{{short description|2015 film}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{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<ref name="Berlin">{{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}}</ref> where it won the Silver Bear for Best Script.<ref name="BerlinAwards">{{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}}</ref> It won the Lumière Award for Best Documentary at the 21st Lumière Awards.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Guzmán has described the work as part of a trilogy with ''Nostalgia for the Light'' and third film ''The Cordillera of Dreams'' focusing on the Andes.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
It explores themes common to other Guzmán films, 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.<ref name="Hopewell">{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hopewell"/>
==Summary== The film explores the geography and history of Chile, with a focus on water. The narrative examines the fate of two persecuted groups - the indigenous peoples and the victims of the Pinochet regime. The topics covered include the far north of Chile, which is the driest place on earth, where radio telescopes in the desert study the universe. The film also touches on personal experiences, such as a school friend lost to the sea.
The narrative describes the genocide of the native tribes in the far south and how their way of life was destroyed. It also tells the story of Jemmy Button, who was taken from Tierra del Fuego to England. The film describes the efforts made under Salvador Allende, the president of Chile from 1970-1973, 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's name derives from one such rail, retrieved from the ocean and found to have a shirt button encrusted onto it.
==Accolades== {| class="wikitable" ! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | List of Accolades |- ! width="40%"| Award / Film Festival ! width="30%"| Category ! width="25%"| Recipient(s) ! width="15%"| Result |- style="border-top:2px solid gray;" |- | 2015 Biografilm Festival | Best film Unipol Award | Patricio Guzmán | {{won}}<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.milanotoday.it/eventi/la-memoria-dell-acqua.html | title =Sala Bio presenta "La Memoria dell'Acqua": martedì 26 aprile al Cinema Colosseo | publisher = Milano Today | access-date =2024-06-04}}</ref><ref name=biografilm>{{cite web | url =https://www.biografilm.it/archivio-2005-2018/edizione-11/ | title =Edizione 2015 | publisher = Biografilm | access-date =2024-06-04}}</ref> |- | 2015 Biografilm Festival | Audience Award | Patricio Guzmán | {{won}}<ref name=biografilm/> |- | 2015 Berlin International Film Festival | Silver Berlin Bear for Best Script | Patricio Guzmán | {{won}}<ref name=dw15>{{cite web | url =https://p.dw.com/p/1HLas | title =The mother-of-pear button | last =Eva | first =Usi | date =2015-12-11 | publisher = Deutsche Welle | access-date =2024-06-04}}</ref> |- | 2015 Berlin International Film Festival | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Patricio Guzmán | {{won}}<ref name=dw15/> |- | 2015 Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Berlin Bear | Patricio Guzmán | {{nominated}}<ref name=dw15/> |- | 2015 Philadelphia Film Festival | Best Documentary Feature | The Pearl Button | {{won}}<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4377864/awards/?ref_=tt_awd | title =The Pearl Button Awards | publisher = IMDB | access-date =2024-06-04}}</ref> |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|4377864|The Pearl Button}}
{{Lumière Award for Best Documentary}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl Button, The}} Category:2015 films Category:2015 documentary films Category:Chilean documentary films Category:2015 Spanish-language films Category:Films directed by Patricio Guzmán Category:Documentary films about historical events Category:History of Magallanes Region Category:Documentary films about genocide Category:Yaghan Category:Documentary films about indigenous rights Category:Documentary films about Latin America Category:Kawésqar Category:Spanish-language documentary films Category:Best Documentary Lumière Award winners