Our summer Cine Outdoor is back this year with an outstanding lineup of films, an environmental panel, seminars, music, stands and more on Saturday, February 15, at the “amphitheater” on the lakeside boardwalk in front of the casino in downtown Puerto Varas.
With the magnificent Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes and Lake Llanquihue as the backdrop, the movie portion of the event begins at 9:30 p.m. with a free showing of environmental and outdoor adventure films that will awe you with their tremendous cinematography of southern Chile and Patagonia in documentaries such as Yaktal, Khutrao and Estado Salmonera (most videos will have English subtitles).
Prior to the films, we will have an important panel at 7 p.m. entitled “A Sustainable Future for Lake Llanquihue” that will include representatives from key organizations from civil society working on the issue: Fundacion Geute, Vigilantes del Lago, Chile Lagos Limpos, Transforma Puerto Varas and the Corporacion de Turismo de Puerto Varas.
At 5 p.m., Patricia Soto, coordinator of Spanish programs for NOLS Patagonia and the first Chilean woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, will give a talk about the “Leave No Trace” ethical principles when camping and hiking in the outdoors. And at 6:30 p.m., a representative from Puelo Patagonia will get us all up to date on the current challenges for protecting the nature, culture and landscape of the commune (comuna in Spanish, similar to a county in the U.S.) of Cochamo, which includes the popular Puelo River and Cochamo valleys.
There will also be stands on site all day from Patagon Journal, several non-governmental organizations and local businesses, as well as excellent music, beginning at 1 p.m. And we will have a special raffle during the evening program, giving away products from Patagonia and Volkanica as well as several editions of Patagon Journal.
Here’s a brief synopsis of the videos that will presented at Cine Outdoor:
• Yaktal
Three Chileans embark on a sailing adventure filled with risk and colored by mysterious legends along the wild coast of the Gulf of Penas in Chile’s Aysen region. Their destination is Sligth Bay, where 337 sei whales were found washed up dead along the shoreline in 2015. “Yaktal is the ceremony in which the Kaweskar people celebrated with songs the wandering of a whale. We celebrate this sanctuary for them, we celebrate their life,” says Andres Perez, one of the producers of the film.
• Khutrao
A group of splitboarders, guided by their Mapuche friend and guide Isaac, explore the virgin snow-capped mountains of his family’s ancestral lands. They learn how the Mapuche’s bond with the land and the Earth can maintain places untouched for centuries, yet still open to those who want to experience them in a respectable way.
• Estado Salmonero
Renowned Chilean surfer Ramon Navarro’s documentary "Estado Salmonero" (Salmon State) presents a history of abuses in the Chilean sea, the overuse of antibiotics in the production of salmon, and the impact that the industry has generated on the environment, wildlife, fishermen and human life. "In Chiloé, all the waters have already collapsed because of the intervention of the salmon farms. If this can happen in Chiloé, then why can’t it happen further south where other salmon farms are installing themselves,” says Navarro.

• Los Plastico
Five hundred miles off the Chilean coast, Ramon Navarro and friends travel to surf on Alejandro Selkirk Island, but while there they learn how its residents are successfully protecting their wild waters and fisheries, and why, for the locals, the word for outsiders is “plasticós.”

• E-Bike Patagonia
In March 2019, Patricio Goycoolea and Benjamin Camus went on a 1,500-kilometer journey along the Carretera Austral, from Hornopiren to Villa O'Higgins, on electric bikes. Get to know the picturesque scenery and principal attractions on the world’s most beautiful road.

• Wallmapu
The Pehuenche people of present-day Chile speak Mapudungun: “the language of the land.” This land, their universe, is known as Wallmapu. Two skiers enter and find a breathtaking creation of ancient Araucaria trees, looming volcanoes, and windblown snow.

• Melty Heart
An award-winning, 2D animated short film made in Chile about a penguin that tries to save his family from the damage that global warming has caused to their habitat.