My Imaginary Country

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.