by Nora Niasari
On the 27th February 2010 at 3:34 local time, a devastating earthquake struck the Chilean coast of the Maule Region. Located 200km from the epicenter of the 8.8 Richter scale quake, the city of Talca became an unrecognizable landscape of debris. As a result, 20,000 jobs were lost, 6500 homes were damaged or destroyed. This documentary focuses on ‘Casa Antunez’ and the Antunez family members who reside in neighbourhood ‘Seminario’ where only 1% of the neighborhood has been rebuilt since the earthquake. The first people’s movement for fair reconstruction began in Talca, Talca con Todos (Talca All). Following its establishment, many partner groups began to appear throughout Chile and eventually “The National Movement for Fair Reconstruction” was formed which is still operating and protesting and petitioning the government for normal living rights for post-earthquake victims.
In February 2011, Nora Niasari was invited to collaborate with a group of architects, designers and social NGO’s from Chicago and Santiago who were working on an earthquake reconstruction project in Talca. During this research trip, Nora was able to gain unique access to community leaders and residents. Whilst this is a Chilean story, it deeply addresses the physical & psychological traumas of natural disasters plaguing many parts of the world today including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South-East Asia.
