Childhood and Exile in Chilean Cinema

Abstract

This article approaches the trauma of the Chilean dictatorship through the intersection between childhood and exile. It analyzes the role of childhood in Chilean exile cinema, focusing on documentaries produced throughout the 1970s and 80s. We will study the presence of childhood as a symbol in the political imaginary of exile, discuss the ways in which cinema recognizes and authorizes children’s testimony, and cover the dilemmas of desexilio and counter-nostalgia in films devoted to the theme of return. The article argues that Chilean exile cinema turns to childhood as a key experience to understand the cultural phenomenon of uprootment, its psychological and social repercussions, and its role in the formation of an exilic subjectivity.