My Imaginary Country

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My Imaginary Country

2022

1h 23m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

One day, without warning, a revolution exploded. It was the event that 80-year-old master documentarian Patricio Guzmán had been waiting for and working toward all his life: a million and a half people in the streets of Santiago, the Chilean capital, demanding justice, education, health care, and a new constitution to replace the strident rules imposed on the country during the Pinochet military dictatorship. Urgent and topical, My Imaginary Country features harrowing front-line protest footage and interviews with the dynamic activist leaders who are bringing about a regime change. Guzmán powerfully connects Chile's complex, bloody history to contemporary revolutionary social movements and the election of a popular new president.

Critics Consensus

A poignant meeting of impassioned filmmaker and fraught historical moment, My Imaginary Country surveys the past with care and greets the future with optimism.

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Maria M. Delgado

Sight & Sound

May 13, 2026

Guzmán shows the estallido social is about the very process of constructing an inclusive democracy, one that recognises and redresses the patriarchal abuses the women describe.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Jun 11, 2023

4/5

My Imaginary Country documents a new kind of grassroots protest, one in which every participant is also a citizen journalist; in which police and army atrocities are captured by a hundred phone cameras.

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Danny Leigh

Financial Times

Jun 8, 2023

4/5

It is a frozen image of a point in time; a graceful snapshot of change in motion.

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Fedor Tot

WeLoveCinema

Sep 20, 2023

4/5

Invigorating insights into a nation at a crossroads

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Edward Porter

Sunday Times (UK)

Jun 9, 2023

3/5

It’s not his [Patricio Guzmán] most ambitious or poetic film, but it represents an old campaigner’s tribute to his young successors.

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Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Jun 9, 2023

4/5

Guzmán doesn’t need to hunt for symbolism as the protesters are often supplying their own.

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dave d

@RT34924333 Jun 9, 2023

An uplifting documentary on the Chilean revolution that began with mostly student protests from the eyes of Patricio Guzmán, who was 80 during the making of the film. The theme is hopeful, but the path to get to just the possibility of change is well chronicled by Guzmán. It is nearly impossible to give enough backstory to explain why we are where we are in Chili. The viewer that doesn't know the plight, may have trouble getting behind the populist movement because it isn't well explained. Then, the film shifts gears out of nowhere in the third act. Totally worth watching, but at times disjointed. Final Score: 7.1/10

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Patricio Guzmán

Director

Patricio Guzmán

Screenwriter

Renate Sachse

Producer

Benjamin Lanlard

Executive Producer

Samuel Lahu

Cinematographer

Laurence Manheimer

Film Editor

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Synopsis

One day, without warning, a revolution exploded. It was the event that 80-year-old master documentarian Patricio Guzmán had been waiting for and working toward all his life: a million and a half people in the streets of Santiago, the Chilean capital, demanding justice, education, health care, and a new constitution to replace the strident rules imposed on the country during the Pinochet military dictatorship. Urgent and topical, My Imaginary Country features harrowing front-line protest footage and interviews with the dynamic activist leaders who are bringing about a regime change. Guzmán powerfully connects Chile's complex, bloody history to contemporary revolutionary social movements and the election of a popular new president.

Director: Patricio Guzmán
Producer: Renate Sachse
Screenwriter: Patricio Guzmán
Distributor: Icarus Films
Production Co: Arte France Cinema, Market Chile, Atacama Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 23, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 26, 2023
Runtime: 1h 23m

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