Biography
Ignacio Agüero is a prominent Chilean documentary filmmaker. He studied Architecture and Cinema, graduating in 1979 from the School of Communication Arts at Universidad Católica de Chile as an Artistic Director with a specialization in cinema. He is a founding member and the first president of the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Chile.
While primarily known for his independent documentaries, Agüero has also worked as a producer, editor, cameraman, actor, and served as a judge in both national and international competitions. In 1988, he co-directed and edited "La Franja del NO," a television campaign message that contributed to the plebiscite which ended Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.
Alongside his filmmaking, he has produced numerous commissioned works for both national and international television. Notable projects include "Neruda, todo el amor" (1998), scripted by Antonio Skármeta and filmed for Canal + Spain, and several episodes of the series "Heredia & Asociados," based on stories by novelist Ramón Díaz Eterovic. Through his production company Ignacio Agüero & Asociados, he produced the series "Maldito corazón," focusing on historical crimes in Chile. This series won the National Television Council contest and was produced for Chilevisión in 2011.
His debut film "No olvidar" (1982) addresses the "Lonquén Ovens Massacre," which occurred in 1978 and was uncovered years later.
In 1988, Agüero directed the landmark documentary "One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train," portraying a group of children from impoverished backgrounds traveling to the city center to watch a film for the first time. It won the First Prize for Documentary at the 1988 Havana Film Festival.
In 1993, he released "Dreams of Ice," which earned the Grand Prize for Documentary at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Festival in 1994. His 2000 documentary "Aquí se construye" won first prize at Barcelona's Docupolis Festival and Best National Documentary at FIDOCS in Santiago de Chile in 2001. In 2004, he directed "La mamá de mi abuela le contó a mi abuela."
Later works include the acclaimed documentary "El diario de Agustín" (2008), examining the role of the newspaper El Mercurio during the military coup and subsequent dictatorship. In 2011, he made a documentary about the building now housing the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM), and in 2012 premiered his personal film "El otro día," which won the Altazor Award for documentary direction in 2014. This marked his fourth Altazor, following awards in 2005 for "La mamá de mi abuela le contó a mi abuela," 2006 for "Heredia y Asociados," and 2009 for "El diario de Agustín."
Agüero has led numerous training workshops in Chile, Mexico, Barcelona, and Bolivia, and has conducted project tutorials in Mexico, Costa Rica, Buenos Aires, Nicaragua, and Chile.
He is an associate professor at the Institute of Communication and Image (ICEI) at Universidad de Chile and coordinates the Master's program in Documentary Film.
