The Sundance Channel shows Chile: Obstinate Memory tonight at 9 p.m. followed by The Trials of Henry Kissinger as part of their Monday Doc Day programming.
In the first film, Patricio Guzman returns to Chile to show his cinema verite documentary Battle of Chile for the first time after it had been banned by the Pinochet regime. He interviews one woman shown in his earlier film who lost her husband and four other relatives and others about their memories of the time.
Jorge Muller Silva who shot the film was arrested and taken to the Villa Grimaldi torture camp where he died at the age of 27. Silva's father is shown visiting a memorial with the names of the disappeared including his son. Guzman himself was detained at the National Stadium after the coup which took place on September 11th, 1973. Before he was picked up, he left his footage with his uncle which was taken out of the country by people from the Swedish Embassy.
He shows the film to young people who don't know the history. Some use what they see to justify the coup while it brings tears to the eyes of others.
Guzman explores these issues further in The Pinochet Case which received a limited theatrical release last year (including as a double feature with Trials at the Castro in San Francisco).
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