Daniel Emilfork, was considered the most prominent Chilean film actor both in Chile and internationally. He resettled in France in 1949, due to homophobic persecution in the country.[1] The star of 2017's A Fantastic Woman, Daniela Vega, was the first transgender person to present at the Oscars.[2]

Homosexuality in Chilean cinema is a subject that is rarely portrayed, with the first openly gay character appearing in 1990, but has been done in a more explicit way in the 21st century[3] — CinemaChile's director Constanza Arena reflected in 2019 that only in the past eight years had filmmaking been able to diversify after dictatorship, giving the example of "the exploration of LGBT issues".[4]

The 2017 release of A Fantastic Woman was said to have "reignited a conversation about trans rights in Chile",[5] and ultimately was a deciding factor in the country passing Gender Identity Laws in 2018[6] after the filmmakers reportedly took its Oscar to then-President Michelle Bachelet.[7]

Murder of Daniel Zamudio in film

See also: Murder of Daniel Zamudio

The 2016 film Jesús tells the true story of a young gay man who was beaten to death in a park,[8][9] matching this with the irony of two of his attackers engaging in gay sex shortly afterwards,[10] with the director saying he wanted to show the complexity of the event and its and the killer's place in society; one of the real killers was also bisexual.[9] He has also said that he would not label the film an LGBT film, because its young sexually-fluid protagonist does not label himself either.[9] Álex Anwandter's Nunca vas a estar solo, released the same year, is based on the same event and also shows the bisexuality of one of the killers, using its narrative to challenge Chileans to look at their homophobia and question its origins.[11] Both films ignore the "neo-nazi" rhetoric about the killers used in the news, to reflect that many regular Chileans held homophobic views.[9][11]

Films

Daniela Vega, an openly transgender Chilean actress.
See also: Category:Chilean LGBTQ-related films
Year Film title Director Notes
1990 Caluga o menta Gonzalo Justiniano Luis Alarcón stars as the first gay character[3]
2002 El Regalo Carmen García Pexo short
2008 Muñeca Sebastián Arrau
2009 Lokas Gonzalo Justiniano
2010 Blokes short
2010 Des/Esperando Erick Salas Kirchhausen
2010 Drama Matias Lira
2010 Otra película de amor Edwin Oyarce
2011 Mapa para conversar
2012 Young and Wild (Joven y alocada) Marialy Rivas
2012 La Santa short
2012 My Last Round (Mi último round) Julio Jorquera Arriagada
2013 Iglú Diego Ruiz
2013 Naomi Campbell Camila José Donoso[12]
2013 Solsticio de primavera para un primer amor short
2014 The Guest (La Visita) Mauricio López Fernández
2014 Plutón short
2015 Aguas abajo short
2015 He Hated Pigeons Ingrid Veninger Chilean-Canadian coproduction
2015 El hombre nuevo documentary
2015 In the Grayscale (En la gama de los grises) Claudio Marcone
2015 Lost Queens (Locas Perdidas) Ignacio Juricic short; Winner of a Cannes Queer Palme[12]
2015 Nasty Baby Sebastián Silva
2015 San Cristóbal Omar Zuñiga[4] short - Winner of the Berlin Short award[4]
2015 El Bosque de Karadima Matias Lira
2016 El Destello de la Luna (2016 film) Gustavo Letelier
2016 Jesús Fernando Guzzoni
2016 You'll Never Be Alone (Nunca vas a estar solo) Álex Anwandter
2016 Rara Pepa San Martín[13]
2016 The Devil's Magnificent Nicolás Videla Starring Chilean transgender actress Manuela Guevara[14]
2016 Chameleon (Camaleón) Jorge Riquelme Serrano
2017 A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica) Sebastián Lelio Won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[15]
2018 Cola de Mono Alberto Fuguet[16]
2018 Disobedience Sebastián Lelio[7]
2019 Lemebel Joanna Reposi Garibaldi Documentary[12]
2019 Enigma Ignacio Juricic[12]
2019 The Prince (El principe) Sebastián Muñoz[4]
2019 The Strong Ones (Los Fuertes) Omar Zuñiga[4]
2020 My Tender Matador (Tengo miedo torero) Rodrigo Sepúlveda
2020 Shining Moon Director's Cut Gustavo Letelier

See also

References

  1. ^ S.A.P., El Mercurio (18 October 2006). "Daniel Emilfork, el actor que hizo de su fealdad un objeto de culto del cine | Emol.com" (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. ^ "'The name on my identity card is not mine'". 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  3. ^ a b "A 20 años de su estreno: las historias desconocidas que marcaron el rodaje de "Caluga o menta"" (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e de la Fuente, Anna Marie; Hopewell, John (2019-05-17). "Cinema in Chile Charges Through Change". Variety. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  5. ^ "The 18 best LGBTQ+ films of all time". Evening Standard. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  6. ^ Corrales, Javier (2018-12-31). "Latin America's 2018 LGBT year in review". Global Americans. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  7. ^ a b Kellaway, Kate (2018-11-17). "Director Sebastián Lelio: 'The presence of porn is everywhere and making us numb'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  8. ^ "Review: Lost teen follows dark path in grim Chilean drama 'Jesús'". Los Angeles Times. 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  9. ^ a b c d "Fernando Guzzoni On How a Tragic Hate Crime Changed the Screenplay He Was Writing". Remezcla. 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  10. ^ Kenny, Glenn (2017-08-31). "Review: In 'Jesús,' a Delinquent Teenager in Trouble Too Deep to Handle". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  11. ^ a b "Alex Anwandter Invites Chileans to Confront Their Own Homophobia in His Debut Film". Remezcla. 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  12. ^ a b c d Hopewell, John (2019-02-10). "Chilean Filmmakers Take Showcase on the Road". Variety. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  13. ^ Mayorga, Emilio (2016-02-15). "Berlin: First Look At Trailer Of Pepa San Martín's 'Rara' (EXCLUSIVE, WATCH)". Variety. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  14. ^ "Exclusive: Announcing the Award-Winning Films From NewFest 2017". www.out.com. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  15. ^ Roxborough, Scott (4 March 2018). "Oscars: Chile's Win for 'A Fantastic Woman' a Transgender Watershed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Alberto Fuguet's 'Cola de Mono' Is an Explosive Look at Two Brothers Coming Out in 1980s Chile". Remezcla. 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-23.