Valeria Sarmiento (born 29 October 1948) is a

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film ed ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and screenwriter best known for her work in France, Portugal and her native Chile. She has worked both in film and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, directing 20 feature films,

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

'. She is the widow of Chilean film director Raúl Ruiz (1941-2011) with whom she collaborated for decades as regular editor and co-writer. She has also edited films for Luc Moullet,

Robert Kramer Robert Kramer (June 22, 1939 – November 10, 1999), born in New York and educated at Swarthmore College and Stanford University, was an American film director, screenwriter and actor who directed 19 films between 1965 and 1999, most of them ...

and Ventura Pons and is a Guggenheim Fellow (1988).

Biography

Sarmiento was born in the Chilean municipality of

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

and was first exposed to film at the age of five, becoming familiar with the work of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, Alfred Hitchcock and others. She rarely saw French films due to

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

but, thanks to what she refers to as a "moment of magic", was able to watch Jean-Luc Godard's ''Breathless'' (1960) at the age of twelve. She went on to study film and philosophy at the University of Valparaíso and married filmmaker Raúl Ruiz in 1969. In 1974, the couple were forced to move to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

due to the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

. Sarmiento made her

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

with the documentary ''Un sueño como de colores'' (1972) about a group of

Chilean women The lives, roles, and rights of women in Chile have gone through many changes over time. Chilean women's societal roles have historically been impacted by traditional gender roles and a patriarchy, patriarchal culture, but throughout the twentiet ...

dedicated to striptease. Her later work as a director, usually in melodrama,

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

and

costume drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

, has also often featured strong female characters who face

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

. Her debut feature ''Notre mariage'' (1984) was a Grand Prix winner for Best New Director at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

, her 1991 film '' Amelia Lópes O'Neill'' was entered into the

41st Berlin International Film Festival The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with ''Uranus'' by Claude Berri. The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film '' La casa del sorriso'' directed by Marco Ferreri. The ret ...

and her Napoleonic war epic '' Lines of Wellington'' competed for the Golden Lion at the

69th Venice International Film Festival The 69th annual Venice International Film Festival, organized by Venice Biennale, took place at Venice Lido from 29 August to 8 September 2012. The festival opened with the Indian director Mira Nair's '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'', and close ...

. A symposium on Sarmiento's

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

was held at Stanford University in May 200

and the

Cinémathèque Française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

ran a Sarmiento retrospective in October 201

Filmography

References

Bibliography

* Bruno Cuneo and Fernando Pérez V. (eds.) ''Una mirada oblicua. El cine de Valeria Sarmiento'' (Universidad Alberto Hurtado, 2021) * Elizabeth Ramírez and Catalina Donoso (eds.) ''Nomadías. El cine de Marilú Mallet, Valeria Sarmiento y Angelina Vásquez'' (Ediciones Metales Pesados, 2016) ,

External links

*
MUBI's Sarmiento page2012 ''cineuropa'' interview2018 ''Film Comment'' interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarmiento, Valeria 1948 births Living people Chilean film directors Chilean film editors Chilean screenwriters People from Valparaíso Chilean exiles Chilean expatriates in France Chilean emigrants to France Chilean women film directors Women film editors