SANTIAGO – The film industry in Chile jumps onto a new level with the creation of the “Cinema Academy.” Now, Chilean talent has the chance to develop skills, as cinema has been recognized as a clear expression of Chilean culture. The official institute is independent from any other organization.
The first cinema academy is a success for audiovisual arts in Chile. For the first time Chilean talent can be officially managed and receive training for better development. CinemaChile, the organization in charge of film industry development, hosted the ceremony in which the academy was officially inaugurated. The principal aim of the academy is to promote Chilean cinematography abroad.
During the event, the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage Alejandra Perez expressed her enthusiasm about “the conviction and courage in which year after year the group has fought to move the project forward.” She added: “this is a historical day for the Chilean audiovisual gild, for its works’ broadcasting, and more important for creating the necessary link with the public.” Perez also referred to the creation of the academy as a great step to fulfill the objective the ministry has with Chilean cinema and the expansion of arts and all aspects of culture.
Informativo: creación Academia de Cine de Chile https://t.co/L5NN6Ka2iC
La Academia de Cine está conformada por personas naturales que se desempeñan en oficios artísticos o técnicos del cine, no gremios ni asociaciones. La próxima semana se creará una web para inscripciones pic.twitter.com/dRdjiwJh8A— Cinemachile (@cinemachile) June 15, 2018
Chilean cinema has been recognized abroad often. National productions like the short film produced by Gabriel Osorio Vargas “Historia de un oso” and Sebastián Lelio’s movie “Una mujer fantástica” have received several prizes including the Oscar. For that reason, CinemaChile offers talent in audiovisual arts the opportunity to produce professional films. That way the country will be better positioned to show the world Chilean culture.
The board will be provisionally staffed with producer Giancarlo Nasi as director-in-chief. The stage-clothes director Muriel Parra as the secretary, and director of arts Estefania Larraín as the treasurer. After a 90-day term the board will be re-elected in a meeting with all the members. “After many years of work, we finally made it to officially build the cinema academy. This is the first step for an organization that will host filmmakers from all around Chile, and people from all professions in an inclusive and transversal way,” said Nasi.
He also referred to the academy as an association that seeks to promote and fortify Chilean cinema. According to him, the organization’s first task is to integrate as many academics as possible, and define purposes common to all cinema professionals in the country. Cinema academies are institutions responsible of selecting movies to receive awards like Oscar, Goya awards, and Ariel awards. Now Chile has the opportunity to join the Iberian-American Federation of Cinema Academies FIACINE (Spanish acronym), continuing thus the process of showcasing its national talent to Latin-America and the world.
Editor-In-Chief Boris van der Spek is the founder of Chile Today.