Chile ’76
Director: Manuela Martelli Run Time: 96 min. Release Year: 2022 Language: Spanish
Starring: Alejandro Goic, Aline Küppenheim, Antonia Zegers, Hugo Medina, Nicolás Sepúlveda
Set during the early days of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, Chile ‘76 builds from quiet character study to gripping suspense thriller as it explores one woman’s precarious flirtation with political engagement. Carmen (Aline Kuppenheim) leads a sheltered upper middle class existence. She heads to her summer house in the off-season to supervise its renovation, while also performing local charitable works through her church. Her husband, children, and grandchildren come back and forth during the winter vacation, bringing reminders of the world beyond. When the family priest asks her to take care of an injured young man he has been sheltering in secret, Carmen is inadvertently drawn into the world of the Chilean political opposition and must face real-world threats she is unprepared to handle, with potentially disastrous consequences for her and her entire family.
“A visually and tonally meticulous exploration of political resistance and conscience.” ~ Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“Dazzling. What begins as a muted marital melodrama slowly boils into a restrained political thriller, with an ease and skill all the more impressive in a first feature.”~ Manuel Betancourt, Variety
Manuela Martelli is a Chilean film and television actress and director best known for her roles in the films B-Happy and Machuca. She starred with the famous Dutch actor Rutger Hauer in the Chilean-Italian film Il Futuro, based on Roberto Bolaño’s novel “A Little Lumpen Novelita.” Her first feature film Chile ’76 was shown at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival at the Director’s Fortnight section.