All events at 'Camino a FIDOCS 30' are free. For performances at Sala K / U. Mayor, you must reserve your spot by completing a registration form available at the link we will share here soon.
Throughout its twenty-nine editions, FIDOCS has served as a showcase for new generations of filmmakers. This selection brings together some of the early works of directors who found a place at the Festival in its inception, inviting us to revisit the origins of key figures in contemporary Chilean cinema.
The second session brings together early works or formative pieces that already reveal some of the concerns that will shape the careers of different filmmakers. In 'Desde siempre' (Since Forever), Marialy Rivas blends documentary and fiction to explore sexual diversity in 1990s Chile, questioning the representations imposed by a conservative society. In 'Antes que todo' (Before Everything), María Paz González follows two teenagers who find a path to a future in music, despite the limitations of the educational system, the distances of the city, and family misunderstanding. In 'Niños del paraíso' (Children of Paradise), Paola Castillo and Valeria Vargas follow a group of children from Robinson Crusoe Island who, upon finishing primary school, must leave the place where they grew up to continue their studies on the mainland. Finally, in 'Armed Hand', José Luis Sepúlveda confronts institutional discourses on crime with the experiences of three people incarcerated in the Colina I prison, thus beginning a cinema built from the margins, which questions the categories and hierarchies with which society is organized and represented.
Made between the late 1990s and early 2000s, the four films are by filmmakers who grew up between the dictatorship and the transition to democracy, beginning their filmmaking careers around the turn of the millennium. From diverse perspectives, they follow individuals seeking to forge their own identity or future within a society that, despite its transformations, still attempts to define them in advance.
Always
Santiago, 1996. A renowned drag queen, A male prostitute, a bisexual man, a homophobe, and a variety of other characters offer their honest and raw testimonies about homosexuality, confronting us with the repressive Chile of the 1990s. This documentary, which blends autofiction with other narratives, was the first short film to portray gay men and lesbians in Chilean cinema, showing us what it was like to be LGBTQ in a country just emerging from a brutal dictatorship. Have we truly made progress?
Marialy Rivas She is a Chilean filmmaker and part of the Sundance Alumni Network; she has participated in its Screenwriters Lab and the Sundance Music and Sound Design Lab at Skywalker Sound. Her work includes the feature films 'Young and Wild' and 'Little Princess', the short films 'Blokes', 'Melody', and 'Since Forever', and several episodes of television series such as HBO's 'Perry Mason', the BBC's 'The Jetty', and the Hulu series 'The Season'. Her films have been selected and awarded at various festivals, including Cannes, Sundance, the Berlinale, and the New York Film Festival.
First of all
‘'Before Everything' tells the story of César and Jonathan, two teenagers who, separately, discovered music and decided to embrace it, making it their hope and future. But in the present, things are no longer easy for them. Beyond developing their talents, they must face various obstacles: the educational system, the distances of a big city, and the rejection of their own families.
María Paz González She is a Chilean director, screenwriter, producer, and teacher with over 15 years of experience in documentary and fiction filmmaking. 'Hija' (2011), her first feature-length documentary, was screened at more than 50 international festivals. Her debut fiction feature, 'Lina de Lima' (2019), premiered in Toronto and won awards in Fribourg and Valdivia. She has produced films such as 'Robar a Rodin', 'El viaje espacial', and 'El que baila pasa'. Through her production company, María Una Vez, she promotes projects with unique perspectives and auteur narratives. She is currently working on her next feature film, 'Morir de Pie'.
Armed hand
‘'Armed Hand' is based on the testimonies of three inmates at Colina I prison and conversations with lawyers, psychologists, and other specialists connected to the judicial system. Through their testimonies and the question of whether a criminal is born or made, it explores the motivations behind crime and the contradictions of the prison system regarding justice and rehabilitation.
José Luis Sepúlveda He is a Chilean filmmaker, founder of the Popular Film School and the Social and Antisocial Film Festival (FECISO) with Carolina Adriazola. As a duo, they have developed a body of work that blends documentary and fiction, exploring the social and aesthetic margins of the country. They have directed 'El pejesapo', 'Mitómana', 'Crónica de un Comité', 'El destapador', 'Harley Queen', 'Cuadro negro', 'Dipolo', and 'Dipolo fase II', which have been screened at prominent national and international film festivals.
Children of Paradise
It portrays the lives of children living on Robinson Crusoe Island, in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, during their final year of primary school. Upon graduation, they must leave the island and travel to the mainland to continue their secondary education.
Paola Castillo She is a filmmaker and graduate of the EICTV film school in Cuba. She is the director and producer of award-winning documentaries, including 'Allende, My Grandfather Allende' (Best Documentary at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival), 'The Lifeguard', 'Genoveva', 'Timoteo's Great Poor Circus', '74m2', 'Frontera', and 'Malqueridas'. She is the founder and director of Errante Producciones. She teaches in the Film and Television programs at the University of Chile and in Audiovisual Direction at the Catholic University of Chile. She has co-produced films with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Canada. She has served as a juror and panelist at festivals such as IDFA, DOK Leipzig, and DocsMX, among others.
Valeria Vargas Núñez She holds a degree in Literature and Aesthetics from the Catholic University of Chile and a master's degree in Narrative Nonfiction Writing from Alberto Hurtado University. She studied screenwriting at the EICTV Film School in Cuba. She is the author of the novels 'El misterio Kinzel, el primer caso de Laura Naranjo' and 'Profanaciones' (Hueders). Her short stories are included in the anthologies 'Crímenes con M de mujer' (Lom) and 'Nuevas vidas para Heredia: relatos y remedos de un detective, su gato y un escriba' (2025, Lom). She is a teacher, screenwriter, and script consultant for fiction and documentary. She has written telenovelas and series such as 'Los Archivos del Cardenal', 'Heredia & Asociados', and 'Isla Paraíso'. She co-directed the documentary 'Niños del Paraíso' and was part of the screenwriting team for the feature film 'Allende, mi abuelo Allende', which won the Golden Eye at Cannes. In 2024 she taught the Writer in Residence Chair at the Faculty of Letters of the Catholic University and is a member of the Chilean Film Academy.