Talca Interrupted
TALCA INTERRUPTED’ is a one-hour documentary about three lost souls searching for the meaning of ‘home’
WATCH THE TRAILER: http://vimeo.com/23307783
VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.talcainterrupted.com
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Talca-Interrupted/162916287102205
THE STORY
‘TALCA INTERRUPTED’ is a one-hour documentary about three lost souls searching for the meaning of ‘home’ in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Chile. In the city of Talca, 6500 homes were damaged or destroyed by the quake and a year and a half later, only 12 have been rebuilt through government subsidies.
‘Talca Interrupted’ uncovers the human face in the wreckage of these alarming statistics. This is not a film about politics…the politics merely set the stage for a dreamlike meditation on survival. Three characters with conflicting social pressures are bound together by the transformations of one devastating event in the neighborhood of ‘Seminario.’ We see Pedro – an owner of a destroyed liquor store, re-born as a community leader carrying the burdens of his neighbors whilst constantly revisiting his past life through abandoned sites of destruction.
Ester moved to Talca from the country to work in a factory that is now in ruin. Trapped in her present, she works as a toilet cleaner, living in a temporary shack surrounded by the crumbling brick walls of the destroyed life she is fighting to recover. Architect, Jose Luis is determined to destroy his half demolished childhood home in order to build a prosperous future for himself and his community. In traversing a timeline of this post-disaster city through their past, present and future memories, ‘Talca Interrupted’ explores how we calibrate our identity in pivotal times of crisis. The film portrays the harsh reality of these three characters through highly stylized verite filmmaking merged with an exploration of their past memories and dream states using re-enactment scenes and archival footage and photographs obtained from the residents.
THIS PROJECT IS TIME CRITICAL!
There is an extremely time-critical aspect to the project. One of the main characters of the film, Jose Luis is demolishing his childhood home at the beginning of September, which is a central part of the entire film. We need to get coverage in his home for the re-enactment scenes & other interviews before this happens as well as shooting the actual demolition. As previously discussed in the films trailer and description, the film explores the lives of three residents and their inner conflicts to find the meaning of ‘home’ in the aftermath of
THE FILMMAKER
I am a documentary filmmaker and architecture graduate from Melbourne, Australia. My previous films “Vehicles of Memory” and “Under the Bridge” have screened at the Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. When studying architecture I participated in international workshops in Cardiff and Beirut where I set out to make short films about other people’s post-traumatic experiences, only to question my own personal identity. Similar to other Iranian migrants, growing up in Australia and having little contact with Iran, my idea of home is something very transient and trapped in between these two worlds. Thus, I have always been very passionate in exploring the concept of identity and what the meaning of ‘home’ is across different cultures in varying circumstances. I want to know how people recalibrate themselves and if this is indeed possible post disaster. For Chileans, home is everything: it’s family, solidity, culture and traditions. Now that it’s gone, where does that leave them? Who are they without a home? With these questions in mind, the film follows their fight to find it again…
On the 27th February 2010, when I heard about the devastating earthquake that struck Chile, I realised that it wasn’t just a disaster of material things but a disaster of the identity of people. This displacement is something I deeply relate to. Located 200km from the epicentre of the 8.8 Richter scale quake, the city of Talca became an unrecognizable landscape of debris, and as a result 20,000 jobs were lost. The historic town centre was destroyed. But more importantly the soul of the people was broken. The resident, the neighbourhood and the city experienced loss of identity.
WHAT WE NEED
I am working with a small production team including Chilean filmmaker Dani Ibaceta who will act as the assistant director, award-winning Chilean Composer Jorge Aliaga, Art Director Mara Grinbergs and Production Designer Mandi Bialek-Wester. In March 2011, we obtained initial photography, interviews and on ground research. With our target goal of $8,000 we will continue the film over a period of four weeks (28 days) in September 2011 to cover the time-critical footage of the residents. We will spend these four weeks on re-enactment scenes and following the activities of Jose Luis and the demolishment of his childhood home, Pedro’s activities within community reconstruction and Ester’s fight to rebuild her home. With this footage we will put together a new demo reel to apply for more funding to complete the production of the film.
The money raised in this campaign will cover the costs of return travel from Australia to Chile for the filmmaker, accommodation, daily expenses and art department costs for the team (Director, Assistant Director, Art Director, Production Designer) in Talca. Our budget is as follows:
- 1 Return Ticket with from Melbourne (AU) to Santiago (CH) = $2,400
- Accommodation in Talca (4 people) at $15 per night (28 nights) = $1,680
- Daily expenses (4 people) at $30 per person/per day (28 days) = $3,360
- Art Department (props, lighting equipment, materials) for 8 re-enactment scenes: $560
= $8,000
WHAT YOU GET
Over the duration of the film’s development, photographs, journal entries, interviews and footage will be uploaded for your viewing onto our website http://www.talcainterrupted.com. Upon the completion of the film, it will be viewable online and prepared for DVD distribution. There are rewards for every donation including DVD’s of the completed film, publications, film credits, t-shirts, artworks and illustrations. Please support the film and share with your networks to help raise awareness of post-disaster cities in your world today!
THE IMPACT
Through a unique exploration of reality and memory in “Talca Interrupted”, my aim is to assist and advance the reconstruction efforts of struggling communities in the region. The February 27th 2010 earthquake in Chile occurred only 6 weeks after the devastating Haiti earthquake and was subsequently forgotten by the world. It is clear these struggling residents in Chile need to be heard and their stories have not been covered in Chilean or international media. With your help, we can provide these residents with an international voice to create global awareness of post-earthquake living standards in Chile. If this campaign is unsuccessful, the Chilean story will continue to go unheard. The greater theme I want to impact is identity. What are the factors that make up our identity in times of crisis? How do our memories and dreams dictate the choices we make? What is the meaning of ‘home’ in the aftermath of a disaster? This is not just a story about Chileans but about our collective struggle to find a place to call home and the obstacles we must overcome in order to do so.
SPREAD THE WORD!
Email your networks and use social media to spread the word!
Like and share our FACEBOOK page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Talca-Interrupted/162916287102205
Share the project on your TWITTER account: http://www.indiegogo.com/TALCAINTERRUPTED
