José de la Maza Guzmán

José studied both Filmmaking and Aesthetics at the Catholic University of Chile, where he started developing his passion for making films and doing academic research related to the historical memory of Chile. His undergrad thesis film Querida Silvia (Dear Silvia), a documentary made mostly with archival footage, was released and awarded at the International Documentary Film Festival of Santiago. As a filmmaker, he seeks to explore stories that have an intimate relationship with History, as a way of reflecting on it, in an area where facts and conjectures blur. He seeks to continue to explore this interest with his future narrative and documentary projects. Currently, he is developing a screenplay for a western that takes place in the aftermath of the war between Chile, Perú, and Bolivia at the end of the nineteenth century and an essay film about the lingering effects of the historical representation of the indigenous Mapuche people in Chile as barbarians.

Areas of focus: Essay Film/ Genre Film