One of Guzmán’s most powerful and important films, Chile, Obstinate Memory chronicles the director’s return to his native land with a copy of The Battle of Chile and the determination to understand exactly how Allende’s fall and legacy were being remembered by different generations of Chileans. Sharing his epic film with survivors of the coup d’état and its terrible aftermath, Guzmán awakens memories of the past and stirs one group towards a powerful act of defiant remembrance. The film builds to a devastating climax when Guzmán shows his film to a group of young students who are shocked and overwhelmed by their first encounter with their own history that had been denied for so long. – HG

A lyrical essay film, Madrid offers a spirited meditation on place and tradition that focuses upon the city where Guzmán first studied cinema and where he found sanctuary after fleeing Chile. The fascination with revealing gestures and objects seen in The Battle of Chile gives way to Madrid‘s poetic exploration of the particularly Spanish rhythm of the city, with Guzmán’s equally interested in intimate cafes conversations as the enigmatic shadows captured by his ever-curious camera. – HG