Cinema Releases - Nostalgia for the Light
NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT was named to the Top Ten Best Movies of 2010 by Sight & Sound.
European Film Awards, Best Documentary.
Donostia-San Sebastian Festival de Cine y Derechos Humanos, Amnesty International Prize.
Patricio Guzmán was born in 1941 in Santiago, Chile. As an adolescent, he was inspired by the work of Chris Marker, Frederic Rossif and Louis Malle. He studied filmmaking in Chile and Spain where he graduated in 1970. Guzmán returned to Chile in 1971, and directed his first documentary, The First Year, which covered the first 12 months of Salvador Allende's government. Chris Marker, impressed by the film, offered to help get it seen in France. Two years later, Marker again provided invaluable assistance when he donated the raw stock necessary to commence filming The Battle of Chile, Guzmán’s trilogy about Allende's final year. Filming on this project continued until the very day of the coup d'état. That day, Guzmán was imprisoned in Chile's National Stadium, where he remained for 15 days. After regaining his freedom, he left for Europe with his footage, edited the film in Cuba and released it to great critical acclaim.
Guzmán has since continued to make documentaries mostly focusing on Chilean concerns, including In God's Name about the Catholic Church's fight for human rights in Chile, and Chile, Obstinate Memory which addresses collective political amnesia. Patricio Guzman's films have been shown in numerous festivals and cinemas around the world and have won him many awards.
2010 Nostalgia for the Light (102').
2005 My Jules Verne (52’)
2004 Salvador Allende (102').
2001 The Pinochet Case (110´).
1999 Isla de Robinson Crusoe (43´).
1997 Chile, Obstinate Memory (58’).
1995 Pueblo en Vilo (52’).
1992 The Southern Cross (80’).
1986-87 In the Name of God (100’).
1985 Pre-Columbian Mexico (5 x 30´).
1973-79 The Battle of Chile I, II, III (270’).
1971 The First Year (100’), with a prologue by Chris Marker.
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Writer and Director |
Patricio Guzmán |
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Photography and Camera |
Katell Djian |
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Sound Recording |
Freddy González |
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Original Music |
Miranda y Tobar |
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Producer |
Renate Sachse |
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Assisted by |
Adrien Oumhani |
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Co-produced by |
Meike Martens and Cristóbal Vicente |
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Editing |
Patricio Guzmán and Emmanuelle Joly |
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Editorial supervisor |
Ewa Lenkiewicz |
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Video editing, online, effects |
Éric Salleron |
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Sound editing and mix |
Damien Defays and J. Jacques Quinet |
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Sound mix |
Jean-Jacques Quinet |
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Astronomical photography |
Stéphane Guisard |
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Artistic consultant |
Renate Sachse |
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Collaborator, commentary text |
Sonia Moyersoen |
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Narration (voice) |
Patricio Guzmán |
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Production manager |
Verónica Rosselot |
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A co-production by |
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© Atacama Productions S.A.R.L (France) |
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Blinker Filmproduktion GmbH and WDR (Germany) |
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Cronomedia Ltda. (Chile) |
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With the participation of : |
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Fonds Sud Cinéma |
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Ministčre de la Culture et Communication CNC |
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Ministčre des Affaires Etrangčres et Européennes de France |
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Région Île-de-France |
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Televisión Espańola TVE |
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Bourse d'aide ŕ l'écriture Brouillon d’un Ręve SCAM |
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Sundance Documentary Fund |
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Shot in HDCAM |
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DTS Dolby Digital |
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Chile/France/Spain/Germany – 90 minutes- 2010 |
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Featured in the film: Victoria and Violeta, the women searching for their loved ones Pinochet’s dictatorship killed their relatives and buried their corpses beneath the desert sand. Since then, only occasionally have human bones have been recovered. Victoria and Violeta have now been the desert earth for 28 years with their shovels: they are determined to continue until they draw their last breaths. Lautaro, the experienced archaeologist He knows the desert like the back of his hand. He has found mummies that are a thousand years old, sleeping deep in the earth. Deeply affected by the tragedy of the disappeared, he passes on his knowledge of the earth to the women who look for their loved ones, and taught them to detect clues as to whether, beneath the surface, bones might lie. Gaspar, the young astronomer He was born after the Chilean coup. He studied astronomy in college, during Pinochet’s reign. His grandfather taught him to observe the stars. As he studies the galaxies, he also studies his country’s recent past. He is a great lover of stars and humankind. Luís, the amateur astronomer He learned to converse with the stars in a concentration camp. He is a talented, humble man capable of constructing astronomical instruments with his bare hands. He works silently against forgetting. Miguel, the architect of memory He survived five concentration camps. He preserved in his memory the layouts of all the prisons in which he was held prisoner. Upon reaching freedom, he drew, with astounding precision, the layout of each camp, thus bearing documenting his experiences. Valentina, the daughter of the stars The daughter of disappeared parents, she was brought up by her grandparents who taught her to observe the sky. Astronomy has given her some answers that enable her to face up to her parents’ disappearance as she plans her life, family, and future. |
★★★★★
“A film of heart-stopping beauty and devastating horror…this is a film of extraordinary beauty…"
It restores a cosmic dimension to the cinema. But this profound and moving work also reminds us that part of the cosmic is the history of humanity – politics, slaughter and all.”
