Carmen Castillo was born in Santiago de Chile, where she worked at La Moneda Palace alongside Salvador Allende. Her life took a dramatic turn following the death of her partner, Miguel Enriquez, at the hands of the military. Pregnant and injured, Castillo was forced to flee Chile and sought refuge in France.
As a documentary filmmaker, Castillo has directed numerous projects for French television channels TF1, FR3, and Arte, as well as the Franco-German channel Arte. Her early works include Los muros de Santiago (1983),Estado de guerra: Nicaragua (1984),and La Flaca Alejandra (1993),which won the Golden FIPA at Cannes and other awards in Geneva, Monte Carlo, San Francisco, and New York.
Castillo's subsequent documentaries explored a range of themes, from politics to culture. She directed La verdadera leyenda del Subcomandante Marcos (1995),Inca de oro (1996),El bolero, una educación amorosa (1999),which won First Prize at the Annecy Festival, Viaje con la cumbia por Colombia (2000),María Félix, la inalcanzable (2000),El Camino del Inca (2001),El astronomo y el indio (2002),which won First Prize at the Paris Scientific Film Festival, José Saramago, el tiempo de una memoria (2003),Mísia, la voz del fado (2003),and El país de mi padre (2004),which won Second Prize Fidocs in Santiago de Chile.
In addition to her documentary work, Castillo has also directed fiction feature film series for Arte, titled Tierras extranjeras, between 1994 and 1999. Her most recent project, Calle Santa Fé (2007),premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard and will be shown at the San Sebastian Film Festival in the Zabaltegi section.
Castillo has also written scripts for several films, including Inca de oro and Color Habana, which have already been completed, and Hasta luego and La montaña azul, which are currently in pre-production. Furthermore, she has published several books, including Un día de octubre en Santiago (1980),Ligne de fuite (1987),and Santiago/Paris, el vuelo de la memoria (2000),co-authored with Mónica Echeverría.
