The NFB is committed to respecting your privacy

We use cookies to ensure that our site works efficiently, as well as for advertising purposes.

If you do not wish to have your information used in this way, you can modify your browser settings before continuing your visit.

Learn more
Patricio Guzmán

Patricio Guzmán

A living legend of documentary cinema, Patricio Guzmán has directed 30 films over a career spanning 50 years. One of his most renowned docs is The Battle of Chile: The Struggle of an Unarmed People (1972–1979), which contains a chronicle of Salvador Allende’s government, including the coup that overthrew him and led to a military dictatorship. After the coup, Guzmán fled to Cuba and eventually settled in Europe, where he’s made most of his films. In 1997, the NFB co-produced Chile, Obstinate Memory, a turning point in Guzmán’s career. In it, he explores identity and memory, with personal reflections on his return to Chile after 23 years of exile. Without appearing on camera, he revisits some of the characters in his epic doc, The Battle of Chile. Chile, Obstinate Memory has won a dozen awards and is still one of his most popular films to date. Guzmán’s most recent film is My Imaginary Country (2022), which only lengthened the impressive list of awards and accolades he has received across the globe since the seventies.