The Eternal Memory is a love story that covers 25 years in the relationship between Chilean journalist Augusto Gongora and his wife, actress Paulina Urrutia.
Augusto and Pauli have lived with his Alzheimer’s for the last decade.
The heartrending movie reflects the intimate observational style of award-winning filmmaker Maite Alberdi, whose close focus on individual stories is often a door to larger national issues.
In the case of The Eternal Memory, the personal and political are tightly braided. Augusto Gongora was a fearless and outspoken journalist during the Pinochet regime, and even as he struggles in the film to remember who his wife is or where they live, he has not forgotten living through some of the worst times of the dictatorship — even as that period in Chile’s history begins to fade from the collective consciousness.
Watching the extraordinary love and care Paulina Urrutia provides for her husband as he slowly deteriorates is the other side of the equation. Her resilience and courage in the face of this terrible illness is the heart of the story.
A meditation on identity, memory and history, the film consists of recent footage shot by Alberdi over four years as well as archival news footage and family videos. (When Covid lockdowns interrupted filming, Pauli shot some of the footage of herself and Augusto.)
The Eternal Memory is winning accolades on the festival circuit and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema – Documentary at Sundance this year. It will open in North American theatres in August, 2023.
We spoke to Alberdi when she was in Toronto with The Eternal Memory at the Hot Docs Film Festival.