This film is deeply linked to the recent history of Chile where there are many unresolved conflicts related to the Pinochet dictatorship that deeply affected the conscience of the country. Despite the refusal of former coup officers, justice is working to bring to the fore the issue of human rights violations in the country. Artists of all genres are involved in a renaissance of social conscience including filmmakers exploring what happened and what remains to be done.
The Stone and The Moon is a fictionalized account based upon real situations experienced by many of the children’s of political prisoners at the time. For many of these children who are now adults, the idea of returning is a utopia, a dream edged with the fear of being alienated by a country that they do not know, a birthplace where only the family has created the cultural references.
The Stone and The Moon is a unique film because the issue is looked at from the outside in. The character (Emilia) wants to return. Not to stay or try to reconnect because she understands that would be impossible. She accepts her reality and is therefore protected from false dreams. Emilia has tremendous curiosity about her past, and she finds an opportunity to travel and explore her country of birth from which she was taken away from as a child.
We want to understand this psychological journey and convey it in a movie that everyone can appreciate, one that does not seek to divide the spectators but to understand the humanity and experiences of the protagonist.
When Emilia returns to Chile, she takes a journey into the future and not the past. Her trip will allow her to live the future with a much clearer picture of what really happened to her parents, and why she is the woman she is. People always look for cultural understanding, Emilia is the merging of two cultures, the American and the Chilean, and she needs to merge the two facets of her life to feel complete.
A country is more than that. A country is an infinite place where it is impossible to capture everything in a piece of art regardless of the form of representation. It is almost impossible to imagine the return without feeling completely lost and disconnected from reality.
We artists play an important role in the search for a better life. Any Art form is vital for the society that we live in and this film in particular will be a tool for healing.
Promotional Video