Sunday March 30th 2014, Docu-info night, Montaje: Caso Bombas (2013, Chile, 80 minutes), documentary in Spanish with English subtitles. Door opens at 8pm, event begins at 9pm.
“In the early morning hours of May 22nd, 2009, a man on a bicycle rides through the dark streets of downtown Santiago. In his backpack he is carrying a bomb. In his belt, he has a Smith and Wesson 38 caliber revolver.” That is how the documentary film “Montaje: Caso bombas”, (The Set-up of the Bomb Case) starts with an off camera voice-over upon images of a man pedaling through the nighttime streets of the capital of Chile. The story that this documentary reveals is one that is well-known, yet is presented differently each time. It’s the story of groups of people and individuals that struggle, that are persecuted and how these movements are formed. In this case, it’s about those that resist through different means; those who oppose the unforgiving neoliberal policies imposed by the dictatorship (policies that continue to dominate the lives of those of us that live in this southern-most region of Latin America) and who oppose all forms of power. Pinochet’s constitution and his ideology continues to be, without any major changes. the fundamental policy of the country; not only is the economic model the same, but the implementation of this same model has continued and taken root during the 24 years of governments with hidden right wing agendas. The distribution of wealth and income is one of the most unjust in the world and everything that these governments have been able to privatize they have privatized: the ocean, the copper, education, health, retirement accounts and even in agriculture, the seeds. The persecution of the indigenous people is shameful and the power that the military continues to exercise is plain to see; especially if one takes into account the minimal sentences doled out to those that committed human rights atrocities during the time that the military was in the seat of government. The media has become a monopoly and belongs to the economically powerful groups that are the owners of Chile. The media is an important tool for them in their schemes, setting the stage for their political and police action objectives thru widespread access to public opinion. The power that many States and governments wield allows them to act with impunity. Many have resorted to set-up schemes as a political weapon to discredit, invalidate and incarcerate the opposition. But, what is a political and police action set-up? How is it carried out? Who does it? Those are the questions that this documentary attempts to answer. This documentary has been collectively created by the Canal Barrial 3 (Neighborhood Channel 3) of the Yungay neighborhood. The underlying issue, of which the main reference is to the “Bomb Case” created against the anarquist movement and the occupied houses (Casas Okupa), in present day “democratic” Chile, is that these governments wield the same legal tools created and used by the dictatorship (such as the Anti-terrorism Law) to persecute and criminalize the social movements. It is within this context that during latter part of the 90s, new forms of political action and activity emerges in Chile. Disillusioned with the political parties and their power-hungry goals, new, local organizations emerge with horizontal characteristics and decision-making methods such as in general assemblies, without any leaders or hierarchal structures. One of these organizations is Canal Barrial 3 (Neighborhood Channel 3) of the Yungay neighborhood. This organization is a community media cannel that presents critical perspectives and analyses; it is also a group of self-managed people that work collectively and independently. In order to produce this documentary, only materials and equipment that was readily available were used, and no funds were received from any institution. It also has been circulated freely on the internet and other means and media, without any authorship or copyright.
Film night at Joe’s Garage, warm and cozy cinema! Doors open at 8pm, film begins at 9pm, free entrance. You want to play a movie, let us know: joe [at] squat [dot] net
