The documentary on muralism and street art, Chile Estyle

The documentary on muralism and street art, Chile Estyle, is coming to theaters in Santiago and surrounding areas.
Chile Estyle explores the past and present of Chile's street art tradition, blending political muralism and graffiti, which have been part of Chilean cultural and political life since the 1960s. Three street artists, Mono González, Ceki, and Inti, take us on a journey through the walls of different cities throughout Chile, showcasing their own works and creative processes, as well as those of their peers.

Chile Estyle will premiere in theaters on Thursday, May 22 at 7:00 PM at Insomnia, Teatro Condell in Valparaíso, and on Friday, May 23 at 6:45 PM at Centro Arte Alameda – Sala Ceina. Both screenings will have a film forum afterward, where we will talk with renowned artists who collaborated on the film: Mono González, Iván Miranda (Saile), Isidora Rivas (Bisy), and Daniel Marceli.

This film, premiered at the last edition of the Inedit Festival, takes us on a journey through a world, starting with the Ramona Parra Brigade and its legacy in political painting. It has also incorporated elements of New York and São Paulo graffiti, as well as pop art, with Native American themes and motifs, arriving at a synthesis of ingredients that created a Chilean style of street art. As a cultural expression with strong political and social implications, this dynamic form of artistic expression is undeniably important at the national, Latin American, and global levels. Santiago de Chile is now considered (by Hervé Chandès, Director of the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art), along with São Paulo, one of the two world capitals of graffiti.

Three main characters anchor the film, each representing a specific era, reflecting how street art has reflected Chile's social history:

Mono González, one of the founders and driving forces behind the Brigades' aesthetic, shares with us the development of the Brigades in the late 1960s. She recounts how the Brigades supported Allende's presidential campaign with large Agit-Prop murals. She also recounts the beginnings of muralism in Chile in the 1940s, when Siqueiros, the renowned Mexican artist, painted at the Escuela México in Chillán, Chile. She also shares his revolutionary vision for public art, connecting the past with the present.

Cekis, who now lives in New York, is one of the founding fathers of the modern graffiti movement, which took shape in the early 1990s. She tells us how graffiti began toward the end of Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile. He will also tell us about the new graffiti scene and how it has become one of the powerhouses of Latin America.

Inti is one of Chile's most important street artists. Originally from Valparaíso, he now lives in Europe. We follow him from Valparaíso and Santiago to Montreal and Paris, where he gained international fame. He shows us his entry into the gallery system, how artists navigate the art world, and his desire to paint in the street. His personal work is deeply rooted in syncretism and the remixing of different cultures.

His characters represent three different generations of artists who painted on the Chilean streets.

We investigate the artistic methods of muralists, brigade artists, and graffiti artists: starting with the muralists and political painting brigades, through graffiti pioneers Cekis and Sick, the returned exile who brought graffiti knowledge from France, to graffiti stars like Saile. We'll meet artists like Bisy, Juana Pérez, and Anis, who are part of a strong female movement in Chilean street culture. These women paint side by side with men and use street art as a voice to create a feminine presence on the streets. We'll also hear from the indigenous Mapuche artist collectives Alapinta and Aner & Tikay, who share how they use street art to represent indigenous cultural themes and assert their identity.

Everything is narrated through the lens of Pablo Aravena, a London-based Chilean-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter known for exploring urban subcultures through documentary filmmaking. His notable works include the documentary NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting (2005), which explored graffiti as a global culture and was distributed in the US, Canada, and the UK. Chile Estyle documents and showcases the unique Chilean mural painting tradition, resulting in a visually stunning, informative, and entertaining film.

Performances:

VALPARAISO

Where: Insomnia – Teatro Condell (Condell 1585, Valparaiso)

When: Thursday, May 22 at 7:00 PM

Guests: Isidora Rivas (Bisy Unah) and Daniel Marceli.

SANTIAGO

Where: Centro Arte Alameda – Sala Ceina (Arturo Prat 33, Universidad de Chile metro)

When: Friday, May 23 at 6:45 p.m.

Guests: Iván Mirande (Saile) and Mono González.

TRAILER: Trailer CHILE ESTYLE

MONO GONZALEZ

If there's one line that defines the tradition of Chilean muralism, it's that of Alejandro "Mono" González, one of its precursors. A set designer for theater, film, and television, he was one of the founders of the Ramona Parra Brigade in the late 1960s. With over 50 years of experience, his works have reached Argentina, Canada, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine, and Vietnam, which has led him to be nominated for the National Prize for Plastic Arts.

SAILE

Saile_183 (Iván Miranda, Santiago, Chile, 1983) is a visual artist and muralist with a well-established career in Latin American urban art. He began his journey in graffiti in 1997 and over time has developed his own visual language that fuses elements of muralism, illustration, and industrial design, disciplines in which he has also received academic training.

His murals are understood as acts of memory and cultural resistance, meaningfully integrating art into public spaces. He has worked on walls in more than a dozen countries, including Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, France, and Tunisia, participating in international festivals, collective projects, and exhibitions since 2011.

BISY

Isidora Rivas A.K.A. Bisy Unah, a graffiti writer since 1996, promoter and researcher of Chilean and Latin American urban art, and one of the pioneering women of the graffiti movement in Chile. Her style is framed within the graffiti writers movement, where her throw-ups stand out, as well as her large-format open handwriting, pieces she has created in different parts of Chile and Latin America.

A social worker, cultural manager, and Master's degree holder in Cultural Assets and Social Projects, she stands out as a pioneer in the production and research of urban art, which has led her to promote and participate in various projects both in Chile and abroad, including: "Polanco Graffestival," the first mural graffiti festival; "Nuevo Mundo," a documentary series on street painting in Latin America; "Puerto Tatuado," a historical investigation into the graffiti movement in the city of Valparaíso; "Brota," a traveling social Hip Hop school; and the upcoming "Hip Hop al Puerto," a festival commemorating 40 years of Hip Hop in Chile.

DANIEL MARCELI has been a visual artist since 1998, using the streets as a classroom and embracing the graffiti movement in his search for new artistic languages. She studies design at the Universidad Playa Ancha in Valparaíso and painting at the School of Fine Arts in Viña del Mar. She explores themes of nature and the mestizo cultures of Chile. The Huilliche people are her source of inspiration, and she incorporates indigenous imagery into her designs and strokes. Her mural stands as a public window that invites the viewer to examine their own forgotten and silent experiences.

More information at: https://santiagoindependiente.cl/

Technical Details:

Title: Chile Estyle

Genre: Documentary

Country of Production: Chile, Canada

Running Time: 1h 21m

Language: Spanish

Director: Pablo Aravena

Production: Pablo Aravena

Producer in Development: Patricia Diaz

Associate Producer: Joaquin Mora

Distribution: Santiago Independiente

Social Media: @chileestyle, @pabloaravena, @stgo.independiente.cine

Festivals:

– World Premiere at the 26th Urban World Festival, New York, 2022.

– Official Selection at the 41st Le FIFA Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2023.

– Official Selection at the 62nd FICCI Festival, Cartagena de Indias, 2023.

– Official Selection at the La Linea Music Festival in collaboration with the 11th Doc'n'Roll Festival, London, England, 2024.

– Official Selection, FASADA Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia, 2024.

– Official Selection, 4th Hip Hop Cine Fest, Rome, Italy, 2024.

– Official Selection, 20th INEDIT, Santiago, Chile, 2024.
Source