Chile

Violeta Went To Heaven, a biopic of popular Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra, combines an unconventional structure with visceral storytelling to provide a new perspective on the artist’s infamous life. The film places heavy emphasis on Parra’s childhood, her journey through Europe, and her failed relationship with Swiss musician Gilbert Favre, to create a near complete understanding of Parra’s ascendency to national prominence, and her tragic fall from grace. The film won the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize at Sundance.

Life and death come wrapped in a mutual embrace, both absurd and poignant, in this smart comedy about an unlikely friendship between a grieving cinematographer and a morbidly obsessed drifter. At work on a schlocky, low-budget horror film, Gaspar is still reeling from the untimely death of his older brother when he meets Alvaro at yet another premature funeral.