A los pueblos del mundo
A record of Pinochet's crimes, one of few Chilean exile films made in the US.
21'
United States
IFFR 2024
Miguel Littin looks back at the bloody beginnings of Chile's labour movement in the 1920s.
The Marusia Massacre of 1925 was when president Arturo Alessandri ordered the army to slaughter hundreds of workers, ending the saltpetre miners strike. Littin turned this into a drama of groups: it's a film about miners, soldiers and capitalists acting in the interest of big business.
The lone individual to stand out is Gregorio, a labour activist played by Gian Maria Volonté. This casting was an obvious point of reference for Littin, Volonté was a communist and the most famous face of Italy's popular political cinema. Another iconic name found among the crew is Mikis Theodorakis who wrote the music for the film – it evokes the Mexican Revolution-sound of Italian Westerns.
Actas de Marusia is a film made in the spirit of international solidarity for a world audience. It's a film about Chile then and now, and about all the other countries where the workers were and are, denied even the most basic rights. So be aware, dear cinephiles: this part of history is of the utmost importance for all of you – nitrate is made out of saltpetre.
– Olaf Möller
IFFR 2024
- 110'
- Mexico
- 1975
- Director
- Miguel Littin
- Country of production
- Mexico
- Year
- 1975
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2024
- Length
- 110'
- Medium
- Digital
- International title
- Letters from Marusia
- Languages
- Spanish, English
- Producer
- Arturo Feliu
- Production Company
- P. C. Arturo Feliú
- Sales
- Imcine
- Screenplay
- Miguel Littin, Patricio Manns, Freddy Taverna G.
- Cinematography
- Jorge Stahl Jr.
- Editor
- Ramón Aupart, Alberto Valenzuela
- Production Design
- Agustín Ituarte
- Music
- Mikis Theodorakis
- Cast
- Gian Maria Volonté, Diana Bracho, Claudio Obregón
- Director
- Miguel Littin
- Country of production
- Mexico
- Year
- 1975
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2024
- Length
- 110'
- Medium
- Digital
- International title
- Letters from Marusia
- Languages
- Spanish, English
- Producer
- Arturo Feliu
- Production Company
- P. C. Arturo Feliú
- Sales
- Imcine
- Screenplay
- Miguel Littin, Patricio Manns, Freddy Taverna G.
- Cinematography
- Jorge Stahl Jr.
- Editor
- Ramón Aupart, Alberto Valenzuela
- Production Design
- Agustín Ituarte
- Music
- Mikis Theodorakis
- Cast
- Gian Maria Volonté, Diana Bracho, Claudio Obregón
Programme IFFR 2024
Focus: Chile in the Heart
After the coup against the democratically elected government of Chile and the murder of the nation’s president, Salvador Allende, on September 11th 1973, masses of Chileans fled the country for unknown futures far away. In 1974, spearheaded by works like Sergio Castilla’s Pinochet: fascista, asesino, traidor, agente del imperialismo and Raúl Ruiz’s Dialogue d’exilés, a historically unique phenomenon started to take shape: a Chilean cinema in exile. The vast majority of Chile’s film culture had left and were now living spread across different nations, this included already established auteurs like Patricio Guzmán (The Battle Of Chile (Part 1): The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie), Miguel Littin (Actas de Marusia) and Helvio Soto (La triple muerte del tercer personaje) as well as film students like Sebastián Alarcón (Night Over Chile), Leo Mendoza (Reír o no reír) or Luis Mora (Night of the Captain). Remarkably enough, the resulting production forms a coherent whole: it continues the Chilean cinema of the Unidad Popular, and protests against the fascism at home – while often presenting Chile as but an example for the forms of oppression and terrorism found all over the world. In an age where ever more filmmakers are forced into exile and whole communities are violently displaced, IFFR presents a grand overview of the phenomenon on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. We’ll present some twenty-five features and shorts covering the first decade of production in exile, mixing established classics with shorts and television works hardly seen since their original presentation.
Did you know there's also a Talk about our Chile in the Heart programme? Find out more via the button below.
Read more about this programmeActas de Marusia
A film about Chile then and now, looking at the 1925 strike of saltpetre miners.
110'
Mexico
IFFR 2024
Ardiente paciencia / Mit brennender Geduld
Antonio Skármeta’s fiction feature debut about Pablo Neruda and his postman, set in Chile.
80'
West Germany
IFFR 2024