Mapuche Documentaries under threat in Chile

In the last five months there have been several incidents of arrest , detainment and in one case expulsion by the Chilean authorities of documentary filmmakers . Each case is unique but what they all have in common is the all three groups have been filming documentaries about the Mapuche’s in the IX region of southern Chile near the city of Temuco.

First a group of French filmmakers Cristopher Cyril Harrison (26) and Joffery Paul Rossi(20) arrived to
film the reality of mapuche community. One night they filmed a fire and caribineros saw them and asked them if they started the fire and if they were part of the ETA in Spain. The police later left as they could not enter the community .

A few days later on 20th of March they travelled to the nearby town of Collipulli , when around 10-15 police approached them and asked them for their ID and told them this was only identity control. When one of them was found to not have their ID on them so they were taken in and detained for more than 10 hours , without council or a translator. “We didn’t know what was happening or if they were suspects” says Cristopher Cyril Harrison

They were taken to Angol and spoke with the Fiscal there who told them they were a witness to what you recorded and confiscated their camera and tapes. “You can not make a declaration or interview without an interpreter this is international law, we were treated like common criminals,” says Cristopher .

Later they told them they were in violation of Article 26 No #1 of the foreigner’s law, which was adopted by Pinochet during his dictatorship. The law states, “ A foreigner can not act against the interest of the State” .
An unidentified police officer said to one of the filmmakers “ Chile washes its dirty laundry among (familia) family”.

The Indententia Nora Barriente of Temuco after meeting with the French embassy representative’s to help mediate their arrest and possible expulsion. The Indenentia has the power to allow the filmmakers to stay or expel them from the country. They were allowed to stay in the country as long as they signed a notification to respect ” strictly the laws of the country” .The representative from the French Embassy told the filmmakers, “ we don’t want any trouble, I can’t help you if this goes to trail. We don’t want to get involved” .

A controversial Mapuche leader of the organization Consejo de Todo La Tierras leader known as Aucan Huilcaman who invited the filmmakers to the community to film the reality, spoke out to give support to the French filmmakers. “There are two laws that are left over since the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet that have not been used in over 10 years , the law of anti-terrorist and the law of foreigners . They have not made any modifications to these laws and can be used arbitrarily to any Mapuche or supporters of our community.”

Another group of filmmakers from Italy , Dario Inseffi (19) and Guiseppe Gabriele (28) were also in the region with the plan to travel to several indigenous communities in different countries and document the life and struggles of the indigenous community. They were just beginning their journey when they filmed a symbolic event, which was on private property of owner Rene Urban ,which was considered illegal and were arrested. On 13th of May they were arrested for the same infraction of the law as well as public disorder. Dario Inseffi was quoted in the Diario Austral of Temuco “We were treated like the worst terrorist”

However in both these cases “what was considered illegal by the authorities doesn’t even constitute a crime. It all depends on how you interrupt the law”, says unnamed source.

This time the Italians appealed the decision but were not allowed to leave the city of Temuco and had to call the authorizes to let them know where they were at all times. They were stuck in Temuco for two months before the authorities made their final decision.

This time with the precedent of the French case and what the government saw as an increase of foreigners traveling to the region to support and document the Mapuche struggles. The message the government wants to send out is that in Chile don’t come and participate in activism or support these groups here as the government will not allow that. They came to the decision to come down hard on these filmmakers to make an example of them. Had them expelled from the country for “ public disorder” because since they entered as tourist and they violated their tourist visa. And once expelled they never allowed to return again, ever!

During a press conference Nora Barrientos the Indentenia of the Temuco IX Region says “ in this case it is different the French filmmakers recorded from a distance where the Italian filmmakers participated. This is a serious situation, because what they filmed is illegal .” I asked on several occasions to the office of the communications for the Indentenia of Temuco for an interview to clear up some of the details and ask her some unanswered questions about these cases. I never heard back from her office.

As one journalist put it , “The other reason was they are not considered accredited journalist or for that matter documentary film makers they were considered tourists”. “ they are considered consider “Idealist or activists” and they don’t have the same rights or privileges that we have as journalist . They arrive here to film and live among the Mapuche people to see their reality and their day-to-day lives. Which to any foreign person would be a great experience , says a source that wishes to remain unnamed . They arrive with that mentality and without knowing the laws or norms of the country .

And finally on May 7th the most bizarre of all the cases straight out of a Hollywood film the case of Elena Varela. A Chilean filmmaker shooting a documentary called “ NEWEN MAPUCHE” with financing from the state FONDART . She has been working on this film about the conflict between lumber companies and Chile's Mapuche Indigenous people, over the use of land. She was taken from her home production office in Paguipulli that is 2.5 hours from Temuco and flown to Rancagua . “ I am being arrested for the film I am making about the Mapuches”. In this case the filmmaker was arrested along with 6 others and taken to a Rancagua jail until trial. They are accused of two-bank holdup one in Lonche and other in Machali were four people died in that incident.

Her video camera , over three years of filming (250 mini dv tapes) a hard drive and costumes were taken as evidence. Amnesty International believes that the authorities have arrested her in an attempt to halt investigations into this conflict and in an attempt to intimidate her and the Mapuche Indigenous people.
They fear that this information could be used by Chilean security forces to intimidate and harass Mapuche activists and those who contributed their opinions to the research. “ this is the strangest case I have ever worked as of today she has not been formally charged with any crime after over 3 months in jail” says her lawyer Ruben Perez .

If this type of repression is allowed to continue in Chile then it signals the“ death of the Documentary in Chile as we know it and infringes on other forms of expressions, says Fransico Gedda Professor of film studies in the University of Chile who spoke at the first press conference which hardly any media covered .

Time will tell if this new approach of a Iron fist towards foreign and Chilean (activist) filmmakers working in Chile will decrease or will this draw more attention to the problem and cause more conflict.

Link to filmmaker video on You Tube (in Spanish)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GspteAZX7vo


Story and Photos by Christian Peña