Directed by: Quique Cruz and Marilyn Mulford

Produced by: Quique Cruz and Marilyn Mulford

Camera: Vicente Franco

Editing: Michael Chandler

Music: Quique Cruz

A film about transforming horror into beauty.

 

Villa Grimaldi was a concentration camp run by Chile’s secret police during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990). Claudio Durán, a Villa Grimaldi torture survivor, goes back to that place of terror to retrieve his memories and confront the demons that have plagued him during his long years in exile. As well, he meets with several artist friends, all survivors of Villa Grimaldi, with whom he discusses common experiences and the role of art in converting darkness and pain into aesthetic exploration and healing.

 

 

Using archival footage, evocative graphics, intimate conversations, and imagery of Chile’s beautiful central region, the film weaves a compelling narrative that culminates with excerpts of the triumphant presentation of the suite Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi by Claudio Durán and his quintet Quijeremá. The performance not only takes place on the grounds of the former concentration camp – which was turned into a national monument in 1997 – but is also introduced by Michele Bachelet, the current President of Chile and a Villa Grimaldi torture survivor herself.

*The film will be presented as part of a multimedia event that will include the performance of the musical suite Archeology of Memory: Villa Grimaldi by Claudio Durán and his quintet Quijeremá, and an exhibition of accompanying gigantographics.