The struggle for liberation of the people in Latin America in the 1960s/70s was a recurring theme of politically engaged film festivals on both sides of the Wall. The resulting connection between Leipzig, East Berlin and West Berlin is evidenced by the analogue film material of militant cinema from countries like Argentina, Chile or Cuba that is held in the archive of Arsenal Filminstitut and the German Federal Archives today.
In a large-scale operation, a group of homeless families occupy some wasteland on the outskirts of Santiago in March 1967. When the police attempt to evict them, a little girl, Herminda, dies in her mother’s arms. The eviction is called off, the people are allowed to stay and, without any existing infrastructure, build the settlement that exists to this day: Herminda de la Victoria. “Full of errors and mistakes, [the film] is my first approach to cinema, albeit to a ‘new cinema’, a Latin American cinema marked by underdevelopment. Nonetheless, the cinematic process, editing and sound represent a fully valid experience to me. ‘Herminda de la Victoria’ champions the interests of the homeless in Chile, suffers with them, is both testimony and a ‘document’ that forces you to take sides.” (Douglas Hübner)
Florian Wüst
