Chilean Director Sebastián Cuevas Debuts Stirring Sanfic Works In Progress Title ‘Death Brought You Back’

variety.com:

Holly Jones An ailing mother and estranged sister (Paola Lattus) reluctantly coax prodigal daughter Silvia (Patricia Cuyul) home after her 30-year absence in “Death Brought you Back” (“La muerte te vio volver”), the debut film from emerging Chilean director Sebastián Cuevas, selected for Sanfic Industria’s Ibero-American Works In Progress lineup.

In 2023, the film received financing from the Regional Audiovisual Fund and the Development Fund of the Audiovisual Fund of MINCAP, Chile after previously participating in film Labs in the region, including the Sanfic Lab, Lab Cinelebu and the 2nd CCC Co-Production Meeting, with mentorship from Christopher Murray and Jose Luis Torres Leiva.

Produced by Catalina Alarcón at Amanda Puga’s Southern-Chilean outift Praxia and Santiago-based Mala Films, the script was penned by Cuevas and Paula Armstrong, the narrative focusing on the vast space between siblings as they come together to mourn the ill health of the family matriarch. “While I was studying, my first big goal was to write and direct a film that talked about my roots, my ancestors; as a main driving force I took a piece of my family’s history that no one wanted to talk about and captured it in the pages of a script,” Cuevas told Variety.

The silence of relationships neglected for decades hangs heavy against a mystical and remote isle backdrop. The location, an adversarial protagonist in the film – its solemn, hazy days rolling into tranquil, half-eerie nights.