Argentine and Patagonian cinema
The first films were shot in Argentina in 1896 by photographers Eugène Py and Henri Lepage, who were among the first to understand the potential of cinema. Working as photographers in Buenos Aires, they discovered the Lumière brothers' cinematograph after the country's first ever screening on July 18, 1896. In its early days, Argentine cinema drew on national literature and the country's rich history to offer popular subjects. In 1914, Amalia, directed by Enrique García Velloso and written by Eugène Py, became the first feature film in the country's history, while in 1917 director Quirino Cristiani created the world's first animated feature film. El Apostol, sadly lost today, was a national success and a favorite for its satire of President Hipólito Yrigoyen. Archives relating to this film - and many others in the country's cinematic history - can be discovered at the Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken, the national film library in Buenos Aires.
Because of their geographical remoteness, Ushuaïa and Patagonia have long remained off the map for filmmakers. In 1974, director Héctor Olivera, in collaboration with filmmaker Fernando Alaya and journalist and writer Osvaldo Bayer, shot La Patagonia rebelde (1974). A powerful historical fresco about the Patagonian workers' revolt of 1922, and the violent repression that followed. Part true story, part Argentine western and part social drama, the film was selected for the Berlinale, where it won the Silver Bear in 1974. Héctor Olivera then pursued a prolific career between Argentina and the United States, mixing politically charged projects with more commercial productions, notably for B-movie producer Roger Corman.
Another landmark film of the second half of the twentieth century, Carlos Sorín's The King's Film, won the Goya for Best Foreign Film in 1987, before going on to win a prize at the Venice Film Festival. A self-reflexive work dedicated to cinema, and to the story of the legendary self-proclaimed king of Patagonia in the 19th century, the French jurist and adventurer Orélie-Antoine de Tounens.
In the 1990s, the rise of Argentine cinema continued with numerous productions, but Patagonia and Ushuaïa remained relatively unexploited on screen. In 1995, however, the region played host to Caballos Salvajes, a road movie set against a backdrop of social flight, which won numerous awards at the Condor, Argentina's equivalent of the Oscars, and was also acclaimed at the Sundance Film Festival. A few years later, it was director Alejandro Agresti who toured the world with his film Le vent en emporte autant, which sees a young cab driver retreat to Patagonia, to a small village where the only opening to the world is a cinema showing classics. This film, too, celebrates the love of cinema as much as cinema itself, and won awards at several European festivals.
Carlos Sorín would return to film in the region on several occasions in the 2000s, highlighting the simple and often touching stories of its inhabitants. Historias mínimas (2002), Bombon le chien (2004), Jours de pêche en Patagonie (2012) and Joel, une enfance en Patagonie (2018) earned him critical acclaim.
Pablo Trapero's excellent Nacido y criado(2006) is a harsh film that evokes the pain of Santiago's character, lost in the middle of icy white Patagonia after a family tragedy that turns his life upside down.
Salamandra, enfant de Patagonie, by Pablo Agüero (2007), recounts the adventures of Alba and her son Inti in the post-dictatorial Argentina of the 1980s, in the "hippie" valley of El Bolsón.
Released in 2010, the film Patagonia by Welsh director Marc Evans tells the story of Y Wladfa, a Welsh colony established in Patagonia. An excellent film with a road-movie feel, it highlights the quest for identity of young settlers freshly arrived in an unknown land.
Lucía Puenzo'sThe Family Doctor (2013), adapted from her novel Wakolda, is set in Bariloche in 1960 and follows the steps of a family convinced they are dealing with the terrible Josef Mengele, a former Nazi doctor who has taken refuge in Argentina.
Lisandro Alonso'sJauja (2014), starring Viggo Mortensen, is a "Patagonian western" set during the tragic Conquest of the Desert (1879-1881).
Chilean side
The overthrow of Salvador Allende's government in 1974 left a gaping wound in the country's history. Repression was bloody, and many political opponents disappeared into camps in the Atacama Desert. This violent history had a profound impact on the filmmakers of the Nuevo Cine Chileno, but also on the generation of their successors. Today, cinema is part of a process of remembering, a history in images, still in the making.
