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On September 11, 1973, President Salvador Allende's democratically-elected Chilean government was overthrown in a bloody coup by General Augusto Pinochet's army. Patricio Guzmán and five colleagues had been filming the political developments in Chile throughout the nine months leading up to that day. The bombing of the Presidential Palace, during which Allende died, would now become the ending for Guzman's seminal documentary, now newly restored, THE BATTLE OF CHILE, an epic chronicle of that country's open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it. Also included in this is Guzmán's debut feature, THE FIRST YEAR, which chronicles the jubilant 12 months following the election of Allende. Restored and digitized under Patricio Guzmán's supervision, this version features a short introduction to Chile and it's history by documentary legend Chris Marker, who adapted the original film into French. These two films provide an invaluable opportunity to witness the genesis of Guzmán's body of work and to gain insight into a critical period in Chilean history.
