2019 / 14 MINUTES / DIGITAL / USA-CHILE
Filmed in the majestic but also dangerous vastness of the Chilean ocean, “The Women and the Sea” is a sensorial journey featuring two powerful women in a small fishing village.
Gloria preserves the legacy of symbolic cemeteries for those lost at sea.
Julieta defies the looming presence of death as she works in the male dominated world of fishing.
Gloria Sanhueza
Born and raised in the Caleta Tumbes village, Gloria visits her brother’s grave every Sunday, and she has done so for the last 20 years. She is one of the few women who decided to build a symbolic cemetery in an abandoned lot for fishermen lost at sea.
Her strong dedication and commitment to preserving the memory of the villager's loved ones will inspire everyone.
Julieta Rivas
Julieta is the only fisherwoman in the Caleta Tumbes village. She has worked out at sea for as long as she can remember. She didn’t even stop the nine months she was carrying her son. “The ocean is my life”, she says repeatedly, as if one wouldn’t immediately know that after spending more than 10 minutes with her.
The hard labour and dangerous conditions of the Chilean ocean don’t intimidate her, nor does the fact that she is the only woman in all male fishing crews.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
As a female filmmaker and journalist of color, my work has focused on telling stories about extraordinary women from underprivileged communities seldom featured in the mainstream media.
Five years ago, while working in broadcast journalism in my home country of Chile, I heard about the symbolic cemeteries that existed in the southern coast of the nation. I began researching them and was particularly intrigued by two facts: that mostly women preserved these burial grounds, and that even though they looked like traditional cemeteries, they had empty tombs because fishermen’s bodies were never recuperated from the sea. Having recently lost my father, the idea of dealing with death without having an actual body to say goodbye to resonated strongly within me for years.
While completing my MFA degree at Northwestern University, I decided to pursue this story for my third short documentary. In August of 2018, my Chilean producer and I travelled to the village of Caleta Tumbes, where we knew there was a symbolic cemetery thanks to the research we had done and the emails we had exchanged with the organization of mourners that tend to those cemeteries. There, we met Gloria Sanhueza. She introduced us to other women who had lost family members at sea, and agreed to be a part of our short film because she wanted more people to know about this tradition that spans 300 years. Through her, we learned that the village had only one fisherwoman working in all male crews, but unfortunately there was no more time in our pre-production trip to meet her.
We knew early on that we would be returning in December of that same year to begin Production, because the Summer season was beginning and that meant that the fishing village was buzzing with activity. A few days before Christmas, we met with the fisherwoman we had heard about in August. Julieta Rivas received us in her house and we accompanied her as she baked fruit cakes to sell in a nearby city. After a couple of hours of conversation she said: “I feel like I’ve known you all my life”.
Our connection and immediate trust she had in us led her to actively become a subject in the short documentary. She organized fishing trips for us to film on board the small boats, making sure we had all the appropriate gear and wardrobe, and took care of us when the motion sickness kicked in!
Gloria took us uphill to the “Las Cruces” symbolic cemetery, even though it meant having to walk up the makeshift and exhausting stairs bordering a cliff several times. There, she opened up about missing her lost brother and how the sea gives but also takes away.
I’m incredibly proud of this film and the women it features. Both of their stories will resonate with women everywhere. Who hasn’t had to make their way through male dominated spaces? Who hasn’t lost a loved one and couldn’t say goodbye? And finally, who hasn’t had to struggle with difficult times and learn and move forward with resilience?
- CAMI GUARDA
FILMMAKING CREW
CAMI GUARDA
DIRECTOR + CINEMATOGRAPHER + EDITOR
Award-winning Chilean Documentary Filmmaker, Journalist and Educator who tells stories about extraordinary people from underprivileged communities seldom featured in the mainstream media.
Her intimate approach to subjects invites the viewer to deeply connect with their stories. As a cinematographer, her lens looks for improvised action, the type that surges from the mere inertia of life and engages the audience in a sensorial journey.
She worked as a broadcast journalist for 7 years in Chile’s most prestigious TV stations, where she travelled through Latin America covering Breaking News and developing Special Reports about the communities those current events affected. This experience led her to nonfiction filmmaking.
Her work has screened at the Academy Award-Qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival, as well as Chicago’s Shortcut 100 Film Festival. Her latest short documentary “The Women and the Sea” won Best International Latino Short Film at NYC’s Latin Film Market and the Latino Short Documentary Award at Texas’ Festival de Cine Latinoamericano.
Currently teaching Documentary Filmmaking, Video Storytelling and TV News Reporting at UW-Milwaukee.
VALENTINA REYES
PRODUCER
Chilean journalist and documentary producer currently working for the prime time news broadcast in the country’s biggest public television station. For the past 8 years, she has covered Chile’s major news events, and has gained vast experience doing so.
Her journalistic instinct and skills on the field led her to branch out and begin producing documentaries. "The Women and the Sea" is the first short film she has worked on.
CINEMATOGRAPHER
CAMI GUARDA
EDITOR
CAMI GUARDA
FIELD PRODUCERs
JOSE LUIS SANHUEZA
VALENTINA REYES
SOUND DESIGNER
CAMI GUARDA
CRABS FOLEY ARTIST
NAEEMA TORRES
SOUND MIXER
RAFAEL LAZO
DRONE OPERATOR
ALEJANDRO MASLOW
COLORIST
TIMOTHY FRYETT
SPECIAL THANKS
JULIETA RIVAS
GLORIA SANHUEZA
THE JANE AND MICHAEL HOFFMAN FOUNDATION