TFI Latin Filmmaker Workshops Kicks Off In Chile

Tomorrow the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund Filmmaker Workshops kicks off at the Santiago International Film Festival in Chile. The two-day collaborative lab will be aimed at educating, assisting and aiding five emerging filmmakers and media artists with the development of their feature documentary or hybrid works.

This is one of three international workshops launching this year that furthers TFI’s commitment to Latin American filmmakers and media creators. Sao Paulo, Brazil and Mexico City, Mexico will host similarly modeled labs in October. The Workshops—sponsored by Bloomberg and led by TFI staff, industry professionals & established filmmakers—will equip emerging filmmakers and media artists with the tools to effectively pitch, create proposals, and solicit international funding.

The following projects have been selected for the TFI Latin America Media Arts Fund Filmmaker Workshops at the Santiago International Film Festival:

There's A Place - Directed by Valentina Mac-Pherson & Patricia Correa There’s A Place tells the story of an Altiplanic village far from civilization, where five women over their 70’s are confronted with loneliness and the imminent disappearance of their village - all dependent on the inhabitants' lives. The women witness how their neighbors and the village fade away.

Without A Cover Adriana - Directed by Lissette Orozco; Produced by Benjamin Band There are secrets in every family, and mine is not the exception. When I was a girl I had an idol, my aunt Adriana. I imitated her to the point of walking and laughing like her. But some time ago I found out that, in her youth, she used to work for DINA, the Pinochet dictatorship’s secret police, when I had not even been born yet. Now she is a fugitive from justice, accused of kidnapping and murder. I decided to get involved in her past to really get to know her, and undertake a trip to face her where she is hiding away. Will a reconciliation be possible?

The Beavers (Los Castores) - Directed by Nicolas Molina; Produced by Francisco Herve Derek and Giorgia, a young couple of biologists, settle in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia to develop their thesis. Loaded with traps and a camcorder, they investigate ways to stop the beaver plague that destroys the forest. By observing the scientists, in total isolation, exposed to cold and hunger, just as their prey, our film explores the link between nature and mankind. Note: Francisco Herve is a TFI alum (2012 Latin Fund grantee, City of the Lost Caesars)

Grandfather's Gift - Directed by Ana Maria Hurtado Felipe, a 35 year old Chilean painter, discovers ancient documents suggesting that the story his Bolivian grandfather told him as a boy might be true: he descends from the Inca nobility. Facing his family indifference, he goes to Bolivia to recognize the remains of the great pre‐Colombian empire, and to reconstruct a lost part of his identity.

Eighth Year - Directed by Nicolas Guzman Four childhood friends grow up surrounded by urban highways on the outskirts of Santiago. At the end of their primary education, life is dividing the group, pushing them to face adulthood and take decisions by themselves. Throughout a year we'll follow their daily life, discovering with them the challenges of what used to be simple.

Stay tuned to the Blog for more news on this initiative.

[Photo: Grandfather's Gift]