The Santiago International Film Festival (Sanfic) will take place from 18 to 25 August and will celebrate its 20th edition together with its somewhat younger industry section, Sanfic Industria, which is now in its 13th edition, at a time of reassuring growth trends in the audiovisual industry in Chile and Latin America.
Sanfic Industria, led by festival co-founder Gabriela Sandoval, has grown rapidly as a platform aimed at providing support and advice to Ibero-American filmmakers, along with the latest developments in the entertainment world.
Now in its third year, Sanfic XR, a sidebar dedicated to virtual, augmented and mixed reality experiences, offers visitors the opportunity to explore cutting-edge extended reality projects from Chile, international premieres and works from national and Ibero-American XR labs. This edition expands its content and venues, now including the CRTIC technology center in addition to the Matucana 100 cultural center.
Projects include “Cerati XR,” an augmented reality journey through surreal landscapes where songs like “Lisa,” “Corazón Delator,” and “Raíz” come to life in hypnotic images, merging music and animation in a unique universe.
Premiering at Sanfic XR, “Ancestral Secret VR,” co-produced by Galgo Storytelling from Chile and NowHere Media from Germany, is an immersive experience that takes viewers into both the physical and sacred worlds of Peru’s indigenous Q’eros community, “combining indigenous knowledge and avant-garde technologies,” says Galgo Storytelling producer María José Diaz.
The other pillars of Sanfic Industria are Ibero-American Work in Progress, Santiago LAB (fiction and documentary films), Series LAB (fiction and documentary films), Producers Lab, Sanfic-Morbido Lab, Sanfic Series: Series Premieres, Sanfic ODS LAB and Sanfic NET: Business Roundtables.
Highlights of the Sanfic series, which was launched in 2019, are the premieres of two documentary series: “Versus” by Mexican director Raúl Cuesta Jiménez, which revolves around the enormous efforts, sacrifices and dedication that a tennis player like Nicolás Jarry has to make to reach one of the top positions in the world rankings. And “The 43 of Ayotzinapa: A State Crime” from the streaming platform Max, which sheds light on the decades-long struggle of the parents of the 43 missing students for justice and accountability by the Mexican state.
In conversation with Diversity, Sandoval examined the state of Latin American and Chilean industry through the prism of Sanfic Industria:
What do you think about the current situation of Latin American cinema?
Latin American cinema is characterized by its audiovisual power and unique storytelling perspectives. Despite challenges such as unstable conditions and limited government support, producers and filmmakers are creating diverse narratives that address regional social and political issues such as historical memory, human rights, migration and diversity. Current trends emphasize storytelling with dignity and respect while exploring a wider range of genres for global audiences. Co-productions are becoming increasingly important, especially for countries with limited funding, and new generations of filmmakers are enriching the industry with fresh narratives and perspectives.
What struck you about Chilean cinema?
Chilean cinema is experiencing strong growth, with established professionals and emerging talent offering new perspectives and production models. This progress is evident in the increasing presence of Chilean content in international festivals and in the industry. However, a major challenge remains: despite international recognition, there is little engagement from local audiences. To address this problem, Chile needs public policies that not only promote national content but also ensure its presence in cinemas, as well as a strong public channel to support content distribution. In addition, more incentives for audiovisual production are needed to sustain the growth and development of Chilean cinema.
In fact, we have observed that over the last decade, Chile has overtaken Argentina in the number of Oscar nominations, although Argentina holds the historical record. What do you think about this?
Chilean cinema is thriving worldwide, receiving over 300 international awards in 2023, CinemaChile reports. Chilean productions are becoming increasingly popular and are often the result of international collaboration.
Chilean productions are becoming increasingly international, involving financing from multiple countries and featuring diverse artistic and technical talent. Major platforms such as Netflix are supporting these projects, increasing their global reach. Notable examples include “El Conde,” which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Cinematography, and “La Memoria Infinita,” which was nominated for Best Documentary. These successes not only elevate Chilean cinema to new levels, but also put Spanish-language films on the world stage.
We have noticed that interest and sales contracts for genre films have increased significantly, as we saw in Locarno. Do you agree? I think that is one of the reasons for Sanfic-Morbido.
In fact, the horror/fantasy genre has experienced a surge in production in the last decade, which we have seen in various transversal festivals and platforms, where it has been called the new “arthouse horror”. This resurgence is largely thanks to the emergence of creators and producers who offer fresh approaches to narrative and aesthetics, moving away from the 1980s style, bloodshed and psychological sadism. All this contributes to a better dissemination and internationalization of horror and fantasy genre films, and Ibero-American cinema is a great example of this. In this context, Sanfic-Morbido was founded with the aim of strengthening the genre cinema industry: horror/fantasy in the region.
What will happen in this 20th century?th Edition, a milestone for Sanfic.
As part of the festival’s anniversary, we are presenting the Industria Award to three international guests who have been key to the development and contribution of the Ibero-American audiovisual sector. The winners are John Hopewell, international features editor at Variety, who will visit the country for the first time to receive the award; Elena Vilardell, who has been Technical and Executive Secretary of the Ibermedia I program since 1998, a multilateral financial fund to promote film activities created by the VII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, and who continues to hold this position; and Bina Daigeler, a German costume designer nominated for an Oscar in the Best Costume Design category for the live-action version of Disney’s Mulan.”, who has also worked with Almodóvar, Jim Jarmusch, Cate Blanchett and many others.
Next year, Latin American cinema editor Gerardo Michelin would be a perfect winner.
This year, for the first time, CAACI, the Conference of Ibero-American Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities, an international organization in the Ibero-American region specializing in audiovisual and cinematographic matters, will be present. It will hold its advisory panels during Sanfic Industria and we will hold three public events, including discussions on “Tax incentives for audiovisual production”, “The role of the producer in today’s world” and “Gender, cultural diversity and sexual identity: how important these are for a project”.
There will be 14 public events in total.
