Gabriela von Bussenius Vega (1901-1975) was a Chilean journalist, writer and filmmaker, "Latin America's first woman film-maker".[1]
Life
editGaby von Bussenius started writing articles and film reviews for Zig-Zag magazine as a girl.[2] In 1916 she married Salvador Giamastiani, one of the owners of the filmmaking company Chile Films. She wrote La agonía de Arauco, directing it with her husband in 1917: she was in charge of the story and art direction, and he was in charge of technical direction.[3] The film treated the capitalist exploitation of the indigenous Mapuche people of Araucanía:[1] following a woman who suffers the loss of her beloved husband and son.[3]
Von Busseniu continued anonymous collaboration on films with her husband until his death in 1921. She did not subsequently continue working on film but kept up activity as a writer.[2] She edited the magazines Mundo Social and Cinema Magazine, and wrote plays and a novel. She later spent many years in a retirement home, dying on January 28, 1975.[3]
Filmography
edit- La agonía de Arauco / The Agony of Arauco, 1917.
Bibliography
editPlays
edit- El regreso (The Return)
- La torre de Babel (The Tower of Babel)
Novels
edit- Mis amigos los cisnes (My Friends the Swans)
References
edit- ^ a b Martin, Gerald (1984). "The literature, music and art of Latin America, 1870-1930". In Leslie Bethell (ed.). The Cambridge History of Latin America. Cambridge University Press. p. 522. ISBN 978-0-521-23225-8.
- ^ a b Jill Nelmes; Jule Selbo (2015). Women Screenwriters: An International Guide. Springer. p. 875. ISBN 978-1-137-31237-2.
- ^ a b c Eliana Jara Donoso, Gabriela von Bussenius Vega. In Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds., Women Film Pioneers Project, 2013.