• Conecta is the largest international documentary industry event in the country, mobilizing the country’s economy and image as it links Latin American documentaries to the global audiovisual sector.
• The event will be taking place between November 29th and December 7th with various activities, among them, the showing of Chile, la memoria obstinada by Patricio Guzman open to the general public and outdoors at Paseo Bulnes.
• This year the historic alliance between Conecta and the Santiago International Documentary Festival FIDOCS begins, from which the new section DOCS IN PROGRESS + CONECTA emerges. The section is a new space to boost 8 Latin American documentaries at the top of the international audiovisual sector.
• It is important to mention that some of the great personalities from the documentary industry participating at the event are Rasha Salti, programmer for the prestigious window La Lucarne, from ARTE French-German TV channel; and Paul Lewis, director of the World Congress of Science.
The desire to bring forward relevant subjects and issues needs a meeting space that can live up to its ambitions, a place in which industry can be made present, connecting and broadening networks for the development of production, commercialization, and distribution of different projects. This is what Conecta offers, the largest and most important documentary industry in the country.
This is the sixth Conecta version, with a very important invitation for the audiovisual sector at a Latin American level. In this space, different single and series documentary projects were selected to promote and develop their non-fiction content.
CCDoc, the Chilean Documentary Corporation, in charge of the event, has been working for several years to create this path, positioning a diversity of works and their teams at the top of the international documentary scene, and at the same time, promoting the countries economy and image by gaining recognition for Chilean creative industries. “Expectations are always set on creating more bonds, new links, and alliances for the Latin American documentary community”, details Flor Rubina, CCDoc’s Executive Director.
UNMISSABLE ACTIVITIES
The 6th international Conecta encounter will be completely online, with online panels and the presentation of projects of different genres. Moved by a forward-looking and borderless vision, some of the different genres are digital animation and virtual reality. This year, two movies will be publicly presented; Chile, la memoria obstinada, and The Cordillera of Dreams, both by renowned director Patricio Guzman. The latter has been selected to represent Chile at the Goya awards and will be presented online, as it will also be the event’s opening. On the other hand, Chile, la memoria obstinada, establishes a dialogue with current times because of the Constitutional Convention, and will be exhibited outdoors at Paseo Bulnes, in Santiago. The showing will take place next Saturday, December 4, at 21.00 hrs, and will be open to all audiences.
Conecta’s opening will take place on Monday, November 29, and will begin with a virtual ceremony streamed through CCDoc’s Facebook and Youtube channel.
The unmissable event will have different industry, panel, and training activities. Workshops like Connect with the roots, Boost your developing documentary workshop and the new section, Conecta with new media.
WORLD-CLASS GUESTS
This event’s 360 degrees global connection will bring the participating works glances from around the world. Conecta will have over 100 national and international guests. Institutions like the National Film Board of Canada, pioneer, and avant-garde on New Media, and the World Congress of Science will participate for the first time at an event showcasing science and climate crisis-focused projects. “We are thrilled. We have a record of over 30 countries participating”, outlines Flor Rubina.
Among other names taking part of Conecta is the programmer at the prestigious La Lucarne section, from ARTE French-German TV channel Rasha Salti; programmer for renowned Sundance Festival Basil Tsiokos; and representative for The Wickers First Works’ Fund, Jane Motte. Personalities from the national scene like the director of FICValdivia Raul Camargo; programmer for Centro Arte Alameda, Martin Castillo; producer at StgoTV, Gabriela Vergara; and president of the Movie Theaters Network, Teresita Ugarte, among some important participants with outstanding industry trajectories.
DOCS IN PROGRESS: ALLIANCE BETWEEN CONECTA AND FIDOCS
Today, Conecta presents everything a selected project could need to be finalized. This section gathers the creators of these promising films with industry agents that can contribute to their works’ international visibility and exhibition. “We hope producers can take as much as possible from the meetings, workshops, and panels we have prepared. And on the other hand, we hope industry agents we have invited will discover inspiring projects at Conecta, that can broaden and deepen their roots with Latin America”, tells Flor Rubina.
Encouraging sector professionals to make their products visible in the international scene, this year Conecta joins FIDOCS, Santiago International Documentary Film Festival, for the first time, in a historical alliance. Both are important referents, Conecta in industry, and FIDOCS in documentary festivals (announcing its 25th edition this year), will work together at Docs in Progress FIDOCS+Conecta. This activity will support Latin American developing projects.
The world’s eyes are set on this encounter, looking at the projection these movies are drawing on the international documentary industry. “At a Latin American level, documentaries have become very strong, as they show relevant subjects for the region, and are in the look for windows to express and communicate to massive audiences”, stresses Marcela Santibañez, FIDOCS Industry area Director.
Besides, FIDOCS’s director says “there will be a variety of awards, that will focus on the needs of each work, like for instance, postproduction, distribution, and archive”.
SELECTED PROJECTS AND AWARDS
This year, Conecta will present over 90 projects from 22 countries and over 20 local projects. These are from sixteen Latin American countries and six other territories.
In this version, selected projects will aspire to different recognitions and awards benefitting their works and teams. These awards will be given to outstanding projects in each section. Among them is the Cineteca Nacional Award, giving USD6,000 in postproduction services, and Market Chile award, with a special distribution consultancy.
DOCSMX and DOCMontevideo awards will be important for developing and finished projects, as they will choose projects to be part of each event. The notorious VOD buyer, The Digital Sofa, will choose a project for its distribution in Latin America.
“The heart of this event is that messages and subjects touched here can touch audiences, and these works can be relevant as long as someone is watching them”, emphasizes Marcela Santibañez from FIDOCS.
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