Miguel Littin
Encyclopedia
Miguel Ernesto Littín Cucumides (9 August 1942 in Palmilla
) is a Chile
an film director
, screenwriter
, film producer
and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian
father, Hernán Littin and a Greek
mother, Cristina Cucumides.
Miguel Littín directed the most popular Chilean film of all times, El Chacal de Nahueltoro
(1969) becoming a figure of the New Latin American Cinema.
Littín was exiled
in México
shortly after Augusto Pinochet
came to power in a military coup, which ousted the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende
, on September 11, 1973.
In México he did several films. Letters from Marusia
, based on a miners strike in Chile. El Recurso del Método (Long Live the President) based on the Alejo Carpentier's book El Recurso del método (Reasons of State) a co-production with France and Cuba. The Widow of Montiel
with Geraldine Chaplin
based on a Gabriel García Márquez
short story. Then he went to Nicaragua to do Alsino and the Condor, based the novel Alsino by Pedro Prado
.
He moved to Spain in 1984, Littín decided to enter Chile clandestine to do a documentary that showed the condition of the country under the Pinochet's regime and also show the country that he loved.It was made the subject of Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez
's book Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littin.
He eventually returned to Chile
where he continued to make films among them Tierra del Fuego
based on the adventures of Julius Popper
an explorer and Dawson, Isla 10 about a group of political prisoners sent to Dawson's island during Pinochet's regime. Littín was mayor of his home town in the center valley, Palmilla in 1992-94 and re-elected for the period 1996-2000.
His films Actas de Marusia and Alsino and the Condor
were nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
for Best Film in a Foreign Language. Alsino and the Condor
won the Golden Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival
.
Palmilla
Palmilla is a Chilean city and commune in Colchagua Province, O'Higgins Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Palmilla spans an area of and has 11,200 inhabitants . Of these, 2,088 lived in urban areas and 9,112 in rural areas...
) is a Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
father, Hernán Littin and a Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
mother, Cristina Cucumides.
Miguel Littín directed the most popular Chilean film of all times, El Chacal de Nahueltoro
Jackal of Nahueltoro
Jackal of Nahueltoro is a 1969 Chilean drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It is based on a real life event about an alcoholic peasant who killed a woman and her five children in 1960. He was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in 1963...
(1969) becoming a figure of the New Latin American Cinema.
Littín was exiled
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in México
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
shortly after Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
came to power in a military coup, which ousted the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
, on September 11, 1973.
In México he did several films. Letters from Marusia
Letters from Marusia
Letters from Marusia is a 1976 Mexican film directed by Chilean Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Gian Maria Volonté...
, based on a miners strike in Chile. El Recurso del Método (Long Live the President) based on the Alejo Carpentier's book El Recurso del método (Reasons of State) a co-production with France and Cuba. The Widow of Montiel
The Widow of Montiel
The Widow of Montiel is a 1979 Mexican drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It is based on a short story of the same name by Gabriel García Marquez...
with Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
based on a Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
short story. Then he went to Nicaragua to do Alsino and the Condor, based the novel Alsino by Pedro Prado
Pedro Prado
Pedro Prado was a Chilean writer. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1949....
.
He moved to Spain in 1984, Littín decided to enter Chile clandestine to do a documentary that showed the condition of the country under the Pinochet's regime and also show the country that he loved.It was made the subject of Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
's book Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littin.
He eventually returned to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
where he continued to make films among them Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
based on the adventures of Julius Popper
Julius Popper
Julius Popper was an engineer, adventurer and explorer. He is responsible for the modern outline of the city of Havana, Cuba . As a "conquistador" of Tierra del Fuego in southern South America he was a controversial but influential figure.-Life:Popper was born in Bucharest, son of professor...
an explorer and Dawson, Isla 10 about a group of political prisoners sent to Dawson's island during Pinochet's regime. Littín was mayor of his home town in the center valley, Palmilla in 1992-94 and re-elected for the period 1996-2000.
His films Actas de Marusia and Alsino and the Condor
Alsino and the Condor
Alsino and the Condor is a 1982 Nicaraguan film directed by Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It won the Golden Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival. The film was a co-production between Nicaragua, Mexico and Cuba...
were nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
for Best Film in a Foreign Language. Alsino and the Condor
Alsino and the Condor
Alsino and the Condor is a 1982 Nicaraguan film directed by Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It won the Golden Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival. The film was a co-production between Nicaragua, Mexico and Cuba...
won the Golden Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival
Moscow International Film Festival , is the film festival first held in Moscow in 1959. From its inception to 1995 it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1995....
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | El Chacal de Nahueltoro Jackal of Nahueltoro Jackal of Nahueltoro is a 1969 Chilean drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It is based on a real life event about an alcoholic peasant who killed a woman and her five children in 1960. He was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in 1963... (Jackal of Nahueltoro) |
|
| 1971 | Compañero Presidente (Documentary) | |
| 1973 | La Tierra Prometida (The Promised Land) | |
| 1974 | Actas de Marusia (Letters from Marusia Letters from Marusia Letters from Marusia is a 1976 Mexican film directed by Chilean Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also entered into the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Gian Maria Volonté... ) |
|
| 1978 | El Recurso del método (Long Live the President) | |
| 1980 | La Viuda de Montiel The Widow of Montiel The Widow of Montiel is a 1979 Mexican drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It is based on a short story of the same name by Gabriel García Marquez... (The Widow of Montiel) |
|
| 1981 | Alsino y el Condor (Alsino and the Condor Alsino and the Condor Alsino and the Condor is a 1982 Nicaraguan film directed by Miguel Littín. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It won the Golden Medal at the Moscow International Film Festival. The film was a co-production between Nicaragua, Mexico and Cuba... ) |
|
| 1986 | Acta General de Chile (Documentary) | |
| 1989 | Sandino | |
| 1994 | Los náufragos The Shipwrecked The Shipwrecked is a 1994 Chilean drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Luis Alarcón - Sebastian Mola* Bastián Bodenhöfer - Ur* Tennyson Ferrada - Rene... |
|
| 2000 | Tierra del Fuego Tierra del fuego (film) Tierra del fuego is a 2000 Chilean drama film directed by Miguel Littín. It is about the conquest of Tierra del Fuego by Julius Popper. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:... |
|
| 2002 | Los Caminos de la Ira; Cronicas Palestinas (Palestinian Chronicles)(Documentary) | |
| 2002 | El Abanderado | |
| 2005 | La Ultima Luna (The Last Moon) | |
| 2009 | Dawson, Isla 10 |