Some of the most profound and powerful documentaries have come from traumatised communities telling stories of heartbreak, loss and devastating experiences. Patricio Guzman, known for his political documentaries ‘The battle of Chile’ and ‘The Pinochet Case’ travels to the Atacama Desert, for his film Nostalgia for the light. The radiant sky above attracts astronomers from around the globe to the coast of Chile, peering into the outer reaches of the universe. But the Atacama holds a darker and much more sinister secret. The incredible dryness of the desert has preserved political prisoners who “disappeared” after the military coup of 1973 at the hands of the Chilean army. Whilst the astronomers peer into the heavens, Local women related to
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Translating trauma through the medium of film is often a way of addressing such issues that are faced by traumatised communities. Aslı Ildır and Merve Haklı say that ‘Cinema as a visual communicative device is very important for recording, representing and revealing the unwritten history’, of people and ‘subjects’ that would otherwise be marginalized and forgotten. As Janet walker says, Trauma is big business. “Trauma cinema is thus defined as a transnational group of films that deal with a world shattering event.” In the towering achievement that has been defined as one of the greatest documentary’s ever made ‘The battle of Chile’ (1975-1979) Guzman returns to Santiago Chile to find Salvador Allende a Marxist national leader in the west. “The Battle of Chile, split into three parts and lasting 260 minutes, chronicles the mounting tension that led to a coup d'état and the establishment of Augusto Pinochet's military junta”. The film tells a tale of impending doom followed by atrocities that would become invisible due to the fear of repercussions by a regime that would become one of South Americas most suppressive and
Translating trauma through the medium of film is often a way of addressing such issues that are faced by traumatised communities. Aslı Ildır and Merve Haklı say that ‘Cinema as a visual communicative device is very important for recording, representing and revealing the unwritten history’, of people and ‘subjects’ that would otherwise be marginalized and forgotten. As Janet walker says, Trauma is big business. “Trauma cinema is thus defined as a transnational group of films that deal with a world shattering event.” In the towering achievement that has been defined as one of the greatest documentary’s ever made ‘The battle of Chile’ (1975-1979) Guzman returns to Santiago Chile to find Salvador Allende a Marxist national leader in the west. “The Battle of Chile, split into three parts and lasting 260 minutes, chronicles the mounting tension that led to a coup d'état and the establishment of Augusto Pinochet's military junta”. The film tells a tale of impending doom followed by atrocities that would become invisible due to the fear of repercussions by a regime that would become one of South Americas most suppressive and