December 08, 2000 01:13am
Chile Filmmakers Test Limits
Source: Reuters/Variety
by: Jonathan Franklin
(SANTIAGO) -- A new wave of pictures by film school students is pushing the limits of conservative Chile's censorship laws.
``LSD,'' ``Florofilia'' and ``Historias de Sexo'' are just three pictures scheduled for release this month that attempt to portray the real life of teens.
Until recently, birth control, drugs and teen sex have been taboo topics for filmmakers.
The trend to depict more realistic and often graphic accounts of the lives of modern Chilean teens is one byproduct of the country's increasingly liberal policies.
Since this year's election of Socialist President Ricardo Lagos, a series of amendments now allows local access to films and television programming prohibited since 1974.
Even so, due to its frank sexual content, ``Historias de Sexo'' received a rating for audiences over 18. The picture was written, directed and produced by four students at the Escuela de Cine de Chile -- themselves barely old enough to gain admittance to the Santiago premiere early this month. Some of these teen pictures were shot on tiny budgets using newly available digital technology and later converted for the big screen.
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