Chilean director to make film on trapped miners

Santiago, Sep 8 (IANS/EFE) Chilean director Rodrigo Ortuzar has announced that he is planning to make a film on the 33 miners trapped for a month in the country and that he will donate the profits to finance the education of the miners’ children.

“All the money that is collected, all of it, not a percentage, all the money that is collected at the box office in Chile is going to go directly to a foundation that is going to be in charge of looking out for the education of the miners’ children,” Ortuzar told Radio Cooperativa.

With the aim of “observing to later recreate”, Ortuzar is using two cameras to film the day to day activities at “Camp Hope”, set up by the families of the men trapped at the San Jose mine, some 830 km north of Santiago.

This weekend he will travel to the mine to discuss with the relatives of the miners about the project, which he has already discussed with writer Hernan Rivera Letelier.

The director said that the film, tentatively titled “Los 33″ (The 33), will focus more “on the human side”, although it will not exclude other angles, like for example the safety failings at the mine and “how companies make stacks of money”.

“This is the first Chilean tragedy with a happy ending up to this point,” Ortuzar said.

“These miners have changed our outlook, because we’re pessimistic,” Ortuzar said. “All Chile thought that the majority of the miners were dead. And they all turned out to be alive, and on top of that in good spirits.”

–IANS/EFE