Juan Forch

The Chilean director, author and photographer Juan Forch was born in Santiago, Chile, in 1948. He studied journalism at the Universidad de Chile. While still a student, he worked as a photojournalist for Ramona magazine and joined the ChileFilms company as a scriptwriter and director for short documentaries. In 1972, he also co-wrote with Lucho Abarca the well-known study, Viaje por la juventud (A Journey through Youth, Quimantú publishing house), about the subculture youth scene in Chile. After the military coup in Chile in 1973 and a short detention, he immigrated to East Germany via Mexico. After working at the camera manufacturer, Dresden Pentacon, he joined the DEFA Studio for Animation Films in Dresden and learned the craft of animation. Between 1975 and 1978, Forch made several animation and documentary films drawing on his Chilean background and his artistic and political experiences in exile. The photo collages Chile lebt (1976) and Keiner kann die Revolution aufhalten (1976), the latter in collaboration with media artist Lutz Dammbeck, proclaim a hope for victory of progressive forces over the Pinochet dictatorship. The collage Chile (1975) by Forch and Jörg Herrmann reveals the USA as the backer of the military coup in Chile on September 11, 1973. The trick collage Hitlerpinochet (1975) by Forch and Herrmann draws similarities between political slogans used by Adolf Hitler and Augusto Pinochet. In 1976, Forch and Rolf Hofmann, filmed Chilean students in Dresden wh…