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Ignacio Agüero
Director

Ignacio Agüero

7 Mar 1952Born
74Age
36Credits
Santiago, ChileBirthplace

Biography

Ignacio Agüero is one of the most renowned documentary filmmakers in Chile. He studied Architecture and Cinema, and graduated from the School of Communication Arts of the Universidad Católica de Chile, with the title of Artistic Director with a mention in cinema in 1979. He is a founding member of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Chile, of which he was its first president.

Although he has stood out for making independent documentaries, he has also worked as a producer, editor, cameraman, actor, and has been a judge in national and international competitions.

Read the full biography

In 1988 he participated as co-director and editor of "La Franja del NO", a television message in the campaign for the plebiscite that overthrew the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Parallel to his work as a filmmaker, he has produced numerous works commissioned by television, both national and foreign. Among them, the most important ones: Neruda, all the love (1998), with script by Antonio Skármeta, filmed for Canal + Spain, and several chapters of the series Heredia & asociados, based on the stories of novelist Ramon Diaz Eterovic. From his production company Ignacio Agüero & Asociado, he produced the series Maldito corazón, about historical crimes in Chile, winner of the National Television Council contest and produced for Chilevisión in 2011.

No olvidar (1982), his initial film, touches on the theme of the so-called "Lonquén Ovens Massacre", committed in 1978 and discovered a few years later.

In 1988, Agüero made a documentary that made history, One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train. From misery and marginality, the film tells the innocent story of a group of children who travel from their town to the center of the city to attend a film session for the first time. It was awarded the First Prize for a Documentary at the 1988 Havana Film Festival, the year of its premiere.

In 1993 she premiered the documentary Dreams of Ice, which won the Grand Prize for Documentary at the Mannhein-Heidelberg Festival in 1994, and in 2000 her documentary Aquí se construye, first prize at the Docupolis Festival in Barcelona, and best national documentary at FIDOCS (Santiago de Chile) in 2001. In 2004 he made the documentary La mamá de mi abuela le contó a mi abuela.

Later he made the outstanding documentary El diario de Agustín (2008), about the active participation of the newspaper El Mercurio in the military coup and later in the consolidation of the military dictatorship. In 2011, he made a documentary about the building that currently houses the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, GAM (2001) and in 2012 he premiered his personal documentary El otro día, a film with Al that won the Altazor 2014 Award for documentary direction. This is the fourth Altazor obtained by Ignacio Agüero after the triumphs of 2005 with La mamá de mi abuela le contó a mi abuela, 2006 with Heredia y Asociados and 2009 with El diario de Agustín.

He has conducted numerous training workshops in Chile, Mexico, Barcelona, Bolivia, and has developed project tutorials in Mexico, Costa Rica, Buenos Aires, Nicaragua and Chile.

Ignacio Agüero is an associate professor at the Institute of Communication and Image (ICEI) of the Universidad de Chile and Coordinator of the Master's Degree in Documentary Film.

Known for

Filmography

  1. 2026Lo que nos uneFilm: Ignacio Agüero
  2. 2025Letters to My Dead ParentsFilm: Director, Writer
  3. 2022Notes for a FilmFilm: Ignacio Agüero, Director, Screenplay
  4. 2019Death Will Come and Shall Have Your EyesFilm
  5. 2019I Never Climbed the ProvinciaFilm: Writer, Director
  6. 2016Como me da la gana IIFilm: Writer, Director
  7. 2016The Winds Know That I'm Coming Back HomeFilm
  8. 2014Voice OverFilm: Rebecca's Brother
  9. 201311 Habitaciones en AntárticaFilm
  10. 2013Maldito corazónSeries: Director, Creator (1 episode)
  11. 2012The Other DayFilm: Director, Writer
  12. 2012The Painting LessonFilm: Unknown Man at the Station
  13. 2009TeresaFilm: Editor
  14. 2008LitoralSeries: Patron (1 episode)
  15. 2008The Sky, the Earth and the RainFilm: Doctor
  16. 2008Agustin's NewspaperFilm: Screenplay, Director
  17. 2007La Recta ProvinciaFilm: Paulino
  18. 2007La Recta ProvinciaSeries: Paulino (4 episodes)
  19. 2005Heredia & asociadosSeries: Director (4 episodes)
  20. 2004Tendida mirando las estrellasFilm: Police Prefect
  21. 2004Days in the CountryFilm: Daniel Rubio
  22. 2004My Grandmother's Mother Told My GrandmotherFilm: Director
  23. 2002Cofralandes, Chilean RhapsodyFilm: Rafael
  24. 2002Fragmentos urbanosFilm: Teacher (segment "Ciudad de maravillas")
  25. 2000Under Construction (Or The Place Where I Was Born No Longer Exists)Film: Director
  26. 1994Dreams of IceFilm: Director, Writer
  27. 1990Corín Tellado: Mis mejores historias de amorSeries: Director (1 episode)
  28. 1990One Hundred Children Waiting for a TrainFilm: Director, Writer
  29. 1990Latent ImageFilm
  30. 1986NemesioFilm: Don Julio
  31. 1985The Way I Like ItFilm: Director
  32. 1982Don’t ForgetFilm: Director
  33. 1978Hoy es jueves cinematográficoFilm: Director
  34. 1977Animal de costumbreFilm: Screenplay, Director
  35. 1977Under ConstructionFilm: Writer, Director
  36. 1976El gatoFilm: Director

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.