The book When my body stopped being your home by Chilean author Emma Sepúlveda, which tells the shocking memoirs of Ilse, a historical fiction inspired by the story of dozens of women from Colonia Dignidad, will be adapted to the big screen. The Spanish filmmaker and playwright, Samuel Sebastian, is in charge of producing and directing this adaptation.
The film immerses us in Colonia Dignidad, a German settlement in Chile founded by Paul Schäfer in the 1960s. Through the eyes of Ilse, a young prisoner who fights to discover the truth behind the atrocities committed in the colony, the The public will witness Nazi practices and the abuses suffered by women and children. The story moves between fiction and reality, portraying the silence imposed on the victims and the fight for justice.
The film seeks to make visible the voices silenced for years, revealing the strength and survival instinct of women in the midst of an oppressive and abusive environment. Through the film adaptation, Samuel Sebastian seeks to raise awareness about the crimes committed in Colonia Dignidad and the prevailing need to find an iota of justice for the victims.
With a script co-produced by the author herself and a direction committed to the sensitivity and depth of the subject, the film adaptation of When my body stopped being your home It promises to be a work of art that moves and provokes reflection in the public.
“I met Emma, precisely at an activity that I organized with Amnesty International for the 50th anniversary of the coup in Chile, and Amnesty brought a speaker who would talk about Chile. Furthermore, the next day I was going to present a report on Afghan women in the European Union, on the humanitarian situation. And I remember that when, at the end of the event, we all sat down, the only free chair was the one next to Emma, because everyone from Amnesty wanted me to meet her. She told me that she had never thought of one of her novels as an adaptation, but this one was. So I told him, okay, quickly send me a digital copy and when I’m traveling I’ll read it. And I read it very quickly,” commented the director in conversation with El Mostrador Braga.
-What caught your attention the most about this work?
-First, it is a novel or a story that talks about the oppression of women, because it has something universal. In other words, something that has happened in a small region of Chile, which seems apparently far away from the world, but it is still a form of female oppression that has always existed, that continues to exist in many countries around the world. What also attracted me a lot was that connection that existed with the main character; a character who firmly believes in a project, despite that authoritarian idea, especially because Paul Schäfer, and little by little he is seeing reality. We could also say that that is also the story of many womenwho have been educated in a completely sexist, patriarchal, etc. environment, and little by little they have an awareness, where they they empower.
-You just mentioned that you met Emma in this context of the 50th anniversary of the coup, what is your relationship with Chile in that sense? How close are you to the country?
-All my life I have been surrounded by Chilean people. My mother had friends who were Chilean refugees. I know Vincent Garceswho at the time of the coup d’état worked in the Ministry of Agriculture, and his brother Joan Garces, who was an advisor to Allende. And there have always been Chilean people around me. With the films, or meetings that we organize in Valencia, I always participate, so coming here for the first time has been very exciting, especially the first days, because it was seeing in reality what I had always heard or seen in films and in documentaries, and in one way or another, well, I knew it would end up coming to me.
-Speaking of the coup, I imagine that you knew or knew about the Colonia Dignidad issue. Many documentaries have been made, among many other adaptations, but did you know in particular, for example, the link that existed between Colonia Dignidad and the dictatorship?
-It is true that my previous knowledge was superficial. Yes, I knew it was this species, as we said, of human rights holea mix of concentration camp and sect, and yes there had been links with the Pinochet dictatorship. There is a phrase that, in fact, appears in several of my films, which is that “the earth is full of hells”. That is to say, what seems horrible to us in one place turns out to be reproduced in many others, unfortunately. Sometimes, To see those hells we don’t have to go to very distant places. And for me, The greatest seriousness is the impunity that continues. That is to say, not only that it was done, but that there was no justice, nor compensation for many of the victims, and in particular the women, which is what motivates me to make this film, seek justice.
-And with respect to the same thing about adaptation, I find this perspective very interesting, that through creation, through art, we can promote this historical justice a little. How would you like to address the issue of abuse of women without falling into this revictimization?
-On the one hand, there is a phrase of Patricio Guzman that I have always liked her and that I met her when I started studying film, and that isand “a country without documentary film is like a family without a photo album”is It is essential that creative works be made around events from the past, particularly when the wounds remain open. In fact, If films, novels, etc. continue to be made, it is because the wound is still open. Victims must be treated with immense respect. That is, from the beginning I told Emma, look, we are making a fiction about something real, which means that we are talking about characters that are inspired by real people, but who really did not exist, and therefore, they should not Nothing happens that violates the image of the victims. That is the starting point. Emma, of course, accepted it, and we have always taken that into account. Violence can manifest itself in many ways and, as you have said, violence sometimes involves this objectification of the victim, the objectification, the victim appearing more as an object of the spectacle than as an active subject of the story. I am particularly interested in the consequence of violence, more than the violence itself. That is, I am more interested in knowing What has happened to a person who has suffered that violence continuously for a certain time, than the same act of violence. I think that, in fact, movies, by being so explicit with violence, you end up devouring your own movie. When preparing the script I had in mind the words of Margaret Atwood about The Handmaid’s Tale. She said that she had not invented anything, that the different forms of repression that women suffer in her novel had really existed in some form throughout history. While she was writing, I thought about exactly that, that What women had suffered in the Colony was unfortunately something real, horribly everyday. and that in one way or another it had always happened at other times and in other places.
–Also tell me a little about your experience now when you went to visit Colonia Dignidad, what did you feel in the place?
–Auschwitz is currently a memorial site, designed to raise awareness and prevent such atrocities from being repeated. Instead, Villa Baviera is now a rural resort. It’s hard to imagine that Auschwitz, a concentration camp, was turned into a resort. A resort where Nazis were portrayed as working people or migrants? What caused me great horror was seeing how the story was presented. For example, when referring to women, They were said to have built the colony in their spare time, and that is precisely what is shown in the museum. It’s like a double horror, because, The place where Paul Schäfer abused children is now a playground, for children. In Villa Baviera there should be a memory center, like Auschwitz, in which everything that happened is recognized. Obviously, there are many interests, currently there are still settlers who live completely separately, who barely speak Spanish. And on the other hand, it is a tourist place.
-Something particular happens with the film industry in Chile, and it is believed that all the films talk about the dictatorship, however, A study of CineChile reveals that, between 2001 and 2022, only 14% of the films talk about the coup d’état and/or the dictatorship, Why do you think this idea continues to exist? Also, in addition, wanting to adapt a book that deals with these same topics.
-Open ideas, as long as they are open, it is difficult not to reflect on them. In the end, a part of artistic creation is reflecting on our past for whatever reasons. Sometimes it’s doing justice, as we said before. Something similar happens in Spain, more than with the dictatorship, with the civil war. It happens that some time has to pass after the mourning, after the horror, for society to begin to reflect on these issues. For example, in the case of the civil war, films began to be made, and in particular documentaries, by the grandchildren of those who had participated. It has always been said that all countries have some topic about which many films have been made, but No one complains that there are so many movies about World War II.
-And with respect to production, what is the process of presenting it to the production companies going to be like? What is the plan, finally, to get the funds and start producing the film?
-We have spoken with several people and producers, and we are evaluating the best option. Without a doubt, it will end up being, I believe, a co-production between Chile and Spain and, perhaps, another country. And well, It’s a long process. Normally, a film can take three years from the moment you start writing a script until it is released. If you think about it, we’ve been there for five or six months. We are at that initial moment, in which I think we are on a good path, and we see a lot of interest, which is also essential, because it has to do with The Colony of Dignity has never been discussed from the point of view of German women. The fundamental narrative is the masculine one.
