Chilean actress Manuela Martelli makes her feature directorial debut with Chile ’76, a thriller set during the early years of Augusto Pinochet’s regime in Chile.
The film is told from the perspective of Carmen, an upper-middle-class woman whose life begins to unravel after she hides an injured young man whom she suspects is a victim of political prosecution.
The film stars Aline Küppenheim as Carmen, Nicolás Sepúlveda (Elías), Hugo Medina (Padre Sánchez), Alejandro Goic (Miguel), Carmen Gloria Martínez (Estela), Antonia Zegers (Raquel), Marcial Tagle (Osvaldo), Amalia Kassai (Leonor), Gabriel Urzúa (Tomás), Luis Cerda (Pedro), Ana Clara Delfino (Clara), Elena Delfino (Elena), Salvador Guenel (Andrés), Vilma M. Verdejo (Julita), Mauricio Pesutic (Eugenio), Yasna Ríos (Silvia), Francisco Ossa (Padre Rafael) and Elvis Fuentes (Humberto).
Chile ’76 world premiered at Cannes Directors Fortnight and will make its New York premiere at New Directors/New Films on Friday, April 7. Following the premiere, the film will open in theatres on Friday, May 5th at Film at Lincoln Center and the IFC Center in New York City, and the Laemmle Royal in LA, followed by other cities.
Set during the early days of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, Chile ‘76 builds from quiet character study to gripping suspense thriller as it explores one woman’s precarious flirtation with political engagement. Carmen (Aline Kuppenheim) leads a sheltered upper middle class existence. She heads to her summer house in the off-season to supervise its renovation, while also performing local charitable works through her church. Her husband, children, and grandchildren come back and forth during the winter vacation, bringing reminders of the world beyond. When the family priest asks her to take care of an injured young man he has been sheltering in secret, Carmen is inadvertently drawn into the world of the Chilean political opposition and must face real-world threats she is unprepared to handle, with potentially disastrous consequences for her and her entire family.
Watch the official trailer for Chile ’76.