Obstinate Memories: The Films of Patricio Guzmán

Monday, October 19 - Thursday, October 22, 2015

In advance of the opening of his newest film, THE PEARL BUTTON, IFC Center presents a four-day retrospective of the work of Patricio Guzmán, one of the undisputed masters of documentary filmmaking.

The program opens with the epic BATTLE OF CHILE, a 3-part chronicle of the right-wing coup that deposed the democratically elected Socialist government of Salvador Allende, widely hailed as a landmark of political cinema. It includes 4 of his other features, among them the recent NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT, an IFC Center hit, plus two mid-length works, and the New York premiere of FILMING OBSTINATELY: MEETING PATRICIO GUZMAN, a new portrait of the filmmaker.

Born in 1941 in Santiago, Chile, Guzmán was drawn to documentary filmmaking as an adolescent, going on to study directing in Chile and Spain. Returning to Chile in 1971, he filmed a documentary of the Allende government’s first year, then began to capture the unrest that would develop into the coup in 1973, using stock donated to him by legendary French filmmaker Chris Marker. On the day of the coup, Guzmán was imprisoned in Chile’s National Stadium, along with hundreds of others. Regaining his freedom 15 days later, he left the country with his film canisters in tow. In Europe and then Cuba, he finished the film that would become THE BATTLE OF CHILE, premiering Part 1 at Cannes in 1975.

Over the next four decades, Guzmán has continued to investigate the coup and its lingering scars on Chile’s memory and psyche in a series of acclaimed documentaries. His latest film, THE PEARL BUTTON, an exploration of Patagonia’s past and present, opens at IFC Center on October 23.

The films in this series are distributed by Icarus Films.

Series Films

Current and Upcoming Films

Past Films