Exiliados
Uruguay
Vinoles Mariana
Uruguay has built up its identity as a country made of immigrants but a strong emigration process has been taking place since the second half of this century. Such process, which is now reaching worrying levels, was not considered as a relevant issue until the last years.
During the decades of the 70s and 80s -and within that emigration process- there was a situation of forced emigration or exile. It was the consequence of political reasons derived from the authoritarian processes and the following military dictatorship (1973-1984). After democracy was restored in Uruguay, many of those exiled people came back to settle in the country, but many others stayed out and are still living in exile with their families.
According to the National Statistics Institute, if we analyze data from the latest period between censuses (1996-2004) there’s an estimated number of 122 thousand people who emigrated. This flow is similar to the one that took place between 1975-1985. Although the highest peak in migration took place immediately after the latest economic crisis between 2002 and 2003, there has been a constant flow along all the analyzed period.
In the last 50 years Uruguay has lost 16% of its population due to migratory factors. Half the people who leave are under 30 years of age. This places Uruguay as one of the Latin American countries with a highest emigration rate.
Nowadays, neither the country’s economic growth nor the difficulties that emigrants find in Spain and the USA have been able to modify this trend. Even though there are new incentives and facilities to encourage those who left to come back, most of the Uruguayans who went away do not return. Others keep leaving.
EXILES is a documentary filmed as a personal diary. Through the director’s view -who comes back to her country after five years in exile- the camera dives into her filming archives and in into her life, to tell the story of her father, two brothers and her close friend, who have decided to leave Uruguay in search of new horizons.
EXILES does not pretend to find a solution to the issue of emigration, but to create an intimate rapport between people who are close to each other, to get to know the little conflicts of a country, which has marked its history in exile throughout the years.
During the decades of the 70s and 80s -and within that emigration process- there was a situation of forced emigration or exile. It was the consequence of political reasons derived from the authoritarian processes and the following military dictatorship (1973-1984). After democracy was restored in Uruguay, many of those exiled people came back to settle in the country, but many others stayed out and are still living in exile with their families.
According to the National Statistics Institute, if we analyze data from the latest period between censuses (1996-2004) there’s an estimated number of 122 thousand people who emigrated. This flow is similar to the one that took place between 1975-1985. Although the highest peak in migration took place immediately after the latest economic crisis between 2002 and 2003, there has been a constant flow along all the analyzed period.
In the last 50 years Uruguay has lost 16% of its population due to migratory factors. Half the people who leave are under 30 years of age. This places Uruguay as one of the Latin American countries with a highest emigration rate.
Nowadays, neither the country’s economic growth nor the difficulties that emigrants find in Spain and the USA have been able to modify this trend. Even though there are new incentives and facilities to encourage those who left to come back, most of the Uruguayans who went away do not return. Others keep leaving.
EXILES is a documentary filmed as a personal diary. Through the director’s view -who comes back to her country after five years in exile- the camera dives into her filming archives and in into her life, to tell the story of her father, two brothers and her close friend, who have decided to leave Uruguay in search of new horizons.
EXILES does not pretend to find a solution to the issue of emigration, but to create an intimate rapport between people who are close to each other, to get to know the little conflicts of a country, which has marked its history in exile throughout the years.
Support:
Festivals and Awards:
in competition in Montevideo, Tui, Ecuador 2012
Geneva 2012: Filmar en América Latina
Geneva 2012: Filmar en América Latina
World Sales:
Cronopio Film