***Keep up to date with the film's progress here.***
What is 'Mother, Country'?
A feature-length documentary directed by Pablo Navarrete.
Script by Pablo Navarrete and Rodrigo Vázquez-Salessi
Film produced by Alborada Films in association with Bethnal Films
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My parents were forced to leave Chile after a military coup in 1973. They arrived in the UK as political refugees.
They didn’t know it then, but Britain would be where they would settle, have a family, and still live, nearly 50 years later. It’s taken me a while to appreciate how Chile’s dark past and what happened to my parents there, has cast a shadow over my own life. I was born in London and growing up, I had conflicted feelings towards Chile and kept the country at arm’s length.
But in October 2019 things changed for me. An increase in metro fares sparked student protests that turned into a mass uprising against a right-wing government with links to the dictatorship. I was seeing the country in a new light. A slogan for the uprising became: Chile has awoken. What I was seeing from afar filled me with hope for Chile’s future. I felt a need to go there, to see what was happening, but also to finally confront my parents’ past.
Nearly four years since I first travelled to Chile to begin filming I have launched this crowdfunder to help complete the film.
I’ve visited Chile to film twice more since 2020 and we finished filming the documentary in the UK on 11 September 2023, the 50th anniversary of the military coup. We're close to finishing the post-production on the film, which will released later this year.
We’re hoping the film will have its global premiere at a major English language film festival in June this year. We plan on showing the film far and wide.
This film is personal and unlike anything I’ve done before. I hope the documentary resonates with audiences, especially with those who, despite the dark times that we are living, continue the fight for a better world.
If you like this project, please select a reward and become part of making Mother, Country a reality. Your help with getting this film completed is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Who are we?
Pablo Navarrete is a British-Chilean journalist and documentary filmmaker focusing on Latin America. He is the founder and co-editor of Alborada, an independent voice on Latin American politics, media and culture. He was the Venezuela researcher for John Pilger’s documentary ‘The War on Democracy‘ (2007). He is the director of Alborada Films and has produced and directed eight documentaries for Alborada Films since 2009 and scores of other video content and documentaries for other media outlets.
Rodrigo Vázquez-Salessi is a producer from Buenos Aires, Argentina who commenced his journey at UNICINE and ENERC before heading to the UK's National Film & TV School in 1995. In 1998, he entered the world of television, directing his debut short film on eco-warrior Chico Mendes for BBC World. A producer, director, and cameraman, Vázquez-Salessi has crafted award-winning films for Channel 4's Unreported World and Al Jazeera's Witness and People & Power Series, creating investigative current affairs programs as well as observational documentaries, from Central America to the Middle East. He is the director of Bethnal Films.