The Pearl Button

{{Infobox film

| name = The Pearl Button

| image = El botón de nácar (poster).jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Patricio Guzmán

| producer = Renate Sachse

| writer =

| starring =

| cinematography = Katell Djian

| editing =

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|2015|2|8|Berlinale|2015|10|15|Chile|df=yes}}

| runtime = 82 minutes

| country = Chile

| language = Spanish

}}

The Pearl Button ({{langx|es|El botón de nácar}}) is a 2015 Chilean documentary film directed by Patricio Guzmán. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival{{cite web |date=19 January 2015 |title=Berlinale 2015: Competition Complete |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/wettbewerb/wettbewerb-presse-detail_26644.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119123931/http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/wettbewerb/wettbewerb-presse-detail_26644.html |archive-date=19 January 2015 |accessdate=28 January 2015 |work=berlinale.de}} where it won the Silver Bear for Best Script.{{cite web |title=Prizes of the International Jury |url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/awards-juries/awards.html/y=2015/o=desc/p=1/rp=40 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124040416/https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/awards-juries/awards.html/y=2015/o=desc/p=1/rp=40 |archive-date=24 January 2025 |accessdate=14 February 2015 |website=berlinale.de |publisher=Berlinale}} It won the Lumière Award for Best Documentary at the 21st Lumière Awards.{{cite web |last=Richford |first=Rhonda |date=8 February 2016 |title=France's Lumiere Awards: 'Mustang' Takes Top Honors |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/frances-lumiere-awards-winners-862906 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512195136/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/frances-lumiere-awards-winners-862906/ |archive-date=12 May 2021 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}} The filmmaker has described the work as part of a triptych with Nostalgia for the Light and third film The Cordillera of Dreams focusing on the Andes.{{cite news |last=Samoili |first=Lina |date=11 March 2016 |title=Water Is The Connection: An Interview with Patricio Guzmán |url=http://soundsandcolours.com/articles/chile/water-is-the-connection-an-interview-with-patricio-guzman-31299/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318201156/https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/chile/water-is-the-connection-an-interview-with-patricio-guzman-31299/ |archive-date=18 March 2016 |access-date=17 March 2016 |work=Sounds and Colours}}

It explores familiar Guzmán themes such as memory and the historical past, particularly that of history's losers rather than victors, recording some of the last surviving members of the original Alacalufe and Yaghan tribes.{{cite news |last=Hopewell |first=John |date=29 January 2015 |title=Pyramide Int. Brings 'The Pearl Button' Onto the International Market |url=https://variety.com/2015/film/news/pyramide-int-brings-the-pearl-button-onto-the-international-market-1201418258/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504145823/http://variety.com/2015/film/news/pyramide-int-brings-the-pearl-button-onto-the-international-market-1201418258/ |archive-date=4 May 2016 |accessdate=29 January 2015 |work=Variety}} A departure for Guzmán is that it does not focus solely on Chile's past under Augusto Pinochet, as the title was partly inspired by a shirt button discovered during a 2004 investigation by Chilean judge Juan Guzmán on a length of rail used to weigh the bodies of Pinochet's victims dumped in the sea and partly by the button after which the Yaghan native Jemmy Button was named when taken aboard {{HMS|Beagle}} in 1830.

Summary

The film is a contemplative exploration of the geography and history of Chile, with a focus on water, which permeates the country and sustains its people. The narrative examines the fate of two persecuted groups - the indigenous peoples and the victims of Pinochet. The topics covered include the far north of Chile, which is the driest place on earth, where radio telescopes in the desert reveal new insights about the cosmos every day. The film also touches on personal experiences, such as a school friend lost to the sea.

The narrative delves into the genocide of the native tribes in the far south and how their way of life was destroyed. It also shares the story of Jemmy Button, who was taken from Tierra del Fuego to England. The film touches on the efforts made under Allende to rehabilitate the surviving tribespeople and the concentration camps established under Pinochet. It depicts how inmates were tortured and their bodies, weighted with lengths of rail, were dropped from helicopters into the Pacific. The film reveals how one corpse was washed ashore, and how one of the lengths of rail recovered from the sea had a mother-of-pearl shirt button encrusted to it. Overall, the film provides a powerful meditation on the impact of historical events on individuals and communities.