Film Night: Santiago Rising
Date: Sunday 9th October
Time: 7pm
Price: £6
Santiago Rising is an award-winning documentary film set in Chile. Join us for a screening of the film followed by a Q&A with the director, Nick MacWilliam.
Following its sellout run at the Cube Cinema earlier this year and in the backdrop of Chile's recent referendum, Santiago Rising is an urgent exploration of inequality, protest and change.
Santiago Rising takes place on the streets of Chile’s capital city in late 2019, as large public protests over economic inequality engulf the country. The film charts the build-up to the historic vote, in October 2020, that saw Chileans vote for a new people’s constitution to replace the one imposed during the brutal Pinochet dictatorship.
It examines how a movement which began as a high school students’ protest over transport fares evolved into one of the most significant events in the country’s history. Filmed during the weeks after protests began, Santiago Rising meets social movements, protesters and ordinary people in their struggle for equality and human rights. The film emphasises the creative element of Chilean protest, as music and art play a prominent role in expressing political dissent. We also see the state’s attempts to crush the protest movement through a brutal police crackdown. Although the odds are stacked against them, Chileans find strength in unity as they aim to overcome Pinochet’s enduring legacy.
“Chile was the ground zero of Chicago Boys, now it is the ground zero of insurrection. Santiago Rising is a must-watch for anyone interested in emancipatory politics!”
Srećko Horvat, philosopher and author
“This was a revolution. New forms of people’s democracy were emerging on the streets. But it is surprising how few people outside Chile noticed it. I don’t remember seeing a single report on the major tv bulletins. That’s why Nick Macwilliam’s excellent new film, Santiago Rising, is so important; he was on the streets, documenting this people’s uprising.”
Grace Livingstone, journalist and author
The Q&A will be with the director Nick MacWilliam (online), chaired by Maria Askew and joined in person by Chilean social worker and academic Victoria Rivera Ugarte.
The event will last approximately 2 hours including the Q&A (film running time is 89 minutes).
Santiago Rising was released in 2021 through Alborada Films.