director pablo larrain
producers
juan de dios larrain daniel dreifuss
executive producers
jeff skoll jonathan king
associate producer Niv fichman
screenplay by pedro peirano
based on the play
"the referendum" by antonio skarmeta
director of photography sergio armstrong
film editor andrea chignoli
designer estefania larrain
line producer eduardo castro
sound design miguel homazabal
post producer cristian echeverria
fabula crew
mariane hartard juan ignacio correa,
andrea carrasco, sofia subercaseaux
production companies
fabula - participant media - canana
Pablo Larrain was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1976. He is a founding member of Fabula, a company dedicated to producing film, television, and commercials, as well as providing production services.
In 2005, he directed his first feature-length film, "Fuga".
In 2007, Pablo Larrain directed his second film, "Tony Manero", collaborating on the screenplay with Mateo Iribarren and Alfredo Castro. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
"Post Mortem" was his third feature film, starring Alfredo Castro and Antonia Zegers. It premiered at the Official Competition of the Venice Film Festival in September 2010.
In 2010, Pablo Larrain directed "Profugos", HBO's first television series produced in Chile. He is currently shooting the second season of "Profugos".
"NO" is his fourth film.
Why did you incorporate vintage cameras in order to achieve the film’s audiovisual language?
We decided to shoot in the same format used to shoot practically all the archive footage in the film. As a result, we achieved images identical to those shot in the eighties so the spectator has access to this rare footage without being aware of what is archive footage and what was shot for the film. In doing so, we were able to avoid making the usage of archive material evident, creating a seamless combination of time, space and material generated with Ikegami tube cameras from 1983.
With an almost square aspect radio or 4:3, and a resolution that is unique in audiovisual technology, producing this film with analog video cameras is also a statement against the aesthetic hegemony of HD.
What does it mean that the model that was used to overthrow the dictatorship then installed itself in post-Pinochet Chile?
Rene Savvedra is a son of the neoliberal system that Pinochet imposed in this country. This is why it is interesting that he, with the same ideological tools brought along by the dictatorship, is in charge of defeating Pinochet. And he does it by inventing an advertising campaign filled with political symbols and objectives, which on the surface are just part of a communicational strategy, but in reality, hide the future of a country. To me, the NO campaign is the first step towards the consolidation of capitalism as the only viable system in Chile. It's not a metaphor; it's direct capitalism, pure and true product of advertising, taken to politics.
What does it mean for you to close this trilogy, after Tony Manero and Post-Mortem?
To close a cycle and to wait for the films to generate connections amongst themselves, Port- Mortem speaks of the origin of the dictatorship, Tony Manero about its most violent moment, and NO is about its end. Perhaps what I am most interested in is revising and revisiting the imagery of the violence, the moral destruction and ideological distortion, not in order to understand it, but in order to shed light on it. Perhaps, in time, they can contribute a look at a period filled with poorly lit and said labyrinths, as well as clumsy and oftentimes forced happiness.
Juan De Diós Larraín (Producer) earned an MBA at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and studied law before switching focus to entertainment in 2004 in order to partner with his director-brother in a company they named Fabula.
In association with Santiago-based Ef3, Fabula has produced "Prófugos", the first Chilean based mini-series for HBO Latin America, a chronicle of drug smugglers on which Pablo Larraín has been responsible for the overall direction of the show. A ratings success since its debut in 2011, "Prófugos" has already spawned a spin-off in Brazil.
Last year the Larraíns also produced Fabula's first English language film, Abel Ferrara's "4:44 Last Day on Earth", starring Willem Dafoe, Natasha Lyonne and Anita Pallenberg. It was their premier co-production with Paris-based Funny Balloons, which was also involved with "NO" as international sales agent.
Juan de Diós Larraín produced nine features before "NO." The first was "Fuga", Pablo Larraín's 2006 debut as a writer-director and is otherwise notable for the presence of Alfredo Castro in the small role of Claudio.
Daniel Dreifuss (Producer) was born in Scotland, raised in Brazil and has lived in LA for the past eight years. He holds an MFA in Producing from the American Film Institute.
He began his career at the MPAA-Motion Picture Association of America and has also worked at Paramount Pictures in worldwide strategy.
Daniel is the Head of US Programs for the Latin American Training Center and the Co-Creator of the Immersion Week for Ibero-American Filmmakers. The event, which takes place in LA during AFM, has brought over 130 Ibero-American producers and directors to the US to foment co-productions. Past collaborators include IFTA, NALIP, HBO Docs, Focus Features, IM Global, WB, CAA, WME2.
In March of 2010, Daniel was appointed the Representative for the Rio de Janeiro Film Commission in the US. With his company, Filmed Imagination, he has been working on a diverse slate which includes literary adaptations, remakes and original projects, both as US titles and co-productions with Spain, Brazil and other countries.
Jeff Skoll (Executive Producer) is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur. As founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation, Participant Media and the Skoll Global Threats Fund, he is bringing life to his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity.
As the first full-time employee and first President of eBay, Jeff developed the company's inaugural business plan and led its successful initial public offering. eBay has since become the world's largest on-line marketplace, connecting hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers. eBay's transformational trading platform democratized economic opportunity throughout the world, empowering individuals to become successful online entrepreneurs.