Jonathan Romney , INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY“This beautiful, painful, cerebral documentary…this is a film to be seen, re-seen and pondered”
Philip French THE OBSERVER
★★★★“Deeply moving”
Ed Porter THE SUNDAY TIMES
★★★★
“Fascinating and profound”
Mike McCahill THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
★★★★
“A poetic, contemplative, beautifully shot documentary. Stunning”
Laurence Phelan THE INDEPENDENT
“Mind-blowing cosmic speculation, heart-rending political tragedy…in this beautifully made documentary”
Pick of the Week GUARDIAN GUIDE
★★★★
“A beautiful documentary…humbling”
Mark Adams THE SUNDAY MIRROR
★★★★★
“Nostalgia for the Light is moving: it has a tragic grandeur that really is very remarkable. It is deeply intelligent, intensely and painfully political, and yet attempts, and succeeds, somehow to transcend politics and perhaps even history itself.”
“This is one of the films of the year.”
Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN
★★★★★
“A seriously remarkable documentary-essay from the Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán. You can begin the film sceptical about whether Guzmán’s grand analogies, between stargazing and the archaeology of terrible human suffering, are going to come off at all. Then they do. The network of links he builds, and the film’s ever-deepening empathy for those whose search can’t be satisfied, are persuasive enough to banish doubt, leaving you humbled, shocked and moved.”
Tim Robey, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
★★★★★“Patricio Guzman’s profound and beautiful documentary about his native Chile”
“This is the best documentary I’ve seen this year.”
Kate Muir, THE TIMES
Time Out No 1 Critics’ Choice: Patricio Guzmán reaches for the stars, connecting the cosmos with life under Pinochet in his moving film essay.
★★★★★
“This magical, moving documentary...everything about this film makes you look with fresh eyes at the familiar…A truly eye-opening experience.”
Dave Calhoun TIME OUT★★★★★
“This is an entrancing film, a documentary that doesn't just tell you things you weren't aware of...it reflects on invisible connections and opens doors into the universe..
Guzman’s beautiful images are as associative and allusive as his numerous articulate and engaging interviews. This is one film you will not forget in a hurry.”
Tom Charity, LOVE FILM
“Perhaps the most remarkable of the many wonders of Guzmán’s film is that, even though he shows us some of the darker aspects of our history, he never lets us forget that there is still light. And that light is the source both of the cinema and of life itself.”
Geoff Andrew, BFI
“Brilliant”
David Jenkins, Little White Lies (Interview)
“A stunningly original, poetic yet unpretentious film about astronomy and the trauma of military dictatorship… shows just how creative and engaging documentaries can be. “
“Both poetic and profoundly moving”
Carmen Gray, LITTLE WHITE LIES
★★★★
“You wait all year for a thought provoking movie-essay on life, art science or history then in Nostalgia for the Light all four come together.”
Nigel Andrews, FINANCIAL TIMES
“Nostalgia for the Light is a genuinely transformative piece of work, cinematically inventive and politically urgent”
Ryan Gilbey THE NEW STATESMAN“A work of wonder… visually stunning, philosophically intriguing and profoundly moving…a masterpiece of transcendent (perhaps even transcendental) materialism.”
Chris Darke SIGHT & SOUND★★★★
“ Patricio Guzmán beautifully and poignantly entwines…a meditation on history, knowledge and mortality.... will leave an indelible impression... “
David Parkinson, EMPIRE
★★★★
“Patricio Guzmán’s lyrical documentary connects archaeology, astronomy, and the search for justice. Drawing on the testimonies of some fascinating interviewees, and filled with dazzling digital images of galaxies and landscapes, it’s a film that makes you ponder the mysteries of human existence anew.
Tom Dawson, TOTAL FILM
“Guzmán draws out the metaphors, parallels and paradoxes of his desert with astonishing simplicity, clarity and lucidity, the perfect weapons against the cloud of lies and the fog of forgetting. The search is not for death but for life....“A master filmmaker” Nick Bradshaw Sight & Sound
★★★★
“Nostalgia for the Light is a fascinating and insightful documentary combining philosophical theories with personal tragedies that’s beautifully directed and magnificent to watch.”
“A visually magnificent film with its bold and mesmerising visuals of the cosmos.”
Recommended.”
Jennifer Tate, View London
★★★★
"A moving meditation on history, knowledge and mortality"
Keith Uhlich,Time Out New York
‘A transfixing cinematic essay’
Stephen Holden, The New York Times
‘A stark, ravishing plea for remembrance’
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
‘A masterpiece of cosmic serenity. Patricio Guzmán bends the documentary genre, bringing it to poetic heights with Nostalgia for the Light.’
Jacques Mandelbaum, Le Monde
"Stunningly beautiful. I don’t know how you can put more into a film, or make one that’s more deeply moving."
Stuart Klawans, The Nation
"An extraordinary film about the unknown and the unknowable."
Sight & Sound
"Deeply Affecting!" Critics Pick
New York Magazine
Photos in 4 zip files Zip file 1 Zip file 2 Zip file 3 Zip file 4
Patricio Guzman interviewed in Indiewire
Project disappeared: Chile
Filmed interview with Patricio Guzmán New York 2011
Interview with Patricio Guzmán in Sight & Sound
Interview with Patricio Guzmán in Little White Lies
Website for Patricio Guzmán
CUNY TV filmed interview with Patricio Guzmán on his career
Watch the online Guardian video review