Una sombra oscilante

“Now I am this, a man with a camera,” says filmmaker Celeste Rojas Mugica, recalling the crucial moment at which her father shifted from being a left-wing militant carrying out furtive missions during the dictatorship to a photographer who unexpectedly discovered a new purpose. Now, in the present day, he is ready to revisit his past in a darkroom which his daughter transforms into a space of imagination, where photographs from the past emerge alongside memories of military surveillance. Julián Galay’s sound design enhances the atmosphere, evoking the confinement of a prison with whispers, metallic drips and heavy footsteps, while the 16mm images focus on the father’s hands and face, progressively bringing him forth from the dim light. The deliberate pacing of the editing shifts the focus from tense descriptions of his powerful 1980s photographs to moments of joyful intimacy, as father and daughter mumble classic childhood songs and create their own sense of the clandestine. In an age of overexposure, the filmmaker seems to be posing an urgent question about how much light is necessary to reveal a traumatic episode and what degree of shadow is required. (Isabel Orellana)

In the presence of Celeste Rojas Mugica and Florencia de Mugica.

Celeste Rojas Mugica: ESTRELLADISTANTE (2023, K), UNA SOMBRA OSCILANTE (2023, K)