The Chacabuco Project

First off, news on the final events of 2006: Deserted Memory had its world premiere at the UN sponsored Desert Nights ‘Tales from the Desert’ International Film Festival in Rome, Italy on December 1, 2006. To see the documentary featured, Download a copy of the festival catalog.

I (Niles) went to Rome and presented the documentary during the screening. It was an incredible event with filmmakers from all over the world. The festival was held in the Casa del Cinema in the Villa Borghese park in Rome, on the Via Veneto, the street most known for its appearance in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. During the 10 days I spent in Rome I alternated my time between watching films, meeting other filmmakers at festival dinners and parties and exploring the streets of Rome.

Now for 2007: Deserted Memory has been accepted to the following film festivals:

In the USA:
CineMás Albuquerque Latino Film Festival in New Mexico, USA between February 15-18.

In Chile:
7° Festival de cine latinoamericano CAVERNA BENAVIDES, January 25-28.
7° Festival Iberoamericano de Cine de Atacama, Caldera, February 2-11.

And on January 25th the documentary will be shown at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco. If you live in the area please try to make it and invite friends and family!

So far, we are scheduling more screenings, sending the film off to more festivals and working on getting DVDs printed in order to start selling copies of the documentary on the internet. This DVD will feature a variety of extras not included in the documentary: a short 10 minute documentary on the nitrate mining history of Chacabuco and a 20 minute documentary of Deserted Memory’s first screening in Chile with interviews/reactions of the ex-Chacabuco political prisoners and their families.

Saludos a todos and more news of upcoming festival screenings to come!