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Fernando is Back

A Film by Silvio Caiozzi


film still

During General Augusto Pinochet's reign in Chile following the 1973 coup, thousands of civilians were 'disappeared' - arrested and killed - by the military. FERNANDO IS BACK follows the workings of Chile's Forensic Identification Unit in its quest to reclaim the identities of the disappeared.

Founded in 1994, the Forensic Identification Unit is composed of doctors and specialists in anthropology and forensics. They compare the victim’s skulls, bones and teeth with family photographs, dental records and medical histories, in an attempt to find a match. The Forensic Identification Unit's goal is to identify the remains of all disappeared, and to determine the cause of death, thereby reclaiming the disappeared histories and identities, one by one.

FERNANDO IS BACK documents the Forensic Identification Unit's work to identify Fernando Olivares Mori, a husband, father and son, who disappeared when he was 27 years old. The film shows the powerful impact of the Unit's work for one family, indicating it for the entire country.

"Powerful and moving, this film shows the viewer the consequences of the Chilean dictatorship and what it did to the people of the nation. This film would be a fine addition to a multicultural history collection. Recommended."—Educational Media Reviews Online

** 2001 Award of Merit in Film, Latin American Studies Association
** 2001 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (USA)
** 2001 Amnesty International Human Rights Film Festival, Salt Lake City
** 1998 International Catholic Film Award, Valdivia (Chile)
** Best Documentary, 1998 Havana International Film Festival
** Best Documentary, 1999 Montevideo International Film Festival (Uruguay)
** Best Documentary, 1999 Short Films Festival International (Chile)
** 10th Festival of New Latin-American Cinema (Providence, Rhode Island)

31 minutes / color
Release Date: 2000
Copyright Date: 1998
Sale/video: $225
Rental/VHS: $60


Subject areas: Anthropology, Forensics, Chile, History (World), Human Rights, Latin America

Related Titles:

The Pinochet Case: The story of the landmark legal case against General Augusto Pinochet of Chile, before and after his arrest in London in 1998. The new film by Patricio Guzmán.

The Battle of Chile (Part 1 & 2): The epic chronicle of Chile's open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it in 1973. Judy Stone of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "a landmark in the presentation of living history on film."

Chile, Obstinate Memory: Patricio Guzmán's landmark film The Battle of Chile (1976) documented the "Popular Unity" period of Salvador Allende's government, the tumultuous events leading up to the 1973 coup, and Allende's death. Guzmán has returned to show The Battle of Chile in his homeland for the first time, and to explore the terrain of the confiscated (but reawakening) memories of the Chilean people.


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Last updated 05/31/2008