Living Presence – script - English speaking dialogue not included.
10.00.00.00 – title:
On 11th September 1973 Augusto Pinochet overthrew Chile's elected government in a violent coup.
01.00.09.18 – title:
Thousands were imprisoned, tortured and killed, including women and children.
01.00.17.08 – title:
Presencia Viva
01.00.22.10 – title:
Living Presence
01.00.33.03 – date/location:
Pisagua, Northern Chile 1973.
01.00.46.10 – subtitle:
Miss,
01.00.47.16 – subtitle:
How long have you been here?
01.00.49.15 – subtitle:
Since 22nd December.
01.00.51.02 – subtitle:
Were you a militant from a party?
01.00.52.16 – subtitle:
No.
01.00.54.20 – subtitle
Until when do you think you will be here?
01.00.57.08 – subtitle:
I have no idea...
01.01.09.10 – title:
The events of September 1973 changed the lives of thousands of people, amongst them six women.
01.01.19.01 – title:
Together they took a journey back to their past, as political prisoners under the military dictatorship.
01.01.31.24 – date/location:
Pisagua, Northern Chile 2010
01.02.08.22 – subtitle:
And Patty was there.
01.02.19.11 – subtitle:
For me, it was very frustrating because I had to leave behind my two year old son,
01.02.24.07 – subtitle:
and I didn't know who was going to take after him.
01.02.26.14 – subtitle:
My dad had also died in Santiago on 11th September of a diabetic coma.
01.02.33.02 – subtitle:
My mother was traveling and they arrested me in Hospital.
01.02.38.24 – subtitle:
When we got here, I was just crying and crying.
01.02.42.09 – subtitle:
I was so frustrated,
01.02.44.20 – subtitle:
...without knowing what is happening to the people close to me.
01.02.48.04 – subtitle:
As much as my companions tried to comfort me and tried to make me see the bright side,
01.02.52.21 – subtitle:
I never understood it.
01.02.56.01 – subtitle:
Very sad, I feel anguish about all the people that left us,
01.02.59.06 – subtitle:
the companions that couldn't make it.
01.03.01.22 – subtitle:
...and the ones who passed away...
01.03.04.02 – subtitle:
but all of that is pain that you have inside, and you have to live with it...
01.03.12.22 – subtitle:
I don't feel very good about it.
01.03.14.20 – subtitle:
Because there is still no justice for us
01.03.18.10 – subtitle:
They are still trying to throw soil on top of things, so that our story is forgotten.
01.03.28.10 – subtitle:
and this cannot be forgotten, we will never forget it.
01.03.31.14 – subtitle:
Never, never ever.
01.03,35,02- subtitle:
One night they told us they were going to shoot some of our companions up there on the hill.
01.03.39.07 – subtitle:
So around two am, we came out of our bedrooms and watched the cars carrying the prisoners up the hill.
01.03.47.16 – subtitle:
Then me and some of my female companions cried for them, as the men were taken away.
01.03.55.24 – subtitle:
So we spent the whole night praying for them.
01.04.03.08 – subtitle:
Our daily routine was waking up at 6am.
01.04.08.03 – subtitle:
Share one bathroom between 23 women.
01.04.12.05 – subtitle:
I remember sharing the bathroom with Ruth Lock and Sandra Garcia naked because there wasn't enough capacity.
01.04.25.00 – subtitle:
We suffered the loss of a lot of companions,
01.04.28.00 – subtitle:
and at the same time, some of the people were emotionally and physiologically damaged,
01.04.40.00 – subtitle:
for a long long period of time.
01.04.43.00 – subtitle:
Over all – I think it’s a sad place.
01.04.49.00 – subtitle:
If we tried to escape, they would just shoot us on the spot.
01.04.57.13 – subtitle:
I continue living with a lot of resentment…
01.04.59.17 – subtitle:
and I believe I still resent them, because I cannot bear to see the military.
01.05.04.03 – subtitle:
Everything that embodies a uniform to me is ill fated.
01.05.20.18 – subtitle:
You feel happiness because we were very close, like sisters...
01.05.24.08 – subtitle:
but on the other hand sad, because I look at the sea and think:
01.05.30.00 – subtitle:
Whatever happened to our other companions who stayed behind or disappeared,
01.05.36.02 – subtitle:
We asked them for answers and information, but they have never told us where they are.
01.05.38.22 – subtitle:
The military took them away and killed them and they have never given us an answer about the missing prisoners.
01.05.49.04 – subtitle:
and that is the sadness of not knowing...
01.05.58.18 – subtitle:
Anguish.
01.06.00.16 – subtitle:
The truth is, on my way here, it's been complicated:
01.06.05.19 – subtitle:
I felt like turning back...I dunno...you know why have I actually come here?
01.06.11.24 – subtitle:
So that my daughters could see this place...
01.06.16.07 – subtitle:
So they could share this with me, I have never told them about this.
01.06.19.18 – subtitle:
It's the first time they come here with me and so...that's why I've come back here.
01.06.27.00 – subtitle:
But, the memory has to continue – for the new generation.
01.06.33.00 – subtitle:
Because as I explained before, history repeats itself.
01.06.38.00 – subtitle:
I hope that people learn.
01.06.42.19 – subtitle:
Trying to do it correctly, trying to teach our children...the youth, so that this doesn't repeat.
01.06.52.09 – subtitle:
It would be a misfortune if one of my children had to live through what I did...
01.06.57.10 – subtitle:
...that would be terrible for me.
01.07.04.10 – subtitle:
My daughters!
01.07.05.22 – subtitle:
Who weren't born yet when I was a prisoner here…
01.07.09.06 – subtitle:
I have a son who couldn't come because he is studying…
01.07.13.19 – subtitle:
Our companions would say:
"Let's breathe, relax, listen to the sound of the sea"
01.07.13.19 – subtitle:
We would finally be relaxing and then suddenly...bam a gun shot!
01.07.45.00 – title:
Brunilda, Mireja, Patricia, Mavis, Nadia and Anita were all held captive in Pisagua concentration camp.
01.07.51.09 – title:
Some of them were tortured.
01.07.58.00 –title:
Thousands of people were killed and disappeared under Pinochet's regime.
01.08.11.00 – title:
Though footsteps touch this site for thousand years, they will not erase the blood of those who fell here - Pablo Neruda
01.08.24.19 – title:
Presencia Viva
01.08.24.19 – credits:
Produced by Ross Domoney
Patricia Pizarro & Johann Frenschock
Directed by Johann Frenschock & Ross Domoney
Filmed & edited by Ross Domoney
Sound by Johann Frenschock
Music by StrangerEight
This Documentary was made possible due to contribution
and support of:
Oliver Frenschock, Lucila Pizarro, Carlos, Ricardo,
Amir, Rados, Christina Rebel, Gata P Seijo
Special thanks to:
Anita, Brunilda, Mavis, Mireya, Nadia, Patricia.
In loving memory of:
Teresa, Leonor, Silvia, Clotilde, Elianira