Patricio Guzmán: Memory Works
DIRECTOR: PATRICIO GUZMÁN
CHILE, 2010
In Chile’s high Atacama Desert, astronomers peer through skies so clear that they can see to the boundaries of the known universe. Meanwhile, at the foot of the observatory, women dig through the soil in search of the earthly—the “disappeared” victims of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, their remains mummified by the hot, dry climate. Famed for his political films, Guzmán once again exhumes Chile’s past in a poetic and visually stunning meditation that draws parallels between the nature of time, perception, and memory. “When astronomers look at the heavens, they peer directly into the past, this idea extrapolated to everything people see. The many metaphors and surprising parallels between the universe, archaeology, and Chile’s recent past rise organically from the material, and the idea that universal truths can be found by focusing on local details is again proven.”—Variety. (90 mins.)