Santiago Files

Santiago Files

Theatrical poster
Directed by Cetywa Powell
Written by Cetywa Powell
Starring Ariel Dorfman
Isabel Allende
Judd Kessler
Narrated by Malcolm McDowell
Music by Paul Foss
Cinematography Ammon Ehrisman
Tim Laurel
Edited by Drew Lahat
Release date
  • September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23)
Running time
 70 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Santiago Files, directed by Cetywa Powell, is a documentary film about Salvador Allende's topple from Chile's unstable government and the players in his downfall: the CIA, Chile's military, and Allende himself. Malcolm McDowell narrates the film. The film premiered in September 2011.

The documentary is in the permanent collection of the American Documentary Film Festival's archives (AmDocs), housed at the Rancho Mirage Library in Palm Springs.

Film festivals, screenings, availability

Subject matter

CIA documents on Salvador Allende were released to the public in 2000. Santiago Files uses CIA documents, taped conversations with Richard Nixon discussing Allende, interview clips with former Director of the CIA, Richard Helms, interview clips with Henry Kissinger, and interview clips with Salvador Allende to tell its story.

"The most memorable conclusion I can recall from the film [Santiago Files], was that Allende had been a leader – and whenever a leader arises in Latin America, the US finds a way to get rid of him. We played a role, but the Chileans made this happen. We invested $10 million in supporting opposition groups and media. Even in that time, it wasn't very much. The fact is that after the decisions he made in the first year, time was not on his side. Unless he could control his own coalition – which he couldn't – the downward cycle was just going to continue." --Judd L. Kessler (Regional Legal Advisor at the U.S. Embassy, 1970–1973)

Contributors

Ariel Dorfman
Chilean Author and Playwright. Salvador Allende's cultural advisor (1970–1973)

Isabel Allende
Chilean Author. Salvador Allende's niece

Judd L. Kessler
Regional Legal Advisor at the US Embassy in Chile (1970–1973)

References

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