The Pearl Button by Patricio Guzman was the documentary we watched in class. The documentary followed many of Chile’s backgrounds, including Native cultures, along with highlights of national pride and imperialism. I was struck by the filmmaker Guzman’s openness in showing his biased sort of lens throughout the film. Whenever you watch an old documentary made by a culture different than the one being shown on screen, there are questions. And most of the questions revolve around truth, fiction, and overall, the filmmaking techniques. It can be sleezy and undermine what the culture being shown might have to say. In this case, the culture being shown had few to no members left. This allows it to be an odd feeling situation in which they might not have the means to tell their story. In steps Guzman, who doesn’t shy away from his differences, but instead embraces them and accepts why his culture might be a part of the problem. I also think he does a fantastic job of merging the Native beliefs with some of his own, his own representing a certain Chilean pride the NAtives might not have. All of these factors combined make for not only a wonderful viewing experience, along with an educated one, but also a confusing one. I don’t think you’re supposed to feel 100% certainty in this film, and like I said, it goes back to who delivers this message. Chile is a complicated historical land mass and country as a whole, and the stories being told are incomplete. Guzman finds as much unbiased information as he can, but it is still a story that was lost to history. It’s a cautionary tale that if you don’t protect cultures while they’re still there, then they won’t be able to be remembered appropriately. Only in spurts or not at all.