Destierro, le vertige et la foi

Between 1974 and 1984, 3,500 Chilean dissidents sought refuge in Ceaușescu’s Romania. A poignant and little-known story of exile that is also that of the author and director Daniela Labbé Cabrera. Weaving together the scattered threads of her own diaspora, she crafts a vibrant narrative that blends fiction and documentary.

From one dictatorship to another... Fleeing threats and persecution, opponents of General Pinochet’s regime find an unlikely refuge in the gray suburbs of Bucharest... Caught between struggle and despair, joy and survival, they recreate “a little Chilean village in Romania.” It is their epic journey that Destierro recounts—a fictional yet well-researched journey that focuses on the unique destinies of four characters caught up in the whirlwind of 20th-century history. Among them are Anna, an activist whose exile will profoundly alter her destiny, and Nelson, who seeks to lead the revolutionary struggle from Europe. An epic tale tinged with South American magical realism, supported by music played and sung on stage—a testament to the power of life and resistance.