Rotten Tomatoes Names Essential Chilean Movies Spanning Decades
From Silent Beginnings to State Production
The online review aggregation platform notes that Chile’s film industry has traversed a volatile trajectory since the screening of the nation’s first locally produced motion picture at the Gran Sala Filarmónica de Iquique in 1897. Following a dip in production during the 1920s, the sector rebounded with the release of the country’s first sound film, “Norte y Sur,” in 1934, alongside the establishment of the state-backed studio ChileFilms. That momentum slowed when ChileFilms transitioned to private ownership between the late 1940s and the 1960s.
The new Rotten Tomatoes compilation spans decades of national cinema, beginning with Raúl Ruiz’s 1968 feature “Tres Tristes Tigres” and concluding with Maite Alberdi’s 2023 documentary “La memoria infinita.” According to figures cited from CinemaChile in the report, national film production is projected to reach 188 films during the 2026-27 fiscal year, marking a 20.5% increase compared to the 2025-26 period.
The Ten Essential Chilean Films
The selection covers fiction and documentary storytelling across various eras of Chilean history. The complete list published by the platform comprises:
- Tres Tristes Tigres, directed by Raúl Ruiz (1968)
- El Chacal de Nahueltoro, directed by Miguel Littin (1969)
- La batalla de Chile (trilogy), directed by Patricio Guzmán (1975-79)
- Machuca, directed by Andrés Wood (2004)
- No, directed by Pablo Larraín (2012)
- Una mujer fantástica, directed by Sebastián Lelio (2017)
- La casa lobo, directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña (2018)
- 1976, directed by Manuela Martelli (2022)
- El castigo, directed by Matías Bize (2022)
- La memoria infinita, directed by Maite Alberdi (2023)