After pioneering the creation of the eBay Foundation through the allocation of pre-IPO shares, Mr. Skoll then founded the Skoll Foundation in 1999. It quickly became the world's largest foundation for social entrepreneurship, driving large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world's most pressing problems. Its flagship program, the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, currently supports 85 leading social entrepreneurs whose extraordinary work serves the neediest populations in over 100 countries.
The Skoll Foundation also co-produces the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. The Skoll World Forum unites acclaimed social entrepreneurs with essential partners from the social, finance, private and public sectors. Each year, the Skoll World Forum attracts 800 distinguished delegates, including such renowned world figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the Honorable Mary Robinson, Dr. Paul Farmer, and Nobel Laureates Al Gore, Muhammad Yunus, Jody Williams, and Dr. R.K. Pachauri.
In 2009, Skoll founded the Skoll Global Threats Fund. Its initial focus is on five global issues that, if unchecked, could bring the world to its knees: climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict.
Jeff founded Participant Media in 2004 with the belief that a story well told has the power to inspire and compel social change. Participant's films are accompanied by social action and advocacy campaigns to engage people on the issues addressed in the films. Jeff has served as Executive Producer on over 33 films to date, which have collectively received a total of 5 Academy Awards® and 22 nominations. Participant's films include, among others, "Good Night, and Good Luck", "North Country", "Syriana", "An Inconvenient Truth", "The Kite Runner", "Charlie Wilson's War", "The Visitor", "The Cove", "Countdown to Zero", "Waiting for 'Superman'", "Food, Inc.", "The Help", "Contagion", "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", and "Last Call at the Oasis". In 2008, Participant launched TakePart.com, an on-line Social Action NetworkTM that enables people to learn, inspire, connect and get involved in major issues whichshape our lives.
Jeff received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Toronto and an honorary Doctor of Public Service from Santa Clara University. Jeff's other recent honors include Barron's 25 Best Givers (2010, 2009), Huffington Post's "Ultimate Game Changer in Entertainment" among the world's top 100 game changers (2010), Environmental Media Awards Corporate Responsibility Award (2010), the Producers Guild of America's Visionary Award (2009), Global Green USA's Entertainment Industry Environmental Leadership Award (2009), Business Week's 50 Most Generous Philanthropists (2003-2007), Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2006), and Wired Magazine's Rave Award (2006).
Jonathan King (Executive Producer) oversees development and production of Participant's slate of narrative feature films. Prior to joining Participant, Jonathan worked as both a producer and an executive for companies including Focus Features, Laurence Mark Productions, and Miramax Films. Some of the movies he has worked on include "Dreamgirls", "The Lookout", "Finding Forrester", "Studio 54", "Guinevere", and "Judas Kiss". He started his film career in MGM/UA's New York office, scouting books, theater, and independent films.
Jonathan currently serves on the board of advisors for the Outfest Legacy Project, a partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive that restores and preserves important works of queer cinema. He also serves on the Dean's Advisory Council of the Florida State University Film School and on the board of directors of the John Alexander Project, a new non-profit dedicated to nurturing and supporting innovative investigative journalism.
Pedro Peirano (Screenplay) is best known for the popular 2009 comedy-drama "The Maid" (La Nana), which he co-wrote with director Sebástian Silva. The film received international acclaim and, among other honors, won two important prizes at the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Independent Spirit Award. Silva and Peraino also co-directed and co-wrote "Old Cats", which won awards at the 2011 Cartagena and Sarasota Film Festivals.
Peraino received this year‘s World Cinema Screenwriting Award at Sundance for "Young and Wild", an honor he shared with Camila Gutiérrez and Marialy Rivas, who was also nominated as Best Director in the World Cinema-Dramatic category. Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín produced the film, having previously presented another Silva/Peraino collaboration, "La vida me mata".
In 1988, the year the NO campaign triumphed, Peraino and Alvaro Díaz directed and shot a controversial documentary," Nunca digas nunca jamás", featuring the deposed dictator's son, Augusto Pinochet, Jr.
Peraino has worked extensively in television as a writer, director and voice actor.
"NO" is based on Referendum (Plebiscito), an unproduced play by Chilean novelist Antonio Skármeta, one of the many who went into exile once Pinochet seized the presidency from Salvador Allende, relocating briefly to Buenos Aires before settling in West Berlin.
His first writing credit came after his defection, a television movie about events in Chile called "La Victoria" produced in Germany in 1973 which he co-wrote with director Peter Lillienthal. He has subsequently worked as a writer and director for film and television in both Germany and Chile.
During his exile he wrote and directed a film inspired by the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, "Ardiente paciencia", (released in the U.S. in 1983 as "Burning Patience"), then refashioned it into a best-selling novel. English director Michael Radford adapted it to film in 1994 as "Il Postino", which garnered five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture in addition to numerous international accolades and great popularity.
In concert with director Fernando Trueba and Jonás Trueba, he wrote "The Dancer and the Thief", set in newly democratic Chile, Spain‘s official entry for the 2010 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Skármeta returned to his native country in 1989 after the overthrow of the dictatorship and was named Chile‘s ambassador to Germany from 2000 to 2003. Last year his novel Los días del arco iris won one of the richest and most prestigious prizes in world literature, the Premio Iberoamericano Planeta-Casa de América de Narrativa, an honor valued at $200,000.