Born in Santiago in 1941, Patricio Guzmán is one of Chile's most internationally acclaimed filmmakers. After brilliant film studies in Madrid, he returned to his homeland to direct The Battle of Chile in 1973, a documentary trilogy made under Allende's government, six months before the military coup. Even today, it remains the most well-documented account of this dark period in history. Patricio Guzmán moved to France to escape threats of execution. Driven by an unconditional love of his native country, he went on to make a number of poignant documentaries, probing with philosophy and finesse the memory of a country as complex as it is captivating. These include La mémoire obstinée (1997), Le Cas Pinochet (2001), Salvador Allende (2004), as well as his latest trilogy: La Nostalgie de la lumière (2010), Le bouton de nacre (2015) and, more recently, La cordillère des songes (2019), which has won numerous prizes and awards (Cannes Film Festival, Berlinale). Immersed in the observatories of the Atacama or the great lakes of the South, Patricio Guzmán moves away from the figures of Allende and Pinochet, while retaining his favorite themes of human relationships, collective memory and the transformation of a world in the grip of capitalism. With sensitivity, he portrays the wilderness of his country and, through his documentaries, maps out the memory of a Chile prey to its past demons and present challenges.
More focused on Patagonia, Théo Court's 2019 film Blanco en Blanco features Chilean actor Alfredo Castro in a 20th-century neo-western setting, lost in the far reaches of Tierra del Fuego.
In 2000, the great filmmaker Miguel Littin adapted a short story by writer Francisco Coloane for the same period, same region. Tierra del Fuego presents a dark episode in the conquest of Tierra del Fuego through the controversial historical figure of Julio Popper.
Felipe Gálvez Haberle's Les Colons, released in 2023, is a masterpiece in the dark Southern western genre, featuring a controversial historical figure. Set in the vast, untouched, foggy spaces of Chilean Tierra del Fuego, it features a group of mercenaries commissioned by landowner Menéndez to clear his land of Selk'nam Indians.
In Alexander Witt's very contemporary thriller Sayen, released in 2023, we follow a young Mapuche woman determined to track down the mercenaries who killed her grandmother.
Internationally renowned landscapes
Since the early 2000s, the region has been increasingly open to both national and international film shoots, a process set in motion by the growing reputation of local productions, supported or produced by the Patagonik Film Group, now acquired by Disney. At the same time, the captivating landscapes of this unique land are being showcased by major international documentary series. It was with Life on Earth that filmmaker David Attenborough first introduced international audiences to the landscapes of Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. A multi-platform series that launched the career of this now world-famous filmmaker-narrator, Life on Earth was also one of the inspirations for the series Ushuaïa, hosted by Nicolas Hulot and broadcast on TF1 from 1987 to 1995. A resounding success for a program which, despite its name, did more than just introduce us to Patagonia and its region.
On the fictional side, it was director Werner Herzog who, in his South American career, first brought the region's craggy landscapes to the fore with Cerro Torre, le cri de la roche, in 1991. Considered at the time to be one of the world's most difficult summits to climb, the film is based on the true story of the first two climbers to conquer the peak, Italian mountaineer Cesare Maestri and his Austrian acolyte Toni Egger, who died on the descent. Shot around the summit and devoted almost entirely to the mountain, Cerro Torre tells the story of the rivalry that develops between two climbers in the race to reach the summit, until it becomes destructive. It's an impressive film in which you'll also recognize Ushuaïa airport, the obligatory gateway for climbers on their expedition to the impossible.
In a similar survival vein, but closer to home, southern Argentina also hosted the production of The Revenant (2015), Alejandro González Iñárritu's story starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a trapper lost in the middle of the Canadian winter. Originally, the film was to have been shot entirely in Canada, but production delays and the imminent arrival of the thaw forced the entire film crew to move to Patagonia for the final shoot. You'll recognize the landscapes of Tierra del Fuego in the film's final scenes, as Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) confronts John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Critically acclaimed, The Revenant finally earns Leonardo DiCaprio the coveted Oscar, while Iñárritu walks away with the statuette for Best Director.
Rest assured, however, there's no need to brave the elements to enjoy Patagonia's most beautiful landscapes. The proof is in Long Way Up (2020), a documentary series following the motorcycle road trip of Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman, from Ushuaïa to Los Angeles. Pure pleasure for fans of the genre, and a great way to discover the region via the small screen.
