Images of a Dictatorship

As part of the Fidocs documentary festival last week I saw this incredibly heart-moving and utterly mesmerising film about the dictatorship entitled Imagenes de una Dictadura, directed by Patricio Henríquez. The film is made up entirely of footage shot during the period, without any kind of narration, and is without doubt one of the most powerful things I've seen in a very long time.

The images are almost unwatchable at times, and leave the viewer feeling helpless, angry, and stunned and the sheer brutality of the military against its own people. Old women are soaked with high-power water cannon for the crime of coming together to demand information about their disappeared children. Soldiers rush peaceful crowds and batter defenceless men and women. Funeral processions for those killed by the authorities are teargassed after intense military provocation causes disturbances.

The film is shocking but it also highlights the strength of the Chilean people, not through any editing tricks or construed narrative, but through simply recording events as they took place. This was a truly turbulent time yet the people maintained their dignity and didn't shy away from the task at hand. Of course, the fear that the dictatorship instilled in the population was deep and provided a strong deterrent from militancy or public dissent. But, as this film shows, there was a courageous strength that drove the Chilean people onwards to liberty and a new dawn. It is a truly remarkable piece of film-making.

I saw Imagenes de una Dictadura down at the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos (Museum of Memory and Human Rights - http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/), which opened last year and provides a chilling yet fascinating look at Chile during the years 1973-1990. Afterwards I was lucky enough to have a chat with Raúl Cuevas, who filmed most of the images seen in the documentary and has worked freelance for the BBC and ITN back in the UK for many years. He had a genuine interest in my life in Chile, which was nice.

Anyway, here's the film which is on Youtube in its entirety although you have to follow the links to the next part. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who wants to understand more about what was allowed to happen here.