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`Soledad is Gone Forever` Receives High Praise

The annual Squaw Valley screenwriting workshop discovered a new talent this summer. Writer/director Mabel Valdiviezo was invited to participate, becoming one of the 24 screenwriters in the country to be selected for this esteemed workshop. This Peruvian-born independent filmmaker took her narrative script, `Soledad is Gone Forever` which she explained was `?the most validating experience I have had so far as a writer and filmmaker?` and received high praise from industry experts and mentors who attended the workshop.

Chilean immigrants worldwide who survived the Pinochet reign of terror more than two decades ago have given their voices to the main character, Soledad Gonzalez. `Countless children witnessed the violent transgressions of human rights during this military regime. I wanted to know what happened to their minds and hearts. During interviews with Chilean immigrants living in the U.S., I found them deeply affected by their past and unable to talk about it,` said Valdiviezo.

Mabel`s script is an intimate psychological portrait of a Chilean exile who goes back to Chile to bury her father`s bones and reconcile with her country`s violent past. Like many survivors of the Pinochet era, Soledad Gonzalez, now a young gifted photographer living in San Francisco, is haunted by the 8-year-old Soledad, who awakens in nightmares with the vision of her father`s disappearance.

`Soledad Is Gone Forever` explores the long-term consequences of war and its effects across many generations. It gives a voice to a global community of forgotten exiles, offers the universal hope of healing and delivers a resolve to prevent further violations of any individual`s human rights.