World premiere of “The Chilean” in Piazza Grande

Locarno played a part in its creation, hosted some of its filming locations, and it is here, at the Festival, that it will have its world premiere.

The Chilean, directed by Sergio Castro-San Martin and also supported by the Ticino Film Commission, will be screened on the big screen in Piazza Grande on 13 August in prime time. Produced by the Chilean company Equeco, the Italian company dispàrte and the Ticino-based company Cinédokké, in co-production with RSI Radiotelevisione Svizzera / SRG SSR, the film is set in 1976. Aldo (Camilo Arancibia) is a militant with expertise in explosives who is forced to flee Chile. Having left his wife and newborn son behind, he scrapes by in Turin doing odd jobs until he meets Luciana (Sara Serraiocco), an activist who omers him the chance to be reunited with his family. The price he must pay is to return to making bombs for Italian revolutionary groups.

“The project began in Chile,” explains Alessandro Amato, co-producer alongside Luigi Chimienti for ‘Disparte’, “and we met him in Locarno, where in 2017 we took part in ‘Match Me’, the Festival’s Industry programme aimed at bringing producers together. Among the participants was Pablo Calisto, the Chilean producer we met on that occasion. A few months later, following a call for co- development proposals between Italy and Chile, Pablo rang us and asked if we were interested in making a film together. He wanted to acquire the rights to a biographical book. We began reading it, delving deeper into it and developing the project by adapting the book, which recounts the life of Aldo Marin, the protagonist of our film. The film is loosely based on the book and therefore on real events. Let’s say that the character most faithful to the book is Aldo himself, whilst other characters and certain events have been adapted to suit the narrative.

“One of these new additions,” continues Amato, “is the character of Luciana, who comes from a very wealthy Swiss family. This is one of the reasons why the story is also set in Ticino, where part of the filming took place. The other link with this region is our connection with Cinéddoké. Luigi, my business partner, met the producer Michela Pini on the set of Marco Bellocchio’s Sangue del mio sangue in 2014. A few years later, we set up our own company and met up with Michela frequently in Locarno, Venice, Cannes and Berlin. We had the chance to discuss the project and our desire to set up this international co-production: Michela was absolutely the perfect partner to make it happen.”

Following its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, the film will be released in Italian cinemas on 27 August, distributed by Fandango Distribuzione. In Switzerland, it will be released on a date to be confirmed, distributed by Cineworx. International sales are handled by Fandango Sales. Among the Ticino- s who took part in The Chilean are the actress Jasmin Mattei and the composer Zeno Gabaglio, who wrote the score.