LatinaLista — Today, Chile may enjoy the leadership of one of the few women Presidents in the world, Michelle Bachelet, but the country’s sad history of terror and torture under the watch of General Augusto Pinochet when more than 3,000 people were killed and 1,000 of those were listed as “disappeared,” still haunts the survivors of that time.
Many of those killed, Chilean activists, were murdered right in front of their own children. These children ended up coming to the United States to live in exile but always carried the horrendous memories of what happened to their parents in their young subconscious.
Dramatizing one of those stories, director Mabel Valdiviezo, has written and produced the film “Soledad is Gone Forever.”
Soledad receives word that the remains of her father have been found in a mass grave in Chile.
(Source: “Soledad is Gone Forever”)
Based on real accounts, this film presents an intimate portrait of a young immigrant photographer living in San Francisco, Soledad Gonzales, who learns her father’s remains have been found in a mass grave in Chile. Soledad’s recurring visions of chilling childhood images shatter her life, making her discover that these are real memories that have been repressed for twenty years.
Torn by her aunt Delia’s advice to forget the past but faced by the implications of her father’s death, Soledad must make a crucial decision.
Does she have the courage to pursue the truth and will this realization finally bring peace to her tortured soul?
The film has been getting good buzz and now finds itself competing in the From Here to Awesome Film Festival.
Yet, because this festival is all about WOM (word of mouth), Valdiviezo is asking for help. At its end, the film festival will showcase in theaters worldwide the 10 films that got the highest reviews and comments — by viewers!
To help this film gain traction in the competition, it’s asked that people go to YouTube to view a 3-minute interview/trailer, rate the video and write a comment. (All these links are to the YouTube interview/trailer.)
And hopefully Soledad will be discovered as a tool to shed a global light on a dark moment in Chile’s history — while giving a voice to all those children who had no say about their parents’ disappearances.
