Twice for Utopia: Latin American Film Festivals

Abstract

The two Latin American film festivals that were carried out in Viña del Mar in 1967 and 1969 were connected by their themes: the bonds between films and politics. The exhibited films come from movements known as the «new cinema», which was opposed to the commercial films screened in movie theaters all around the continents. Most of them were trying to represent the social and politic reality in their countries. In parallel to the films screening, the invited filmmakers debated about themes that were relevant to context of the continent in those years (social inequality, cultural dependence, dictatorial regimes, police violence) as well as the aesthetics, cultural and political proposals in which every country based its cinematogrphic experiences. Thus, the following article will analyze the most important films and theoretical proposals that characterised those screening, as well as the invited Latin American filmmakers